Chinese Warlord Rifles: Hanyang Type 88, aka Type Han

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One of the biggest arsenals in China in the 20th century was the Hanyang Arsenal, built in 1890 by the Qing dynasty to help modernize China’s military. The fist rifle to be made there was a copy of the German Gewehr 88 commission rifle (designated Type 88), which began production in 1895. A few changes were made early in production, with the barrel shroud deleted in 1904 and the rear sight changed form a ladder type to a tangent type in 1910. After this, production would remain basically the same through the end of production in 1944. In total, some 1,083,000 examples were made over nearly 50 years of production.
A major shift in production occurred in 1938, when the Hanyang Arsenal had to be evacuated to avoid the advance of Japanese troops. At that time it was renamed the 1st Arsenal, and its rifle production machinery was transferred to the 21st Arsenal. The Type 88 rifle was renamed the Type Han at that point, and production from 1939 until 1944 took place at the 21st Arsenal (ending when that facility transitioned to production of the Chiang Kai-Shek rifle instead). These 21st Arsenal rifles (or which some 207,000 were made in those 5 years) can be identified by the left-handed swastika used as the arsenal’s symbol, as opposed to the 5-pointed star used by the Hanyang Arsenal.
The Type 88/Type Han was made to use the same clips as the Gewehr 88, and chambered for the .318” round nosed 8mm Mauser ammunition. This ammo was in production in China through the end of the 1930s, and there was not a systematic effort to rechamber the rifles for a Spitzer version of the cartridge, as there was in Germany. That said, some were converted here and there, and some were also captured and converted to single shot use as trainers by the Japanese military.
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle 36270
Tucson, AZ 85740

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Fun fact, before this gun came into production, the Chinese/Manchus were one of the last major armies to use bows on a large scale.

[@hwl7502]

Even more fun fact, drawings and documents from that era suggest they use bows side by side with muskets, not by assign them to different unit but have same soldier carry both at same time. They would took advantage of the range of the guns then switch to bows at closer range in favor of much faster firing rate and perhaps indirect fire capability.

[@pd-kx4qw]

That would be terrifying to come up against even if you had more modern weaponry. I couldn’t imagine not hearing anything and all of a sudden someone next to you is taken out by an xbow bolt. Hard pass!

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@pd-kx4qw actually their manchurian arrows were the most horrifying. 2000 grain weight even at 150 fps can penetrate two men. the sizes of those arrows...nobody wore armor at that time and these had comparable stopping power at close range to a musket.

[@lol500000]

Name checks out

[@gladonos3384]

@@pd-kx4qw Ummm... I think I will take the modern weaponry any day of the week.

[@sgtass1]

Really glad to see Ian do so many Chinese history videos. Really forgotten piece of history

[@spacewater7]

Some want you to forget.

[@Drownedinblood]

I guess people finally looking towards WW2 history in Asia now that European portion is covered so thoroughly.

[@greyhoundTex]

@Tian Wong ...and the fallout from this action almost directly lead to the political conflict prior to the Korean War. If only we had listened to Patton... Haha.

[@greyhoundTex]

@Tian Wong Yeah, more than likely assassinated for his view on how to handle the communists.

[@yunongli2872]

So too thought the Soviet Union

[@eeshsinger]

he did it he reviewed a Hanyang type 88 yeahhh

[@emilelepissier7550]

First character there 乙 is the second character in the series used for enumerating a sequence, similar to "B" in "exhibit B" or "item B". So there probably was serial numbers that was like 甲xxxxxx. The whole series of 10 characters 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸, is called the 天干 Sky Stem, meaning the main trunk. Together with the series of 12 characteristics 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥, called the Ground Branch, form the traditional Chinese sexagenary cycle for their calendar. Sixty being the lowest common multiple of 10 and 12. So if two characters, one from each series, appear together, most likely it was marking the year in the sexagenary cycle. But if only one character from the Sky Stem leads a serial, it was making obvious that fact.

[@ianfinrir8724]

Fascinating.

[@coinflipwolfe3734]

Damn shame the laser bayonet and magnetic accelerating coil isn't on this one. Watch out for Typhoons.

