QJZ-171

The QJZ-171, also known as the Type 171 heavy machine gun, is a Chinese heavy machine gun designed and manufactured by Norinco for the People's Liberation Army. It fires a type of specialized 12.7×108mm light-weight ammunition. The weapon is intended to replace the QJZ-89 heavy machine gun.^[1]

Description[]

The QJZ-171 is designed as an ultra-lightweight heavy machine gun, similar to American XM312 and XM806. The whole system, including the tripod, weighs 16.8 kg (37.0 lb), in which the gun weighs 10.8 kg (23.8 lb) and the tripod weighs 6 kg (13.2 lb). The gun features a free-floating barrel, improved muzzle break, composite ammo belt with new lightweight ammunition, and titanium alloy gun parts to reduce recoil and weight.^[2] The machine gun is fitted with its own bipod attached to the receiver, and can be carried by one infantry or served by a crew of two. Ammo containers are made of plastic composites to reduce weight.^[3]

The weapon features several improvements to reduce weight, mitigate recoil and increase accuracy. The new 12.7mm armor-piercing incendiary round made of special ally only weighs 200 grams. The gas system cycles the bolt group with the free-floating receiver recoils inside the outer gun housing to decrease recoil. Two sets of spring buffer are mounted around the receiver. The barrel is fitted with improved muzzle brake. Comparing to QJZ-89, the spread of QJZ-171 is 10 cm (3.9 in) at 200 m (656.2 ft), and it can reliably hit targets with a radius of 24 cm (9.4 in) at 200 m (656.2 ft). At 1,000 m (3,280.8 ft), the gun can engage vehicle-sized targets with 70% hit probability.^[4]

Users[]

•  China: People's Liberation Army

See also[]

• QJZ-89
• QJS-161
• XM806
• LWMMG
• M2 Browning
• NSV machine gun
• Kord machine gun

References[]

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