The QBB-95 (Chinese: 95式班用轻机枪; pinyin: 95 Shì Bānyòng Qīngjīqiāng; literally: Type 95 Squad Light Machine Gun) is a Chinese light machine gun.
Its English designation comes from 轻武器, 步枪, 班用, 1995 (Pinyin: Qīngwuqi, Bùqiāng—Bānyòng, 1995; literally: Light weapon, rifle, squad-based, 1995).
History[]
The QBB-95 is the standard issue to People's Liberation Army units. It was first observed to be used in 1997.
Design Details[]
Heavily based on the QBZ-95, the QBB-95 is essentially a light support variation of the QBZ-95. In fact, most parts of the QBZ-95 are completely interchangeable with that of the QBB-95's. The QBB-95 also has a heavier reinforced barrel to lower the risk of potential overheating, and its 75-round drum magazine allows for sustained fire. Standard 30-round QBZ-95 magazines are also compatible with the QBB-95.
Ammunition[]
The QBB-95 uses the Chinese standard 5.8×42mm bullet. However, the QBB-95 uses the heavier DBP88 variant of the 5.8×42mm bullet, as opposed to the DBP87 bullets used by the QBZ-95. The DBP88 bullets, when compared to the DBP87 bullets used by the QBZ-95, have better penetration capabilities and better performance at longer ranges. Using DBP88 bullets in a QBZ-95 is not advised, as that will cause the action and barrel to wear down much faster than it normally should. However, later variants of the QBB-95 are chambered for the newer DBP10 ammunition. The QBB-97 variant uses 5.56×45mm NATO rounds.
Variants[]
- QBB-95
Original variant as introduced in 1997.
- QBB-95-1
Updated version of the QBB-95, featuring ergonomic enhancements from the updated QBZ-95-1 assault rifle.
- QBB-97
Export variant.