For a long time, the firepower of our infantry squad has been the squad leader and vice squad leader with 56-type assault rifles, the rest of the soldiers with 56 semi-automatic rifles, and a 56/56- 1 infantry squad light machine gun. The gun configuration of "submachine gun"+rifle+light machine gun continued from the 1960s to the 1980s. For this reason, many people are confused. The prototype of type 56 assault rifle is AK-47. Machine gun, why did China make it into a mixture of submachine gun, semi-automatic rifle and light machine gun?

There are different views on this phenomenon. Some people say that the 56-type semi-automatic rifle has good shooting accuracy and bears the heavy responsibility of "quasi-accurate shooter rifle". Veterans prefer the high precision of 56 and a half; The reason is that guns are expensive, ammunition consumption is too high, and logistics can't afford it. So are these statements true?

Before answering this question, let me talk about why the infantry classes in various countries generally used a mixed form of rifles and submachine guns during World War II. During World War II, the main rifles in most countries were non-automatic rifles, with long range and large firepower, but insufficient firepower in melee. During World War I and World War II, some countries developed a variety of fully automatic rifles that fired powerful rifle bullets, but the weight of all rifles exceeded the standard and the load of individual soldiers was too large. Very impractical, and finally either eliminated, or replaced by light machine guns for the team to make do. Under the technical conditions at that time, the only feasible way to meet the requirements of light weight, good portability and controllable recoil during continuous firing was to fire pistol bullets, that is, submachine guns. Therefore, at that time, the infantry squad generally used a mixture of single rifles and submachine guns, relying on rifles at a long distance and submachine guns for melee assault firepower within the range of 150m.

After World War II, the Soviet Union took the lead in popularizing the 7.62x39mmM43 medium-power rifle, and briefly installed SKS semi-automatic carbine, which was the prototype of China 56 semi-automatic rifle. However, the Soviet army quickly installed AK-47 and found that since they were all equipped with medium-power rifles, why not popularize AK-47 step by step? Therefore, the Soviet army quickly dismantled the SKS carbine and promoted AK-47 among the infantry. In addition to the Soviet Union, most countries of the Warsaw Pact, as well as third world countries friendly to the Soviet Union, are also in place in one step.

Back to our China. Before our country was equipped with Type 56 series infantry weapons, the infantry class riflemen were equipped with Type 53 infantry rifles that copied Mosinnagan M44 carbine, and Type 54 submachine guns that copied Su PPS-43 submachine guns, as well as squad leaders and vice squad leaders. Type 53 rifle is a non-automatic rifle with low firepower density. Type 54 submachine guns that need pistol bullets to suppress shooting in melee-this is the practice of foreign troops during World War II.

However, after the introduction of AK-47 and SKS, the tactical thinking of our army has not changed, and we continue to follow the old road of "riflemen are equipped with single-shot rifles for precise shooting and submachine guns are equipped with continuous shooting". A submachine gun used for melee suppression. "Old concepts and tactics are used to set up new equipment, so infantry is still divided into riflemen and submachine guns. Rifleman is equipped with Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and submachine gun is equipped with Type 56 "submachine gun". Many people ask why the imitation AK47 is called a submachine gun, because it is to replace the previous Type 54 submachine gun. Its preparation and use are all used as "large submachine guns", so it is still called submachine guns. In fact, the ammunition of AK47, like SKS, is a medium-powered rifle ammunition. In the combat distance of ordinary infantry, its shooting accuracy is slightly worse than SKS, but it is completely sufficient. If assault rifles are fully equipped, the melee firepower of infantry units can be greatly improved. The advantages of AK-47 have not been brought into play by mixing semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns.

Of course, our army was not stupid, and soon realized that it was necessary to equip individual soldiers with automatic guns that could shoot continuously. "rifle in one" type 63 automatic rifle. Due to the excessive emphasis on preparation for war in the special historical period, the production target was set too high, and the radish was washed too fast, which hastily changed the basic structure. The failure rate of Type 63 automatic rifle rises sharply, and the firing accuracy drops sharply. Extremely unpopular, shouting slogans such as "Give me back the semi-automatic" and rushing back to history.

However, as long as the slogan is shouted, the continuous firepower is still good, so the PLA will equip the participating troops with Type 56 assault rifles for the first time. Whether it is the armed conflict on Zhenbao Island in 1969 or the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam in 1979, the number of participating troops in the war has greatly increased in Type 56 assault rifles. For example, when preparing to counterattack Vietnam in self-defense, 56 rifles were distributed to each infantry class of the participating troops, one of which was distributed to the combat team leader, so that each infantry class was the squad leader and vice squad leader, and 56 rifles were distributed to the combat team leader. By the time of the Sino-Vietnamese border war in the 1980s, the number of Type 56 assault rifles had greatly increased, basically one for each person. Later, it began to change to 8 1 gun family. At this point, the 56-type semi-automatic rifle was withdrawn from the first-line combat troops and was only used for standing guard and honor guard, as well as militia reserve training.

