Seeing combat weapons get dunked in the water is a "test" that's become so cliche that I'm starting to doubt it means anything about the gun's reliability.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Markit
The idea that semi-automatic rifles would suffice for most soldiers and that only certain troops would use Kalashnikov rifles persisted in China until the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War. The fact that the Kalashnikov-equipped Vietnamese outgunned the PLA in many engagements forced the Chinese to revise their doctrines and remove their Type 56 carbines from frontline service; it also initiated the development of the Type 81 rifle as a replacement.
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Interesting, though it certainly explains why PLA troops carrying SKS seem so common in pictures from that conflict (what few I've seen). The Vietnamese Army was modeled on that of the Soviet Union (they had more Soviet advisers than Chinese advisers, even before the Sino-Vietnamese split), so that's probably why they adopted the doctrine of assault rifles as standard-issue before the Chinese ever did.