# QSZ-92 (92式手枪)
**QSZ-92** (92式手枪), commonly called the Type 92, is a Chinese semi-automatic service pistol that serves as the standard sidearm of the [People's Liberation Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/peoples-liberation-army) (PLA) and many police organizations inside China.[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) It exists in two externally similar but internally different versions: the QSZ-92-5.8 for the military, chambered in the indigenous 5.8×21 mm DAP92 cartridge, and the QSZ-92-9 for police use, chambered in 9×19 mm.[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Standard service pistol of the PLA and many Chinese police organizations[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) |
| Versions | QSZ-92-5.8 (military, 5.8×21 mm DAP92) and QSZ-92-9 (police, 9×19 mm)[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) |
| Design timeline | Discussion from 1987, formal project start 1994; 9 mm version design-finalized 1998, 5.8 mm version 2000[2](https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009-09-20/1548566615.html) |
| Weight and size | 760 g empty; 188 mm long (5.8 version) or 190 mm (9 mm version); barrel 115 mm or 111 mm[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) |
| Capacity | 20-round double-stack magazine in 5.8 mm version; 10- or 15-round magazines in 9 mm version[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) |
| Action | Double action with exposed hammer; the 5.8 mm version uses a delayed-blowback action with a non-recoiling rotary barrel[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) |
| Export names | NORINCO CF-98 and NP-42; CF-98 also offered in 7.62×25 mm Tokarev[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) |
## Development
The pistol grew out of a PLA requirement for a new sidearm. According to a Sina Military retrospective, discussion of the two-caliber concept began in 1987, the project was formally initiated in 1994 and handed to the industrial sector, the 9 mm pistol and its cartridge completed design finalization in 1998, and the 5.8 mm pistol and cartridge followed in 2000.[2](https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009-09-20/1548566615.html) The program was intended to replace the Type 54, the Chinese copy of the Soviet Tokarev TT-33.[2](https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009-09-20/1548566615.html) Weaponsystems.net states that in Chinese military service the QSZ92 replaced the Type 59, the locally produced variant of the Makarov PM.[3](https://weaponsystems.net/system/1267-QSZ92)
MilitaryFactory credits the design to Liu Ming of the "208 Research Institute," beginning in 1994, with manufacture subsequently taken up by NORINCO, the state-owned ordnance conglomerate.[4](https://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.php?smallarms_id=392) Although the pistol is commonly attributed to Norinco Group, Chinese government-affiliated media have primarily indicated design and manufacture by subsidiaries of the [China South Industries Group](https://www.edgepedia.org/china-south-industries-group) (CSGC); a 2019 Chinese television documentary showed that the CSGC subsidiary Jianshe is the current primary manufacturer.[5](https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/QSZ-92)
## Design and mechanism
The Type 92 is a semi-automatic pistol with a polymer frame and a long removable steel frame insert that carries the slide rails and the entire trigger and hammer unit.[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) The trigger is of conventional double-action type, with an exposed hammer and ambidextrous frame-mounted safety levers.[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) American Rifleman describes the gun as double-action/single-action and polymer-framed.[6](https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/rotary-barrel-pistols-a-design-that-has-come-full-circle/)
The two calibers use different operating systems. The QSZ-92-5.8 features a delayed blowback action with a non-recoiling rotary barrel, similar to that used in old US-made Savage pistols.[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) The Sina account describes the 5.8 mm pistol as inertia-locked with a rotating-barrel, semi-free-bolt action: before the bullet leaves the muzzle the barrel does not rotate, preserving bullet stability, after which the barrel rotates in place through a 45-degree arc about its own axis without moving longitudinally. This rotation adds a transferring mass to decelerate the slide, replacing the traditional added delay parts and reducing the total part count.[2](https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009-09-20/1548566615.html) In accuracy testing at 25 meters with 20 rounds, the reported dispersion was a radius R50 of no more than 2.2 cm and a radius R100 of no more than 5.5 cm.[2](https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009-09-20/1548566615.html)
