Today, we’re joined by author Bin Shih, an expert on Chinese firearms of the second Sino-Japanese War (aka World War 2). We discuss the state of Chinese weapons manufacture in the 1930s and 40s, as well as several specific weapons including Mauser-type bolt action rifles, grenade launchers, and the Broomhandle Mauser pistol. If you aren’t sure what weapons the Chinese Nationalist forces were using and why, then you’ll learn a lot!
Mr. Shih published an excellent overview of Chinese firearms of this period, which is available for purchase at his web site, ChineseFirearms.com. If you are interested in the subject, I highly recommend a getting a copy – and there are only a small number available, as it was a small printing. The books has sections on handguns, long guns, machine guns, arsenal history, Japanese weapons of the period, and is worth the price just for the explanation of Chinese nomenclature and markings.
