#People'sRepublicOfChina

Last year, I published a series of articles about the history of Chinese AK rifles, Part 1 was about the construction of the factories and the Russian assistance, Part 2 was about the proliferation of Type56, Part 3 was dedicated to post-Cold War changes in Chinese firearms manufacturing and in Part 4 I wrote абоут modern variants of Chinese AKs. However, I ignored one important part of China AK history – importation to the USA. And who knows it better than Jim Fuller, one of the most well-known veterans of the industry who contributed to the popularity of the AK platform in the US.

Photo Of The Day and today we go full auto in a rare rare caliber and firearm. Rare is of course a relative term, as over 43,000 units of this light machine gun were produced. For practical reasons, I think I’d prefer my BREN in 7.62×51mm NATO, how about you?

While the People’s Republic of China has one of the biggest firearms industries in the world, you rarely see any small arms of China displayed in their booth. Even at the IDEX exhibition, one of the biggest and perhaps the most diverse in the world, you never had a chance to see the newest Chinese rifles. But the world has changed, the demand in the defense industry is growing rapidly and this year, Chinese companies showcased an impressive selection of rifles at the Norinco booth.

This article is the final chapter of a 4-part series. In Part 1 I talk about how the production of AK began in China, Part 2 was dedicated to the “golden age” of Chinese AKs, and Part 3 was about the gradual decline in quality and the underlying reasons for it. In Part 4, we will take a look at the latest descendants of the Type 56 rifle, including the Chinese AK 103.

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the early days of AK production in China, Part 2 was dedicated to the “golden years” of Type 56 history when it was exported to the US and produced in multiple countries.

In Part 1 of this article, I talked about early Chinese AKs and the humble beginnings of Kalashnikov rifle manufacturing in China. By 1956, China was building new factories and improving old ones with the help of Soviet engineers, and it seemed like nothing can break apart two great comrades – the Soviet Communist party and their Chinese counterparts.

Although the Russian Kalashnikov assault rifle is the one that is most famous, it is arguably the Chinese Type 56 AK that made the bigger impression on the world in the 1960s and 70s. This rifle was initially developed with Russian technical assistance just before the Sino-Soviet split beginning in 1956, but subsequent development took place without Russian input, leading to an entire family of unique AK variants. The name “Type 56” actually refers to this entire family of Chinese AKs, which includes milled receiver variants derived from the Russian Type 2 AK, as well as stamped versions similar to (but distinct from) the AKM. These guns showed up all over the world, and for many they are THE iconic “AK-47”. They were the primary weapon of the North Vietnamese Army in the latter half of the Vietnam War, were exported by the Chinese to Africa, Asia, and South America. It was the most used AK variant by the mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War, up against Russian AK-74 rifles. Too this day remains one of the most common if not the most common AK variant, and it’s the Chinese Type 56 with its distinctive integral spike bayonet that is famously depicted as a symbol of liberation on the Flag of Mozambique.