## The 5.8×21 mm DAP92 cartridge
Chinese designers began work on a new small-bore pistol and submachine gun cartridge around 1994, following the concept of the Belgian 5.7×28 mm system. The stated goal was significant penetration against military helmets and body armor at ranges up to and beyond 50 meters.[7](https://modernfirearms.net/en/cartridge/5-8x21-dap-92-5-8/) The DAP92-5.8 uses a rimless, bottlenecked, lacquered steel case with an FMJ bullet built on a composite core of steel at the front and lead at the rear.[7](https://modernfirearms.net/en/cartridge/5-8x21-dap-92-5-8/)
The standard load fires a 3 g bullet at 480 m/s from the QSZ-92 pistol, for 345 J of muzzle energy; a subsonic load, the 5.8 DCV05, drives a 4 g bullet at 290 m/s (168 J) for use in suppressed weapons.[7](https://modernfirearms.net/en/cartridge/5-8x21-dap-92-5-8/) Penetration is given as guaranteed penetration of a PLA-issue steel helmet plate (1.3 mm steel) at 100 meters plus 5 cm of pine wood behind it, according to Modern Firearms' cartridge data; the Sina article gives the related test figure that at 50 meters the bullet penetrates a 1.3 mm-thick 232 helmet steel plate and then a 5 mm pine board, and states that the wound cavity effect of the bullet is 2.5 times that of the [Parabellum](https://www.edgepedia.org/parabellum) pistol bullet.[7](https://modernfirearms.net/en/cartridge/5-8x21-dap-92-5-8/) • [2](https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009-09-20/1548566615.html) Neither the weapons nor the ammunition have so far been offered for export from China.[7](https://modernfirearms.net/en/cartridge/5-8x21-dap-92-5-8/)
## Versions, exports, and users
The QSZ-92-9 is primarily intended for police use and is chambered for 9×19 mm Luger ammunition, known in Chinese service as DAP92-9.[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) The same version is manufactured for commercial export as the NORINCO NP-42 and CF-98, with slight variations in markings and external appearance, and the CF-98 is also available chambered for 7.62×25 mm Tokarev ammunition.[1](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/) American Rifleman identifies the CF-98 as the 9 mm Luger commercial version of the rotary-barrel service pistol.[6](https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/rotary-barrel-pistols-a-design-that-has-come-full-circle/)
China remains the primary operator, with the pistol in standard service issue to the PLA; Bangladesh uses the QSZ-92-9 9 mm variant for its military under the designation "Type 92."[4](https://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.php?smallarms_id=392) A United Nations panel document lists the CF-98-9 as the commercial variant of the Chinese military QSZ-92 pistol developed in 1994.[8](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4028446/files/S_2023_833-ES.pdf)
## Forensic identification
Because the pistol is widely issued in China, it has also become a subject of forensic firearms research. A 2021 study in the *Journal of Forensic Sciences* by Zhongbo Wei of the People's Public Security University of China and colleagues examined the reproducibility and persistence of individual marks on bullets fired from five Norinco QSZ-92 9×19 mm pistols over 3,000 shots each, recovering 109 bullets per pistol, 545 in total, for evaluation in the Evofinder comparison system.[9](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1556-4029.14794) A related study built a database of 2,996 bullets fired from 1,000 registered QSZ-92 pistols to evaluate similarity scores objectively.[10](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8942529/)
## References
1. [Type 92 / QSZ-92, Modern Firearms](https://modernfirearms.net/en/handguns/handguns-en/china-semi-automatic-pistols/tip-92-qsz-92-eng/)
2. [新中国60年武器回顾：国产QSZ92式手枪, 新浪军事 (Sina Military, 2009)](https://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2009-09-20/1548566615.html)
3. [QSZ92, Weaponsystems.net](https://weaponsystems.net/system/1267-QSZ92)
4. [NORINCO QSZ-92 (Type 92) Semi-Automatic Service Pistol, MilitaryFactory](https://www.militaryfactory.com/smallarms/detail.php?smallarms_id=392)
5. [QSZ-92, Internet Movie Firearms Database](https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/QSZ-92)
6. [Rotary-Barrel Pistols: A Design That Has Come Full-Circle, American Rifleman](https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/rotary-barrel-pistols-a-design-that-has-come-full-circle/)
7. [5.8x21 DAP-92-5.8, Modern Firearms](https://modernfirearms.net/en/cartridge/5-8x21-dap-92-5-8/)
8. [Annex 77: CF-98-9 pistol, UN Digital Library (S/2023/833)](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4028446/files/S_2023_833-ES.pdf)
9. [Wei Z., Luo Y., Zhou P., Ji K. (2021). Reproducibility and persistence of individual marks on 3000 fired bullets from five Chinese Norinco QSZ-92 9 × 19 mm pistols. Journal of Forensic Sciences 66: 2387–2392.](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1556-4029.14794)
10. [Objective evaluation of similarity scores derived by Evofinder system for marks on bullets fired from Chinese Norinco QSZ-92 pistols, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8942529/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineering and manufacturing › Firearms and ammunition › Handguns › Semi-automatic pistols*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license