Wasn't a big complaint of the QJY-88 was that it lacked stopping power? Most American and Russian GPMG's use a heavier round, namely a 7.62 variant of some sort, it seems to be somewhat weird that they are going to continue to use 5.8mm for their GPMG.
PLA Small arms
- Thread starter Vanguard1688
- Start date
Yes, but as I mentioned in the post previous to it, are the receivers actually the same?
right now I'm tending to yes, but it would be better if the picture were a bit higher resolution, and if both rifles were at the same angle leaning against the wall as well.
As for "all the jazz" -- the reason I'm focusing on those parts is because we know the rifle is probably meant to be part of a modular family... so we should be looking for any commonalities and/or differences in those other parts which may tilt the rifle's identity towards one or the other in absence of a fully clear view of the receivers.
We know that the PLA seems to be interested in their new rifle being part of a modular family, so it makes complete sense to linger more carefully on the details of these interchangeable parts, because interchangeable though they may be there should still be some degree of consistency that we should expect and look out for.
You almost make it sound like the Army will be slapping on aftermarket mods for these new rifles which are almost definitely still in the test phase, and so any differences in those interchangeable parts can just be ignored. In fact, I think looking at the interchangeable parts is quite important given the new rifle family is meant to be modular.
I think the rifle in question might be an LMG rather than a GPMG...
Well the rumors said it was a GPMG so I just went along with it, and the MG in question has a pretty long barrel that is closer to what you would expect from a GPMG than an LMG.
Yes, that's what I said over on CDF too, and I saw the post which mentioned it as GPMG...
But if the magazine there is really meant for that gun, then I think it would make more sense for it to be a new LMG than GPMG.
The gun seems to be belt-fed judging by its body and the weapon seems rather large to be magazine fed, but looking back at the photos, it does somewhat resemble the AR's in the pictures posted by SinoSoldier so who knows, it could be the LMG version of one of the AR's in competition similar to how the QBB-95 was to the QBZ-95.
It might be -- but as hongjian said over on CDF when i posed a similar question to him, he said it would be sensible to have both a squad automatic weapon/lmg variant of an assault rifle (like QBB-95) but also to have a dedicated LMG that can do more sustained fire.
So essentially just like the QJY-88 and QBB-95's roles as GPMG and SAW respectively?
Hopefully not, because 5.8mm would be probably a poor choice for GPMG.
Instead this is hopefully a new LMG in 5.8mm, which would best be seen as operating alongside SAW/IAR like weapon which will probably be a variant of the new assault rifle family. I'm not sure what an equivalent set up in other armies would be.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
The PLA Infantry Doctrine seems to be in favor a universal caliber concept. so 5.8 Pistol, SMG, 5.8 Carbine, Rifle, 5.8 DMR, MG. in this concept then the Belt fed Type 88 would be a GPMG well the QBB95 would be the Infantry level LMG or IAR along the lines of mission as the HK M27 in the USMC. Well the QYJ88 would be in the same mission role as the M240 used by the USMC at the higher levels.
I suspect it's a overhaul of the QJY88
If you compare the two, We see a very similar overall layout. I suspect this is the update along the lines we see with the QBZ 95 I improvements to fix issues found in the gun over it's service and bring it up to modern spec.
That top tray screams Belt feed. Some LMG's like the M249 can feed from magazines as an emergency measure and we don't know the details of the photo shot but based on the setting this is hardly in line with the staged shots we normally see it could be this is an actual shot in training where they used a magazine so to train the shooter and limit the amount ammo spent.
I doubt that the changes seen do not seem in line with the new Rifles lay out or structure other than the stock and handguard but those seem a passing resemblance.
For the infantry although other Arms like the Tank corps still use 7.62x54mm It may be that the PLA Infantry favors a Universal for it's needs as it in theory reduces weight and logistics well the Cavalry and Aviation elements having speed organic to them and wanting more punch and range kept the older 7.62x54R.
that seems the course they chose but
yup which is why a scailed up version in 7.62x54R would be a good idea. atleast at platoon or company level.
The Brits for a little while used a mix of IAR/DMR L86A1 rifles alongside L108A1 and L110A1 ( both FN Minimi) in some places but in those conditions the L86A1 became more DMR then IAR. I think that the PLA is intending to keep the QBB95 at the Squad level well the QJY and this new version are at Platoon or Company level.
Looking at this and comparing to the 88
The Stock is different and doesn't
seem the same as those on the trial rifles . Although it may borrow some geometry I think it's more tailored to the needs of a Belt fed LMG likely with a buffer to ease control like these found on the Barrett Rifles M240LW
They offer adjustable Length of pill and ease of recoil. They also added a Mirage shield over the barrel and moved the carry handle back likely because of the shield. this shield is meant to alleviate issues of heat mirage that can cause issues when sighting a rifle during a period of fire. They moved both the Iron sight and Bipod back. The Ironsight now seems to be attached to the gas Regulator plug. This may have been to ease manufacture or to allow the shooter something to grab in barrel swap. the receiver seems bulked up this may be due to the new 5.8x42mm DBP10 ammo or issues of breakage or new materials or all of the above. I mean at this point the QJY 88 production is 18 years old the design itself is about 28 years old so it's due for a PIP. Norinco likely leveraged some of the new ideas it had for the Trial rifles into any update program hence the resemblance.