[Kivaari]

Does anybody know anything about these? I have two dated '87 and '88 respectively. All commonly found information seems to suggest that production was halted before this...
So...are they new production or restamped butt sockets?

 

[JB White]

The jury is still out as to why they were built, but 1988 seems to be the last handful that surfaced. 86's and 87's seem to be the most common of the 80's dated RFI's. This is the '88 I have and until you mentioned yours I was only aware of 4 others.

Chalked closeup of faint markings:

Anyone want it?

 

[JollyGreenSlugg]

Anyone want it?

Man, I'd cough up for one of those babies! Pity they never seem to turn up in Australia....

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Kivaari]

late Ishy's

Well, you'd think that Skennerton or somebody would know about these.....

I can tell you that from the condition, that the buttstocks were dropped on the tarmac many more times than they were fired. So, I personally "speculate" that they were made for the police or somesuch...the bores are "brilliant" if you'll pardon the pun w/ British usage.

Perhaps, I should hold on to these until the jury comes back as I'd had them up for sale.

 

[pugs1970]

I would definitly hang to it for now as the latest i've seen is my 1953 No1Mk3 and my 1968 2A1 both of these are Ishys .

pugs..

 

[ansleyj]

From the 30 or so that I have seen of these, from '86 to '87, they look new made and well done. The '88s look thrown together and made up of left over parts, like they were cleaning out the parts bins when they were assembled.

Unfortunately, India is very tight lipped about their arms production. so the "story" behind these 303s will probably remain within the realm of speculation.

 

[CroppyBoy1798]

The jury is still out as to why they were built, but 1988 seems to be the last handful that surfaced. 86's and 87's seem to be the most common of the 80's dated RFI's. This is the '88 I have and until you mentioned yours I was only aware of 4 others.

Chalked closeup of faint markings:

Anyone want it?

Hi JB,

Just looking at your closeup pics of the marking. What is that above the 'RFI'? Is it a faint Crown and GRI or GR? At least there looks to be something where one would expect to find the crown and what looks to be a 'G' under it.

A scrubbed, older reciever redated or just some wacky markings?

 

[JB White]

Hard to say but it always looked to me to be the ghost of an ashoka. As Jon said, this rifle appears to have been built from leftovers. It's even fitted with a No4 buttplate.

 

[djenkins]

The Indian cops still use these a LOT. I would not be too surprised if
some rifles showed up with a 2009 stamp.

Dennis Jenkins

 

[JollyGreenSlugg]

Does anyone have pics of an 86-87 that they could please share?

Cheers,
Matt

 

[ansleyj]

1987 rfi 303

Here you go:

 

[JollyGreenSlugg]

Excellent, thanks very much. I'd love to find one from 1987, the year I turned 16.
Cheers,
Matt

 

[Kivaari]

87

Ok, here's an '87. Again, the outward appearance evidencing use, belies the beautiful bores of my '86 and '87 . They both would not close on a SAAMI commercial "field".

 

[JB White]

How do you feel your '88 stacks up against your '86 and '87 quality-wise?

If you have three already then you need an '85! I haven't heard of an '84 yet. Seems to be a decade long gap between the 80's and the 70's FR rifles.

 

[cousinkix1953]

The Indian cops still use these a LOT. I would not be too surprised if
some rifles showed up with a 2009 stamp.

Dennis Jenkins

You bet they do. I remember seeing the police shoot it out with those terrorists a few weeks ago. Some reporters wanted to know why they were going up against AK-47 assault rifles with obsolete World War I surplus rifles...