So, is the production cost of Type 56 assault rifle higher than that of Type 56 semi-automatic rifle? Is there a situation that Type 56 assault rifle cannot be fully loaded because of its high cost? People who hold this view may think that Type 56 semi-automatic rifle is cheap and Type 56 assault rifle is expensive. After all, one can be repeated and the other can only be shot alone. But counterintuitively, the cost of Type 56 assault rifle is lower than that of Type 56 semi-automatic rifle. According to the configuration price of this gun in China 1975, the unit price of 56 semi-automatic rifle is 135 yuan, the unit price of 56 fixed stock submachine gun is 128 yuan, and the unit price of 56- 1 metal folding stock submachine gun is 125 yuan. Semi-automatic rifles are more expensive mainly because they use more wood. Wooden parts are the most expensive parts on the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle. The 56- 1 submachine gun is cheaper than the 56-type assault rifle because there are fewer pieces of wood. The fixed material is replaced by metal folding material. Therefore, the statement that "the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle is equipped for cost reasons" is actually untenable.

The cost of guns is not high, but will ammunition consumption of some weapons be high? Will Type 56 assault rifles not be popularized because they can't afford ammunition? This statement is also unfounded. According to the wartime ammunition carrying plan, each Type 56 semi-automatic rifleman carries 9 Type 56 ordinary bridge bullets, * * 90 bullets, plus 10 bullets in the gun, 100 bullets, backpack 100 bullets and * * 100 bullets. Type 56 assault rifle carries three 30-round magazines on the chest, 1, *** 120 rounds on the gun, 60 rounds of ordinary ammunition and 20 rounds of tracer bullets in the backpack, and ***200 rounds. The difference between the wartime ammunition loads of the two guns is only 30 rounds, indicating that the expected ammunition consumption in the battle is similar. Although Type 56 assault rifle can shoot continuously, it does not shoot continuously in battle, but shoots in short bursts with 2-3 rounds. There is no type 56 assault rifle, which consumes a lot of ammunition and cannot supply all the popular ammunition.

What's more, the focus of modern land logistics support is all kinds of fuels, technical weapons accessories and shells. The proportion of light weapons and ammunition is not high. So much fuel, spare parts and shells can be guaranteed, but the bullets of Type 56 assault rifle can't? It also underestimated the PLA's logistical support capability.

As for "Type 56 semi-automatic rifle is used as a precision shooter rifle", this statement is over-interpreted. Type 56 semi-automatic rifle is a kind of weapon to fire a medium-power rifle, with an effective range of 400m m, and the shooting accuracy is only slightly higher than that of the single-shot shooting of Type 56 assault rifle, but there is not much difference. 100m distance, R50 is less than or equal to 5 cm, not to mention the sniper rifle of SVD, which is not even as good as the automatic rifles of 8 1- 1 and 95 (so there are always people. In the fifties and sixties of last century, our army did extend the barrel of the 56-type semi-automatic rifle and install a small magnification optical sight to develop the so-called "special shooter rifle". But at that time, it was just an experiment, and it was not equipped with troops. A large number of Type 56 semi-automatic rifles equipped with troops are still used as ordinary rifles by individual soldiers.

Therefore, in the sixties and seventies, our army did not fully popularize the Type 56 assault rifle, nor did it equip the Type 56 assault rifle as an assault rifle to individual soldiers in the infantry class, so there is no need to over-interpret it. The main reason is that tactical thinking has not turned a corner and is conservative.

At the end of the article, I have to say a commonplace topic, that is, the rumor of "one-way universal". There are two versions: one version says that the bore of Type 56 assault rifle produced in China is slightly larger than that of Soviet AK47, and the caliber of domestic Type 56 rifle is slightly larger than that of Soviet M43 rifle; Another version is that a veteran who has experienced revolutionary war in China had a brainwave and asked to increase the magazine mouth of the domestic 56-type assault rifle by1mm. The core of the two statements is the same-during the war, the Soviets seized our bullets and magazines without using their own AK-47, while we seized Soviet magazines and ammunition, but they could use them.

But a little common sense can tell that both versions are extremely stupid nonsense. China's Type 56 assault rifles are exported to many countries in the world, especially the third world countries. There are various sources of guns and ammunition in these countries, including AK47 and AKM produced in the Soviet Union, imitations produced in Eastern European countries, and Type 56 assault rifles from China. Bullets are also international brands. These AK series guns from different sources are often mixed with accessories. For example, the Type 56 assault rifle produced in China uses a glass fiber reinforced plastic magazine produced in the Soviet Union, and the bullets are mixed with each other. If the legendary "1mm size" really existed, it would have been discovered long ago. How can it be universal? So stop spreading such stupid rumors.