What's new

INSAS Excalibur & MCIWS Ghatak Assault Rifles to Replace Indian Army's Standard Issue INSAS Rifles

In my opinion,full automatic fire on a service rifle is totally useless,the soldiers are strictly prohibited to fire on any setting,other than the semi auto.They are never taught to fire in full auto and are instructed to stick to it as much as possible.At least that's how things are in the Indian Army,can't say about others though.

It depends on muzzle climb of the system among other considerations (barrel heating + warping and affect on accuracy from prolonged sustained fire).

From what I gather, excalibur addressed muzzle climb better compared to INSAS by putting the recoil line more in line with contact point on shoulder so that the moment is mitigated (similar to M-16 design philosophy compared to AK or G3 for example).

Training will always be done on semi-auto or burst fire mode at most because soldiers have to get the precision and efficiency ingrained in them. Sustained covering fire is much more optimized with the use of machine guns...light medium or heavy depending on situation.....where bulk mass and barrel/chamber design are specifically designed to prevent early overheating, cookoff, adverse recoil etc.

However having the option of full auto fire on a standard assault rifle ....especially on a recoil mitigated platform....is always a plus....because it is better to have it and not need it than the other way around. Your squad may not always have machine gun support, or the MG squaddie might have been taken out and you need to improvise and lay down covering fire with what is in your hands etc. There are a myriad of situations that training cannot replicate 100%.....

The best compromise would be to have multiple modes and a selection lever for them like on this SIG 550 which is on safety in the picture...3 = 3 rnd burst 1 = semi S= safe, full auto hidden by guard.

1280px-Caroline-pontet-p1000527.jpg
 
Last edited:
. .
how it is in full auto mode need help.
and what is that
View attachment 259039

i m a novice in guns :D:mod:

Sorry I made a mistake in my haste. The selector is on SAFE in the picture (I posted the wrong pic without checking). As you click it down clockwise it changes from 1, and then to 3 round burst....and lastly to "20" full auto fire (if permitted by guard).

The "thing" is a full auto guard that physically prevents full auto from being selected (past 3 round burst). It can be rotated to prevent 3 round burst as well (and only provide semi auto fire)

original post edited.
 
.
Sorry I made a mistake in my haste. The selector is on SAFE in the picture (I posted the wrong pic without checking). As you click it down clockwise it changes from 1, and then to 3 round burst....and lastly to "20" full auto fire (if permitted by guard).

The "thing" is a full auto guard that physically prevents full auto from being selected (past 3 round burst). It can be rotated to prevent 3 round burst as well (and only provide semi auto fire)

original post edited.
now my confusion got cleared thanks

and need help about mciws what is its effective range?
in wikipedia its 300-500m

but many times here in pdf i read its only 250-350m.
 
.
It depends on muzzle climb of the system among other considerations (barrel heating + warping and affect on accuracy from prolonged sustained fire).

From what I gather, excalibur addressed muzzle climb better compared to INSAS by putting the recoil line more in line with contact point on shoulder so that the moment is mitigated (similar to M-16 design philosophy compared to AK or G3 for example).

You misunderstood me,I wasn't talking about the technicalities but training ethics.

Training will always be done on semi-auto or burst fire mode at most because soldiers have to get the precision and efficiency ingrained in them.
No,training is virtually always (well,99% of the times) to be conducted in by keeping the setting at semi auto.That's the norm in Indian Army.
Sustained covering fire is much more optimized with the use of machine guns...light medium or heavy depending on situation.....where bulk mass and barrel/chamber design are specifically designed to prevent early overheating, cook off, adverse recoil etc.
Knew that already,but still thanks.

