QBZ-191 service rifle family
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
by78
General
Rifle looks good, except for no optics on the standard ones. When where these photos taken? During testing last year?There you go, but these are not mine.
MwRYum
Major
Either they run their ware hard, or those things ain't exactly mission critical?
The windscreen is pretty much useless anyway, should've just ditch it.
For the guns, except for the DMR all trained without optics. Old bad habits die hard.
I kinda agree with your observation. I think the overall layout of the rifle is excellent, but it does give out a "generic" vibe. I think this is because the hand guard and the stock of the rifle are designed to look very basic. 191'stock and hand guard just looks plain, they get the job done, but doesn't look too stylish. They neither look clean nor complex, thus giving out a generic vibe.
imo, AEK971 has a good example of a clean minimalist stock, it feels sharp and quick.
ACR's stock, in comparison, is more complex, it gives the gun a very high tech vibe
But QBZ191's stock is just plain and boring... It also looks kind of fat to me, if it is a bit slimmer and cleaner, I think it will look a lot better.
The hand guard kind of suffers from a similar problem...
A minimalist handugard looks something like this, very stylish and sharp
A full quad rail looks like this, looks handy and reliable
QBZ 191's hand guard is neither. It is not minimalist and does not give out a sharp feeling, it is somewhat bulky. But the extra bulkiness does not give out a high tech or complex feeling, thus making it look a bit plain...
But that is just my take, what do you guys think? (Overall I still really like the rifle, def my favorite of all PLA weapons)
MwRYum
Major
To be blunt, first of all we don't even know if the PLA have adopted Picatinny Rail (i.e. a GJB equivalent of the MIL-STD-1913); second, even higher-tier infantry like the airborne troops they still go with just iron sights instead of bringing out their optics to use.
Only when PLA in general adopted the same attitude with accessories as their western counterparts, we'd then see a move towards further accessorize weapon platform such as AR.
The buttstock does look like some fat-trimming is called for, but changes only have a chance to take shape after formal adoption, when after-market mod kits becomes available - we know there are such because Type 79 and QBZ-95 all have quite a selection of after-market mod kits, so when QBZ-191 becomes widely issued, that means in a few years time, modded guns will be seen with PAP and SWAT teams.
Yeah I am definitely not worried about it, I am merely pointing out specific aesthetic features of the gun. QBZ191 has already provided an excellent platform to work with, it has so much potential to expand.
The buffer tube style stock is so easy to swap out, this is literally the easiest part to accessorize other than the optic. I have no doubt we will see much better stocks in the future.
For the hand guard, there is already a M-Lok version which we have seen, meaning that the gun is designed with multiple hand guards in mind, so it is only a matter of time for smaller companies to make after market parts.
For now, the biggest problem, like you said, is whether or not PLA seniors can adopt this mindset similar to the West.
From what I heard, there is still a significant number of PLA seniors who are stubborn to change. They believe optics are unreliable, accessories are gimmicks. When QBZ95 was issued, the fact that the iron sight is of a different style was a huge complaint from the military. Of course, that is still understandable, for such a huge military, any change will encounter huge resistance.
A popular PLA instructor once complained that some senior officers still believe the ability to use bayonets on their rifles is a vital feature in CQB! Some units won't let soldiers use optics because this "optics may fail but irons never fails" mindset.
Hopefully this will change soon when QBZ191 and the new gear rolls out gradually and people see how much more potential it offers... (maybe PLA's past reluctance to change has to do with past equipment not working as well as they were advertised? The new QBU-10 and QLU-11's big electrification optic, CS/LR and other newer stuff seem to be adopted in mass quantities)
But I have to say, although PLA is still very traditional in terms of their philosophy towards small arms, I also do not necessarily agree with the direction certain Western military communities are going right now. Dressing your gun up like a Xmas tree is also not gonna help you win wars, but the spec ops communities in the West have this fixation on putting so much shit on their guns. I get it that under specific conditions, that 600$ Surefire flashlight will work a bit bit better than a 20$ light, but spending so much money on a flashlight thinking it will have such a huge impact on the course of a battle is freaking ridiculous. Maybe this is what years of counter insurgency and CT operations have done to the Western military doctrine...