China once produced the world's most advanced Liu's semi-automatic rifle

During World War I, most countries still used bolt-action rifles. As the war intensified, all countries focused on the firepower of individual soldiers. Higher requirements were put forward, which gave rise to a variety of semi-automatic rifles. At that time, China basically purchased weapons from Western countries, and even the most basic rifles, including bullets, needed to be imported in large quantities. There are all kinds of things. Even though the country is weak and has no sense of scientific research strength, the Chinese, who have just cut off their whips, have actually developed a semi-automatic rifle designed and manufactured entirely by themselves. Liu's semi-automatic rifle could be said to be advanced in China at the time, and it also surprised Westerners.

Liu's semi-automatic rifle

The designer of this gun is named Liu Qing'en, so it is called Liu's semi-automatic rifle, and Americans call it "General Liu's semi-automatic rifle". Liu Qingen is a native of Deyang, Sichuan. He studied at the Guangdong Naval Academy and the Tokyo Imperial University in Japan (1906). He also interned at the Hubei Gun Factory. Later, he was sent to the Krupp Arsenal in Germany for two years to study and study. These experiences gave him He laid a solid foundation in weapons manufacturing and design. This gun was designed and manufactured in 1914 when he was the director of Hanyang Arsenal.

The muzzle of Liu's semi-automatic rifle

What is special about this gun is that its semi-automatic principle is different from the semi-automatic made abroad at that time. At that time, the American M1 Garand, the Soviet svt40 and the German G43 semi-automatic rifles were all gas-guided, that is, the gunpowder gas pushed the piston back through the gas hole in the barrel, and the piston then pushed the bolt back to complete automatic loading and other actions. Liu's semi-automatic rifle uses the deflagration gas from the muzzle to push the gas collecting cover at the muzzle when shooting. The gas collecting cover then acts on the connecting rod to complete the loading action, and the gas collecting cover can be converted into a single-shot manual rifle by rotating. , which is somewhat similar to the gas adjustment roller on the modern 81 automatic rifle (automatic shooting switches to single-shot semi-automatic shooting, used for low air pressure or launching rifle grenades). This gas-collecting hood type automatic principle is also used for reference during foreign inspections. came.

Muzzle gas collecting cover

The connecting rod device of Liu's semi-automatic rifle

The gun uses 7.9 mm bullets, and the muzzle velocity reaches 780 meters per second. The power is good. However, the gun was tested by the Ordnance Department on September 8, 1916. After the first shot was fired, the bolt could not be loaded. The specific reason was that the self-produced spring was not up to standard. Later, the problem disappeared after the spring imported from abroad was replaced. There are other minor glitches. This was mainly because China's manufacturing technology level was too backward at that time. Many parts of firearms had large manufacturing tolerances. Some parts were even hand-polished by workers. For semi-automatic firearms, the allowable manufacturing tolerances of accessories are far greater than those of manual rifles. Much lower. If we had the industrial technology level of European and American countries, these exposed problems should not exist. It's just that the domestic industrial level cannot meet the conditions for manufacturing such a gun. First of all, foreign steel must be used, including propellant for bullets that can meet the requirements of automatic firearms. It cannot be manufactured domestically and must be imported. The conclusion of the Ordnance Department meeting on September 13 was that "there has been no invention of firearms in my country for a long time. General Manager Liu has studied various theories and proved them through experiments, and has worked hard and diligently to improve this automatic gun. It has been completely completed. According to the The test results were very good, and the whole mechanism was very precise, which is really rare. In addition, this gun is the most efficient and quick to fire. Although the bullets are expensive, it will definitely have great effect when used in special situations."

The spring of Liu's semi-automatic rifle

Of course, Liu's semi-automatic rifle also has some shortcomings. As a firearm designed in the early 20th century, the solution of using a gas collecting cover was an attempt, because at that time Foreign gas-gathering automatic rifles are not considered successful and cannot smoothly complete the automatic bolt stroke. Although the automatic mechanism of Liu's semi-automatic rifle is much better than that of foreign ones during testing, it cannot be continuously effective in a real battlefield environment. , cannot be known. In other aspects, its sliding cover is very unique. As shown in the picture, the sliding cover is buckled on the frame rail. When shooting, the shooter's face is very close to the cover, and it is easy to be hit by the retracted cover. Hurt the face.

In general, at a time when foreign powers were still using bolt-action rifles, China was able to design and manufacture its own semi-automatic rifle under the conditions of poverty and weakness, which was commendable and of great significance. Later, Liu Qingen led I took this gun to the United States to participate in the army's semi-automatic rifle selection. Americans are very surprised that the Chinese can design such an advanced semi-automatic rifle.

The sliding cover of the Liu semi-automatic rifle

The Liu semi-automatic rifle has not become the standard firearm of the Chinese army. The main reason is that the domestic industrial level is low and cannot meet the requirements for manufacturing such a gun. conditions. Later, during Liu Qingen's inspection in the United States, he continued to improve the gun using advanced American equipment and purchased a large amount of machinery, equipment, and materials in the United States. However, on his way back to China with these equipment on a ship, a shipwreck occurred. The equipment and materials, including Liu Qingen's son, sank at the bottom of the sea, causing immeasurable losses to the Chinese weapons manufacturing industry at that time. Only 10 of this gun were produced in total, most of which are in private collections in the United States. There is one in the American Firearms Museum and one in the Springfield Arsenal in the United States.

The Liu semi-automatic rifle in the American Firearms Museum

Now it seems that the Liu semi-automatic rifle was designed and manufactured by the Chinese themselves, and was an advanced firearm during the First World War. Looking at the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War after 13 years, and even the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea 36 years later, most of our troops are still using IWC bolt-action rifles, completely using flesh and blood to offset the advanced firearms of the great powers. I can't help but regret that this gun is not manufactured in large quantities. China The fact that people can create advanced firearms even when they are poor and weak also shows that the Chinese people are smart and can do what foreigners can do. We can all do it, and we can do better. Looking at modern China, what happened to the Liu semi-automatic rifle will never happen again.