[@Hangmen13official]

I understood that reference.

[@lerenzuu]

Ah yes, another shikikun of culture

[@SmuggestOfRats]

Yeah, we're gonna need to bring Lee Harvey Oswald's favorite Grape to help take those out. And maybe one or two ROF buffers.

[@commanderbeepo8066]

Shikikans assemble!

[@comraderevo2362]

Suppose those only available after neural upgrade?

[@DerLoladin]

The way China, throughout its various dynasties, armed itself with weapons of all kinds is fascinating. To imagine that during the early Ming, the Chinese would end up arming hundreds of thousands of their troops with firearms, cannons, rockets. Anyone curious about the administrative challenges associated with that as well as some of their usage and distribution (and what was prioritised where and why) I highly recommend the Ming Shilu for study. It's a vast collection so it might take some time to work through it all - it's been largely translated into English by Australian Historian Geoff Wade.

[@DBCisco]

I had a 1939 Chinese 98 Mauser and C-96, sold them for $100 each in the 80s. Wish I still had them

[@fritzdaddy-135mmgetstagger4]

Why the c96 (ノ｀⌒´)ノ┫：・┻┻

[@heanvisalseyhak9487]

Why you sell? It’s so rare

[@walruskingmike5776]

Oh God. That hurts.

[@edwardjoe8448]

damn man, those will worth thounsands of dollars nowaday

[@DBCisco]

@@edwardjoe8448 They were selling for under $100 in the 80s.

[@Whatever-ly9ek]

The first letter of the serial number I assume is the Chinese character 乙 (yi)? Don’t really know if it’s trying to describe the grading of the rifle or batch/model number even maybe something else. In China people use characters like “甲 乙 丙 丁…” to describe the grade of stuff like A B C and D level. Don’t know if I make myself clear enough. Here is the wiki page kinda explains it better than I can: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Stems

[@fuuryuuSKK]

serial, not cereal

[@Whatever-ly9ek]

@@fuuryuuSKK Thank you for pointing that out! English is not my native language and I apologize for misspelling that.

[@darwinchan7695]

Yes indeed, 乙 in Chinese is used just like the English letter B, so I wonder if it carries more meaning than just a proof mark, or perhaps it's some sort of a "second stage" proof mark.

[@NM-wd7kx]

@@Whatever-ly9ek that's astoundingly good English for a second language mate

[@Whatever-ly9ek]

@@NM-wd7kx Thank you!

[@tt-ew7rx]

If you move from Hanyang to Hunan province, you go South, instead of North ;-) That first character in the serial number 乙 means ‘second’ or 'two' in most uses. Not too sure what it indicates here.

[@steventuck1524]

It indicates a second grade rifle...as opposed to a first grade or third or fourth grade gun

[@jawafreak230]

Lol shouldn’t the character be 二？因为我不知道为什么。

[@tmq7288]

​@@jawafreak230 二是现代说法。 以前作排序时，更多是用“甲乙丙丁”；甚至在上世纪80年代，这种排序表达也很常见。 汉阳造上面这个确定是第二的意思。

[@jawafreak230]

@@tmq7288 好啊，谢谢。

[@Mikalu0514]

@@jawafreak230 乙在排序上就像英文排序的B吧

[@jimbayler4277]

The hole in the stock probably was for a mount or bi-pod type set up. Wall guns were popular in China's fortifications, so there is a good chance the hole was for some kind of pintle pin allowing it to be mounted in a socket on the fort's wall.

[@sparky6855]

Thanks for making my days a little better with these videos!

[@jimcappa6815]

Of course they're not Mausers. They're Wausers!

[@ericstromberg9608]

Or BrowningsBrowningsBrownings.

[@sakjdbasd]

W for wumbo

[@AresWasTaken]

The Wario to the Mario

[@ErulianADRaghath]

This is a fantastic series of videos! I'm from Wuhan (武汉), where Hanyang(汉阳) is a district. I still remember the local history museum tours mentioning and showing an old bolt action rifle just like this one! I believe this rifle is colloquially known as 汉阳造 (Hanyang Made) during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War and the subsequent Chinese Civil War. You can still see this rifle mentioned and used as props for TV shows and movies here.

