It Lives!

Tongzhimen he Shubingmen!DorogiyeSoldaty i Druzhya!Pengyoumen, Nin Hao

Greetings from the sunny land of Brisbane Australia. This is where the world will be able to read the infamous GI Zhou Newsletter, feared by crap analysts and the PLA ( I wish).

This isssue looks at new Chinese small arms ammunition, the ‘new’ Chinese Model 03 assault rifle, armoured ambulances and Chinese armour in 1937 and 1938.

The Development of the 5.8mm DBP87 Round

In March 1971 the Chinese military decided to move towards a smaller rifle and machine gun calibre rifle and various calibres between 5m and 6mm. A recent article in Qing Bingqi looks at various cartridges developed before the 5.8mm DBP87 was accepted into service. Known by their factory numbers, their specifications are in Appendix One. The factory number of the DBP87 was 721 but is not included. For comparison this cartridge weighs 12.5g, is 61mm long overall, and the projectile weighs 4.15g with an overall length of 24.3 mm. Although its designation is 5.8mm the round is actually 6mm in diameter.

Comparison Penetration Figures for the 5.8mm DBP87 round

Penetration percentages using the 5.56mm NATO (SS109), Russian 5.45mm and the Chinese 5.8mm against an A3 steel plate are below. Please note the hardness of the steel is not known, nor whether the 5.8mm had the standard steel core. The average muzzle velocities of the rounds were measured at: 5.56mm NATO 846 m/s, 5.45mm 847.1 m/s and 5.8mm DBP87 885 m/s.
300 metres 10mm A3 steel plate 0O
5.56mm NATO Nil5.45mm Russian Nil5.8mm DBP87 100%
640 metres 3.5mm A3 steel plate 0O
5.56mm NATO 100%5.45mm Russian 18.2%l5.8mm DBP87 100%
700 metres 3.5mm A3 steel plate 0O
5.56mm NATO 72.7%5.45mm Russian Nil5.8mm DBP87 100%
12 Gauge Shotgun Bag Round
Using the standard 12 gauge 23/4 inch shotgun case containing a 32g ball shaped cotton bag containing powder tied up with a piece of string – I kid you not. Two rounds are available, one using white powder and the other red dye marking powder.
The bag has a muzzle velocity of 75 +/- 10m/s and at 5 metres delivers a 120J blow at 12J/cm2 but at 15m this drops to 27J at 4Jcm2. At 30 m it delivers a 5J punch and can operate across a temperature range of –300C to + 450C.

Model 98 low lethality hand grenade

The Model 98 looks like a mini ball type grenade and has a diameter of 50mm and a length of 86.2mm, which includes a long safety handle. It weighs 115.5g with its 50g charge producing a 2 to 2.5 second flash of 4.2 x 107 candela and a noise of 182 decibels. Its danger radius is one metre and its effective radius is 10 – 15 metres depending on the area of explosion.

Model 03 Assault Rifle

The PLA has designated a product improved version of the QBZ95A assault rifle which itself was an improved version of the QBZ87A. The major differences are a new folding stock copied from the Heckler and Koch G36, a SIG 550 style fore grip and a slim mount for the standard optical sight used on Chinese rifles. Other than that there is nothing new to the rifle.

PLA Tracked Armoured Ambulances

There have been three armoured tracked armoured ambulances in PLA service. The first was based on the Model 63 APC and was designated the WZ750. It was 5.476m long, 2.464m wide and 2.763m high including the Model 59 12.7mm machine gun. It had a vehicle crew of two with two medics and could take four lying or eight sitting patients.

The next is the WZ751 based on the YW531H hull. It is armed with the Model 59 12.7mm machine gun with 560 rounds and has a vehicle crew of two in addition to two medics. It can accommodate eight siting wounded, four lying or two lying and six sitting. It has an overall length of 6.1 m by 3.06 m wide by 2.816m high including the Model 59 12.7mm machine gun. Its maximum torque is 53.9 kilopascals with a maximum output of 236 kilowatt giving the vehicle a top road speed of 65 km/hr and 6 km/hr in the water. Its maximum ranges are 500km on road and 61km in water.

The latest armoured ambulance is the WZ752, which is based on the Model 89 hull and 534mm longer than the WZ751. This gives it better sea keeping qualities enabling it to ferry wounded soldiers from the shore to the internal docks of suitably equipped amphibious warfare vessels. It is unarmed and carries the same amount of medics and wounded as the WZ751. An internal view of the WEZ532 shows it to be similarly equipped as a large civilian ambulance.

Chinese Armour 1937 and 1938

Following on from earlier GI Zhou Newsletters a recent Chinese article looks at Chinese armour in the early stages of the Sino-Japanese War. In 1935 and 1936 the Guomindang received at least 15 PzKpfw I light tanks and a small number of Sd.Kfz221/222 four-wheel drive armoured cars and 37mm anti-tank guns from Germany, 20 CV-33 tankettes from Italy, and 20 Vickers Model E ‘six-ton’ tanks and 29 Vickers Carden-Loyd light tanks from the United Kingdom. With some old ex-French FT-17 and earlier purchases of Vickers ‘six-ton’ tanks these comprised the armoured strength of the Nationalist Army at the beginning of 1937.

On 13 August at the start of the Battle for Shanghai amongst the equipment available to available to Guomindang forces defending Shanghai were Vickers Model Es, which were in four platoons of five tanks, and three platoons PzKpfw I light tanks in three platoons of five tanks. At least one Vickers Model E and PzKpfw I were captured by the Japanese.
To make au for the losses that the Guomindang had suffered the Soviet Union provided aid in the form of military equipment. These included 83 T-26 light tanks and a smaller number of BT series tanks and BA-3/6/10 and BA-20 armoured cars On the 15th January 1938 the strength of Guomindang 200th Armoured Division was 70 T-26 light tanks, four BT-5 fast tanks and 18 CV-3 tankettes, survivors of the 20 ordered in 1934 they having missed had the battles of 1937. There were 50 BA series armoured cars and Vickers Model E tanks available in reserve. Also on strength were 12 122mm howitzers, 45mm anti-tank guns and 75mm field guns.
I will be getting more Chinese military journals on Friday so there will be a December issue.
Zai Jian,

GI Zhou

Appendix One
Some developmental cartridges used during the trials for a new Chinese main rifle and machine gun cartridge.
Factory number 321 791 861 930 940 941 942
Calibre (mm) 6 5.81 6 5.8 5.8 6 6
Cartridge Weight (g) 12.7 12.45 12.2 12.63 11.7 13.0 12.4
Length Overall (mm) 56 56.5 56.8 58.0 59.5 55.0 58.0
Powder weight (g) 1.75 1.67 1.76 1.6 1.69 1.81 1.66
Proposed Barrel Length (mm) 520 520 520 520 520 540 540
Number of rifling lands 4 6 4 6 6 6 3
Twist (1 in X mm) 240 260 240 260 240 240 300
Projectile weight 4.2 4.2 4.42 3.9 3.9 4.3 4.1