helialprofile.png
Welcome to IOPWiki, Commander. You can contribute to this wiki without an account. Learn how to contribute and join our Discord server.

Editing General Liu

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision Your text
Line 13: Line 13:
  
 
| weaponinfo = {{WIP}}
 
| weaponinfo = {{WIP}}
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. It holds the distinction of being one of China's earliest domestically designed firearms, meaning that it was an original design from within the country, and not a design purchased from another major power. The rifle used a muzzle "gas-trap" system similar to the Danish Bang rifle, the Gewehr 41, and early production models of the M1 Garand. The rifle could be switched from gas-operated semi-automatic to straight-pull bolt action by rotating the metal cylinder located on the muzzle counter-clockwise; to revert to gas-operation the cylinder simply had to be rotated back clockwise.
+
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. It was probably the first Chinese semi-automatic rifle. 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). The rifle's method of operation could be switched from 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 stock had a compartment for cleaning tools.
  
Around 1914, General Liu contacted the Pratt & Whitney Tool Company of Hartford, Connecticut,  in order to purchase machine tooling for the Hanyang Arsenal. General Liu hoped to use this new machinery to produce his new semi-automatic rifle domestically in China, and worked to secure a contract with Pratt and Whitney to this end. In September of that year, Liu traveled out to Hartford along with his entire family and several servants. Liu would remain there for almost a year, working to familiarize himself with the machining process.
+
Two versions of the rifle were produced by 1916 and tested at the Nanyuan Proving Grounds; one of them being made by the Hanyang Arsenal and the other made by Pratt & Whitney, with the Pratt & Whitney version proving to be superior due to differences in driving springs between both versions. Two more rifles (or possibly the same two tested in 1916) were tested again by the Springfield Armory; nothing was heard from them after the tests, so the rifle was essentially shelved.
 
 
Two versions of the rifle were produced around 1916 and tested at the Nanyuan Proving Grounds; one of them being made by the Hanyang Arsenal and the other made by Pratt & Whitney. The Pratt & Whitney version proved to be superior, due to the hand-made springs in the Hanyang rifle being weaker than the machined ones in the American rifle. Two years later in 1918, two more Liu rifles were tested, this time at Springfield Armory in the US. Following these trials, and after a few delays thanks to WW1, a shipment of tooling from Pratt and Whitney was sent on its way to China in 1919.
 
 
 
In the summer of 1919, General Liu suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed in one side of his body, and Liu ended up resigning from his position at Hanyang Arsenal. This resulted in the machinery that had been meant for the Arsenal to be stored in a warehouse in Shanghai for about two years, when it was then sent to a different arsenal in China. It wouldn't be until 1935 when the tooling finally made its way to its original destination, and arrived at Hanyang Arsenal. When it arrived at Hanyang, the tooling was repurposed to help manufacture other firearms, chiefly the Hanyang 88 and Type 24 rifles.
 
  
 
Only a few rifles were produced, though it is unclear how many actually were produced. One known sample is known to survive in the Swedish Armémuseum, and another survives in the Springfield Armory Museum.
 
Only a few rifles were produced, though it is unclear how many actually were produced. One known sample is known to survive in the Swedish Armémuseum, and another survives in the Springfield Armory Museum.

Please note that all contributions to IOP Wiki are considered to be released under the the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (see IOP Wiki:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To edit this page, please answer the question that appears below (more info):

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)