The Type 79 but more commonly known as is the first generation indigenous submachine gunmade in China. This development came in coincidence after the start of the Sino-Soviet split. The submachine gun was type classified in 1979 and entered mass production in 1983.
History
The People's Liberation Army General Staff Department issued a requirement for a weapon that can be used by Chinese military and police forces who handle public security, communications and other rear guard duties. The 208th Research Institute of China Ordnance Industry was directed to head the design. The Type 79 was supposed to enter service with the PLA after initial production was made from 1981 to 1982. During the war with Vietnam, Chinese soldiers on recon operations used the Type 79 as their main weapon, together with the Type 64. It became notorious in Chinese history since it was widely used by factions working for Lin Biao and the Gang of Four. The weapon found immediate acceptance within the People's Armed Police and Public Security Police forces after the PLA phased them out of service. The excessive rate of fire, limited magazine capacity and reliability issues, including problems of jamming were the reasons why the PLA decided to drop them as the main submachine gun. From 1981 to 1992, more than 200,000 Type 79s were made. In the early 2000s, Type 79s still in service were retrofitted with railed fore-ends to equip them with tactical accessories like gunsights and new muzzle brake devices. This was first seen with the Guangzhou Public Security Police. Other police forces that adopted the modernized Type 79s included the Shenzhen, Dongguan and Panyu Public Security Police forces. There are plans to replace the Type 79 in service with Chinese law enforcement agencies with the JH16-1, which was introduced in 2017 and chambered in 9x19mm. In PLA service, it was replaced by the QCW-05 in 2001.
Design
From the 1981 pilot production, the total production of the Type 79 was nearly 200,000 until 1992 under Liu Zhitong. The highest years of production were between 1988 and 1991. During that period the Type 79 was produced at a rate of more than 30,000 per year. The developmental period of Type 79 was 15 years with a staff of over 70 people. From 1971 to 1975, the prototypes failed twice in various torture tests, forcing the design committee to redesign it. This was mainly because the design of the chamber could not handle the pressure of 7.62x25 Tokarev ammunition. The design was made for use with the PLA, keeping its weight light for jungle warfare operations. The Type 79 fires 7.62 millimeter caliber steel-cored pistol bullets in either the automatic or semiautomatic mode. The gun is gas-operated, with a foldable butt stock. The fire selector is made after the design of the Type 56 assault rifle with the stock made from stamped steel. Setting it to "1" makes the weapon fire on single shot while setting it to "2" makes the weapon fire in bursts. Sights can be used to fire up to 100 and 200 meters. The extended magazine housing serves as the de facto forward grip.
Variants
ACE Mod
The first project to upgrade the Type 79 was in 2000 when Hong Kong weapon designer Li Jiahao was tasked to create a conversion kit that would allow the user to attach a SureFire-type tac light and a laser sight. This kit was used by the Guangzhou and Dongguan Public Security Police.
PEAK 79
Li Jiahao continued to work on first conversion kit, which resulted in the creation of another variant known as PEAK 79. This was first shown to the public at the first China International Police Equipment Expo in 2002, which was subsequently adopted by the Shenzhen Public Security Police in the same year. The PEAK 79 consists of a Heckler & Koch MP5-type fore-end with a SureFire tac light built in with the addition of a C-MORE red dot scope. Introduced in 2008, WTW-79H is the simplified version of the PEAK 79 that allows for the installation of a tac light and laser sight.
TAPS79
The TAPS79 is built with provisions for MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rails and can have an OKO 8W red dot sight attached on the upper receiver. They were created at the same as PEAK 79, but TAPS 79 was not made public until working samples were exhibited in 2003. Testing on Type 79s with TAPS79 equipped did not finish until the end of 2003. It's known to be used by the Foshan and Guangzhou Public Security Police forces. Some models using the kit were also equipped with a corner assist shooting device mounted on the red dot scope. The TAPS79 has five iteration.
MAPS79
Li's improvement versions of TAPS79.
Unnamed Test Kit
In 2014, a weapons designer Wang Jie tested a conversion kit that allows for the installation of a new set of rails over the barrel and a collapsible stock.
Operational Briefcase
The Type 79 was reported to be tested in an operational briefcase-type device, equipped with a laser sight for aiming. As of 2014, it was reported to have completed combat trials with Chinese police forces, including for those stationed at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
