Indians For Guns

I had heard that we had the Barrett deployed across several divisions of the Indian Army. But I didnt know for sure if that was a fact. But we do have the Denel. A friend of mine was at an Army Expo recently and chanced upon the famed rifle and took a few pictures which I am posting here. My friend isn't much of an aficionado so he wasn't able to clarify some of my queries. You can notice however that a spare barrel, probably of a different caliber is lying alongside the rifle, would anyone be able to tell us which cal that would be for ? The fluted-one mounted on the rifle was for 50 BMG and in addition to the anti-personnel rounds, there were API (Armor Piercing Incendiary) rounds also on display. (All pics taken with a phone camera, so please bear with the quality)







regards

OUP

i need few trees choped down will the boys in green do the honor now thats long range shooting. can shoot well aacross any borders we have. i would not want to carry one in my back back though

ti's called AMR = anti material rifle .

Hi OuP... you sure its a Barret? Doesn't look like one to me.

Of course AMRs have been around even before Kargil... South African made- I think in 14.5mm rather than 50cal. Also vaguely recall a mini scam around procurement of the SA pieces.

The one in the pictures appears to be an IOF Anti Material Rifle VIDHWANSAK, available in three Calibers 12.7mm(50cal Soviet?), 14.5mm and 20mm- that would probably explain the other barrel.

Pretty effective but very cumbersome in the larger calibers. I feel the practical portability ends at 50cal... beyond that, its a crew served weapon.

Its a .50 BMG allright, but doesnt quite look like a Barrett. There are a lot of manufacturer's of the .50.
Most .50's have interchangeable barrels, the most common one being the .338 Lapua Magnum.

Personally I dont know how that would work with the bolt head.

I have shot the .338 without a muzzle brake, the experience is the prime reason why I do not own one. I dont even want to imagine what the recoil on the 14.5mm would be like.

MoA wrote:Its a .50 BMG allright, but doesnt quite look like a Barrett. There are a lot of manufacturer's of the .50.
Most .50's have interchangeable barrels, the most common one being the .338 Lapua Magnum.

Personally I dont know how that would work with the bolt head.

I have shot the .338 without a muzzle brake, the experience is the prime reason why I do not own one. I dont even want to imagine what the recoil on the 14.5mm would be like.

you would need to get a new shoulder blade before hand for replacement

I saw 2 denels and a Ruski one in the last expo in pragati maidan...

Apologies mates.

CC you're right, actually my friend thought that it was one and excitedly sent across the pics to me. Just had him speak with the army guy today and he has confirmed that it's an AMR based on the Denel NTW 20 which came in via Russia ( Had him check the markings as well). The rounds in the picture are DU rounds.

regards

OUP

OverUnderPump wrote:Apologies mates.

CC you're right, actually my friend thought that it was one and excitedly sent across the pics to me. Just had him speak with the army guy today and he has confirmed that it's an AMR based on the Denel NTW 20 which came in via Russia ( Had him check the markings as well). The rounds in the picture are DU rounds.

regards

OUP

Ah OuP...

I do recall a school friend who went on to a commission in the army spew superlatives about the beast.... popping the 14.5mm ridge to ridge in the NW area. Couldn't glean any technical info from the chap as he was the disinterested type...more enthusiastic about silly things like para-sailing and rafting....

regards,
cc

shooting that from prone position? i would order a coupla packs of pads...

Agree with cc this IOF clone is very heavy would have been better if they just buy the Barrett and provide Jawans with something decent for a chance. While they are at it take care of that F - INSAS

Best

This could be 'Vidhwansak', IOF made copy of the Denel NTW20. The Denel deal got stuck in some scam and they immediately blacklisted the company. They could hardly bring in more than 100 pieces. IOF has successfully copied the variant as 'Vidhwansak'. Denel was imported only with the 20 mm chamber, even though it had an option of 14.5 mm also, but Army did not want to increase the types of ammo in circulation.
Its bolt action, magazine fed rifle, with a 3 to 5 round magazine, comes with a heavy muzzle brake. It can be operated by 1 person but is carried by 2 people, with barrel, action and magazine with one and stock and ammo with the other. The spare guy acts as an observer and range finder when its time for action. Fired mostly from prone position, still it pushes and moves the user at least 6 inches backwards depending on the persons weight. Recoil is supposed to be hard but not bone breaking, more of a strong shove actually.
20 mm Fragmentation rounds were found to be very effective on Pakistani border, before the cease fire, easily penetrating sand-bagged and mud fortifications.

Regards

Ajit