[@Mikalu0514]

It can show up in most of war in Chinese contemperary history.

[@kevintang5473]

Rumor says that if modernize it and give it enough love, it will turn into a Gundam

[@zhu_zi4533]

🤣

[@JayS208]

I'd hate to see it done to one in more-or-less good condition but if it was already "sporterized" or in really bad shape I think it would be cool to trick one out this way.

[@petershen6924]

Lots of Chinese Mauser M24 Chiang Kai Sek rifle got their barrels severely wore out. My theory is that those rifles shot round nose 7.9mm rounds of the Hanyang rifles vice the 7.9mm Mauser spire point rounds as the rifles were designed for due to logistical issues.

[@thegael1996]

I've never seen a M24 Chiang Kai Sek in good condition as they're usually a very well used rifles.

[@demonprinces17]

Lots of use, cheap steel, or both

[@allangibson2408]

@@demonprinces17 Chinese rifles got LOTS of use - 12 years of war against the Japanese for starters.

[@whatsup5914]

@@allangibson2408 also the Civil War they fought pretty much immediately after they ended the war with the Japanese that lasted another 4 years

[@thegael1996]

@@allangibson2408 And even decades after that war. They were a real work horse of a rifle for the Chinese.

[@jeromechan4076]

wait where is the mech accessories and the maid cafe?

[@ManofHalal]

Where's the longsword that she uses lmao

[@CuongNguyen-cq6zh]

it's the secret 3 million dollar stretch goal of Pistols of the Warlords ;)

[@teamscarletdevil6915]

i see what you did here lol

[@anandakang]

Came to the comments section looking for a GFL reference, wasn't disappointed.

[@GuardianOfTheHeaven]

Likewise, bud :3

[@cosminetron]

The way of the gundam

[@brig.badger2896]

What do you mean?

[@janhulek785]

Gundam is japanese....

[@notme5184]

hey it's the gun i kept giving to my chinese conscripts in hoi4

[@reinbeers5322]

I can't find the part about the Gundams though, damn.

[@JimmyD806]

Turkey made a rifle just like this. It had the Gew88 receiver and 29" 8x57 barrel. The top of the receiver ring had the star and crescent moon and was marked Ankara, but you could still see German writing and proofs on the rest of the receiver. Big-5 was selling them some years ago for about $100 so I and several of my buddies bought one. The things were LETHALLY accurate over long ranges and we could hit salt licks (for cows) that were a mile away on the next hillside. Mine started having some headspace problems so I got rid of it. Fun rifle to shoot, though.

[@RD-ht6go]

I'm from Wuhan and this rifle is one of the most important things of the city's modern history. Thanks for doing this episode.

[@gagida1829]

@@johndoe-so2ef lol

[@puremaddeathyesiam4204]

Which one kill more people the rifle or the virus ?

[@YourLordMobius]

@@puremaddeathyesiam4204 That's a genuinely good question.

[@RD-ht6go]

@@johndoe-so2ef Yes.

[@earthfederationspaceforce9844]

9:51 serial number That's not a number That's a character 甲乙丙丁 and That's a “乙” So the serial number is: 乙4T4845 （Chinese,number,English,number*4）

[@earthfederationspaceforce9844]

Here is my guess:乙4 is production line T4845 is product number

[@kmcgovern2012]

Ian doesn't refer to that symbol as a number, but an approval stamp.

[@tonyshen8543]

@@kmcgovern2012 then most likely it means this gun is a second grade quality production instead of first grade

[@turboshamu]

@@kmcgovern2012 that symbol is literally a number. lol 乙 means two

[@kmcgovern2012]

@@turboshamu LOL, They use arabic numerals elsewhere, including several "2"s on the site. yet, they used "乙" for just that one numeral....right....there are several chinese characters for the number "2" and that 乙 isn't one of them. 貳 , 贰 and 二 are.