However having the option of full auto fire on a standard assault rifle
Nope,not at all.Because soldiers are always under strict order of not to change the settings from semi auto to anything else,come what may!!And under the rarest of the rare circumstances,for example,while firing from a moving vehicle,they can only fire in no more than three round bursts.So there is practically no reason to keep the full auto settings on the assault rifles.
....especially on a recoil mitigated platform
Nope,not even with a recoil mitigated platform.Simply because it has got very less to do with the recoil (no matter how much you are able to cut down the recoil or muzzle rise,long bursts at over 20 meters will never be accurate to any reasonable degree) but everything to do with discipline,preventing fouling and wearing of the barrels and most importantly - conservation of ammunition.
....is always a plus
Nope,more like a minus if you ask me.
....because it is better to have it and not need it than the other way around. Your squad may not always have machine gun support, or the MG squaddie might have been taken out and you need to improvise and lay down covering fire with what is in your hands etc. There are a myriad of situations that training cannot replicate 100%.....
There appears to be a lot of misconception about this thing.Ok,do you know about the SOP followed by the Indian Army??Have you read their hand books or field manuals??Do you know what's the maximum rounds per minute are authorized by the military, for every rifle man to expend,while giving suppressive fire?? Let me notify you - every rifle man is under strict order of expending 12 shots per minute while laying down suppressive fire,whhich under circumstances,can be increased to no more than 15 per minute!!So under such strict fire discipline,even short bursts won't be needed,let alone pulling down your trigger and dumping whole mags worth of bullets in one go,and if some JCO catches some one doing the same,will probably hang him up side down in front of the Quarter Master,that's how serious these chaps are about maintaining trigger discipline!!

Let me tell you my experience of talking to a retired infantry officer,a good friend of mine by the way.And according to him,as a Major,he made it absolutely clear to his soldiers that under no circumstances,they are to fire their rifles on anything other than well aimed semi automatic fire...........and that failing to obey this rule would invite sever most punishments imaginable.The soldiers are to fire in semi auto all the time,come what may.............except in rarest of the rarest occasions,like engaging the enemy from a moving vehicle or a moving enemy etc,were they allowed to use short bursts,and that too,very sparingly;anything else,whether you are the enemy is making a dash towards your position or you are jumping into the trenches or kicking open doors of rooms full of hostiles,you are to use semi auto.
If your enemies are hosing down your position with a large volume of fire,maneuver yourself to a more suitable position,outflank him and then finish them off with well aimed semi auto fire.That's why trigger pulls in quick successions has been emphasized in the training regime and deeply ingrained into each and every soldier by Indian Army.
It has been found that,contrary to common intuition,even while clearing rooms with multiple hostiles,full automatic fire from a rifle is of virtually no use due to the low ammo capacity of the box magazines,that feed the rifles...............and also due to the fact that,the tangos would rarely take position in close groupings to each other - which means even if one is to engage them with full automatic fire from one's rifle,hoping to get all of them at one go,you won't be able to hit no more than a single opponent within a single trigger pull.Worse,engaging them on full auto setting under such high adrenaline situation,no matter how much well trained you are,will more than likely,end you up with emptying your magazine,while other tangos are still alive - and then you would be doomed for certain.That's why,even during room clearance operations,it's a virtually universal norm to use semi automatic fire.

And by the way,if one is to go by the words of my good friend,in his 15 years of service,he used three round burst only once and that too,during a training session in the range.

The best compromise would be to have multiple modes and a selection lever for them like on this SIG 550 which is on safety in the picture...3 = 3 rnd burst 1 = semi S= safe, full auto hidden by guard.
No,the best compromise would be to eliminate this full automatic setting from the rifles altogether and stick to the Safe - Semi Auto - Burst settings present in the INSAS and the M 16A4.

now my confusion got cleared thanks

and need help about mciws what is its effective range?
in wikipedia its 300-500m

but many times here in pdf i read its only 250-350m.

Depends on the ammo you are using.For the M43,you would be lucky to hit anything reliably beyond 200 meters,where as with 5.56X45,you can reliably engage point targets out to distance of 450 meters or so.............with a scope of course.But standard engagements rarely take place at such distances,with most taking place within no more than 350 yards with most kills being made within 200 yards.Of course there would be occasional exceptions every now and then,but then again,exception proves the norm.
 
