Chiang Kai-shek rifle

Type 24 / Type Zhongzheng
Type Zhongzheng rifle/Type 24 rifle
Type	Bolt action rifle
Place of origin	Republic of China (1912–49)
Service history
In service	1935–1980s
Used by	National Revolutionary Army, Chinese Red Army, various Chinese Warlords
Wars	Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, Korean War
Production history
Designed	1935
Manufacturer	Kung Hsien, Hanyang, Jinling and Canton Arsenals
Produced	1935–1950
No. built	500,000–600,000
Variants	Chiang Kai-shek rifle Type 1, Chiang Kai-shek rifle Type 2
Specifications
Weight	4.08 kg (9.0 lb)
Length	1,110 mm (44 in)
Barrel length	600 mm (24 in)
Cartridge	8×57mm IS
Action	Bolt action
Rate of fire	15 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	810 m/s (2,657 ft/s)
Effective firing range	500 m (550 yd)
Feed system	5-round stripper clip, internal magazine

The Type Zhongzheng rifle (中正式), also known as the Chiang Kai-shek/Jiang Jieshi Rifle, Generalissimo Rifle, and Type 24 (二四式) after the Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, was a Chinese-made copy of the German Mauser M1924, the forerunner of the Karabiner 98k. Pre-production of the Chiang Kai-shek rifle started in August 1935 (year 24 of the Republican calendar, hence the Type 24). It was later renamed the Type Zhongzheng and was in full-scale production as early as late 1935. It was designated the Type 79 by the Chinese Communists and would often have the ideograph of Chiang defaced by them. Although the Hanyang 88 rifle was produced in greater numbers than the Type Zhongzheng, the full standardization of the Type Zhongzheng rifle only started during the Second Sino-Japanese war.

In a ten-year period, over half a million weapons were produced. The weapon's last major war was in Korea (1950–53).

The weapon served as one of the main battle rifles for the Chinese National Revolutionary Army (NRA, or Nationalists). Like the Karabiner 98k, it was a shortened and lightened version of the Gewehr 98, specifically, a copy of the Oberndorf Export Mauser named Standard Modell of 1933, which was sold to China in some quantities and provided to Chiang's best troops before the Germans provided the tooling to make the Type 24 in China. The quality of the weapon varied from arsenal to arsenal, but all German made Standard Modells of 1933 or 1934 pattern were first rate except for some 98k Mausers factory rejects which China bought after the Wehrmacht refused them. Some Chinese-made Type 24s were of excellent quality while others were crudely made. Although it entered service in 1935, China's limited industrial capacity meant that it was built in relatively low numbers. As the war progressed, however, China's industry in western cities like Chongqing and Kunming allowed more and more of these rifles to be produced. Production was largely unaffected during the Bombing of Chongqing because many of the machines had been moved underground. Roughly speaking, during the war, the rifle was only used by the non-German trained units of the Central Chinese Military, which was the core of the NRA. The German-trained units used a very similar weapon, the Mauser Model 98k Carbine. By the 1950s, the Type Zhongzheng rifle was phased out in favor of superior American aid equipment, such as the semiautomatic M1 Garand, M1 carbine, and Thompson submachine gun for the Nationalists. The Type Zhongzheng Rifle (along with the American M1 Garand) is still used by the ROC Army as a ceremonial/parade rifle to this very day.