The Norinco Type 86S () is an

AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduc ...

-type bullpup rifle that was produced by Norinco. Many major parts are interchangeable with other standard Kalashnikov rifles. The Type 86S was designed for export into the United States, where civilian ownership of

short-barreled rifle Short-barreled rifle broadly refers to any rifle with an unusually short barrel. The term carbine describes a production rifle with a reduced barrel length for easier handling in confined spaces. Concern about concealment for illegal purposes ha ...

s is not permitted by law.

History

Rifles with bullpup configurations were tested by Norinco in early 1980s, which resulted in the WTC-1 and WTC-2 bullpup prototypes in 1983. Two prototypes shared similar elements with the Type 86S.

Design

The Type 86S design departs from the AK-47 in several ways. The trigger-sear-hammer group is housed in a rear extension of the receiver, well behind the

pistol grip On a firearm or other tools, a pistol grip is a distinctly protruded handle underneath the main mechanism, to be held by the user's hand at a more vertical (and thus more ergonomic) angle, similar to the how one would hold a conventional pis ...

. The operating mechanism is exactly the same as in the standard AK-47/AKM, with the exception of a connecting rod between the trigger and sear. The weapon itself is built based on the

Type 56 The Type 56 (; literally; "Assault Rifle, Model of 1956") is a Chinese 7.62×39mm rifle. It is a variant of the Soviet-designed AK-47 (specifically Type 3) and AKM rifles.Miller, David (2001). ''The Illustrated Directory of 20th Century Guns' ...

. The selector switch/safety is quite different from the sheet metal lever found on the standard AK-47/AKM. The Type 86S selector/safety is thumb-shaped and located on the right side of the receiver, directly above the pistol grip. The selector consists of safe and semi-auto. The carrying handle has integral sights built in, which was based on the

FAMAS The FAMAS (''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978, a year after the Austrian Ste ...

rifle. A bayonet can also be attached underneath the barrel. A vertical, spring-loaded, plastic folding foregrip is mounted on the front of the receiver. When not in use, it folds forward beneath the barrel. The magazine well is located to the rear of the pistol grip and will accept 10-, 20-, and 30-round magazines as well as drum magazines. The rear sight is an aperture/peep sight mounted on a cam. Turning the adjustment knob sets the rear sight for 100-, 200-, or 300-meter ranges. Both the front and rear sight are mounted on the combination gas tube and hand guard which clamps tightly onto the receiver. Two types of Type 86S rifles were made. One consist of Type 86S rifles with a straight charging handle while another has curved charging handles.

Status

The Type 86S was once imported to the United States by China Sports (Norinco's import/export arm in that country), intended for the civilian market. Fewer than 2,000 Type 86S rifles were imported into the US during the late 1980s before the import of

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-a ...

s was banned in 1989. The Type 86S is considered an

assault weapon In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magaz ...

, preventing it from being manufactured in the US for 10 years in accordance with the

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill, the Clinton Crime Bill, or the Biden Crime Law, is an Act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is t ...

bill, passed on September 13, 1994. The law sunsetted and expired in 2004.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norinco Type 86s 7.62×39mm assault rifles Bullpup rifles Cold War weapons of China Kalashnikov derivatives Rifles of the Cold War Assault rifles of the People's Republic of China Norinco

History

Design

Status

See also

References

Bibliography