Type 03/ QBZ-03 assault rifle

Just to comment on Infra_man99's post on the Steyr AUG based on my own experience with it, during my time in the Australian army.

It has problems functioning in sandy or muddy conditions.

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Most modern western rifles have problems functioning in sandy and muddy conditions due to their tight tolerances in moving parts, diligent maintenance is required regardless of whether the rifle is of bullpulp configuration or not.

Its safety switch is fragile.

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I don't see how the safety catch can be fragile when it's just a plastic block that slides sideways and stops the trigger when on safe.

Its trigger lacks good feedback and it has long pull.

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I do not know that trigger feedback means, when taking deliberate, aimed shots, I just align the rifle with the target, apply a constant pressure on the trigger until the weapon fires, when volume is required, I just snatch the trigger. As to the long trigger pull, AUG does not have fire selector, pull the trigger halfway for single shots, pull it all the way back for full auto.

Its barrel and construction lacks sufficient protection to protect the shooter's face and hands from the rifle's heat.

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It doesn't have a hand guard that encloses large part of the barrel like other rifles, I don't believe this is due to the bullpup configuration, as all other bullpup rifles do have proper hand guards. Plus, you meant to hold the Steyr by the fore grip, which keeps your hand much further away from the barrel that other rifles.

Its ejection port was fragile, and this is really bad since the bullets are ejected close to the face.

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How can one judge whether the ejection port of a rifle can be weak or strong?

If the gun ever has an explosion at its ejection port, the gun will have a good chance of permanently damaging the shooter's face or eyes.

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When was the last time a round exploded inside an AUG?

To decrease the probability of these problems, the shooter is told to give the Steyr Aug lots of maintenance.

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You should give your weapon a lot of maintenance regardless of its design and construction, when in the field, you should clean and lubricate your weapon every morning and after every firing even if you are using an AK-47.

Some shooters even said the Steyr Aug is uncomfortable to use: the gun's handle and grips are unnatural, reloading is difficult, and the balance is bad.

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Apart from reloading, as it is hard to change the magazine without taking the weapon off the shoulder, the rest are just personal preferences, and a military weapon that everyone finds comfortable does not exist.

King_Comm
I want to ask something regarded to the bullpup design. I have experience only with AKM but I always thought that both bullpup and conventional configuration work well on shooting range. In shooting range you take the regular firing position, you grip properly, aim and shoot. I am interested, what is the situation when you can’t grip properly the weapon. In situation when a target appear suddenly in close range and there is no time to take a “regular” firing position. One simply turns in that direction and shoots from his haunch. I think in urban operation there is a common situation.
Because in the case of conventional configuration the center of gravity is somewhere in the front part of the weapon the first shuts has some chance to hit something in close range (billow 10 m). In the bullpup case, where the center of gravity is somewhere in the middle or back part of the weapon I think the shots will pas above the target.
The US Army field manual calls this technique

The first shot will always hit where you point your weapon at, only the following shots would be effected by barrel climb.

From the type-95 thread, an article stated that a lot of attention was put into balancing the weight distribution of the Type-95 by its designers, so that it is easily "pointable".

Infra_Man99 said:

Maybe bullpup rifles are not such a good idea except for special situations. I was reading about the bullpup rifle called the Steyr Aug from Australia. This bullpup has had reliability problems throughout its lifespan. It has problems functioning in sandy or muddy conditions. Its safety switch is fragile. Its trigger lacks good feedback and it has long pull. Its barrel and construction lacks sufficient protection to protect the shooter's face and hands from the rifle's heat. Its ejection port was fragile, and this is really bad since the bullets are ejected close to the face. If the gun ever has an explosion at its ejection port, the gun will have a good chance of permanently damaging the shooter's face or eyes. To decrease the probability of these problems, the shooter is told to give the Steyr Aug lots of maintenance. Some shooters even said the Steyr Aug is uncomfortable to use: the gun's handle and grips are unnatural, reloading is difficult, and the balance is bad. The Steyr Aug is also expensive to buy and maintain. This is a common complaint for many other bullpup rifles, too. Bullpup rifles like the FN-2000 supposedly solved these problems, but it is expensive to buy and maintain.

Maybe this is why China has the Type 03 and Type 95. China was being safe by designing a conventional rifle and a bullpup rifle. China might have made a prudent decision. China will only use the Type 95 for crowded situations or small areas and for short durations. For any type of long term usage or any type of harsh environment, Chinese soldiers will use the more reliable, more affordable, and safer Type 03.

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I say this statement is somewhat incorrect. Bullpup isn't more expensive then the conventional rifle. Bullpup have most of the weight distrubuted at the back, but its COG is still retain near the centre where the pistol grip is. Maintenance just kept for rifle conventional or bullpup. Explosion of the rifle conventional or bullpup will be disaterous to either user. The barrel is exposed in bullpup is minimal as most of the barrel is shifted back to the stock, so the AUG barrel is pretty much coverd, Kalishnikolv exposes more barrel then the AUG.

Magazine change wasn't really difficult with you just clicked it into place, though I cannot say the same with the STANG magazine as the didnt have those at the shooting range. I must admit it was a bit louder, but nothing that you can't get use to. Maintaining the barrel climb was more controlable then the T-81, but maybe it was the larger round that caused this. Only thing I'd say the T-95 downfall is the awkard really really awkard fire selector switch located all the way near my shoulder.

An explosion at the ejection port is much safer with conventional rifles than bullpups. When a gun is dirty or worn down, an ejection port can jam partially open, and when you fire the bullet, lots of heat and the bullet's case blows out from the ejection port. This harms the shooter and nearby shooters. This is one reason why shooters wear goggles. You may say proper maintenance is the solution, but tell this to many Vietnam soldiers who used the M16. Sometimes its difficult to provide proper maintenance, so mean time between failures becomes very important.

There are good reasons for either liking or disliking bullpups. You may like them, but someone else may dislike them. I think this is why China designed two new rifles, the Type 95 and the Type 03.