Type 85 submachine gun

The Type 85 is a Chinese submachine gun developed in the early 1980s as a cheaper replacement for the Type 79, whose service record had been disappointing because of reliability problems. Design work ran between 1979 and 1983 at the 208th Research Institute of China Ordnance Industry, and the military certified the weapon in 1985. It is a simple blowback gun that fires from an open bolt, allows single shots and full automatic fire, and feeds from a 30-round box magazine shared with the Type 64. It is optimized for special heavy subsonic 7.62x25mm ammunition, and a version with an integral suppressor was built to replace the Type 64 in People's Liberation Army service. Its plain, easily manufactured design drew mocking nicknames in the army, yet it earned praise for reliability and easy maintenance. It later passed to Chinese police, who disliked its poor first-shot accuracy. Users include Chinese special forces and the Armed Police, and Tamil Tiger commandos used suppressed examples in an attack on Anuradhapura Air Force Base.