INSAS Excalibur In Person

[Kunal Biswas]

It happened in a strange way, Very unexpected ..

Was suppose to have dinner outside but instead went to a local exhibition nearby, Out of no where i spotted a black rifle, It had Unusual looks than what i am used to, On closing, i noted it was OFB`s stall, I didn't expected OFB presence there, It was small not much was there but crowd was heavy ..

I approached the person in-charge and introduce myself, He immediately noted my curiosity abt Excalibur, He handed me the Rifle and was soon occupied with curious & irritating ( In a good way ) Young chaps ..

I had little time, Low battery in my cell phone to take just few snaps of the rifle & I am happy to share with others here ..

The Following post will contain both Images and comments ..

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And all others..

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1. Political discussions is not encouraged in technical thread..
2. Read the first post and the thread before going forward

Thank you..

 

[pmaitra]

Kolkata Industrial Fair?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

At first look & touch, The rifle is compact & Light weighted compare to INSAS 1B1 which is in service, The size of the rifle is more or less same as a M4 carbine, This is probably because the barrel is not a 18 inch as its on 1B1 but this Excaluber has a 16inch barrel !, Unlike what i saw previously in defexpos, Excalibur has 18inch barrels, This means Excalibur has variants & the one in my hand was a 16inch barrel one for CQB ops

The rifle Excalibur as seen in the picture is smaller than an AK47/AKM and little longer than TAR-21 of 18inch, It was lighter around 2 kgs and with full loaded 22rnds Magazine its weight is around 2.5kgs, Unlike 1B1 is 3.5kgs full loaded, It was pleasure to hold this Rifle ..

Here the Rifle is in folded butt configuration, To be frank the size in this configuration was lesser than 9mm silenced carbine used in Army , This is perfect and impressive in CQB ops, where fighting is in tight corners ..

Now lets see some details in selector switch, S for semi auto, R for safety and A for automatic, This is not same with 1B1 as 1B1 options have no automatic but Burst, The switch itself is not same as 1B1`s, The Rifle is design for spray and pray like AK which is again for CQB ops, Also the Grip is also not like AK or 1B1`s, Though the Rifle retain similar 1B1`s rail, Trigger and almost all other major important parts for operating the rifle hence no new training for using this rifle..

What makes Excalibur looks different from his brother 1B1 is the over all fore-grip design which extend over gas pipe so does till Cocking handle, The material used is not a cheap plastic as many would call, But was rugged and good hard fiber furniture, Same material is used in Rifle butt, It is important to note the material used on Excalibur is not the same used over Improved 1B1, Excalibur is indeed a improved INSAS over Improved 1B1 INSAS, Unfortunately its not under service ..

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Conclusion : What i learned is that Excalibur has different version itself, Mainly with different barrels and it is design for both Long and Close combat operations, It is light and short compare to 1B1 in service, I was impressed with the fiber quality that Rifle offers compare to 1B1 also the Rifle operation is same as 1B1 hence it does not require new training to handle, Overall its a good design rifle and deserve operational service within Army..

It is also unfortunate that i cannot used this nice Rifle over firing range to know full extend of its capability and preform-ace ..


Cheers !

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Keeping location Private ..

Kolkata Industrial Fair?

 

[sayareakd]

I first time saw this with probably punjab police commandos in Delhi at Ramlila event. You can easily recognised it from regular INSAS.
When found that it is full auto made for paramilitry and anti terror operations i loved it.

hope they add P Rail so that we can have other things attached to it easily for better performance.

 

[Ray]

@Kunal

Could you give more details regarding usability as in the Army environment and how it will prove to be 'game changer' so to say.

 

[WMD]

Looks like inspired from SIG SG 550.
But as @sayareakd puts it, a picatinny rail would be nice.
This rifle should see operational service at least to replace older INSAS, till the time MCAR comes out or a new rifle gets selected.
Too bad it wasn't available before(early days of INSAS), could have solved a lot of headaches.

 

[Twinblade]

Kunal, the gun in your hand might be one of the initial builds. The more recent displays were with grey phosphate finish than the black paint job.

hope they add P Rail so that we can have other things attached to it easily for better performance.

It was displayed with rail attachment over the Insas' standard attachment rail.

 

[sayareakd]

Kunal sir one of your pic

 

[sayareakd]

Kunal sir how are you holding it ?

 

[sayareakd]

Looks like Excalibur has better folding butt then other INSAS.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Sir, The Rifle usability is in both Conventional warfare and Irregular warfare but unlike present INSAS 1B1 this rifle ' Excalibur ' INSAS has a larger role to play in Irregular warfare, This is due to its design which is compact and have full automatic mode like Carbines & AK have ..

It is also a 'Game Changer' due to its light weight which benefits a Solider as a system as it enhance his endurance or provide ability to carry more luggage / Ammunition, In irregular warfare this rifle could solve issue of standardization of ammo and ease logistics of spare parts ..

@Kunal
Could you give more details regarding usability as in the Army environment and how it will prove to be 'game changer' so to say.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

The Excalibur Rifle at Defexpo was longer and same size of INSAS 1B1, But this one is smaller and that can be only done of the barrel is smaller, Regarding the finish, These are mockup Rifles replicating actually rifle except the firing part ..

Kunal, the gun in your hand might be one of the initial builds. The more recent displays were with grey phosphate finish than the black paint job.It was displayed with rail attachment over the Insas' standard attachment rail.

Kunal sir one of your pic

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I like what they did with Amogh..

hope they add P Rail so that we can have other things attached to it easily for better performance.

Looks like inspired from SIG SG 550.But as @sayareakd puts it, a picatinny rail would be nice.This rifle should see operational service at least to replace older INSAS, till the time MCAR comes out or a new rifle gets selected..

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Sir, Was posing with the rifle trying to give an idea abt its size ..

Kunal sir how are you holding it ?

 

[Waffen SS]

@Kunal Biswas this rifle looks very much similar to Amogh INSAS. Are they same?

This rifle is better than present INSAS. In Jammu and Kashmir and against Maoists it will work good.

Can you please clear your inbox? I want to send a message to know Indian army's man portable anti-tank weapon.

 

[sayareakd]

Sir, Was posing with the rifle trying to give an idea abt its size ..

great work Kunal sir

can you post pic of INSAS rifle in same pose.................. so that we can compare the two.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Sir, Right now i dont have but INSAS 1B1 length is at least 10-15cm longer than the one i am holding..

can you post pic of INSAS rifle in same pose.................. so that we can compare the two.

 

[sayareakd]

Sir, Right now i dont have but INSAS 1B1 length is at least 10-15cm longer than the one i am holding..

later, when you got one, just hold it in same way and we will know the length.

 

[maomao]

Kunal great pics...........Love this rifle, wish we have it in the army and hope this performs well!

 

[Kunal Biswas]

I wish the same ..

 

[shuvo@y2k10]

this is very much an improvent over insas ib1.can this rifle be chambered for 7.62*39/51 round to make good use of the automatic firing capability against terrorist and naxals?also can this rifle be modified with a longer barrel to be made into a squad level general purpose machine gun?

 

[Shaitan]

Is this rifle given to smaller armed forces within India? Did you ask him that?