UK arms maker gunning for excellence in UP, rest of India
WEBLEY & SCOTT HAS ENTERED INTO A JOINT VENTURE WITH ITS INDIAN ARM TO PRODUCE 3,000 REVOLVERS ANNUALLY
KANPUR : If power flows from the barrel of a gun, excellence in shooting, as a sport, is triggered by hours of practice.
With the aim of honing the skills of marksmen and changing the way guns are perceived, iconic British firearms maker Webley & Scott will set up two shooting ranges in every state to promote shooting as a sport, besides manufacturing revolvers in Uttar Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh, the company will establish two ranges in Kanpur and Gorakhpur apart from one testing range in Sandila on its factory premises spread over 6,400 metres, said Maninder Sial, promoter of its Indian arm Sial Manufacturing Private Limited.
Webley & Scott has entered into a joint venture with its Indian arm to produce 3,000 revolvers annually. It will produce its first weapon on the Indian sub-continent from its Sandila factory in Hardoi district in November.
“We want to change the definition of what people think about weapons. They are not meant to be seen as tools for shooting but as sporting instruments,” Maninder Sial said.
The ranges will be named after Webley & Scott and people could come and use the weapons and ammunition given there.
“They can do trap shooting, skeet shooting and 10-metre pistol shooting. They will learn shooting as a sport. At the same time, they will unlearn about the weapon whose image is imbibed in their psyche in altogether a different way,” he said.
Maninder Sial, 50, was the key in bringing Webley &Scott, to the backyard of the state capital Lucknow. His family has been associated with the firearms business for over 50 years. He had been importing firearms and selling them soon after he completed college.
His association with Webley & Scott goes back to 2003. Since 2010, he was trying to tie up with the iconic company that armed the allied forces in two World Wars.
“We could not succeed then. The opportunity came in 2017 under the current government. We jointly applied for the licence in 2018 and got (it) in March 2019,” he said.
At present, the company has finalised the production line of .32 bore revolver Mark IV. Engineers from Webley & Scott have visited the facility and trained 40 men whom the Sials hired locally. In the second phase, air guns would be made in June 2021 and shotguns in November 2021.
“Our experts are testing the revolvers,” he said, adding the company would employ a total 200 people, who would be from Hardoi, by the time all the four units become functional.
Thereafter, Webley & Scott would produce .9x19 parabellum pistols for the army, police and the para-military forces, which use Glock pistols.