Part of the reason the Chinese chose to create the Type 81 was it offered better full auto accuracy then the AK, due to the way the carrier doesn't hit the back of the gun. Back in the eighties and before, China's military would have been more about fielding much larger numbers of somewhat less trained troops against the smaller, more elite troops of the West. As long as most of the rounds go in approximately the same place, having a few bent rifles in a platoon of saturation automatic fire wouldn't make much of a difference. The SKS has fewer rounds in its standard configuration, and is semi-automatic, so it had to be more accurate by default, even in the hands of the same mass of troops. I suspect the Type 81 may give better accuracy when rapid fired then the SKS, and but worse when single shotted. Could someone who owns both give a rapid fire comparison?