PLA Small arms

Let's be blunt most big bad Antimaterial rifles are not for punching holes in the letter O in the words Sub mOa. Few of this class of weapon bother with the Sub Moa. After all at the rounds size and punch it's not a big need. The rounds fired by these weapons are sizeable you don't need to make a raggedy hole with a few rounds when a big single bullet will make that hole in its own.

Just some high-resolution photos to start the week... New Year wish: switch over completely to flip caps for the optics.

How effective are those earplugs compared to noise blocking headphones?

What’s the story behind those western looking guys shooting Chinese sniper rifles? Also, interesting that one of them is using a golf laser range finder.

Those things tend to not have ranges greater than a few hundred meters, as that’s all you really need for golf. I have not see any professional military use those before.

Hyperwarp said:

How effective are those earplugs compared to noise blocking headphones?

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The main point is to keep the sound to a safe level. Those type are cheaper fine for training and areas where conclusive sound is common but you don't need to worry about total situational awareness.

plawolf said:

What’s the story behind those western looking guys shooting Chinese sniper rifles? Also, interesting that one of them is using a golf laser range finder.

Those things tend to not have ranges greater than a few hundred meters, as that’s all you really need for golf. I have not see any professional military use those before.

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It looks like a range demonstration, the western guys are military aged, and sport military cuts but both have full beards and there clothing is would classify as paramilitary.
If active military I would guess a middle Eastern. Then again they could be former in the form of press.
Note one of the two has a Smart watch. That's not standard issue.

I am betting the gulf range finder is because this is not their home turf, so There's restrictions on what they can bring or have access to. You can't take a state of the art military toy to a foreign nation without customs getting in on it.
The other version is that this is there home turf but the home land is in a tight budget or restricted access due to sanctions or embargo.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

It looks like a range demonstration, the western guys are military aged, and sport military cuts but both have full beards and there clothing is would classify as paramilitary.

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Facial hair is allowed by many militaries. For the record, those are IDF (Israeli) soldiers participating in a sniper competition held in China. Judging by the rank insignia (arm patch), one of them is a first lieutenant.

I wasn't sure. Thank you for adding context.
To beard or not to beard depends on a number of factors.
First is generally religion.

A number of religions place requirements male facial hair.
The IDF is a mixed military with Jews but also Muslims and even Christians. As such they have to consider the needs of those groups. They are also reservist. So they tend to have other budget needs.

Second is how worried are you about chemical weapons?

Prior to world war one, Western military regulations were very strict on demanding male facial hair. It was considered part of the uniform to have a specific style and length.
During world war one however chemical weapons were deployed and with them came the need of gas masks. Gas masks need to form A seal around the face and head. An improperly worn mask was as good as no mask at all. During trench life some soldiers started shaving as it formed a tighter seal, mustaches also started getting closely trimmed early war the Handel bars style was popular late war those who still were mustachioed fell into either the modern right style or... the push broom. These allowed a good seal with the mask. Among the later was a failed Austrian artist turned German messenger who discovered the hard way the problems of a poorly sealed gas mask.

As a result a number of nations would enact changes in military grooming standards. Soldiers returning from the trenches often retained the habit of a clean shave this changed male civilian fashion encouraging clean shaving.
Other nations though returned to prewar regulations.

by78 said:

Facial hair is allowed by many militaries. For the record, those are IDF (Israeli) soldiers participating in a sniper competition held in China. Judging by the rank insignia (arm patch), one of them is a first lieutenant.

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Looks like the organiser provides the firearms and the participants ain't allow to bring in their own kit, so let me guess: those were taken during the participants conducting zeroing and familiarising with CS/LR4? It'd be interesting if we can read their after-match comment on CS/LR4, especially comparing with the other contemporaries.

MwRYum said:

Looks like the organiser provides the firearms and the participants ain't allow to bring in their own kit, so let me guess: those were taken during the participants conducting zeroing and familiarising with CS/LR4? It'd be interesting if we can read their after-match comment on CS/LR4, especially comparing with the other contemporaries.

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Judging from other photos I have, competitors are allowed their own rifles, at least for some routines.

The QBZ-95 or Type 95 assault rifle



The QBZ-95 or Type 95 assault rifle has been developed in China. It is an entirely new and modern family of weapons, which uses newly developed Chinese ammunition. This assault rifle has been designed to replace the ageing Type 81. The QBZ-95 was first adopted by the PLA elite units, however soon after it became the standard issue infantry rifle with the Chinese army, armed police and other law enforcement forces. This assault rifle was first observed in 1997. Export operators are Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

It is a gas operated, selective fire assault rifle, with a bullpup layout. This weapon is chambered for indigenous Chinese 5.8x42 mm ammunition. This cartridge had been developed in the late 1980s. It is claimed to be superior to the standard NATO 5.56x45 mm and Soviet 5.45x39 mm ammunition. Design of this weapon do not resembles any of the previous Chinese designs.

All weapons of the QBZ-95 family are designed around the same action and bullpup layout with a polymer housing. This family also includes a carbine and light machine gun. However these weapons can not be converted from one configuration to another.

A safety / fire mode selector switch is located behind the magazine, from the left side. This assault rifle produces single shots, three round bursts or fully automatic fire. The QBZ-95 incorporates some features to reduce recoil, which is claimed to be low.

The QBZ-95 is not ambidextrous. Its ejection port is made at the right side only. This weapon is fed from box-shaped polymer magazines, holding 30 rounds.
Chinese sources reported that the QBZ-95 is as accurate as the US M16A3 and as reliable as the Soviet AK-74, however these claims have not been confirmed by Western sources.

An integral carrying handle comes with built-in rear sight base. It is an open type and has a sighting range of 500 m. The carrying handle has mounting points for various sights or night vision scopes. Effective range of fire is about 400 m against a point target and 600 m against area target.

The QBZ-95 assault rifle is compatible with a Type 91 35 mm underbarrel grenade launcher, which is similar in concept to the US M203. Alternatively it can mount a newer and more compact QLG-10 35 mm grenade launcher, which was inspired by the Russian GP-30. The QBZ-95 assault rifle can also launch rifle grenades. This weapon can mount a knife-bayonet.