[@FinalWarrior591]

Huh, Ian's getting into Chinese gundams now? Awesome. 😉

[@fairwinds610]

Back in 1975, I bought a rifle like this one at Big Five Sporting Goods in Riverside, CA. The price was $29.95. The rifles were 1888 Commission rifles that had been modified in Turkey by having the barrel-shroud removed and barrel replaced for 7.92JS cartridges. The receivers were modified for stripper-clip use and also marked "Ankara". The original Mauser banner was partly ground away in the receiver mods. It lived for years behind the seat of my 1959 Chevrolet Apache pick-up.

[@mrbeast85]

Quite an elegant looking rifle. Very rough condition though, its had a hard life...

[@Anino_Makata]

It's seen it way through two world wars, had it's share of fighting in a number of revolutions, and might have even seen action in Korea. The fact that this piece even found it's way into Ian's hands is incredible, in and of itself.

[@hwl7502]

At least it not been convert to use 7.62x39 by CCP during the early years of the cold war like many other firearms of that era. You can find a lot of zb-26 using type-56 ak magazines in many old Chinese war movies or even Thompson with PPsh mag.

[@PhantomP63]

At least some did see use in Korea. Mine is a Korea bringback with a Hunan Militia stock carving. The stock is warped, cracked and messily glued back together, and the rifling nearly eroded away. Glad to know about the bipod hole thanks to this comment section!

[@rickdu9489]

@@PhantomP63 Interesting. Would that be 湖南(Hunan)or河南(Henan)?

[@cammobunker]

Oh, no, that's actually a fairly good condition example. Trust me. Back in the 80s these came in by the container load, and many of those I would have literally been hesitant to use to hold up a tomato plant. These saw *extremely* hard service with poorly trained peasant militia for decades, and were usually stored in barns and open warehouses after being replaced with newer style guns, where they sat for more decades before being sold for as little as $1 each to an exporter. You could buy these for $20-30 retail back then, and people would walk right by them. The most common use was making them into wall hangers or floor lamps.

[@deepatlantic2222]

Thanks to you and all the anti-china attacks in the media, I've started reading about China's last 200 years. It is full of excitement and drama. Thanks for the quality videos and for casting light on wars I didn't even know existed until this month.

[@shatterquartz]

If you're interested in modern Chinese history and wonder how it might have gone differently, With Iron and Fire imagines an alternate China where the republic is stillborn and a neo-imperial regime is reinstated in 1912. www.amazon.com/Iron-Fire-David-Wostyn/dp/1986432955/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524162400&sr=1-6&keywords=with+iron+and+fire

[@kirbyculp3449]

The tyranny of the CCP should be understood by that history. From what I have read of chinese philosophy, tyranny imposing predictable order is preferable to chaotic freedom.

[@deepatlantic2222]

@@kirbyculp3449 learning about the times when China isn't orderly makes that very understandable.

[@katapinesxc6477]

China and the cccp are two different things, china has a rich history, the cccp is the result of european communism infecting chinese philosophy.

[@juamu1132]

@@kirbyculp3449 try living during the warlord period and tell me which is preferable.

[@noelharkov9125]

Did you know you can upgrade your maid into a Gundam? Just kidding, I always wanted to know more about the Type 88 and its service.

[@Zmeeed01]

I see a fellow man of culture here.

[@8088bit]

Witness the power of a seasoned maid

[@GuardianOfTheHeaven]

Truly, a Raifu of long service record, and she went even further than otherwise expected of. And she even actually got further modernization as well!

[@castform57]

From a bayonet to a friggin energy blade. Gundam maid is great.

[@bannedinc.]

The perfect rifle to tear apart columns of KCCO tanks and mechas

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

The hole may of been used for a peg mount at an arsenal. It's the main reason so many Chinese swords have holes in the handle at the end of the pommel. Peg mounts.

[@munkSWE88]

My theory on that hole, it's for a crude bipod.

[@moreparrotsmoredereks2275]

Nonsense, it's to attach your Tactical Bean Holder

[@mauserinchinaaaronzou88]

Yeah, it's for a bipod/shooting stick. Mostly common found on guns from Tibetan/middle Asia area. Sort of tradition that people used to put such bipod on from ancient matchlock to modern bolt action, which referred to in Chinese as Cha Zi, literally means “Fork”, and the hole called "Cha Zi Dong", Dong means a hole. Some "Cha Zi" are plain, some are well decorated with precious metal.

