Mauser Standardmodell / Chiang Kaishek Rifle file photo [33266]

Mauser Standardmodell Rifle

Country of OriginGermany
TypeRifle
Caliber7.920 mm
Capacity5 rounds
Length1.100 m
Barrel Length600.000 mm
Weight3.990 kg

Contributor:

ww2dbaseThe Standardmodell bolt-action rifle was designed by the German firm Mauser in 1924 and manufactured in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. They each had a relatively short barrel at 600 millimeters with an iron sight. Within Germany, they were used by the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) para-military organizations throughout the 1930s, and many infantrymen of the German Condor Legion fighting in Spain carried Standardmodell rifles. The carbine variant of the weapon became a direct forerunner of the Karabiner 98k weapon that was widely used in WW2.

These rifles were exported to several foreign users such as Bolivia and Ethiopia, but most famously they were used by the Nationalist Chinese military. In 1932, 10,000 rifles were exported from Germany to China, and they were assigned to the Chinese Tax Police. In the same year, Mauser exported machines for China to license-build these weapons, but these first machines proved to be incorrect, and new machines were sent in early 1935. Licensed production began in Jul 1935 at Gongxian Arsenal in northern Henan Province, China. These Chinese-built rifles were initially designated Type 24 Rifles, as 1935 was the 24th year of the Republic of China. However, they were later re-designated Chiang Kaishek Rifles (Chinese: Zhongzheng Shi) after the Chinese leader visited the arsenal. The Hanyang Arsenal in Hubei Province, China produced the Model 1935 bayonet, which was modeled after the German Mauser S84/98 III bayonet, for the Chiang Kaishek Rifles. The Japanese Navy used at least 20,000 Chiang Kaishek Rifles, either captured from the Chinese or produced in captured Chinese arsenals. In 1941, Chinese Communist forces wielding this weapon avoided using the Chiang Kaishek Rifle designation by naming them Type 55 rifles, named for communist officer Zhu De's upcoming 55th birthday in Dec 1941. Between 1935 and 1949, about 600,000 Chiang Kaishek Rifles were produced in Chinese arsenals, and after the Nationalist Republic of China relocated to Taiwan, Chiang Kaishek Rifles remained in use by both sides of the Strait. In Taiwan, they were largely used for training or on parades by the 1950s. The Communists on the mainland, on the other hand, equipped some of their Korean War expeditionary infantrymen with Chiang Kaishek Rifles, and later sold an unknown number of them to Vietnamese Communist fighters; the Chinese People's Militia used Chiang Kaishek Rifles, by now re-designated as Type 79 rifles on the mainland, until the 1980s.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Nov 2024

Photographs

Soldier of the Chinese 88th Division posing with Zhongzheng Type rifle and Model 24 Stielhandgranate grenade, China, circa late 1930sChinese Army recruits in training with Zhongzheng Type rifles, circa late 1930sChinese soldiers with Zhongzheng Type rifles, China, circa 1940sChinese soldier guarding P-40 Warhawk fighters of the AVG
See all 6 photographs of Mauser Standardmodell Rifle



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Mauser Standardmodell Rifle Photo Gallery
Soldier of the Chinese 88th Division posing with Zhongzheng Type rifle and Model 24 Stielhandgranate grenade, China, circa late 1930s
See all 6 photographs of Mauser Standardmodell Rifle


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