Type 63

The Type 63 Rifle (sometimes erroneously referred to as the Type 68) was initially adopted by the PLA in 1963. An interesting development, it represents a mix of features taken from other designs, primarily from the Type 56 assault rifle (Kalashnikov AK-47) and the Type 56 carbine (Simonov SKS). It is believed that Chinese factories produced well over 1 million Type 63 rifles before a more advanced design, the Type 81 assault rifle, was adopted to replace it. The Type 63 rifle is a gas operated, selective fire weapon. It shares the stock design and receiver outline with the SKS, but instead of a tilting bolt it has an AK-47-type rotating bolt with dual locking lugs. The gas system is somewhat original, not entirely identical to the SKS or the AK-47, and has a dual-position gas regulator. This rifle is fed from detachable box magazines of various capacities, which are externally similar to, but not compatible with AK-47 magazines.