[@justindunlap1235]

@@mauserinchinaaaronzou88 that's what I thought, thanks for your insight.

[@JeffreyYS]

@@moreparrotsmoredereks2275 bruh

[@kentlindal5422]

@@moreparrotsmoredereks2275 do they have Bubbas in China?

[@JohnSmith-fd5un]

Hey, Ian, a bit of topic here, but is there a book that covers the development of rifle/pistol sights? It would be nice, if there is.

[@JohnSmith-fd5un]

Well, that's a simple overview, I wished for a detailed breakdown on different sights, their history, concept and what was the thought put into it. That looks like a good book!

[@JohnDoe-be5zx]

I have a book in my collection called, The American Rifle. (I could be miss remembering the exact title so I'll update later when I get home.) . It isn't entirely on the subject of sights but it does have an extensive list of different varieties and how they came about and their mainstream acceptance. The book was published shortly after the adoption of the M1 Garand so nothing too modern will be covered.

[@Hellston20a]

This is not just the "Warlords rifle", but the iconic Chinese national rifle for the first half of the 20th century, used by not only warlords but the Chinese Red Army during the Long March, the unified Kuomintang in the Sino-Japanese war then the Chinese civil war, fighting the newborn PLA that also used the Hanyang 88 as well, then finally the PVA fighting in Korea.

[@TJ_Low]

I wonder if those holes in the handguard are for some sort of bipod.

[@FrogOf4Chan]

It would be really impractical, the weapon is quite well designed for infantry purposes and a bipod wouldn't be all that useful for an infantry rifle, if the weapon was chambered in something with more kick i could see adding a bipod and designating the rifle and its user for marksmanship purposes. But thats assuming it was modified during its military years and not something a hobbyist did for themselves.

[@FrogOf4Chan]

@@DesertCoyotes True Story! Also its japan.. the country that prides itself on being weird

[@CMBlessing81]

I was thinking stacking swivel.

[@codyshi4743]

This weapon shouldn’t be forgotten. This weapon was commonly use by most Chinese army from the fall of China’s last dynasty all the way to the Korean War.

[@thiccfork8664]

Does this mean that we will see a video on the Chiang Kai Shek rifle soon :D

[@Goob_G3]

I've been waiting for a vid on this for so long. Can't wait to get a copy of Arming the Dragon with the Kickstarter!

[@christophergoodwin-qo7tg]

Great rifles, the gew 1888 is a great rifle, the bolt has about the same strength as a mosin, i hjnt with mine all the time for elk deer wild hofs and sometimes blackbears if they are causing trouble, its probably the only rifle i own i will never get rid of

[@svchwsvchw]

The first character in the serial number is 乙. Seems more like a series number similar to the Japanese Type38/99 serial number starting with Kanji letters. There are ten of such Chinese characters, 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸. They were put into usage in the Shang Dynasty (~3000 years ago) for recording years, and are still used in modern China, mainly as ordinal numbers, I.e. 甲 usually means first, 乙 means second, so on and so forth.

[@CoalPoggers]

Here comes the *second book*

[@jasonsudana5320]

It is said that the swastika serves to cope with soldier's stress - most soldiers came from a peasant background with very heavy superstition, thus the swastika serves as an amulet to calm them down. Before the Arsenal's relocation from Hanyang to Chongqing, the five pointed star is used instead of the swastika.

[@RedXlV]

Can we see a "Hanyang 88 to QBZ-95" book in the future?

[@markfergerson2145]

Up next in Scholagladiatoria- swords of the Chinese warlords?

[@masahige2344]

As a specialist in this area, I'm delighted to see these arms getting proper exposure to modern western audiences!

[@thelieutenant7732]

Maybe the hole was drilled to mount some sort of makeshift bipod?

[@_wanted_outlaw3007]

Like the Scout bipods in bf1? The weird ones you hold with your palm?

[@Klentung8989]

KMT IS SO PROUD OF YOU

[@leonguyen896]

The first character is not a proof mark, but actually "2."

