Chiang Kai - shek rifle The Type Zhongzheng rifle ( 中正式 ) , also known as the " Chiang Kai - shek / Jiang Jieshi Rifle " , " Generalissimo Rifle " , and " Type 24 " ( 二四式 ) after the Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai - shek , was a Chinese - made copy of the modified German Mauser Standard Modell of 1933 , the forerunner of the Karabiner 98k . Pre - production of the Chiang Kai - shek rifle started in August 1935 ( year 24 of the Republican calendar , hence the Type 24 ) . It was later renamed the Type Zhongzheng and was in full scale production as early as late 1935 . It was designated the Type 79 by the Chinese Communists and would often have the ideograph of Chiang defaced by them . Although the Hanyang 88 rifle was produced in greater numbers than the Type Zhongzheng , the full standardization of the Type Zhongzheng rifle only started during the Second Sino - Japanese war . In a ten - year period , over half a million weapons were produced . The weapon ' s last major war was in Korea ( 1950 – 53 ) . Service history . The weapon served as one of the main battle rifles for the Chinese National Revolutionary Army ( NRA , or Nationalists ) . Like the Karabiner 98k , it was a shortened and lightened version of the Gewehr 98 , specifically , a copy of the Oberndorf Export Mauser named Standard Modell of 1933 , which was sold to China in some quantities and provided to Chiang ' s best troops before the Germans provided the tooling to make the Type 24 in China . The quality of the weapon varied from arsenal to arsenal , but all German made Standard Modells of 1933 or 1934 pattern were first rate except for some 98k Mausers factory rejects which China bought after the Wehrmacht refused them . Some Chinese - made Type 24s were of excellent quality while others were crudely made . Although it entered service in 1935 , China ' s limited industrial capacity meant that it was built in relatively low numbers . As the war progressed , however , China ' s industry in western cities like Chongqing and Kunming allowed more and more of these rifles to be produced . Production was largely unaffected during the Bombing of Chongqing because many of the machines had been moved underground . Roughly speaking , during the war , the rifle was only used by the non - German trained units of the Central Chinese Military , which was the core of the NRA . The German - trained units used a very similar weapon , the Mauser Model 98k Carbine . By the 1950s , the Type Zhongzheng rifle was phased out in favor of superior American aid equipment , such as the semiautomatic M1 Garand , M1 carbine , and Thompson submachine gun for the Nationalists . The major advantage of the Type Zhongzheng over the Arisaka was that it had better stopping power with the use of 8mm Mauser rounds ; the rifle also had a better rate of fire and a greater range than the Arisaka . The weapon was shorter , ( similar in length to the Karabiner 98k ) when compared with the Gewehr 98 and the Arisaka Type 38 . A total of between 500 , 000 and 600 , 000 weapons were produced between 1935 and 1945 . The rifle saw its last war in the hands of the People ' s Volunteer Army against UN forces during the Korean War . Together with the Mauser C96 handgun and the M35 Helmet , these weapons have become recognizable features of the Generalissimo ' s National Revolutionary Army and the Chinese army during China ' s turbulent early 20th century . In an ironic twist , the rifle , although named after Chiang Kai - shek and used by his Nationalists , was also used by the Communists during the Chinese Civil War . Chinese Sergeant Tung Chih Yeh claimed to have shot and killed over 100 Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA ) soldiers using a Chiang Kai - shek rifle with and without a scope in the Yangtze area . The rifle can have a HY1935 bayonet attached , replacing the cumbersome , yet deadly , Dadao ( a type of slashing sword ) . Some divisions and guerrilla militias who did not receive any modern weapons continued using the dadao for close combat . The Chinese People ' s Militia and smaller local paramilitaries were using Chiang Kai - shek rifles ( as well as Arisaka s and Mosin – Nagant s ) up until 1980 before it became a supplemental ceremonial weapon ( the main ceremonial rifle is the SKS ) , for the People ' s Liberation Army to the present day . Many of these rifles ( along with other PLA and People ' s Militia small arms ) were used by various Red Guard factions during the Cultural Revolution in the mid - to late 1960s . Variants . There are two variants of Chiang Kai - shek rifle : < br = " clear " >