Revolver Stand
Revolver Stand
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The Indian Ordinance 0.32 Revolver And Its Effectiveness
The 0.32 bore revolver is a weapon that has been in existence for over 150 years. It is a handy weapon particularly for self defense. Because of its size and ease of carriage it is very popular all over the world. In the crime infested states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India carrying a weapon and a.32 revolver in particular is a must for most businessmen who have to venture out into the countryside.
The.32 was not manufactured in India earlier and local enthusiasts had either to import the weapon or buy one in the black market. Some would even settle for a "katha" - a local made revolver. However about 25 years back the Indian Ordinance factories (IOF) were given the green signal to manufacture the.32. The weapon was marketed in India at price of about Rs 75000 or $1600.
The Indian ordinance factories are government owned. As the weapon is not manufactured by any civil agency the IOF weapon has no competition. This has affected the quality of the weapon which to say the least has a poor finish. The IOF 0.32 revolver is modeled on the British.32 Webley and is a six round double action revolver. This revolver is not freely available and has a waiting period of about 3 to 4 months. The weapon is delivered after an upfront payment by a bank draft is made direct to the factory by the applicant. The Webley it must be noted was a standard side arm of the British army during the Second World War and by corollary of the British Indian army as well.
I had occasion to test one such weapon. The weapon is sturdy and has a barrel length of 76.2mm. It is quite light and weighs only 700gm. It uses 0.32 Smith and Wesson 7.62 caliber cartridges. These cartridges are freely available with the arms dealers. The weapon also has a safety latch which is effective.
A first look at the weapon does not please the eye. You can see the shoddy finish of the weapon. The revolver details and number of the weapon could have been etched in a better way. Attention to the finer points of the weapon is sadly lacking. I compared it with the original Webley and the shoddy piece of workmanship of the Indian Ordinance Factory weapon clearly stands out.
The weapon however cocks and fires easily and is effective up to a range of about 30 meters. Unlike the IOF.32 pistol which jammed, the revolver has no such problem. The revolver handles well and once you get used to the slight jump upwards when you fire it will settle nicely in your hand. However the quality of steel used are suspect and the weapon if kept for a long time is prone to rusting. I fired about 20 rounds from the revolver and the weapon handled reasonably well. If the IOF pay a little more attention to details, they can have a winner to market
About the Author
MG Singh is an ex Air Force Officer who took premature retirement.He is an aluminus of the staff collge and after retirement has been in the corporate field as a Vice President and Director. Qualified in law and management MG has penned 2 novels and is a significant writer on the net with over 1000 articles.