[@mrmosk2011]

The first character in the serial number means second or two. It is one of ten characters used in Yin Yang and Chinese calendar. Other use of this sequence is in organic chemistry compound naming, e.g. ethanol is 乙醇.

[@helikos1]

Very interesting video, thank you Mr McCollum.

[@mitchlovesgames7281]

Sweet! I've been waiting for a video on this rifle

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Ian .

[@mcqueenfanman]

I wonder if they featured these in the movie The Sand Pebbles. Lots of warlords in that movie too.

[@ManiSRao-bt3xw]

Wasn't that movie about the Boxer Rebellion? If so, that was during the Quing Dynasty. No warlords then. They came sometime later.

[@mcqueenfanman]

@@ManiSRao-bt3xw I seem to remember warlords in the book too, I could be wrong. I think it was set after the Boxer Rebellion in the 1920s.

[@wes11bravo]

Excellent movie. Takes place as China was emerging from the warlord era, as the KMT was coming into its own. The US and other European powers using naval powers ("gunboat diplomacy") to protect their interests, etc. A great movie for weapons nerds. The San Pablo's shore party was kitted out with period correct web gear and weapons (M1903s, BARs, M1911s, a Lewis Gun on the boat, etc)...

[@wes11bravo]

@@mcqueenfanman - your username tells me you're no doubt aware of my favorite WWII movie Hell Is For Heroes!

[@mcqueenfanman]

@@wes11bravo Very well made movie, the death by 1,000 cuts scene is moving. I never saw anything like that before.

[@realvelikiman1987]

I have waited a long time for this

[@dylananderson4421]

Me: Hello, Hanyang. Hanyang: Hanyang!

[@kentlindal5422]

"It's Headly!" Sorry couldn't resist the Blazing Saddles reference.

[@wes11bravo]

@@kentlindal5422 "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives!"

[@matthewct8167]

It’s very interesting for me since I’m born in Hanyang.

[@Gregiorp]

I bought 4 of these when Century had a ton. They were ROUGH. Still got one that was all matching.

[@TreacherousFennec]

so thats where Wauser comes from, short for Wuhan Mauser :)

[@kallejodelbauer2955]

Mauser didnt build German Kommisionsgewehr 88 at all. They build Blackpowder Turkey Mausers at this Time. The Chinese copy a Rifle, that Germany didnt wont anymore, thats pretty normal ,because they didnt get the newest Stuff. They build it 50 years,thats normal too.But then they build only 1,1 Million of it,that nothing in Numbers.Mao Tze Tung allways say that he didnt fear the Sowjets, because with his Millions of Chinese People he only can win.They didnt win, if they didnt have a Rifle for them.Thats why the Japanese won so many Battles in China.

[@kevintang5473]

@@kallejodelbauer2955 The Hanyang arsenel made 1.1 Million type88s. Not that the country made 1.1 million rifles over the 5 decades. That being said, the quantity is indeed pretty small

[@VisualdelightPro]

China made more grenades than actual bolt action rifles. Finland on the otherhand modified more rifles than actual manufacturing rifles in factories. like the Mosin.

[@TreacherousFennec]

@@VisualdelightPro chinese apparently started nade spamming well before video games and playing them with hacks

[@GCho733]

I’ve been waiting a long time for you to make a video on this. As well as the Chinese Jingal wall guns.

[@deadbreath666]

Always love to see mostly unheard of Asian or Middle Eastern designs or licensed copy's of European or American guns

[@veryunderratediwrite9466]

It's a licensed copy

[@deadbreath666]

@@veryunderratediwrite9466 oopsididamistake

[@Abby_Normal_1969]

Super happy to see this. How interesting. Thanks for the vid. Hope to see more of Chinese firearms.

[@henrywang3403]

Umm btw. Han yang arsenal is located in Hubei province, so it is moved *south* to Hunan province

[@mrsurplusbangbang1857]

I have a very early Hanyang 88 with the old style rear sight .it is number ,A 058 pretty sure re stamped on German parts.

[@Redmenace96]

For the kids: China was once our ally. Chang Kai Schek was our bf. But he was a werewolf. It is complicated.

