What is the past and present of this gun?, Mao Zedong's Only Gun Holding Photo | Mao Zedong

In June 1964, military and technical elites from various units of the army gathered in Beijing to report on the results of military training to Chairman Mao Zedong and other party and state leaders.

After watching the superb shooting performance, Chairman Mao asked the sharpshooter to carefully examine the gun and then raised the gun to make a aiming motion. This historical moment was captured by the photographer with his camera, becoming the only photo of Chairman Mao holding a gun to date.

This gun is a 1956 7.62mm semi-automatic rifle that was finalized and produced in China in 1956. It is now displayed in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. What kind of past and present life does it have that can make Chairman Mao leave his only gun holding photo?

At the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, the people's army emerged from the smoke of gunpowder, carrying various weapons seized from the battlefield for inspection. These weapons and equipment are diverse in variety, with 110 types of firearms and 82 calibers produced in over 20 countries and regions. It is very appropriate to use the "Wanguo brand" to describe the current situation of light weapons and equipment in the People's Liberation Army at that time.

Sassou scholar of literature and history: In the process of growing up, the People's Army continuously seized enemy weapons to arm itself, and equipment became a "universal brand". At that time, we were already considering how to unify the national weapon system, but we didn't expect the sudden outbreak of the Korean War.

On October 8, 1950, Mao Zedong signed the order to form the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in the name of the Chairman of the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Commission. Although the Central Military Commission had made every effort to distribute standardized weapons from all over the country to the troops entering North Korea, due to the lack of a sound military industry system at that time, these firearms still appeared too outdated and disorderly.

Under these conditions, the Volunteer Army, with flexible tactics and a fighting spirit that is not afraid of sacrifice, fought three battles and repelled the United Nations Army led by the US military to the south of the 37th parallel on the Yalu River. However, behind the brilliant results of the battle, the Volunteer Army suffered considerable losses.

In January 1951, after the Chinese government's efforts, the Volunteer Army began to gradually upgrade to Soviet style equipment. The main weapons of the infantry have changed from the "World Brand" weapons to standardized equipment, such as the Moxinagan 1944 carbine gun, Poposha 41 submachine gun, Popos 43 submachine gun, Depp light machine gun, and Gorunov heavy machine gun.

Sassou cultural and historical scholar: The first batch of Soviet standard weapons arrived on the Korean battlefield, greatly improving the combat conditions of the volunteer army. However, during the operation, the ammunition and weapons lost on the front line were much faster than replenished.

On April 28th, Mao Zedong called Stalin and said, "Chinese military factories must manufacture the same products as Soviet military factories in weapon production. Therefore, we urgently need to obtain technical licenses from the Soviet government to manufacture infantry weapons and ammunition with specified styles and calibers for the army."

Sassou literature and history scholar: from the perspective of the chairman, we should establish our own production line of standard weapons. In the future, we must take the direction of standardization.

Four days later, Stalin replied by phone: "Agree to provide the necessary blueprints for the various types of weapons and ammunition currently available in Chinese made Soviet military equipment.".

On May 25th, a delegation of 8 members from the Military Industry Delegation of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, led by former Chief of the General Staff Xu Xiang, took a train to Moscow. The delegation has two specific tasks: first, to purchase Soviet weapons and equipment, and second, to develop more technological projects and develop China's own military production.

The Soviet Union attached great importance to this negotiation and formed a negotiating delegation led by General Shzemenko, Chief of the General Staff.

Liu Changming, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Jinan Military Region: After Xu Shuai led our delegation to the Soviet Union, Xu Shuai had multiple rounds of negotiations with the Soviet side, each of which was quite difficult.

After more than four months, China and the Soviet Union finally reached an agreement.

On July 27, 1953, the three-year Korean War ended. The victory of the Korean War provided a valuable peaceful environment for the national construction of New China. After the Korean War, during China's first five-year plan period, the Soviet Union provided a large amount of industrial assistance.

In April 1955, a factory in the border town of Bei'an, Heilongjiang received a batch of important documents.

This photo is one of the 781 technical drawings imported from the Soviet Union, which is the design blueprint for the first generation of famous guns - the Soviet AK-47 assault rifle.

Zhao Ruizhi, who devoted his life to researching firearms, graduated from Chongqing Ordnance University with a major in weapon manufacturing. He is the technical soul of Factory 626. This time, Zhao Ruizhi was appointed as the chief engineer for the AK-47 assault rifle replication mission.

With the comprehensive development of the AK-47 assault rifle imitation work, more than a dozen parts have passed the imitation difficulty, but unexpected things still happened.

Guo Daren, former director of the heat treatment branch of the state-owned 626 factory: During the testing of the lifespan of the gun, it broke when 13334 bullets were fired. The front half of the needle tip, the arc of the front half of the tip, and the connection between the arc and the barrel are broken.

In order to solve this thorny problem, Factory 626 organized a research group to conduct repeated tests on the processing technology of the small and critical component of the needle.

Under the leadership of Chief Engineer Zhao Ruizhi, Guo Daren, former Director of the Heat Treatment Branch of State owned 626 Factory, the research team finally changed the parts to flat needles. In this way, the friction is reduced and the problem is basically solved.

At the end of 1956, the AK-47 assault rifle, SKS-45 semi-automatic rifle, and RPD light machine gun were successfully replicated in China. They are respectively named the 1956 submachine gun, the 1956 semi-automatic rifle, and the 1956 squad light machine gun.

The "Three Musketeers" of the Type 56 have completed the three-level leap of the People's Liberation Army's light weapon equipment from "Made in Ten Thousand Countries" to standardization and automation, greatly improving the technological level of China's military industry!