As I understand, the Ishy screw was installed at Ishapore to beef up the forearm as it had a tendancey to split in front of the magwell. Maybe cos of the climate, maybe cos of poor quality local wood used. I have heard about it being for grenade launching, but I think that is was more of a preventative maintenance thing and was installed if the forearm needed a crack repair or not. It appears to be added to any flavour of rifle going through an FR.
Back in Old Blighty, the Brit armourer's repair for a cracked but salvageable forearm was to glue the crack and to fit and glued oak dowel accross the width of the forearm. However, as a wartime expediency, the Brits would use the screw, in the same manner as that taken up by Ishapore. After the war any rifle returning to depot for repair would have the screw removed, the crack glued and the screw hole plugged with an oak dowel as per SOP.
So the consensus now appears to be that if a rifle has an 'Ishy screw' it doesn't neccessarily mean it had been to India for repairs.
Done neatly, I would take the looks of a wooden dowel repair over a metal screw anyday.
I guess that I am guilty of removing a rifles history in that often I get woodwork with armourer's repair that hasn't held up too good, or simply looks like crap. I redo the repair properly and neatly. I would be tempted to do same with the Ishy screw unless the rifle had obviously been though an Ishapore FR, then I would leave it in to tell the story.
Back in Old Blighty, the Brit armourer's repair for a cracked but salvageable forearm was to glue the crack and to fit and glued oak dowel accross the width of the forearm. However, as a wartime expediency, the Brits would use the screw, in the same manner as that taken up by Ishapore. After the war any rifle returning to depot for repair would have the screw removed, the crack glued and the screw hole plugged with an oak dowel as per SOP.
So the consensus now appears to be that if a rifle has an 'Ishy screw' it doesn't neccessarily mean it had been to India for repairs.
Done neatly, I would take the looks of a wooden dowel repair over a metal screw anyday.
I guess that I am guilty of removing a rifles history in that often I get woodwork with armourer's repair that hasn't held up too good, or simply looks like crap. I redo the repair properly and neatly. I would be tempted to do same with the Ishy screw unless the rifle had obviously been though an Ishapore FR, then I would leave it in to tell the story.