[@ericclone]

7:00 Hunan is to the south of Hanyang, so they evacuated to the south instead of north. Fun fact: Hanyang is in Hubei province. In Chinese, Hu is lake, bei is north, nan is south. So Hubei is literally, "north of lake", and hunan "south of lake". Here, both "lake"s refers to the same lake, Dongting Lake.

[@zhu_zi4533]

yes, is Dongting Lake

[@Dorngrunder]

Hey Ian, love the channel and have been watching for years. I have been thinking about this for a long time, you show us all these amazing weapons though out history but What about ear protection during the wars. I can't recall that I have ever seen a ww1, ww2 or vietnam movie for exemple where soldiers are wearing ear plugs or such. And who is better to ask about this than you 😄. As a hunter I know that you dont want to shoot a high caliber rifle without ear protection. Cheers from Sweden.

[@tessalyyvuo1667]

I have a fascination of Chinese history, so thank you for this video. It is a pity as both member of the LGBTQ community and an open critic of president Xi and his human rights violations, it is unlikely I feel safe to visit China during my life time. But I could visit Taiwan. And the Chinese nationalists (who later established Taiwan as a seperate country) put rifles like these to good use against Japanese imperialists during WW II. So well done forgotten ally.

[@steventuck1524]

I have a "chaing Kai sheck" 98 rifle made in 1944...has a shot out bore and mis matched chechoslav made bolt...ive actually fired it many times however I would not recommend doing it if you have one as they are unsafe to shoot...but I don't have much common sense lol

[@elliotthebastard9418]

I bet it was mounted on a wall. That would explain the drill hole in the stock and the replaced bolt. If it was made "safe" for display, it could have had it's bolt taken out and maybe even handed to the cops in a buy-back scheme.

[@MrS22222]

It's for a shooting stick.

[@squidtcalamary2783]

10:10 The "乙" in front of the line of numbers isn't a random symbol that doesn't mean anything, in Chinese that's like a form of labelling things like alphabets, this character in particular is second in a line of such characters, 甲乙丙丁 etc

[@mohammedimran3670]

Was the metal that was used to make this rifle locally manufactured or did they import a metal for the pressure bearing parts like the bolt and the barrel?

[@AtlasJotun]

I never knew there was a story behind the Chinese system of designating their Arsenals. That was an interesting video on many levels, thanks Ian!

[@culshie]

What next? Guns of the former Yugoslavia, I remember watching the News in the nineties and marvelling at the variety of weapons being fielded by the various Militias, not to mention all the Massey Ferguson 35 tractors?

[@Cammy1RHF]

I did 2 tours in the former republic,second tour we did a weapons check at a cantonment site...boy o boy did I see some stuff...even found a mint Thompson

[@80krauser]

I’d watch the hell out of a Forgotten Weapons/Chieftain crossover going over Massey 35s! We have one from 1960, the sucker still runs pretty good.

[@culshie]

@@80krauser The M.F. 35s or 35Xs were actually made in Yugoslavia either licensed or as rip offs.

[@80krauser]

@@culshie They have a factory making them still in Kenya I believe. One of my dad’s friends had one of those Yugo made tractors. That sucker could move.

[@oscarjosefsson9300]

Are stripper clips an improvement over the n-bloc clips? It seems like the n-bloc clips would be easier to load into the rifle? But maybe you get a better and more reliable feeding without the n-bloc clip?

[@PhantomP63]

The Gewehr 88 was updated into the 88/05- part of which included converting the rifles to use stripper clips. The Germans seemed to think stripper clips were better than en bloc.

[@blueishgreen76]

The hole in the bottom of mannlicher system rifles to let the en block clip fall out was considered a week point as it could let mud into the action. It's also more fiddly to top off en block systems, which ran afoul of military doctrines of the time that held that the rifle should be used in single shot mode, with the magazine serving as an emergency reserve. In practice the stripper clips seemed preferred, but booth were used extensively in the two World Wars.

[@iJacker]

I’m just curious Ian; you could easily diversify your videos by exhibiting other weapons, say swords (as they are a definite precursor to the bayonet, right?). Have you ever thought of doing some in depth videos on knives, armor or otherwise more ‘primitive’ weaponry? I’d flippin love it if ya did!

