The rifles were originally used by the soldiers of Zhang Zuolin (who established the factory and the production of the rifle) in various battles during the warlord era. 72,679 rifles of this type were captured by the Japanese after the Mukden Incident in 1931. The Manchukuo Imperial Army then began using these rifles, as well as newly produced ones, although by the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War the number of rifles in service is estimated to have been fairly small, most likely due to the standardization program and shift towards Japanese weapons during the 1930s. The collaborationist Inner Mongolian Army of Prince Demchugdongrub, and the later puppet state of Mengjiang, had 10,000 of these rifles as well, received in 1929.
