![]() Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. ![]() "Hanyang Arsenal and Its Place in Chinese History". "The First Chinese Semi-Automatic Rifle by General Liu Qing En". ^ a b c d e f g h i Shih, Bin Stan Zielinski (2004).When the machinery arrived at Hanyang, it was set up and initially used to manufacture Hanyang 88 rifles but was later changed to produce Type 24 Chiang Kai-shek rifles. After being sent to Gongxian, in an ironic twist, the machinery and tooling equipment was later redirected back to Hanyang but this did not happen until 1935. It was kept in a warehouse until 1921, when it was diverted to Gongxian Arsenal. Later that year the machinery was recovered and arrived at Shanghai. In the summer of 1919 during an Army Department meeting Liu suffered a stroke which caused paralysis of one side of his body, supposedly due to the fact that the vessel with the machinery onboard sank on its way to China. In 1918 two rifles were tested at Springfield Armory by Julian Hatcher. The test revealed that the hand-made springs proved to be too weak to properly cycle the rounds, as opposed to the ones produced in USA. The first version was made at Hanyang with a hand-made driving spring, the second was manufactured at Pratt & Whitney and had a machined spring. On Septemtwo versions of the rifle were tested at Nan Yuan Proving Ground in Beijing. Liu stayed at Hartford at least until June 1915. Later that year, on September, Liu along with his family and seven subordinates arrived at Hartford, the purpose of the visit was to familiarize with the machinery. A contract for US$1,082,500 was signed with the company on April 11, with an expected delivery in 24 months. HistoryĪt the beginning of 1914 General Liu contacted Pratt & Whitney Tool Company, Hartford in order to purchase machinery for Hanyang Arsenal. The stock had a compartment for cleaning tools. The rifle's method of operation could be switchedįrom gas to straight-pull bolt action by rotating counterclockwise the cylinder located on the muzzle, to revert to gas-operated reloading the cylinder had to be rotated back (clockwise). The rifle used a muzzle "gas-trap" system similar to Bang rifle (other rifles including this system were: Gewehr 41 and early production models of M1 Garand). ![]() It was probably the first Chinese semi-automatic rifle. The General Liu rifle is named after its inventor and the first Superintendent of Hanyang Arsenal - General Liu Qing En (1869-1929), as the rifle never received any other designation. Hanyang Arsenal, Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool Semi-automatic / Straight-pull bolt action rifle The Chinese government did not provide information on survivors.A sample from the Swedish Army Museum, manufactured in 1915 In 1989, General Liu became vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the elite body in Beijing that oversees the military and answers to civilian leaders. His plan called for naval modernization to take place in three stages, with China eventually able to project force deep into island chains where the United States has been the dominant sea power for decades. General Liu encouraged technological innovation within China that would increase naval capabilities, but he also advocated large foreign purchases. Western military scholars say the Chinese Navy still lags far behind that of the United States but is progressing fast. His goal was to take a moribund coastal defense force and raise it to a level where it could compete with navies from the West. General Liu was an army officer before being appointed commander of the navy in 1982. Cole, a professor at the National War College. He went on to spend much of his career involved with the science and technology departments of the People’s Liberation Army and was close to Deng Xiaoping, the leader who succeeded Mao and advocated economic reforms, according to the second edition of “The Great Wall at Sea,” a recent book on China’s naval modernization written by Bernard D. After the Communist victory in 1949, General Liu was sent to the Soviet Union for schooling.
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