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A number of the original Wz63 submachine guns were captured by the Communist Chinese during the 1978 Sino-Vietnamese war. Having found the design to be of interest and possible military use by the Chinese forces, an exact copy was produced as the Type 82 .
When the trigger is pulled, the slide is released to move forward, strip a round from the magazine, chamber and fire it. Normal blowback forces move the slide back to the starting position. A partial pull of the trigger releases the slide once for semiautomatic fire, a full pull of the trigger releases the slide for full automatic fire. To reduce what would otherwise be an excessive rate of fire on full automatic, there is a rate-reduced in the rear of the slide. A catch raises up into the bottom of the slide as it reached the rearward-most position of its travel. A spring-loaded piston within the slide continues a rearward motion, compressing its spring. The pistol them moves forward under spring pressure and strikes the slide catch, releasing the slide for the next shot in the cycle. This rate reduced brings the cyclic rate of fire on the Wz63 down to a manageable 600 rounds per minute.
When the slide is fully forward and fires a chambered round, the protrusion under the barrel is filly forward. The muzzle blast of the fired round bear down on the trough, forcing it down against the muzzle rise from recoil and making it act as a very simple muzzle compensator. The relatively slow cyclic rate and the actions of the compensator allow the Wz63 to be effectively fired with one hand as a pistol. For additional stabilization for two-handed fire, a forward handgrip folds down from the receiver for use by the non-firing hand. Additionally, there is a compact, sliding stock that extends from the rear of the weapon with a folding flat butt plate to allow the weapon to be shoulder fired. A standard thumb safety is on the left side of the weapon, above and behind the trigger.
