Type 56 vs the AKM

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Ermac

What's the reason why the Chinese went with a 1.5mm reciever instead of a 1mm like the AKM? Cheap steel? More durability?

This is a good question, and one which I wish I knew. I was once told by somebody on another forum that it was because Soviet-made AKMs received by the PLA for evaluation failed their own durability test, so they insisted on thicker receiver metal. But I haven't been able to verify this (indeed, I had never heard of the PLA receiving any AKMs at all, given that the Sino-Soviet split took place shortly after the AKM's service debut in the Red Army).