QBU-88

The QBU-88 (Type 88) sniper rifle is a designated marksman rifle deployed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. During the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, China captured samples of the Soviet-designed Dragunov sniper rifle, which it copied as the Type 79. Due to immature gunsmithing techniques its firing pin could break from metallurgy issues and problems copying the PSO-1 4x scope made it unable to handle the recoil of firing its round. These issues were addressed in the upgraded Type 85, but the PLA still used standard ball ammunition rather than specialized sniping cartridges, resulting in lower accuracy. These shortfalls led to development of a new sniper rifle when China started development of a new cartridge for machine guns in the early 1990s. The QBU-88 rifle (also sometimes referred to as Type 88 rifle) was the first weapon of the newest generation of Chinese small arms, chambered for proprietary 5.8×42mm DBP87 ammunition. Adopted in 1997, the QBU-88 is, by the modern sense, not a true sniper rifle – it is more a designated marksman rifle, intended for aimed semi-automatic fire at ranges beyond the capabilities of standard infantry assault rifles. The rifle is intended for rough military use, so it is fitted with adjustable iron sights by default, and is generally equipped with telescopic sights or with night sights. QBU-88 rifle is optimized for a special heavy loading of 5.8×42mm cartridge with a longer streamlined bullet with steel core. It can also fire standard ammunition intended for the QBZ-95 assault rifles. At the present time the QBU-88 rifle is in service with PLA and Chinese police forces.