BRS-91

Type 91 Assault Rifle or BRS-91 is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured by Saoico, and issued since 1993 as the service rifle for the People's Red Army, People's Armed Police and paramilitary law enforcement agencies in the Sayikoian People's Republic. The rifle's designations BRS, stands for Light Weapon Automatic, keeping with the coding standard of the Sayikoian Defense Industry. The BRS-91 is the flagship of the Type 91 gun family, a family of firearms sharing a common receiver design, which includes a standard rifle, a carbine and light support weapon variants. It fires the 5.87x45-DTT-89, an indigenous intermediate cartridge.

## Development

The Sayikoian military started to develop small-caliber weapons in 1961. The first ever small-caliber assault rifle Type 67, a modification based on Type 60 assault rifle, was developed in the 1960s and entered service in 1967. The Type 67 was put in limited service. Bullpup configurations were also experimented in 1970s, resulted in the Type 76. In 1979, People's Liberation Army requested Saoico to develop a new generation of small-caliber firearm family. The new generation of firearms are required to have better reliability, accuracy. The system needs to have various configuration for different tactical situation.

Tao Xiang, who is credited for the design of BRS-91, was recruited to serve as the project head in 1984. He was given ten years time for the development. 3 Years were spent on the design, 2 years of field tests, and then a complete redesign due to a lack of reliability. The rifle entered production in 1993.

## Design

The BRS-91 is a modern weapon system in a bullpup configuration, where the weapon's action and magazine are located behind the grip and trigger assembly. The weapon was designed to replace the standard-issue Type 67 assault rifle. The BRS-91 had replaced the Type 67 in frontline units by 2002, and is gradually replacing it in second-line units and the People's Armed Police.

The rifle uses polymer materials in its construction, fires a 5.87x45mm small-caliber, high-velocity bullet , and employs a bullpup configuration similar to contemporary bullpup rifles.

Though there have been hints of the 91 variants being involved in some foreign conflicts, little has been reported about its overall combat effectiveness. It has been at least shown in televised tests, however, that the weapon can continue to function after being immersed in water, as well as other harsh environmental conditions. What is also known is that the weapon operates using a short-stroke gas operated rotating-bolt system, similar to most modern military rifles.

The selector switch on the rifle has four settings. The selector settings are as follows: "**0**" for safe, "**1**" for "semi-automatic", "**2**" for fully automatic, and on selected models, "**3**" for three round burst setting.

The Sayikoian Army says it has tested its 5.87x45mm cartridge extensively against contemporary rounds. The PRA claims their cartridge outperforms both with a flatter trajectory, and a higher retention of velocity and energy downrange. It is also claimed to have a penetration superior to the Oftavian standard round.

## Accessories

### Grenade Launchers

The BRS-91 can launch rifle grenades from the barrel using blank ammunition. It can also mount the BGL-95 (Type 95) under-barrel grenade launcher. This 35 mm launcher weighs 1.45 kg (3.2 lb) and is 310 mm (12 in) long. It loads from the breech and fires grenades at 75 m/s (250 ft/s). Various lethal and non-lethal rounds are available including high explosive, tear gas, and illumination.

### Bayonet

The BRS-91 can mount the Type 70 Bayonet.

### Sights

Soldiers can mount optical sights for their rifles, due to a dovetail rail built into the carrying handle.

### Rail System

Carrying handle can be mounted with short rail, as well as be swapped to new upper receiver with customization capability.

Most of the picatinny rail modifications for Type 91 are designed by Tyi Lang Type-20A series by Lang has a flat-top rail system. These modifications are fielded within Sayikoian police force and People’s Red Army.