Type 48M Rifle


 * Not to be confused with the [[[Type 48 Rifle]]].

The Type 48M Rifle, almost universally known as the 48M, is a derivative of the Type 48 Rifle modified into an assault rifle that was designed by the Ko Tsizuun Arsenal in Oita in the Zetin Empire. Originally designed for the Zetin armed forces immediately after the 2nd Great Northern War, the Type 48M and its derivatives have seen extensive use across the world and remains the most widely-produced rifle in history.

Name
Type 48M stands for the year of production, 1947 in the Gregorian calendar, and 1948 on the Zetin one, literally "model of the year 1948." The name 48 can refer to the original model or the Type 48M series of rifles based on the original Type 48 model. The name 48 rifle is a alternate western name for the general Type 48 series of rifles. The M in Type 48M stands for moza, meaning "Modified" in Zetin.

History
The first proper assault rifle designed by the Imperial Armory in Sawan, it is designed to replace the recent, good yet flawed type 48. It is made easier to mass produce, uses a intermediate cartridge, and easier to control in full auto.

Design detail
Type 48s are long-stroke gas piston operated rifles. Most Type 48s are select-fire rifles; some have been converted to only fire semi-automatically. In all cases, the selector doubles as a dust cover; when the rifle is on SAFE, the selector covers the channel the charging handle travels in.

Operating system
The piston rod (op rod, actuator rod) is permanently attached to the bolt carrier. The bolt carrier rides on the two rails machined in the receiver with significant clearances between the moving and stationary parts.

The bolt has two lugs that lock into the barrel extension, sealing the chamber when it goes into battery. Upon unlocking, it makes a primary extraction movement on the spent case. This, along with the significant taper of the 7.92x43mm round results in very positive and reliable extraction, even with a dirty chamber and dirty or corroded cases. The rotation of the bolt is ensured by the curved cam track, machined in the bolt carrier, and by the appropriate stud on the bolt itself. The action spring and spring guide are located behind the gas piston and are partially hidden in its hollow rear part when the bolt is in battery. The base of the action spring assembly also serves as a receiver cover lock; the serrated end holds the cover down. The charging handle is permanently attached to the bolt carrier (in fact, it forms a single machined steel unit with the carrier), and does reciprocate when the weapon is fired.

Sights
The Type 48M rifles feature rear sights adjustable for range (100 to 800 meters on an Type 48M Zetin model, 100 to 1000 on everything else), and a front sight, adjustable for elevation and windage. The rear sight is adjusted by pressing in on the slide catch and moving the slide bar along the leaf until the front edge of the bar is aligned with the line below the number that corresponds with the range in meters.

The front sight post is adjusted for elevation by screwing it in and out of the front sight base; a wrench is used to do this. Windage is adjusted by using a tool to move the front sight post mount from side to side. A 1mm adjustment of the front sight changes the point of impact by 26 cm at 100 meters.

Manual of arms
Type 48Ms are short, compact, gas-operated, select fire weapons. They feed from 30-round box magazines, which have a significant curve if the Type 48M in question is of the Zetin Empire variety.

The magazine is inserted via a "rocking" motion, positioned so that the lug on the front of the magazine engages with its recess in the magazine well, into the magazine well. It should be pulled to the rear until it snaps into place.

In order to operate the charging handle, the selector must be off safe. The charging handle is pulled all the way to the rear and then released to chamber a round. As the bolt carrier goes forward, the lug on the bottom of the bolt will strip a round out of the magazine and feed it into the chamber.

When a round is fired, the gas produced by the propellant in the cartridge goes into the gas tube and impinges upon the operating rod, which then unlocks the bolt and cycles the bolt carrier rearward, which causes it to cock the hammer as it travels. The bolt carrier then strips another round from the magazine and chambers it as it travels forward, and locks the bolt, sealing the round in the chamber.

When the last round is fired, there is no bolt catch mechanism to catch the bolt carrier group and prevent it from closing on an empty chamber. Thus, when the shooter reloads, he will need to rack the charging handle to chamber the next round. If the shooter experiences a malfunction, in most cases racking the charging handle (or reloading, if the magazine is bad OR empty), will solve the problem.