The DBP-87 uses a brown color lacquered steel case and a composite core 64 grain copper-washed steel jacketed FMJ-BT projectile. China’s 5.8x42mm assault rifle cartridge was introduced in 1987 and has evolved greatly over the past 30+ years into a Universal cartridge.
The accuracy is 2.5 MOA on average with the QBZ-95 bullpup and QBZ-03 supplemental rifle. It drops to 2,850 fps from the shorter 16.1-inch barrel of the conventional layout QBZ-03 rifle, and to just 2,581 fps out of the 12.8-inch carbine barrel. The muzzle velocity is 3,050 fps when fired from the 18.2-inch rifle barrel and 3,181 fps from a 21.9-inch light machine-gun barrel. Eventually, it was paired with the modern QBZ-95 family of bullpup infantry rifles when it went into service in 1997. This was a limited service Type 81 rifle variant chambered in the new 5.8x42mm caliber. The “87” designation came from a combination release with the QBZ-87 rifle. DBP is the abbreviation for “Dan, Bu-Qiang, Pu-tong” or “Cartridge, Infantry Rifle, Standard”.
The DBP-87 version of the Chinese 5.8x42mm cartridge came first. The First Generation: The DBP-87 and DVP-88 It went through two generations and a revision in between. The development of the Chinese 5.8x42mm started in the early 1970s but it wasn’t completed until 1988. The American/NATO 5.56x45mm is the oldest having been adopted in 1963, while the 5.45x39mm was adopted by the Soviets in 1974. The Chinese 5.8x42mm is the youngest of the trio of small-caliber high-velocity (SCHV) military cartridges in service today. Over time it has evolved into a universal round for replacing not only the 7.62x39mm but also the full-power 7.62x54mmR in use with rifles, carbines, Designated Marksman Rifles (DMR) and general-purpose machine guns (GPMG). The 5.8x42mm was initially developed as an intermediate infantry rifle cartridge to replace the Soviet designed 7.62x39mm M43 cartridge then in PLA service. Back then there was very little information on the caliber, even after 19 years in Chinese military service. I first wrote about this mysterious Chinese cartridge in 2006. The Chinese 5.8x42mm intermediate cartridge was introduced exactly 30 years ago in 1987.
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