Type 81

The Type 81 is a Chinese-designed selective-fire assault rifle chambered in 7.62×39mm.

The Type 81 is a Chinese-designed selective-fire assault rifle chambered in 7.62×39mm. It entered service with the People’s Liberation Army in the 1980s as a family of weapons that included the standard Type 81, the Type 81-1 with a folding stock, and the Type 81 light machine gun. The Type 81 has also appeared in Canadian firearms discussions, collector markets, and import reports, making it familiar to some Canadian gun owners.

Development and service

The Type 81 was developed in China in the early 1980s and adopted by the People’s Liberation Army as a replacement for the Type 56 family. Sources differ on the precise adoption timing, but agree it entered service in the 1980s and remained important through that decade and beyond.

Design

The rifle is gas-operated with a rotating bolt and uses the 7.62×39mm cartridge. It is commonly described as combining design influences from earlier Chinese and Soviet-pattern firearms while remaining a distinct Chinese design.

Variants

The Type 81 is a weapon family rather than a single model. Commonly cited variants are the standard Type 81 rifle, the Type 81-1 folding-stock version, and the Type 81 LMG squad automatic weapon.

Service and exports

The Type 81 served as an important Chinese infantry weapon and was exported under Norinco branding. Later Chinese rifle programs eventually superseded it in frontline PLA service, though it continued to appear in other roles and markets.