Image credit
- Title
- Chinese Type 56-1 Assault Rifle both sides
- Author
- RRT877(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_Type_56-1_Assault_Rifle_both_sides.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m8 g123.5 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article.
- v738 m/s2,421 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 520 mm barrel, not this arm's 414 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
nearest sourced barrel length — no extrapolation (SPEC.md §8.2)
Inputs
- v at 520 mm738 m/s2,421 fpsverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article.
Assumptions
- This figure belongs to a 520 mm barrel. It is shown because it is the closest measurement that exists, not because it applies here.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm3.8 kg8.378 lbverifiedsourceType 56 with the fixed stock.
- v_recoil1.554 m/s5.097 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity30verifiedsource20, 30 and 40-round detachable box magazines are listed.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m8 g123.5 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article.
- v738 m/s2,421 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 520 mm barrel, not this arm's 414 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass8 g123.5 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article.
- diameter7.92 mm0.3118 inverifiedsourceCartridge maximum, dimension G1.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass8 g123.5 grverifiedsourceBallistics table of the cited article.
- velocity738 m/s2,421 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 520 mm barrel, not this arm's 414 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Inputs
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Variants
| Variant | Years | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Type 56-1 | — | Mass, empty, Length, Length, folded |
| Type 56-2 | — | Mass, empty |
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Fully automatic
- Operating system
- Gas, long-stroke piston
- Designed in
- China
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1956
- Production
- 1956–present
Dimensions and mass
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- 800 m874.9 ydsource
Rear sight adjustable from 100 to 800 m.
Chamberings
- 7.62x39mmprimary30 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Type 56882 mm34.72 inheight not recorded
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. Type 56 records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion — that height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Lineage
This design
- Licensed production of AK-47
Gallery
Image credit
- Title
- Chinese Type 56-1 Assault Rifle other side
- Author
- RRT877(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_Type_56-1_Assault_Rifle_other_side.jpg
Image credit
- Title
- AK factory 66 marking on a Chinese Type 56-1 assault rifle
- Author
- RRT877(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AK_factory_66_marking_on_a_Chinese_Type_56-1_assault_rifle.jpg
Detail
China received a licence and a full set of drawings for the Soviet AK in 1956, and State Factory 66 at Beian began building it as the Type 56. The early rifles are milled-receiver copies of the Soviet Type 3; production moved to a stamped receiver in the 1960s in step with the AKM, without a change of designation, which is why two rifles bearing the same three characters can differ in their most structural component.
Two features are Chinese rather than Soviet and are the usual way of telling one apart at a glance: a permanently attached folding spike bayonet under the muzzle, and a fully hooded front sight rather than the Soviet open-sided post.
Sourcing an arm like this is the hard case, and this entry is in the pilot batch to prove it. There is no manufacturer datasheet, no service manual in a language the site can cite, and no published production figure from the state that built ten million of them. Everything below rests on one encyclopaedia article read at a pinned revision, and the entry is marked accordingly.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Type 56 assault rifle · 1367792794 · read 2026-08-27 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-27 · review status: spot-checked