The Firearm Blog

For reasons unknown in the West the Chinese are experimenting with a conventional/non-bullpup conversion of their QBZ-95 rifle. It is called the Type 03 / QBZ-03. Information is scarce but it appears to be currently being used by PAP (Peoples Armed Police).

Here are some photos of the rifle in action (From Ronguild and ShanghaiExpress @ MP.net):

Close ups of the rifle disassembled (click to expand):

It has been said that the reason the QBZ-03 is being developed is that the conventional design is better suited to certain mission requirements. I don’t buy that reason. While there are many reasons to love/hate bullpups it is proven that they fulfill the exact same role as conventional rifles. I am not sure what the reason is but maybe the QBZ-95 is just not performing as expected.

The rifle chambers the Chinese 5.8×42mm DBP87 round and the export version, introduced last year, chambers the 5.56mm NATO.

Specifications for the 5.56mm export version:

Caliber: 5.56 x 45mm
Overall length:960mm/710mm with butt unfolded/folded
Total weight:3.8kg / 8.4 lbs with empty magazine
Firing model: Single shot, continuous firing, 3-rounds burst
Sight: Mechanical sight or optical sight

There does not appear to be a “Canadian” version yet (Sorry, I am just jealous of those lucky Canadians and their QBZ-97 imports ).