Indians For Guns

I was told ( By Safarigent ) that ex-servicemen are given a fairly generous concession on a single rifle.I have a cousin who put in 18 years and is looking to get a gun now ( Rural area, grows cash crops ).I would like to know more regarding -

1. Should the gun be bought from IOF only?

2. Can he get a PB license as he is ex-army?

3. There was talk of an ex-army man who got a new iof 30.06 for 700 bucks.Will similar discounts apply now also?

4. Do ex-army men get ammo discounts as well?

5. What is the procedure to obtain the concession?

6. Will ex-army men be awarded a higher ammo limit like 250/500?

7. Can a handgun also be obtained at a concession?

Thanks.

1. No, he needs to apply for an NSP (Non Service Pattern) firearm directly from the army. These are surplus rifles/ pistols that are of calibres/ pattern not in use by the Indian Army and are issued to ex-servicemen/ servicemen for their personal use at a heavily discounted rate... Just a few hundred rupees IIRC.

2. This used to be the case, but not any more

3. Sure, the rates are still quite low (especially considering the Indian market). But keep in mind these are NOT new firearms but ones that have in most cases seen heavy use in shooting wars! Most are WW I / WW II vintage. There is however a long waiting list of several years. Usually the wait for rifles is shorter than the wait for a handgun.

4. See above

5. Not exactly sure on this one, maybe a serving/ retired member can help you out here.

6. Nope, it is entirely at the discretion of the Licensing Authority

7. See above

HTH

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Thanks Abhijeet, that was very helpful.A few more things.Will the army provide ammo for calibers that are not sold in the open market? Also can he have firearms obtained by the usual licensing procedure as well?

1. The army sells surplus ammunition to serving/ retired service personel, the process is a bit cumbersome though and would only be worthwhile if you have a large enough quota to draw at a time. IIRC .30-06 ammo (military ball headstamped POF, 1971 war captured ammo) sells for about INR 20/-. I know for a fact that they also have .30 carbine ammo in stock (military ball headstamped WCC, WW 2 surplus), not sure of the current price, but guessing it would be about the same.

2. Could not figure out what you are asking. Would you like to rephrase the question?

Can he apply for a shotgun license or any other type of firearm license besides the already issued army surplus firearm?

Thanks

Skyman wrote:Can he apply for a shotgun license or any other type of firearm license besides the already issued army surplus firearm?

Thanks

Upto the limit of three weapons per licence holder, yes.

All the best.

Dear Skyman,
There is no special concession or discount for an ex-serviceman, as per SAO 4/S/2006 only serving or retired Officers/JCOs can apply for NSP weapon which is through their respective department channel, IOF gives no discount or priority on weapons being sold by them in civil market, In case NSP weapon has been allotted to any individual and has been endorsed on the license by the civil authorities the quantity of ammo at concessional rates will only be as per authorized and endorsed by the civil authorities, since the weapons allotted can be of PB and NPB bore the consideration of same is given by civil administration and the efforts are same as done by any other Mango people. weapons allotted by COD can't be sold in any way however few of them have been sold to dealers and in civil market so few are facing enquiry, few court martial and few are in pipeline, if your relative is an Officer/JCO retd he can still apply but will be in CAT-III and probably will never get as there is a long list of waiting for all types of weapon.
regards and all the best

Thank you all, this looks like a dead end.

I did not mention ex servicemen, only serving officers, as that was a first hand experience.
People who are about to retire is different from people who have retired.
So has he retired or is about to retire?

Retired a while ago.

these are used army rifle.
some feature are removed in it like automatic
and it is taken back after death of ex-service man.