Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Amateurs look at the gun, experts look at the bullet. The performance parameters of a bullet are extremely important, and it takes many twists and turns. Take NATO as an example. Although they chose the same 5.56mm caliber as the United States, they abandoned the American M193 bullet. After comparison, they chose the Belgian SS109 bullet, which has better performance.

Parameters such as the weight of the bullet and the weight of the propellant are all a matter of a hair's breadth, a thousand miles away. A tiny difference can lead to completely different characteristics.

"If we choose 5.8mm as the next generation caliber, then we plan to replace the whole set. Whether it is an automatic rifle or a machine gun, we must use the same ammunition, but in our early tests, it is difficult to meet the requirements." Duo Lao said, "So, our current idea is to separate them, with two different types of ammunition used for automatic rifles and machine guns respectively."

Qin Yang knew that this was a tortuous experience in the development of domestic small-caliber rifles.

In March 1971, a light weapons working conference was held in China, which decided to start the development route of small-caliber rifles. By 1988, the first 5.8mm ordinary bullet was finally finalized and named DBP87 5.8mm ordinary bullet. The prefix "DBP" is the combination of the Chinese pinyin initials of "ammunition", "rifle", and "ordinary".

This kind of bullet is only used on the Type 87 rifle, that is, a small-caliber rifle that is simply improved from the Type 81. It does not meet the use standards of machine guns, so there must be a special 5.8mm machine gun bullet. Its bullet weighs 4.8 grams, which is heavier than the 4.15 gram rifle bullet, so it is also called a heavy bullet.

The development of heavy bullets has been even more frustrating. It was developed simultaneously with ordinary bullets, but it was not until the end of 1995 that two types of jacketed machine gun bullets passed the design finalization test at the same time, and were named DVP88 5.8mm machine gun bullet (copper jacketed bullet) and DVP88A 5.8mm machine gun bullet (copper-clad jacketed bullet) respectively. The former was not produced in large quantities, and the latter was mainly equipped by the troops.

The reaction was strong after these bullets were equipped by the troops!

The magazine of the Type 95 rifle, which is located at the rear, is already awkward enough. When shooting live ammunition, it was found that the results were always unqualified. Upon inspection: the ammunition used was wrong!

The appearance, outline, and dimensions of the two bullets are basically the same, making them difficult to distinguish. Once used incorrectly, the accuracy will be reduced in minor cases, and the barrel will be copper-plated in severe cases, which is difficult to clean.

"Everyone, I drank a few more glasses of wine today, so I'm a little bolder. I have something to say."

"Speak, say what you think boldly!" Leader Fang said.

"Just now, someone raised the issue of ammunition versatility, saying that our sniper rifle's caliber is not compatible, and the troops have to carry an extra bullet, which puts an extra burden on logistics." Qin Yang said, "Then, even if the ordinary bullet and the heavy bullet have the same caliber, they are still two types of bullets! Moreover, if the bullets have the same shape, wouldn't it be even more chaotic when they get to the troops?"

Qin Yang glanced at the people present and continued: "Think about it, the machine gunner is in a hurry and takes the automatic rifle's bullet, resulting in insufficient power. Ordinary soldiers mistakenly take the bullet used by the machine gun, resulting in a significant reduction in accuracy!"

Duo Lao frowned: "Then what do you say we should do?"

"There are two ways. First, only equip small-caliber weapons with automatic rifles. The machine guns and sniper rifles in the infantry squad still use 7.62mm caliber ammunition."

"How can this work? Is this still small-caliber? An infantry squad has two calibers, wouldn't people laugh at us if we said it!" Hearing Qin Yang say this, ammunition expert Wang Liqun spoke. He was the one who raised the opinion just now.

"Why not?" Qin Yang looked at the ammunition expert: "Look, does the United States have small-caliber machine guns? In their troops, besides the M16, there is the M60!"

The Americans started small-caliber rifles early on, and the troops are equipped with 5.516 rifles. However, the development of machine guns was greatly delayed. The first small-caliber squad machine gun M249 only appeared in 1982. Before that, they did not have to worry about insufficient firepower. The 760 machine gun would become their strong backing. Now, Qin Yang is taking this out to say, and he is also justified.

"The Soviet Union has small-caliber machine guns! They not only have AK74 rifles using 5.45mm caliber, but also RPK74 light machine guns of the same caliber!" Wang Liqun was obviously also researching.

"But the old Maozi uses the same ammunition!" Qin Yang said, "So I have a second suggestion, that is to develop universal ammunition, as long as one type of 5.8mm bullet can be used for both automatic rifles and light machine guns!"

"This is simply impossible! You 960 factory makes guns, how would you know the tricks in ammunition!" Wang Liqun said angrily: "We chose the 5.8mm caliber ourselves, and we have to make the ammunition. We have conducted many experiments, fired hundreds of thousands of bullets, and made thousands of gun barrels. Currently, only the solution of using two separate bullets can meet the indicators."

"Then choose the first option. We also have a large inventory of 7.62mm bullets. Anyway, the 5.8mm ammunition is not universal. This way, the size is different, which is more convenient to distinguish. Besides, why do we need to develop two types of 5.8mm bullets, bringing more confusion to the troops? Just to make it sound good?"

This sentence just hit the other party's weak spot.

The development route of small-caliber guns and bullets, which was launched in 1971, has now passed ten years. The relevant R\u0026D personnel certainly look forward to the results of their hard work, and expect the 5.8mm bullet to become the standard equipment of the army, completely replacing the 7.62mm bullet.

That's right, what they think is a complete replacement! If the machine gun still uses the original bullets, then the results of their hard work will be reduced by half.

"Of course not! We are for the development of the army, for the development of our light weapons!" Wang Liqun stood up angrily, his face flushed.

"Yangzi, stop talking." Seeing that there was going to be a conflict again, Qin Baoguo quickly stopped Qin Yang. Our 960 factory makes guns, not bullets, so we don't need to worry about it.

This son of his is simply like a cannon, blasting wherever he goes.

"Lao Wang, we are not officially meeting now, why are you so anxious?" Duo Lao also persuaded him from the side.

Qin Yang sat down, but a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Forget it, anyway, I'm not an expert, and my words carry little weight. Just pretend I didn't say what I just said."

Qin Yang was a little annoyed in his heart. Domestic light weapons have taken many detours on the 5.8mm bullet. After the first bullet was equipped by the troops, there was a lot of scolding. It was not until 2004 that a new ordinary bullet began to be established, spending six years adjusting the bullet weight, muzzle velocity, and reasonably matching the external ballistic parameters, realizing the unity of the 5.8mm ordinary bullet and the machine gun bullet. In 2010, the 5.8mm universal ordinary bullet was officially finalized and named DBP10 5.8mm ordinary bullet.

Now that he has traveled back, he can of course directly use this ultimate bullet, perfectly matching various weapons. One bullet for nine guns is not just a joke, but now...

"What did you say?" Wang Liqun was stimulated again: "I have been working on ammunition for a lifetime, and I have been working on the 5.8mm bullet project for ten years. It's not your turn to talk about it. If your 960 factory has the ability, you should develop a bullet that can be used with both automatic rifles and machine guns!"

That's what I was waiting for! Qin Yang raised his head and looked at Wang Liqun: "Research and development is possible, is there any funding?"

Pfft! Someone spat out what they had just eaten.