Type 38 self-loading rifle
| Type 38 self-loading rifle | |
|---|---|
| File:Menghean Navy semi-automatic rifles.png The Hwasŏng prototype, at top, which was accepted as the Type 38. | |
| Type | semi-automatic rifle |
| Place of origin |  Menghe |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1938-1964 |
| Used by | Imperial Menghean Army Eighth Army Insurgency |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Hwasŏng Arsenal |
| Designed | 1932-1938 |
| Manufacturer | Hwasŏng Arsenal |
| Produced | 1938-1939 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 3.67 kg (8.09 lb) |
| Length | 1,204 mm |
| Barrel length | 624 mm |
| Cartridge | 7.5×60mm Menghean |
| Action | short-recoil operation |
| Rate of fire | semi-automatic |
| Muzzle velocity | 730 m/s (2,395 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 100 - 1000 m sight adjustments |
| Feed system | 10-round fixed magazine |
| Sights | Iron sights |
The Type 38 self-loading rifle (Menghean: 38식 자동 소총 / 三八式自動小銃, sam-pal-sik jadong sochong), also translated as Type 38 automatic short rifle, is a semi-automatic rifle designed in the Greater Menghean Empire for the Imperial Menghean Navy. It saw only limited production, with an estimated 12,000 manufactured between 1938 and 1939.
Development
During the 1930s, some Menghean arms designers began independent work on self-loading rifles, in an effort to keep up with developments in other countries. Kwon Chong-hoon took a particularly strong interest in these weapons, and supported their development at the Hwasŏng Arsenal. The procurement board of the Imperial Menghean Army, however, still regarded semi-automatics as needlessly expensive and potentially unreliable, and remained committed to the proven Type 17 bolt-action rifle.
Menghe's arms companies gained a rare opportunity in 1935, when the Imperial Menghean Navy issued a design requirement for a self-loading rifle that would be issued to the Marine Infantry. As the Marine Infantry had a far smaller number of personnel than the Army, and would need to fight their way up defended beaches or hold back counterattacks, the Navy determined that the advantages of a semi-automatic rifle were worth its potential drawbacks. As per the Navy's requirements, the new weapon had to have a 10-round capacity, a weight of under 3.7 kilograms, and adequate durability after exposure to sand and salt water.
Four arms manufacturers submitted a total of seven prototypes to the initial round of testing in 1936, but none of their rifles met the Navy's requirements. Rather than ending the program, the Navy extended the deadline another four months, and at the second round of trials the prototypes had improved but still fell short. The procurement board then went through two more cycles, each time still dissatisfied, until in December 1937 Imperial Navy High Command decided that the Pan-Septentrion War was now in full swing and the Marine Infantry needed any rifle that would work. Under pressure to secure a contract, in early 1938 the procurement board approved the Hwasŏng proposal, which met the weight, ammunition, and basic reliability requirements despite falling short on many of the durability tests. As this was the beginning of the 38th year since Menghe's reunification, the rifle was designated Type 38.
Design
The Hwasŏng Arsenal's design team was fond of short-recoil operated firearms, regarding them as simpler and more reliable than gas piston systems, and the Type 38 was no exception. With every shot, the entire barrel and bolt assembly would slide back about one centimeter, giving the bullet time to leave the barrel and allowing pressure in the chamber to drop before the bolt continued to recoil and extract the spent cartridge. As part of this system, the barrel ran through a brass ring at the end of the handguard, so that friction from repeated firing would wear down the softer brass (which could be replaced more easily than the barrel). The weapon uses a rotating bolt with four locking lugs, very similar to that on the Type 32.
The Type 38 is fed from a ten-round magazine beneath the handguard, which is permanently fixed to the receiver and cannot be removed. To reload the weapon, the operator must instead use standard Army-issue five-round stripper clips to feed cartridges in from the top. The bolt locks open on an empty magazine to facilitate this process.
The weapon's accuracy was never quite satisfactory, as the shorter barrel and short-recoil system increased recoil while generating destabilizing movement, especially on worn-out rifles. In recognition of this drawback, the Type 38's sights were only adjustable out to 1000 meters, in contrast to the 2-kilomter-plus sights on contemporary Menghean rifles and LMGs. Accuracy and reliability were worsened by the requirement that the weapon be able to carry a bayonet; even when using a smaller bayonet specifically designed for the Type 38, the added weight on the end of the barrel sometimes interfered in the smooth operation of the short-stroke recoil system, and troops often left the bayonet off.
Service
After the Type 38 was approved for service, the Hwasŏng Arsenal rushed it into production, hoping to make deliveries in time for the Marine Infantry's planned landings in Meridia. The rifle made its debut in the amphibious assault on Portcullia in late 1938, though only a few hundred units were involved in the initial landings. It was used on a wider scale during the landings on mainland Khalistan. Some Type 38s were also issued to airborne units, replacing their Type 17 carbines.
During these operations, the Type 38 earned a poor reputation, though perhaps not a well-deserved one. While about average in terms of its resistance to sand and dirt, it was well behind the famously durable Type 17, which for most Menghean soldiers and officers was the nearest point of comparison. In particular, the rifle had a tendency to ingest mud, sand, and water through the left-hand slot for the charging handle, and sand stuck around the barrel could accelerate wear to the brass retaining ring when the rifle was fired. The Type 38 was also a little too light for its role; under pressure to meet the Navy's weight requirements, the designers had cut many parts to the brink of their functionality, and in battle these components were easily bent out of shape.
Disappointed by feedback from its officers in the field, the Navy suspended its production contract in 1939. It is not known for sure how many Type 38s were produced, but the highest serial number found on a surviving example is 12,053. These twelve thousand or so rifles remained in circulation among Menghean forces in Khalistan for the duration of the war, with the Marine Infantry, but not the Airborne forces, switching to the Type 40 short rifle.