The production of sporting arms in India began in November of 1952 under supervision of Mr. M.N Walton who was superintendent of Rifle factory as Ishapore ,Mr. Walton suggested that and English made double barrel gun should be copied and 25 year old B.S.A shotgun was drawn from Rifle factory Museum and used as a model .The first lot of guns and barrels were complete in February 1953 and sent to London Proof house you can find a lot of dealers say that the Barrels of early IOF were imported from Britain etc which is not true ,The first lot of guns and barrels were promptly reject by London proof house for following reasons.
1) The barrels were “rivelled” meaning that the bores are very wary, thus impossible for the viewer in pre proof and after proof views to determine changes in the bores if any.
2) Chambers not to gauge
3) Action face of more than “.002”.Since guns are rejected if .002” gap appears after proof, obviously the gap cannot be accepted before the proof
4) Looseness in Action
5) The tubes sent for provisional proof were not accepted because they were chambered, hence making it impossible to fix a plug.
The guns and tubes came back to Ishapore were they were altered according to the advice of London proof Master. Then the guns were sent to Rifle factory proof house Mr. A.G Harrison was Poof Master there he again rejected them because bore diameter was less than .729” ,the bores were than lapped out to accept .729” plug gauge and returned to the proof house. The First Indian made shotguns passed proof in March 1953
Another interesting fact here is that in 1956 Col.R.Williams working in Kirkee Ammunition factory ,suggested to Government of India that large stock of Ballistite B-16 usually used for grenade cartridge ,The Duplex load of Blackpower and Ballistite B-16 could be used for definitive shotgun proofing .Mr. A.G Harrison protested on this commenting that burning and loading characteristics of Ballistite B-16 and Blackpower are so dissimilar that they cannot they are not conducive to duplex loading. However Government of India accepted Colonels suggestion and this shotgun proof charge became law in India, being incorporated into the rules of proof.
During absence of Mr. A.G Harrison from Jan to May 1958 private gun manufacturers send shotguns of 14.16 and 20 gauge to Proof House. When he returned the found out those there shotguns were being altered in the chambers to accept 12 gauge cartridges, the only size available, These guns of 14,16and 20 gauges were being accepted and were proved and marked as 12 gauge guns! There was Board of Inquiry under the Proof master, It came out that the officers and staff had ordered the alternations of the gun chambers because only 12 gauge cartridges were available in the proof house. The people involved informed that they were not aware that shotguns of different gauges had different dimensions. Over 1000 of these dangerous guns were released for sale before error was discovered!
Sometime later when Proof Master was absent and when he returned he discovered another mess. he found out that Muzzle loading shotguns were being proved Nitro proof 12 gauge. When he approached authorities about this he was challenged to prove that Muzzle loading shotguns should not be proof tested for Nitro powder! Before the alternations were made over 1500 of these guns were accepted and passed to the public!!!
Then later in 1962 another officer at the Chief inspectorate of armaments came up with another alteration to Duplex load of Ballistite B-16 and Blackpowder which was worse than the first one.The 30 grain load for a 2 ¼” chamber with 130 grs Black powder and 33 grain load for a 2 3/4”
chamber with 100 grs of black powder .Higher blackpowder charge for a smaller chamber!!! These loading are incorporated in the India proof rules of 1957.
I know some people here are ardent fans of IOFs. I am sure readers can make out why I am not.
