The new weapons of the Soviet Union: The Chinese Xiang-Ying semi-automatic rifle（向应式半自动步枪）
This is a semi-automatic rifle.
It was the Chinese who used the Type 38 rifles captured from Japan and modified them to have the capability of semi-automatic firing.
You can consider it as a Type 38 rifle that can achieve semi-automatic firing.
The renovation plan shown in the document:
(1) How to improve the recoil spring so as to push the bolt and the mechanism back; (2) How does the gun mechanism push the bullet into the chamber when loading; (3) How to tightly and firmly close the gun mechanism in the chamber during firing (including the shape and the hardness after heat treatment of the firing pin and the locking mechanism); (4) The issue of the automatic method. We spent a lot of time researching and considering. We decided to add a piston rod, install a piston cylinder on the barrel, connect the piston rod to the gun, and connect the bolt to the gun mechanism together. On the rear part of the gun mechanism, add a locking mechanism to firmly close the pushed-up bullet in the chamber. At this time, the firing pin strikes the primer of the bullet, and under the pressure of the gunpowder gas, the piston rod pushes the bolt, the mechanism and the cartridge case backward, and throws the cartridge case out of the weapon; while the recoil spring will push the bolt, the mechanism and the bullet back into the chamber, thus making the linkage work.
This project began in 1944 and continued until the end of the war.
So far, it is known that 7 rifles have been manufactured.The existing one is currently housed in the Military Museum of China.
Considering the small quantity, it is suitable to use it as an event item or a paid team.
Do you hope to see this kind of weapon being used on our battlefield?
I think it would be very suitable as a semi-automatic rifle for the Soviet BR2.
(I know that many people don’t like the Chinese team and think their participation has disrupted the historical atmosphere… I thought the same way before, but now… forget it.You can see Italians in Berlin, and Moroccans in the Pacific…If you disagree, please provide alternative reasons.)
IMO they should let us change the nationality of units to match the theater so I don’t have Moroccans in pacific and so on… also the opportunity to have different weapons in different theaters if you choose. And event cosmetics should be able to change too EG the Event African American medic that is dressed for Battle of the Bulge has no option to change for other theaters is silly.
The only Xiang-Ying semi-automatic rifle left in the Military Museum of China is from 1946. The inscription ‘46.7.21’ on the gun confirms that it is post-World War II, so it couldn’t have appeared in enlisted.
Because the gun in the museum was actually recreated after the war.
For instance,
Today, on September 13, 2026, I made an MP40 gun and wrote down the date when I made this gun on it.
But this does not mean that the MP40 was produced today; it did not belong to the World War II era.
Because the Germans had Italians fighting alongside them, the Americans had British people on the same side,
the Soviet Union should also have allies, and the Chinese team belonged to the Far East front.
Just like Tunisia was composed of both the British and the Americans.
If… the Soviet Union fails to secure new allies, then Japan will be even more troublesome.
Because Japan has few allies, and its allies have no record of fighting in other theaters, such as the Thais, they could only possibly appear on the Burma front, and not on the Pacific front or the Far East front.
Making China an ally for the Soviet Union was also to give Japan more opportunities.
USSR already has the most powerful semi-automatic rifle at BR 2.
Therefore, it would be better to give this rifle to Japan. The likelihood of capturing it from the Chinese is higher than the probability of Chinese troops appearing with this weapon in Stalingrad or Berlin.
Are you crazy? This weapon was only produced in a quantity of 7.
The possibility that the Japanese would seize the Soviet’s assault rifles is even greater than this.
(Of course, if we accept its existence, it implies that the Japanese Type 38 rifle could be modified to be semi-automatic. Because even China, which lacks industrial capabilities, was able to complete the modification, Japan should be able to do it as well.)
You can follow this approach to search for relevant information. Maybe you’ll be able to find the domestically modified Type 38 semi-automatic rifle from Japan.
Our history is already in a complete mess.
Compared to the STG44 that appeared in Stalingrad, and some of the amazing sci-fi weapons used by the Japanese, I think this is nothing, and even not a big deal.
