Does the .308 cal make it worth more, less, or no difference? What do I need to look for on it?I likely will never shoot it. Should I "slick" it up and make it look new again? Thanks
Marcus
All of the Ishapore 7.62 rifles I have run across has had the black paint or some remnants of it somewhere, I would leave it.
The Ishapore 7.62 usually doesn't carry the clout a true .303 British does because they were made from '65 to '70 or so and not really used in any "wars", just maybe some inter nation conflict and turmoil. They don't carry the history, but they were manufactured on the same equipment as the British variant. India was a British commonwealth state back in the day. The 2A has a quoted production of about 50,000, everything else is 2A1s. There is also one slight difference in the models, the 2A and 2A1. The rear sight calibration, the 2A rear sight is calibrated for the 303brit round, they adjusted and revised it in the 2A1. Also the Ishapore is like the Enfield, subject to headspace issues and can be remedied buy replacing the bolt head. Also it's recommend not to shoot hot loaded ammo, I've used .308 reduced recoil, plain WWB ammo and at times Wolf 308, along with regular NATO ammo with no issues. This is one rifle along with the FR8s and other known 7.62 NATO rifles, I own a Forester no-go guage, thus far, none have failed.
None the less, it is a collectors piece and slowly has risen in price over time, usually selling in the 400/450 range at some of the recent shows I've seen.
My 1965 Ishapore 2A with the 303 caibrated sight, copied from the Mk1 No3. Goes out to 2000 meters.
My 1967 Ishapore 2A1 with the revised calibrated 7.62 sight. Same blade, but now it goes to just 800 meters, also side by side the elevation raises at a different rate.
Typical marking for a Ishapore.