Variants QSZ92-9, QSZ92-5.8 | Designed 1994 | |
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Designer Liu Ming (刘铭) of the Small Arms Research Institute (formerly the 208 Research Institute); also attributed to Qing Shangsheng (卿上升) Manufacturer Changfeng Machine Shop (长风机械厂)(only CF98 made by them) | ||
The QSZ-92 (Chinese: 92式手枪; pinyin: Jiǔ Èr Shí Shoǔqiàng or Jiǔ Shí Èr Shi Shoǔqiàng; literally: "Type 92 Handgun") is a semi-automatic pistol designed by Norinco.
Contents
Development
The pistol operate is a recoil-operated, locked-breech and has a rotating barrel locking system, in which the barrel rotates on recoil to lock and unlock itself from the slide and the front part of the frame under the barrel is shaped as an accessory rail to accept laser sights or flash lights. A unique feature of this pistol is the detachable steel frame that sits inside the polymer grip and contains the fire control group. Like many modern military pistols, the QSZ-92 has a double-action/single-action trigger with a combined safety/decocker.
Its dual stack magazine holds fifteen of either 9×19mm Parabellum ammunition (QSZ-92-9) or twenty proprietary 5.8×21mm Chinese-made armor-piercing rounds with bottle-necked case and pointed bullets (QSZ-92-5.8), closely resembling the Belgian 5.7×28mm format. Unlike most pistol magazines which narrow at the top for a consistent feed angle, the QSZ-92 has true double column feed in the same manner as many rifle magazines.
The development of the QSZ-92 pistol began circa 1994 and it is now being adopted by the People's Liberation Army forces. The export variants (9mm version) include the CF-98 (barrel life c. 8000 rds) and the NP-42 (barrel life c. 10,000 rds). The latter is the basic version without provisions for suppressor etc. Both have so far found commercial export in Canada.
Usage
The QSZ-92 is in limited service in the People's Liberation Army since the late 1990s, notably in People's Liberation Army Macau Garrison. The Chinese military has adopted the 5.8mm version over the 9mm one. The latter is instead issued to police forces and apparently suffers from very poor manufacturing quality comparing to the military version.