Retrieved: 12/07/2013

The INSAS rifle from India is an AK47 variant. I've spent a while googling for information, and mostly found the same text block-copied with tiny, low- resolution pictures. The INSAS was supposed to replaced the FAL for the Indian Army. It uses 5.56mm ammo, 20 or 30 round mags. The front sight is combined with the gas block. I've found pictures of several variants, some with a ring around the sight post, etc. The gas block is adjustable, and can cut off gas completely if desired. The bayonet lug is pinned to the barrel between the flash hider and gas block. Some have the front sling mount pinned between the bayonet lug and gas block, others have it on the gas block. Most spec sheets say it has a carry handle, but many of the pictures I found don't show it. The handle hinges on the left, wraps entirely over the receiver, and the handle hangs below the ejection port when folded. The receiver is the usual straight AK type, but it has a Valmet-style top cover sliding into the gas tube, and no rear sight block. The handguard looks Valmet-like. It appears to be one piece, though I can't tell how it's attached. I found no drawings, manuals, or exploded views for the INSAS, so a lot of this is guesswork. The rear sight is on the top cover. The tiny pictures I've found show... something... in the middle of the top cover. It might be a base for a scope. The safety and fire selector are on the left side. So is the cocking handle. The right side is blank, other than the ejection port. There's no slot for the cocking handle, and no safety lever on the right. There's no slot on the left of the top cover either - the cocking handle is at the forward end of the gas piston! This was the most interesting part of the INSAS as far as I was concerned, so it was irritating I could find no exploded view of how it worked. As far as I can tell, the gas tube would have to be slotted for the handle to ride back. There's either a gaping slot for crud to enter, or some kind of internal cover that slides back with the bolt handle; I can't even tell that from what I've found. I'd love to find an INSAS gas block and cocking handle bits for an AK project, but I've not found any INSAS parts for sale anywhere.
TRX
12-23-2009

I found the Indian Ordnance Factory web site:

Indian Ordnance Factories: Weapons

Looks like they make an RPK style variant too. Unfortunately, they have one tiny picture and almost no useful information of any of their products.

One peculiarity is their ".315 Sporting Rifle", which appears to be a brand- new-production Enfield SMLE. Very nice stock, too. Elsewhere on their site they list '.315"/8mm ball" ammunition, which someone on enfield-rifles.com identified as 8mm Mannlicher from the picture.

TRX
08-10-2010 Searching for "INSAS field strip" turned up this thread from India:

The INSAS 5.56mm Rifle- A Technical Treatise

Lots of interesting information there. Some better pictures of the charging handle, and some of the gas block, which is apparently derived from the FNC.

The right side view shows a receiver with a HUGE "trigger bulge". They got rid of the AK selector entirely, and moved the selector/safety hole to a different location, probably to make it easier for the left-side selector lever. Unique rear trunnion rivet pattern. Ordinary-ish AKM front pattern. The rails appear to be riveted in instead of welded. The trigger looks highly curved at the bottom, at least by comparison to the Chinese military one I have sitting here on the desk.

The receiver is 1mm, and the magwell dimples are rectangular, not rounded at the ends. Top cover is hinged like a Krinkov. Hinge is riveted to the cover. Front trunnion is Yugo width at the top; straight up instead of being pinched around the barrel pin, which is longer than a regular AKM pin. Looks like a flat-side Yugo trunnion.

The author claims the trigger group bits are either FNC or very similar, which is why the axis pins are all in different locations. The selector is on the left side, similar to a Tantal. The selector rotates through nearly 180 degrees. The author said the settings are safe, semi, and three-round burst, which means the mechanism would be a *lot* different than an AKM.

The pistol grip looks like a regular AKM, except part of the left side is shaved a bit to clear the selector. It's nothing like the big semicricular cutout on a Galil; it looks like someone just held the pattern up to a belt sander for a moment before sending it off to have copies made.

Some Valmets and derivatives have a reinforcement lip around the back of the top cover. The INSAS has a complete buttcap spot welded over the back, or maybe it forms the back. The sides of the top cover where it meets the receiver and wavy and irregular; the whole part is kind of grotty looking, even by AK standards.

The top cover has the usual spring retainer hole, plus a crosswise lock similar to a Yugo. The gas block also has a flip-up grenade sight and gas blockoff like a Yugo.

The top handguard is held on with spring clamps, and has "PULL" cast in at the front. You just pull it straight off. Underneath there's... weirdness. It looks like a long RSB without ears, with a regular gas tube catch hidden under the cover. The gas tube itself is short. There are ears on the "trunnion extension" to hold the folding carry handle.

The trunnion extension apparently has something to do with the cocking handle, which makes sense, since the RSB is smack in the way otherwise. But all the pictures are from the wrong side... argh!

Finish is gray Parkerize, no paint. Magazines are clear plastic, 20 round, and apparently come preloaded in cardboard sleeves. The original M-16 mags were supposed to be disposable; I think that's the idea here, too.

The stock is plastic, and butts snugly up against the back of the receiver instead of leaving the usual gap.

So, in short, the INSAS is way more different than I expected. Even the PSL and Truvelo Raptor are closer to an AKM than an INSAS!

TRX
08-21-2010

INSAS shorties
INSAS now has a SMG variant, called the Indian Modern Submachine Carbine (MSMC).

They also have a carbine.

The SMG looks like it might use the INSAS top cover and charging handle setup, but everything else is different. Note the sliding stock setup. You could do a mean-looking SBR that looks a lot like this... it's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the foregrip, trigger guard, and grip or magwell cover are all one piece.

The carbine has both fore and rear triggers, a much larger charging knob, and I'm not real sure about that stock - it looks like it swings up and forward, like that old Valmet tanker shorty. Looks like the forward part sits so low it would hit the web of your hand.