QBZ-191 service rifle family

Blitzo

Blitzo

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TerraN_EmpirE said:
That soldier on the left. Shows why it is that the U.S. army M7 and the British L403A1 have barrels of 13 inches (13.7 for the Brit) That being use with a supressor. Something that is set to become more the more the norm in infantry and more and more all the time. They both use such a barrel length because when you add the can it doesn’t end up becoming an awkward length. Mind you the cans for both rifles aren’t that long. The L403A1 can only adds 2 inches to the OAL so it’s a 36.2 inches tip to butt with fully extended stock with the can. The M7 goes from 34.1 inches to 36 inches stock retracted (not folded).
38.8 inches was the length of the M16A1 which was shorter than the M16A2. I have seen a claim that the QBZ03 is 37 inches long and an AK74 is

Now I suspect that the QBZ 191 is using a suppressor similar to that of the U.S. KAC M110. What I mean by that is if you look at a suppressed M110 the suppressor looks huge, but if you take the can off the rifle you realize that half the supressor is just an empty tube with a clamp at the end. This was because the Army wanted to use the NATO standard bird cage muzzle break so Knights Armaments were forced to have to find another way to mount the suppressor. They moved the mounting to the gas block and the mounting clamp had to move back to meet it. Well the muzzle actually sits in the functional portion of the suppressor. The later rifles I pointed to didn’t require the NATO bird cage. The PLA issues Rifle grenades and the NATO bird cage was designed to fire rifle grenades as such that’s likely why the QBZ’s can looks so long. They were probably required to use the PLA equivalent to the Bird cage muzzle device.
Given the similarities between the QBZ191 versions I suspect that they have similar overall lengths to the M4/M16 series this would mean an unsuppressed OAL of (192) ~27 inches, (191) ~34 inches and (QBU) ~41 inches.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the soldier on the right side, in that image? The one on the right has the QBZ-191 with the suppressor, the one on the left has a sniper.

I don't think the intent to use a suppressor determining the barrel length of the M7 and L403A1 is necessarily relevant to the QBZ-191 in that image specifically.
That is to say, I agree that the barrel length of the M7 and L403A1 certainly have that barrel length for the purpose of having a suppressor equipped, but in the case of the QBZ-191 in that specific image, that QBZ-191 is the ~10 inch barrel version (which is a shorter barrel than M7 and L403A1 of course)... and the reason it is so unwieldy is because the suppressor itself is quite long.

The 10 inch barrel QBZ-191 is basically a similar footprint to Mk18 CQBR and if it had a more normal sized suppressor it would be pretty compact.

(As for rifle grenades, I'm not aware of any recent or regular use of rifle grenades in contemporary PLA assault rifles, including the QBZ-191)


This below is what the usual ~14-15 inch barrel QBZ-191 would look like with the same suppressor, and we can see how long it ends up being

2UljoOZ.png
 
TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
ohan_qwe said:
Have 191 been pictured with rifle grenades? China seem to have embraced underbarrel or sniper grenade launchers nowdays.
Click to expand...
We have yet to see a QBZ191 with either.
However
daifo said:
Rare appearance of mortar (?) being fired off from QBZ-95

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Blitzo said:
Do you mean the soldier on the right side, in that image? The one on the right has the QBZ-191 with the suppressor, the one on the left has a sniper.

I don't think the intent to use a suppressor determining the barrel length of the M7 and L403A1 is necessarily relevant to the QBZ-191 in that image specifically.
That is to say, I agree that the barrel length of the M7 and L403A1 certainly have that barrel length for the purpose of having a suppressor equipped, but in the case of the QBZ-191 in that specific image, that QBZ-191 is the ~10 inch barrel version (which is a shorter barrel than M7 and L403A1 of course)... and the reason it is so unwieldy is because the suppressor itself is quite long.

The 10 inch barrel QBZ-191 is basically a similar footprint to Mk18 CQBR and if it had a more normal sized suppressor it would be pretty compact.

(As for rifle grenades, I'm not aware of any recent or regular use of rifle grenades in contemporary PLA assault rifles, including the QBZ-191)


This below is what the usual ~14-15 inch barrel QBZ-191 would look like with the same suppressor, and we can see how long it ends up being

2UljoOZ.png
Click to expand...
You are correct.
Though it’s hard to tell on where it sits based on the image distance. General I am trying to point to the trend we see of shorter barrels and where it’s going. In the previous QBZ95 the barrel length for an infantry rifle was 19 inches.

My statement was based on how it looked from the side. Maybe I am going senile.
 
Blitzo

Blitzo

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TerraN_EmpirE said:
You are correct.
Though it’s hard to tell on where it sits based on the image distance. General I am trying to point to the trend we see of shorter barrels and where it’s going. In the previous QBZ95 the barrel length for an infantry rifle was 19 inches.

My statement was based on how it looked from the side. Maybe I am going senile.
Click to expand...

I kinda disagree in terms of the ability to differentiate the barrel length of the QBZ-191 10 inch versus ~14-15 inch version, when having that long suppressor installed, even from that angle of the image.
The 10 inch QBZ-191 with the long suppressor on has the base of the suppressor basically right next to the bayonet lug, while the 14-15 inch barrel QBZ-191 with the long suppressor has the base of the suppressor a good distance away from the bayonet lug.
In the images below, on the first image are two QBZ-191s with the 10 inch barrel and in the second image are two pictures of QBZ-191 with the 14-15 inch barrel, and I've used red arrows to point out the bayonet lug on all four.
1726022471390.png1726022510186.png


The trend of seeing shorter barrels for the purpose of having suppressors is something I agree with, but the fact that the 10 inch QBZ-191 in the image you specified looks so unwieldy is not because QBZ-191 has a long barrel but rather because of the specific suppressor which happens to be long.

In fact, I would say the 10 inch barrel QBZ-191 and the 14-15 inch barrel QBZ-191 are both quite reasonable lengths for modern use including for suppressor use (after all they're basically Mk-18 length and M4A1 lengths which are routinely used with suppressors that allow them to be viable in close quarters and at slightly longer ranges) -- but what they need is just a shorter suppressor design.
 
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hooly

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Is this foldable design for real? Why does the QBZ have a buffer tube anyway? does the 5.8mm require a buffer tube for the recoil?
 
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