Type 81 assault rifle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Type 81 Assault Rifle
Type 81 Assault Rifle
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	People's Republic of China
Service history
In service	1983 (observed) - present
Used by	People's Republic of China, Pakistan^[1], Sri Lanka^[1], Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Sudan, Algeria and various forces in Africa
Wars	Sino-Vietnamese War, Sri Lankan civil war
Production history
Designed	1971
Produced	1981 - present
Number built	Unknown
Variants	Type 81 Rifle, Type 81-1 Rifle, Type 81 Squad Support Weapon, Type-81S Export Rifle, Type 87 Experimental Rifle, Type 87-1 Experimental Rifle
Specifications
Weight	3.4 kg
Length	955 mm (37.6 in)
Barrel length	445 mm (17.5 in)

Cartridge	7.62 x 39 mm Soviet M1943 (Type 81), 5.8 x 42 mm DBP87 (Type 87)
Caliber	7.62 mm
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	~ 650 round/min
Muzzle velocity	720 m/s (2,360 ft/s)
Effective range	500 m
Feed system	30 round standard
Sights	Adjustable iron sights

The Chinese Type 81 Assault Rifle is the principal automatic rifle used by the People's Liberation Army. It incorporates elements of the Dragunov, SKS, and AK series rifles. The rifle was based on the Type 56/AK-47, but with some significant improvements to reduce the recoil and muzzle jump, giving better firing accuracy. The Type 81 rifle also made some changes in its external design to make it more user friendly than the original Type 56/AK-47.

Although it is externally similar to the Type 56/AK-47, the Type 81 differs to it significantly. The most easily distinguishable feature is an exposed muzzle part of the barrel. The foresight moved back for an modification to fire rifle grenades from the barrel. There is significant gap between the trigger guard and the magazine on Type 81 rifles, while on Type 56/AK-47 type the magazine is adjacent to the front of the trigger guard. On Type 81 rifles the obsolete spike-shaped non-detachable bayonet, preferred by the PLA before, was also replaced by the more "modern" detachable knife-bayonet.

[edit] History

The weapon was introduced into PLA service in 1981 but did not become widely distributed until the late 1980s. It replaced the Type 56. Its first combat use came during the Sino-Vietnamese border conflicts of the mid 1980s.

Sri Lanka started to adopt into Type 81 rifles in 1990s but suddenly stopped the process after they realised few defects on Type 81 in operational situations, such as the safety lock's position. Currently the Sri Lankan Type 81 rifles are mainly deployed on non-operational areas.

[edit] Characteristics

Unlike its predecessors, the Type 81 is a series of weapons. The Type 81 and Type 81-1 are assault rifles and the heavier Type 81 squad machine gun is used in the squad automatic weapon role.

The Type 81-1 is similar to the Type 81 but has a collapsible stock. The Type 81 squad machine gun is heavier (5.15 kg), has a longer barrel, slightly higher rate of fire (700 rounds per minute), and fires from either the standard 30 round magazine or a 75 round drum. According to PLA soldiers and foreign users, the accuracy of the Type 81 is better than that of the AK-47 and close to that of the M-16, while the reliability is equal to that of the AK-47. The Type 81 has been exported to various countries, primarily Asian and African. The type 81 is also available for purchase in the United States and Canada. It has a reputation for being rather rough in finish but overall has a rugged quality.

[edit] Specification

	Type 81	Type 81-I	Type 81 machine gun
Overall length	955mm	750mm (butt folded)	1,004mm
Bore diametre	7.62mm
Cartridge	7.62 x 39 mm
Weight	3.50kg	3.40kg	5.15kg
Effective range	400m	400m	500m
Muzzle velocity	750m/s	750m/s	735m/s
Rate of fire (theory)	N/A	N/A	720r/m
Rate of fire (sustained)	N/A	N/A	120r/min
Cartridge capacity	30 rounds	30 rounds	75 rounds

[edit] Variants

A prototype called the Type 87 was introduced in the late 1980s. It served as a development platform for the next generation of PLA small arms, being used as a test-bed for the then new 5.8 x 42 mm DBP87 ammunition. It never went into full-scale production but have been in service with PLA special forces.

The PLA is in the process of replacing the Type 81 with the Type 95 or Type 03 series of weapons but full conversion is not expected until the mid 2010s.