[@JM-iu1yg]

This is one deep rabbit hole you're going down- Don't get lost !!!!!

[@MasterJawata]

Rumor said that the Ching Official was actually looking for a newer model of Mauser rifle, however since there was none, so the Germans trick them with the Gewehr 88 saying that it is the new Mauser model.

[@tonyshen8543]

It is Qing, not Ching

[@Stealingiscaring]

@@tonyshen8543 both are acceptable although yours is the dominant one. His pronunciation is from the Wade-Giles translations while yours is from hanyu pin which is much newer

[@MasterJawata]

Qink Qing Qang Qong, We don't teach whatever that is in Taiwan.

[@tonyshen8543]

@@MasterJawata If you check with taiwan government, pinyin is now standard in Taiwan for a few year now.

[@Stealingiscaring]

@@MasterJawata dude there is no need to go aggressive. Chill out and enjoy your life.

[@zawzawaung6789]

Very useful. In N Burma, especially in Kokang area I could see a lot of old Chinese junk. Never understood the history of the guns I saw. C-96s common. Only vestigial British guns usually Martini-Henrys.

[@MrMolotov888]

There are so many cool kinds of bolt action rifles in so many different variations. External/internal magazines, these kinds of clips, those weird tube magazine ones, and of course single shot rifles. And it has the bolt-action coolness factor, of course!

[@ZAKXOXOXO]

weird, i remember she have a maid dress on, why i didn't see it here

[@JimboPresi22]

I'm still waiting for Ian to get his hands on a Mannlicher shöneauer m1903

[@jakubgil946]

As soon as I'm able to I'll look at the example they have in the museum I volunteer in. It appears to be in comparable if not better condition than this one and has markings on the stock indicating that it was used for training. Shame I hadn't manhandled it before it was put on permament display.

[@ajeje1996]

It means "Hello"

[@kimjones308]

at least if you have this you always get to shoot first

[@vanessaharvey7493]

Was the genwher 88 ever exported to the US in the 1890s?

[@xt301]

Ian：(shows a well-made Chinese firearm) People：Hehe made in China guns so broken

[@brannonwinchester7054]

While typing on their made in China computer or phone

[@Subzer039]

Hey you said "Wuhan" and dont have a Wikipedia blurb. Interesting.

[@jorgechalub8930]

Muy bueno tu vídeo y explicación saludos desde Argentina

[@BobLoblongEsq]

Damn what a coincidence Just bought one of these 2 days ago on gunbroker

[@brendonbewersdorf986]

How much did you manage to get it for?

[@ScottKenny1978]

How hard was it to find?

[@wjbqmzl4223]

10:05 The first letter is actually a Chinese character. 乙 It usually means "the second one" or "number two".

[@edwalmsley1401]

Totally wild guess but the hole through the fore end could have been to fit an arquibuse (definitely butchered that) style yoke/pin shooting stick or possibly even wall mount

[@juiceFORfunNOTyet]

Спасибо за видео, коммент в благодарность

[@brittakriep2938]

For 8x57 cartridges, there was until the 60s ( second hand rifles) the 8x57 I and 8x57 IS problem, which caused confusion in Germany.

[@17-phanvunguyenkhoi52]

Why this one looks like the carcano

[@royasturias1784]

*"IT'S A HANYANG!"*

[@StevenL00]

Wouldn't it be amazing if you can transfer this rifle to Henry at 9-Hole to do an accuracy test?

[@austinhughes6852]

1.1 million guns in 50 years.Is a lot of weapons!

[@Mikesman1000]

Looks like Krag Jorgenson and Mosin Nagan combination with mauser

[@natureman494]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hanyang 88 with a cleaning rod, granted I’ve only seen two

[@rokball4892]

It looks much better than the original German one.

[@x1Wolf101x]

I would like to acquire these books

[@Jackson-stewart_]

Just signed up for the Kickstarter, looking forward to the book!

[@jacksonboughter8397]

I went to a yard sale and got a book called "German pistols and revolvers"

[@NomadShadow1]

Cool