ZH-29

• Name — ZH-29 • Origin — Czechoslovakia • Type — Semi-automatic rifle • Is Ranged — YES • Used By — See Users • Wars — Second Sino-Japanese War World War II • Designer — Emanuel Holek • Design Date — 1929 • Manufacturer — Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka • Variants — ZH-32 Z-37 Type Otsu • Weight — 4.5 kg • Length — 1150 mm • Part Length — 545 mm • Cartridge — 7.92×57mm Mauser • Action — Gas-operated, tilting bolt • Velocity — 808 m/s • Range — 350 m • Feed — 5, 10, or 20-round box magazine • Sights — iron sights

The ZH-29 is a gas-operated semi-automatic service rifle with a tilting-bolt locking system similar to that which would be later used in the Sturmgewehr 44; although while the bolt of the German gun tilts vertically, that of the ZH-29 does so to the left side. Externally the most distinctive feature is that the barrel is offset at a slight angle to the receiver to compensate for this. Also unusually, the rifle uses an aluminium barrel jacket. An upgraded variant was designated as the ZH-32. In China, Zhang Zuolin's army received 150 ZH-29 and 100 ZH-32 rifles, and the provincial troops of Guangdong also received 33 ZH-32. A derivative prototype was made before 1932 at the Mukden (Shenyang) Arsenal. It is unlikely that these rifles saw action during the Sino-Japanese War. A version of the ZH-29 rifle was chambered in.276 Pedersen cartridge and was submitted to US Army trials but was unsuccessful. During the last stages of the development of the AK-47 assault rifle, the testing grounds committee advised Mikhail Kalashnikov to redesign the trigger group of the AK-46 rifle prototype along the lines of the ZH-29 rifle, which he did. The testing grounds committee also advised every competitor on how to generally improve their firearm designs.

• Republic of China (1912–1949): 210 imported in 1930-31 • Ethiopian Empire: 100 ZH-32s • Kingdom of Italy: Presumably captured from Ethiopia • Empire of Japan: (Experimental prototype copy developed from captured examples from China) • Lithuania • Thailand