Chiang Kai-shek rifle

Type 24 / Type Zhongzheng
Type Zhongzheng rifle/Type 24 rifle
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	Republic of China
Service history
In service	1935–1980s
Used by	National Revolutionary Army, Chinese Red Army, various Chinese Warlords
Wars	Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, Korean War
Production history
Designed	1935[1]
Manufacturer	Kunghsien, Hanyang, Jinglin and Canton Arsenals
Produced	1935–1950
Number built	between 500,000 and 600,000[1]
Variants	Chiang Kai-shek rifle Type 1, Chiang Kai-shek rifle Type 2
Specifications
Weight	4.08 kg
Length	1,110 mm
Barrel length	600 mm
Cartridge	8x57mm IS (8 mm Mauser)
Action	Bolt-action
Rate of fire	≥30 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	810 m/s (2656.8 ft/s)
Effective range	500 m
Feed system	5-round stripper clip, internal magazine

The Type Zhongzheng rifle (中正式), also known as the Chiang Kai-shek/Jiang Jieshi Rifle and Type 24 (二四式) after the Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, was a Chinese-made copy of the German Mauser Gewehr 98,^[1][2] the forerunner of the Karabiner 98k. Pre-production of the Chiang Kai-Shek rifle started in August 1935 (year 24 of the Republican calendar, hence the Type 24). It was later renamed the Type Zhongzheng and was in full scale production as early as late 1935.^[1] Although the Hanyang 88 rifle was produced in greater numbers than the Type Zhongzheng, the full standardization of the Type Zhongzheng rifle only started during the Second Sino-Japanese war.

In a ten year period, over half a million weapons were produced. The weapon's last war was in Korea, in the 1950s.

Service history

Chinese Red Army soldiers using Type 24 rifles during the Chinese Civil War

A National Revolutionary Army soldier armed with a Type 24 rifle guarding P-40 fighter planes

The weapon served as one of the main battle rifles for the Chinese National Revolutionary Army (NRA). Like the Karabiner 98k, it was a shortened and lightened version of the Gewehr 98. The quality of the weapon varied from arsenal to arsenal. Some were of superior quality while others were crudely made. Although it entered service in 1935, China's limited industrial capacity meant that it was built in low numbers. As the war progressed, however, China's industry in western cities like Chongqing and Kunming allowed more and more of these rifles to be produced. Production was largely unaffected during the Bombing of Chongqing because many of the machines had been moved underground.^[3] Roughly speaking, during the war, the rifle was only used by the non-German trained units of the Central Chinese Military, which was the core of the NRA. The German-trained units used a very similar weapon, the Mauser Model 98k Carbine. By the 1950s, the Type Zhongzheng rifle was phased out in favour of American aid equipment, such as the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and Thompson submachine gun for the Nationalists.

The major advantage of the Type Zhongzheng over the Arisaka was that it had better stopping power with the use of 8mm Mauser rounds; the rifle also had a better rate of fire and a greater range than the Arisaka. The weapon was shorter, (similar in length to the Karabiner 98k) when compared with the Gewehr 98 and the Arisaka Type 38.

A total of between 500,000 and 600,000 weapons were produced between 1935 and 1945. The rifle saw its last war in the hands of the People's Volunteer Army against UN forces during the Korean War.^[4]

Together with the Mauser C96 handgun and the M35 Helmet, these weapons have become recognisable features of Chiang Kai-Shek's National Revolutionary Army and the Chinese army during China's turbulent early 20th century. In an ironic twist, the rifle, although named after Chiang Kai-Shek and used by his Nationalists, was also used by the Communists during the Chinese Civil war.

Sergeant Tung Chih Yeh claimed to have shot and killed over 100 Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) soldiers using a Chiang Kai-Shek rifle with and without a scope in the Yangtze area.^[5]

The rifle can have a HY1935 bayonet attached, replacing the cumbersome, yet deadly, Dadao (a type of slashing sword). Some divisions and guerilla militias who did not receive any modern weapons continued using the dadao for close combat.

The Chinese People's Militia (the forerunner of the People's Armed Police) and smaller local paramilitaries were using Chiang Kai-Shek rifles (as well as Arisakas and Mosin-Nagants) up until 1980 before it become a supplemental ceremonial weapon (the main ceremonial rifle is the SKS), for the People's Liberation Army to the present day.

Variants

There are two variants of Chiang Kai-shek rifle:^[6]

1. The Type 1 has a longer barrel and foregrip.
2. The Type 2 has a shorter barrel and foregrip with a curved-down bolt-action lever.

See also

• German-trained divisions in the National Revolutionary Army
• Gewehr 98
• Hanyang 88
• Hanyang Arsenal
• Karabiner 98k
• vz. 24

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} 奋战八年－－中正式步骑枪. Retrieved on August 2, 2008. (Simplified Chinese)
2. ^ Mauser cinese modello 1933 "standard modell". Retrieved on August 3, 2008. (Italian)
3. ^ A series of information films, Why We Fight: The Battle of China
4. ^ "Mauser" Chiang Kai Shek. Retrieved on August 3, 2008. (Italian)
5. ^ Osprey Men-at-Arms 424 : The Chinese Army 1937-1949 : World War II and Civil War
6. ^ WW2 Chinese Army. Retrieved on November 23, 2008.

External links

• Archived December 5, 2006 at the Wayback Machine (Chinese (Taiwan))