Type 59 pistol


The Type 59 is the Chinese copy of the Soviet Makarov pistol. It's also known as the "Red Star" pistol.

History

The Marakov was adopted as the replacement of the Type 52, the copy of the East German P1001 pistol, itself a copy of the Walther PP; as well as partial replacement of the Type 51 and Type 54, copies of the Tokarev TT-33.
The Type 59 was first produced at Factory 626 in Bei'an, Heilongjiang Province with trials conducted. The quality of the later copies, however, are poor as Soviet technicians were withdrawn from China during the Sino-Soviet split.

Operational Use

The Type 59 was used as one of the standard sidearms in the People’s Liberation Army, alongside the Type 51 and Type 54. They were used in the Vietnam War.
Though the QSZ-92 has supplemented the Type 59 in the army, the weapon is still in service in some of the Chinese armed forces.

Design

Type 59 pistols come with minor cosmetic differences.
The military version was produced from 1959 to 1963 in Factory 626, and featured a characteristic shield embossed with 5 stars on the grip shell. They have 10 grasping serrations on the left side of the slide and 17 serrations on the right side, the same as the early Russian versions.
Some Type 59s with "八一" engravings are made as gifts.

Variants

Norinco M59

Civilian Type 59 variant for export purposes, available in both 9x18mm,.32 ACP and.380 ACP calibres.

SN9

The Type 59 has been produced in Vietnam as the K-59 with K meaning "type" and SN9 as its industrial name.

Users