Last edited:
.
Depends on the ammo you are using.For the M43,you would be lucky to hit anything reliably beyond 200 meters,where as with 5.56X45,you can reliably engage point targets out to distance of 450 meters or so.............with a scope of course.But standard engagements rarely take place at such distances,with most taking place within no more than 350 yards with most kills being made within 200 yards.Of course there would be occasional exceptions every now and then,but then again,exception proves the norm

7.62 with scope=450m .got it:tup:

and what is M43 is it 7.62x39 ammo.
 
. .
Well,you can also engage at that range even without a scope,for that's the maximum range the rear sight of INSAS 1B1 is designed to engage.But your chances of scoring hits will be significantly less at such ranges,without a scope.

INSAS?? or mciws
 
.
You misunderstood me,I wasn't talking about the technicalities but training ethics.


No,training is virtually always (well,99% of the times) to be conducted in by keeping the setting at semi auto.That's the norm in Indian Army.

Knew that already,but still thanks.


Nope,not at all.Because soldiers are always under strict order of not to change the settings from semi auto to anything else,come what may!!And under the rarest of the rare circumstances,for example,while firing from a moving vehicle,they can only fire in no more than three round bursts.So there is practically no reason to keep the full auto settings on the assault rifles.

Nope,not even with a recoil mitigated platform.Simply because it has got very less to do with the recoil (no matter how much you are able to cut down the recoil or muzzle rise,long bursts at over 20 meters will never be accurate to any reasonable degree) but everything to do with discipline,preventing fouling and wearing of the barrels and most importantly - conservation of ammunition.

Nope,more like a minus if you ask me.

There appears to be a lot of misconception about this thing.Ok,do you know about the SOP followed by the Indian Army??Have you read their hand books or field manuals??Do you know what's the maximum rounds per minute are authorized by the military, for every rifle man to expend,while giving suppressive fire?? Let me notify you - every rifle man is under strict order of expending 12 shots per minute while laying down suppressive fire,whhich under circumstances,can be increased to no more than 15 per minute!!So under such strict fire discipline,even short bursts won't be needed,let alone pulling down your trigger and dumping whole mags worth of bullets in one go,and if some JCO catches some one doing the same,will probably hang him up side down in front of the Quarter Master,that's how serious these chaps are about maintaining trigger discipline!!

Let me tell you my experience of talking to a retired infantry officer,a good friend of mine by the way.And according to him,as a Major,he made it absolutely clear to his soldiers that under no circumstances,they are to fire their rifles on anything other than well aimed semi automatic fire...........and that failing to obey this rule would invite sever most punishments imaginable.The soldiers are to fire in semi auto all the time,come what may.............except in rarest of the rarest occasions,like engaging the enemy from a moving vehicle or a moving enemy etc,were they allowed to use short bursts,and that too,very sparingly;anything else,whether you are the enemy is making a dash towards your position or you are jumping into the trenches or kicking open doors of rooms full of hostiles,you are to use semi auto.
If your enemies are hosing down your position with a large volume of fire,maneuver yourself to a more suitable position,outflank him and then finish them off with well aimed semi auto fire.That's why trigger pulls in quick successions has been emphasized in the training regime and deeply ingrained into each and every soldier by Indian Army.
It has been found that,contrary to common intuition,even while clearing rooms with multiple hostiles,full automatic fire from a rifle is of virtually no use due to the low ammo capacity of the box magazines,that feed the rifles...............and also due to the fact that,the tangos would rarely take position in close groupings to each other - which means even if one is to engage them with full automatic fire from one's rifle,hoping to get all of them at one go,you won't be able to hit no more than a single opponent within a single trigger pull.Worse,engaging them on full auto setting under such high adrenaline situation,no matter how much well trained you are,will more than likely,end you up with emptying your magazine,while other tangos are still alive - and then you would be doomed for certain.That's why,even during room clearance operations,it's a virtually universal norm to use semi automatic fire.

