Indians For Guns

I came across to a reference of .300 Bore Savage rifle owned by HRSA / Azad group in 1930. Wikipedia is notorious for
inaccuracies but still any idea which rifle would have this been
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi_Cons ... Commission

. Ram Chandra Sharma had two or three guns and a rifle, which he had bought in January. There was also a pistol which Azad always kept with him. When they were going to Nalgarha, Bimal Pershad Jain bought from Elahi Bakhsh on Ram Chandra Sharma’s license some .300 bore Savage rifle cartridges, some .32 bore pistol cartridges and some .12 bore gun cartridges. After staying there at Nalgarha for two or three days, they returned back to Delhi.

Cheers

It would be one of three Savage rifles, a Model 99 lever, Model 20 bolt, a short Mauser-type action; or Model 40/45 bolt, an action with rear locking lugs. More of a scaled-up .22 RF. The .300 Savage cartridge was a short round, originally created to give original .30-06 ballistics, 150 grain bullet @ 2700 fps, and work through the M99 action. It didn't quite manage, but came close. The cartridge is very similar to a 7.62x51/.308 Winchester, with a shorter neck. As a matter of fact, development of the 7.62 started with the .300 Savage.
Of the three, the M99 rifle is the most common. The Model 20 was in production for only eight years; the Model 40 also had a short production life.

tworivers

Would be great if there could be any links to these guns. Very odd choice though for 300 caliber. Thing is these revolutionaries were always down and out on money, even going without food. Their pistols typically were .25 or .32 caliber and Mauser C96. Quality of these guns was iffy to one of them had his revolver misfire trying to assassinate an informer.

Best

ngrewal wrote:tworivers

Would be great if there could be any links to these guns. Very odd choice though for 300 caliber. Thing is these revolutionaries were always down and out on money, even going without food. Their pistols typically were .25 or .32 caliber and Mauser C96. Quality of these guns was iffy to one of them had his revolver misfire trying to assassinate an informer.

Best

Ngrewal: Just found my "The Bombay Armory" catalog, October 1932-33 edition. It list sthe "New Savage Super-Sporter Rifles", models 40 & 45. (The M45 is just the fancy version.). Rupees 130 and 170, respectively. Calibers .250-3000 Savage, .30-30, .300 Savage and .30-06 Springfield. The Model 20 was out of production by then. Also listed is the Savage M99 rifle for for Rs. 185, .22 Savage, .250-3000, and .300.
Ammunition was Rs. 28 per hundred for the .300, vs. Rs. 32/100 for .30-06. Relatively costly, compared to the prices for guns.
The Colt Pocket Hammerless Pistol, .32 and .380, is also listed, at Rs. 75; as is the Mauser broomhandle for Rs. 90. So, all the weapons mentioned were readily available for purchase; or somehow to "acquire".
I can see the choice of the broomhandle, still concealable under clothing, while fairly effective at longer range. Best.

great two rivers

I was leaning towards Savage M99 this is one with lever action
http://www.savagearms.com/history/

But then I also read some where how Azad nearly shot one of the fellow revolutionary (as narrated by latter) while cleaning his Broomhandle Mauser C 96 pistol he wasnt too familiar with. Azad thinking the pistol was empty pointed and pulled the trigger luckily he was off the mark. Azad was a great shot and taught others how to shoot in Jungles near Orcha MP/ Jhansi.

Another fact is getting license back then wasnt that easy either may be worst in some respects and these folks were always shot of cash.

Thanks