The handgun is an important weapon for a solider. The Chinese military has produced many military handguns since the 1950s. Here we look at some of them.

　　　Pistol 54

　　　The Pistol 54 is the first standard handgun equipped to the PLA. It is the most common handgun in the PLA, paramilitary police and civil police. It is also the pistol longest in service, seen frequently in television shows as well as military and gangster films.

The Pistol 54 was modeled on the Soviet-made TT1930/33, which was designed by Fedor Tokarev in the 1930s. It had a wartime record as a powerful and reliable weapon. The former Soviet Union helped China make its own version, which was called the Pistol 51. But soldiers fighting in the Korean War were unhappy with it. Chinese and Soviet experts studied and remolded the Pistol 51, which led to a new type of gun. This was completed in 1954 and thus named Pistol 54.

　　　The Pistol 54 has a smaller grip to better fit an Asian hand. It fires 7.62 mm steel bullets that can pierce a 3-millimeter steel plank, a 10-centimeter wooden plank, a 6-centimeter brick wall, or 35-centimeter thick clay bunker. Its effective range is 50 meters, but the bullet remains effective within 100 meters. It is solid and durable and functions normally in extreme weather conditions.

　　　Pistol 54

　　　Caliber: 7.62mm

　　　Length: 195mm

　　　Weight: 850 g

　　　Clip size: 8 rounds

　　　Effective range: 50 meters