And by the way,if one is to go by the words of my good friend,in his 15 years of service,he used three round burst only once and that too,during a training session in the range.


No,the best compromise would be to eliminate this full automatic setting from the rifles altogether and stick to the Safe - Semi Auto - Burst settings present in the INSAS and the M 16A4.



Depends on the ammo you are using.For the M43,you would be lucky to hit anything reliably beyond 200 meters,where as with 5.56X45,you can reliably engage point targets out to distance of 450 meters or so.............with a scope of course.But standard engagements rarely take place at such distances,with most taking place within no more than 350 yards with most kills being made within 200 yards.Of course there would be occasional exceptions every now and then,but then again,exception proves the norm.

OK I was not aware. I see your point and thanks for the info.
 
.
INSAS?? or mciws

First of all,INSAS is not a rifle but a family of firearms,including but not limited to the assault rifle version - the 1B1.And yes,I was talking about the 1B1,because that's the standard issue service rifle of the Indian Army as of now.And besides,the MCIWS shares the exact same 5.56X45 barrel with its 1B1 counterpart,so the ranges for the same round in both rifles will be very close to that of each other.

OK I was not aware. I see your point and thanks for the info.

No problemo.
 
. .
its not a rifle an assault rifle ? but a firearm.
i m confused brother what you r saying

You didn't read my comment carefully enough.I said,INSAS is the name,given to a 'family of firearms'.What I meant to say by this term,was that INSAS is the collective namesake of a whole range of different firearms that consists a Squad Automatic Weapon variant,several sub machine gun variants,several carbine variants and also several assault rifle variants.The one you are referring to,the now standard issue assault rifle/service rifle of the Indian Army,is called the 1B1 - that is INSAS 1B1.
So when you refer to it by simply INSAS,it would be wrong.Because the Excalibur is also a member of the INSAS family of firearms.I hope I've made my point clear now.
 
.
You didn't read my comment carefully enough.I said,INSAS is the name,given to a 'family of firearms'.What I meant to say by this term,was that INSAS is the collective namesake of a whole range of different firearms that consists a Squad Automatic Weapon variant,several sub machine gun variants,several carbine variants and also several assault rifle variants.The one you are referring to,the now standard issue assault rifle/service rifle of the Indian Army,is called the 1B1 - that is INSAS 1B1.
So when you refer to it by simply INSAS,it would be wrong.Because the Excalibur is also a member of the INSAS family of firearms.I hope I've made my point clear now.
oh i got it now.
and congrats to you for the 2nd lieutenant rank we both got it today.
 
.
It weighs about 0.7-0.8 kg more than the m-16. Pity, but not a disaster and 20 years back India was much weaker in terms of metallurgy and ceramics. Expect an updated version to be much lighter.

M-16 is no longer the standard issue rifle of US army just as FN-FAL is no longer the standard issue of NATO.

Have you seen a INSAS rifle? All the bolts and the ridiculous suitcase handle add extra dead weight. Painting a rifle black does not make it lighter or more advanced.

The m-16 rifle started off with a similar 20 round magazine, and worse problems with jamming and unreliability.

When was the M-16 inducted?

If there were issues with ergonomics and full auto the army always has the option to demand changes.

The army has always complained against faulty products and has complained about INSAS since the Kargil war. This is why the army is desperately seeking a new replacement.

The INSAS was the very first rifle made and designed in India, and wasn't too bad. We have faced issues with many products that were imported, but somehow we demand that anything made indigenously must be absolutely perfect. Ridiculous.

This is not a cricket bat but a rifle which will defend a soldier. Anything less than perfect will result in a dead soldier or a invalid one. Will you give him your salary to support his family?

Defence of the country is more important than swadeshi. If you want to support swadeshi than stop using facebook, microsoft, sony, nokia, samsung, japanese and german automobiles and other imported goods.
 
. .
Back
Top Bottom