"This copy of SAW still 'got wood'." The observation, published in a March 30, 2025 photo brief, points to an obscure moment in Chinese small-arms development when polymer components and traditional wooden fittings coexisted on a single family of weapons.
Type 87A: a refined, ergonomic follow-on
The Type 87A is described as the refined, polished variant of the original Type 87. According to the available images and captions, the Type 87A introduced improved materials, upgraded polymer furniture, and better‑ventilated handguards compared with the baseline Type 87. Those changes present the Type 87A as a more mature, ergonomic design that saw only limited use.
How the Type 87 family fit the 5.8×42 mm development story
As the source explains, the baseline Type 87 primarily functioned as a development platform for China’s new 5.8×42 mm cartridge (the DBP87). In that role, Type 87/QJB-87 combined elements of the earlier Type 81 layout with a new chambering and several new solutions, most visibly a large proportion of polymer parts including pistol grip and magazine. Between Type 81 and Type 95, the People's Republic of China developed two additional service assault rifles — Type 87 and Type 03 — with the Type 87 contributing to the move toward the 5.8×42 mm round.
Service use: PAP and select PLA units
The photographic record and commentary indicate the Type 87A saw limited employment in both the People's Armed Police (PAP) and select units of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and only for a short period of time. The images show personnel in both summer and winter uniforms, underlining a short-lived but documented operational footprint across different seasonal dress states.
Polymer adoption and the persistence of wood
The material story attached to the Type 87 family is explicit in the source: polymer components were adopted for reasons of high strength, corrosion resistance, longer life, and improved heat resistance. Polymer also reportedly simplifies manufacturing, reduces weight, and lowers processing costs for mass production. Yet the source notes a lingering aesthetic and practical legacy: purists regard polymer as inferior to wood in appearance, and at least one squad automatic weapon (SAW) example of the QJB-87/Type 87 family retained wooden furniture — hence the line, "This copy of SAW still 'got wood'." That juxtaposition underscores a transitional phase where new production methods and traditional materials coexisted.
Availability and legacy: limited deployment and surviving examples
Although the QJB-87/Type 87 did enter service, the source states it never deployed widely; for some observers it functioned largely as a field test platform. The write-up emphasizes how difficult it is to find surviving examples of the QJB-87/Type 87 today, and that is especially true for the SAW version. The scarcity of extant examples — and the hybrid-material instances that do appear — shape the weapon’s legacy as a developmental step rather than a long-term standard.
How the PAP, select PLA units, and small-arms historians will use these photos
- People's Armed Police (PAP): The visual record confirms limited operational trials and can help analysts identify how prototype or limited-run equipment was visually integrated with seasonal uniforms during the short period of use.
- Select PLA units: For the PLA units shown or referenced, the images document a brief experiment with ergonomics and materials that informed later small-arms choices — evidence of a transitional logistics and training footprint.
- Small-arms historians and collectors: The photos and captions matter as primary-source evidence documenting hybrid-material examples and a scarce SAW variant; the images reinforce claims that QJB-87/Type 87 hardware survives only rarely in collectors’ hands or archives.
Taken together, the photographic brief and captions present the Type 87A as a short-lived but telling waypoint: a purposefully refined variant that codified polymer innovations while still bearing traces of older material choices, and a platform chiefly notable for its role in developing the 5.8×42 mm DBP87 cartridge rather than for long-term service. The surviving images — showing both summer and winter uniforms and at least one wood-fitted SAW — preserve that moment of transition.
Original source: https://china-defense.blogspot.com/2026/05/historical-photos-of-day-type87a-in-pap.html
