Why does only China extensively equip its forces with bullpup rifles?
What exactly are bullpup rifles?
Some may ask, doesn't the Type 95 rifle have a buttstock? Why is it called a bullpup rifle?
In reality, so-called bullpup rifles do have buttstocks, but what's the difference? It's quite simple.
If you can't physically handle it, you can observe the position of the magazine and trigger.
If the magazine is at the rear and the trigger is at the front, it's likely a bullpup rifle.
If you can get your hands on the gun, it's easier to determine.
If the buttstock can be removed separately and doesn't affect shooting, it's a stocked rifle;
Conversely, if it can't be removed, it's a bullpup rifle.
The buttstock plays an important role in firearms, primarily in mitigating recoil and maintaining balance to improve shooting comfort.
The buttstock of a stocked rifle is usually made of solid wood or engineered plastic as an independent component.
Regardless of the material, it can be individually disassembled, possibly foldable or extendable, without affecting the shooting performance of the gun, albeit being less comfortable after disassembly.
However, bullpup rifles are different; their buttstock not only performs the same functions as those of stocked rifles but also houses the rifle's core mechanism — the receiver.
In other words, bullpup rifles achieve shooting by directly using the receiver instead of the buttstock by placing the automatic mechanism and magazine to the rear. The biggest advantage of this design is shortening the overall length of the rifle while maintaining barrel length.
Why shorten the rifle? Because modern infantry is mechanized.
An overly long rifle is not conducive to carrying in various vehicles, airborne operations, and urban combat.
Therefore, since World War II, standard rifles of various countries have been continuously shortened in size, including carbines and bullpup rifles.
The power and accuracy of a rifle depend on the quality and velocity of the bullet. To achieve higher velocities, long barrels or high chamber pressures are usually required.
Long barrels provide a longer acceleration distance for the bullet, reducing the demand for chamber pressure, while also helping to improve barrel life and reduce manufacturing difficulty and cost.
However, among the existing mature technological solutions, only bullpup rifles can shorten the length of the rifle without sacrificing performance.
As for why subsequent firearm designs did not continue to adopt bullpup structures, it's mainly due to ejection and hot gas issues as well as limited versatility.
The design of bullpup rifles results in the receiver being close to the face, making it susceptible to heat and vibration, and ejection and hot gas scorching are inherent flaws of bullpup structures that are difficult to solve through design.
Additionally, the relatively short length of bullpup rifle bodies makes it impossible to install sufficiently long handguard rails to support accessories, and even if installed, it would lead to an imbalance of weight, affecting shooting accuracy.
However, this doesn't mean that the Type 95 rifle is unsuitable.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the mechanization level of infantry in various countries continued to increase, making bullpup rifles the trend at that time.
The Type 95 rifle was chosen by Chinese military industry based on the needs and technological level at that time. Although it has some shortcomings, it was the most suitable choice at that time.
Overall, weapon design is often a compromise made after weighing the pros and cons, and there's no perfect design, only the choice most suitable for current needs.
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