Type 59 pistol

The Type 59 (simplified Chinese: 59式手枪; traditional Chinese: 59式手槍) is the Chinese copy of the Soviet Makarov pistol. It's also known as the "Red Star" pistol (Traditional Chinese: 紅星手槍, Simplified Chinese: 紅星手枪).

Type 59
The early Type 59 pistol was identical to the Makarov pistol
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	China
Service history
In service	1959–present
Used by	See Users
Production history
Designer	Nikolay Makarov
Manufacturer	Factory 626
Produced	1959–present
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Cartridge	9×18mm Makarov
Action	Blowback
Effective firing range	50 m
Feed system	8-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Front blade, rear notch 156 mm (6.1 in) sight radius

History

The Marakov was adopted as the replacement of the Type 52, the copy of the East German P1001 pistol, itself a copy of the Walther PP; as well as partial replacement of the Type 51 and Type 54, themselves copies of the Tokarev TT-33.

The Type 59 was first produced at Factory 626 in Bei'an, Heilongjiang Province with trials conducted.^[1] The quality of the later copies, however, are poor as Soviet technicians were withdrawn from China during the Sino-Soviet split.^[1]

Operational Use

The Type 59 was used as one of the standard sidearms used by the People’s Liberation Army, alongside the Type 51 and Type 54. They were used in the Vietnam War.^[2]

Though the QSZ-92 (Type 92) has supplemented the Type 59 in the army, the weapon is still in service in some of the Chinese armed forces (such as the People's Armed Police and some People's Liberation Army troops).

Design

Main article: Makarov pistol

Type 59 pistols come with minor cosmetic differences (i.e. the width of the slide's sight rail and configuration of the safety lever).

The military version was produced from 1959 to 1963 in Factory 626, and featured a characteristic shield embossed with 5 stars on the grip shell.^[1] They have 10 grasping serrations on the left side of the slide and 17 serrations on the right side, the same as the early Russian versions (The late versions have 13 slide serrations on both sides).^[3]

Some Type 59s with "八一" (lit. 'August 1st') engravings are made as gifts.^[1]

The Makarov pistol used by Colonel General Xu Shiyou.

Variants

Norinco M59

Civilian Type 59 variant for export purposes,^[4] available in both 9x18mm, .32 ACP (NP 39)^[5] and .380 ACP (NP 19)^[6] calibres.

SN9

The Type 59 has been produced in Vietnam as the K-59^[7] (Vietnamese: Súng ngắn K-59, lit. 'Type 59 handgun') with K meaning "type" (Vietnamese: Kiểu) and SN9 as its industrial name.^[8]

• 
  Norinco M59
• 
  A SN9 pistol at the upper right corner.

Users

• People's Republic of China: Known to be used by the People's Liberation Army^[9] and the Ministry of Public Security (China)^[10]
• Vietnam: Known to be used by the People's Army of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.^[7][2]