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. 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. == Users==