COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle Made China AKM Version

COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle Made China At first thought to be a modification of the SKS, it now appears that the Type 63 is an original, though rather strange design. The COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle was designed in the early 1960s specifically to give the People’s Militia forces a bit more firepower without having to make a lot more (and more expensive, in real-life terms at the time) Type 56 series assault rifles, and also to give them a design which was simple enough that they could make it themselves in backyard machine shops if necessary. The COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle is therefore a rather simple weapon with a rather crude appearance and questionable quality.

The COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle is semiautomatic and gas-operated; the gas system is simple, not quite like that of the SKS, and not quite like that of the Type 56 assault rifle; but not exactly a blend of the two, either. The Type 63 (as standard) is fed by 15-round steel magazines which are proprietary and will not fit into AK-series weapons despite having the same dimensions and holding the same ammunition. The magazines may also be topped off by loading them using stripper clips through the top of the receiver.

The COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle has a knife-type bayonet which folds back underneath the barrel, and is otherwise permanently attached. Construction of the Type 63 is normally heavy (though there was considerable variation sometimes), with heavy steel metalwork and rather crude hardwood furniture. Sights normally consisted of a hooded front post and a tangent leaf adjustable rear. The 20.45-inch barrel’s bore is almost always unchromed, as is the chamber. Though the Type 63 was not built with selective-fire capability, Chinese soldiers quickly found out that if you grind down the sear in just the right way, you can gain automatic fire capability in the Type 63. (The side effect of this modification is that the bolt catch no longer works.)

Though the COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle was meant to be fed only by that special 15-round box magazine, crafty militiamen quickly discovered that if the bolt catch is ground down, removed, or modified, the Type 63 can in fact accept AK and RPK-type magazines and drums. The Type 68 is sort of an “AKM version” of the Type 63; it uses a stamped steel receiver, has a few other minor modifications, and is in general less crude in its construction. Many were in fact factory-built, and most actually have a plastic handguard.

COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle

The COIC Type 63 Assault Rifle also has selective-fire capability designed into it. The Type 68 has an adjustable gas regulator with two positions, allowing the shooter to keep the weapon functioning when conditions do not allow him to clean the weapon often enough or when he has to fire lots of ammunition in a short period of time. The gas regulator does not eliminate the need for cleaning; it merely keeps the Type 68 going a bit longer.