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| weaponinfo = The Type 63 Rifle (sometimes also erroneously referred to as the Type 68 rifle). As its name implies, was initially adopted by the PLA in 1963. It is An interesting development because , it represents a mix of features taken from other designs, mostly 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 of Type 63 rifles before a more advanced design, the Type 81 assault rifle, was adopted to replace it.

The Type 63 / 68 rifle is a gas operated, selective fire weapon. It shares the stock design and receiver outline with the SKS, but instead of atilting bolt it has an AK-47-type rotating bolt with dual locking lugs.The gas system is somewhat original being not entirely the same as 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. The Type 63 rifles feature a bolt hold open device, also borrowed from the Simonov SKS, which holds the bolt open after the last shot had be enfiredhas been fired. The bolt carrier also has the charging clip guides machined into its forward partthe bolt, so thus the rifle can be reloaded with the magazine in place, using 10-round SKS stripper clips. Selective fire capability is controlled by the single safety / fire mode selector lever, located at the front of the trigger guard. All rifles are fitted with a wooden stock and a non-detachable, spike-shaped, down-folding bayonet<ref name="mf"></ref>.