QBZ-95 - Books - Famous Chinese Shopping City

March 8, 2014


		1 Introduction 2 Overview 3 Technical Aspects 4 Design Features 5 Design Flaws 6 Operation 7 Variants 8 Export Versions 9 See also 10 External links

Famous Chinese Shopping City Books

QBZ-95

Wikipedia

Weapon-firearm|image=Image:Rifle Type 95.jpg|300px|Standard configuration QBZ-95 assault rifle.
|caption=QBZ-95 Standard Configuration
|name=Qing Buqiang Zu QBZ-95 Light Rifle Family
|type=Assault rifle
|nation=People's Republic of China
|era=Modern
|platform=Individual
|target=Personnel
|prod_date=1995 to present
|serv_date=1997 (observed) to present
|operators=People's Republic of China
|ammo= 5.8 x 42 mm DBP87
|length= 760 mm (29.9 in)
|barrel=520 mm (18.2 in)
|weight= 3.4 kg unloaded (
|mag=30 round standard, 75-round Drum
|action= Short stroke Gas-actuated with rotating bolt
|rof=~ 650 round/min
|muzzle_vel=930 m/s (3,050 ft/s)
|variant= CAR-95 Carbine, QBZ-95 Rifle, QBB-95 LSW, KBU-88 Sniper, QBZ-97
|date= Contemporary
|wars= None
|spec_type= Individual Weapon
|calibre= 5.8 mm
|num_built= Unknown

The QBZ-95 (in Chinese, Qing Buqiang Zu, for "Light Rifle Family") assault rifle manufactured by Norinco for the People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of the People's Republic of China. This weapon uses a newly-developed ammunition type of Chinese origin, the 5.8 x 42 mm DBP87. The QBZ-95 consists of a system of firearms using a common design. This family includes a carbine variant, a standard rifle, and a light support weapon. The weapon has striking similarities of the French FAMAS assault rifle.

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Overview

The QBZ-95 was first observed outside China in 1997, when the United Kingdom ceded control of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. The QBZ-95 is a modern weapons system in a bullpup configuration, where the weapon's action and magazine are located behind the grip and trigger assembly. It was designed to replace the standard-issue Type 81 rifle, which was based on the "AKM" model of the AK-47 series. The Type 81 fired the old-style Soviet Bloc 7.62 x 39 mm M43 Cartridge.
The QBZ-95 is comparable to many modern western assault rifles. It uses modern synthetic materials in its construction, it fires a small-caliber high-velocity bullet (in a class with the NATO standard 5.56 x 45 mm SS109 or the Russian 5.45 mm x 39 M74, and it employs the bullpup configuration like the British SA80 or the Fabrique Nationale F2000.

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Technical Aspects

The QBZ-95 is in all respects a modern infantry weapon. Despite this, it has never been used in combat and thus little is known about its effectiveness. In addition, not much is known about its proprietary 5.8mm ammunition. What is known is that it operates using a gas-actuated short-stroke rotating-bolt system, similar to modern rifles such as the famous Heckler & Koch G36 and its US Military derivative, the XM8.
The selector switch on the rifle has four settings. There is a "safe" setting, a "semi-automatic" fire setting, a three-round burst-fire setting, and a fully automatic fire setting. This is another common feature in contemporary firearms, especially in those manufactured by Heckler & Koch such as the famous MP5.

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Design Features

The design of the QBZ-95 seems to be based on that of the previous Type 86 rifle, which is a very reliable, simple, and proven design. It also makes transition to the new rifle easier, as many of its operating principles are similar to the previous design. Also, the loading operation seems to be similar to the previous design as well.
Thanks to the lower-impulse round, the rifle is more controllable in automatic fire. It also has less recoil than previous weapon, a common advantage of low-impulse assault rifle cartridges.
The Chinese have stringent accuracy requirements (out to 500 m), and they have provided each rifle with a cold hammer-forged barrel, which provides excellent accuracy. Cold hammer-forged barrels are a component of accurised rifles.

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Design Flaws

The main complaint about this design is the perceived lack of hitting power. The 5.8mm round is much smaller than the previous Chinese issue 7.62 x 39 mm ammunition. However, it must be noted that small-caliber high-velocity rounds are designed to wound by fragmentation rather than sheer mass. The 5.8mm round is designed to resemble closely the wounding effects of the standard 5.56 NATO ammunition used by most Western nations.
Another unfortunate consequence of this design, common to many bullpup rifles, is that it precludes shooting from the left shoulder. Spent casings are ejected from the right side of the weapon from the ejection port, which is close to the body. Because of the bullpup configuration of the QBZ-95, the action of the weapon is much closer to the user than in a comparable normal-layout weapon. Thus, as the cartridges eject, they have a tendency to hit the operator.
A third criticism involves the sighting system. Like the M16 (rifle)|M16 series, the iron sights of the QBZ-95 are located atop the integral carrying handle and a front post. This high-sights arrangement requires the operator to expose himself to fire for to a greater degree than if the sights were located lower, in line with the barrel.

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Operation

Remember to treat all weapons as if they were loaded, and to point the muzzle in a safe direction.
Magazines are inserted into the magazine well, which is located to the rear of the pistol grip. The magazine is inserted front-first into the well so that the notch is retained in the well. The magazine is then "rocked" into place by rotating the rear of the magazine into the well (in a manner similar to the AK-47 series) until the magazine release to the rear of the well is engaged. To release the magazine, the magazine release is depressed towards the rear, and the magazine pivoted outward and disengaged from the forward catch.
The charging handle is located under the integral carrying handle. To chamber a round and charge the weapon, this handle is pulled fully to the rear and then released forward to bring a round into battery. It is now ready to fire.

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Variants

There are four specialised variants of the QBZ-95. The carbine version is known as the CAR-95. The Squad Automatic Weapon variant is the QBB-95. There is also a designated marksman version that is semi-automatic only called the KBU-88. Again, this is much like other modern rifle systems, especially the XM8 programme.

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Export Versions

The Chinese have constructed an export version, the QBZ-97, which is similar in all respects except that it is chambered in 5.56 mm NATO and it is designed to accept STANAG M-16 style magazines.

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