Yet ANOTHER NS522 thread!
- Thread starter DeRK
- Start date
I hear ya. It's my opinion that KFS saw the 522 boom in Canada as a way to get rid of some new old stock (such as $60 mags and $300 stocks) at a premium price. The legal issues involved with importation to Canada may be more than they want to deal with, though.
That sounds more like it. Now that you mention it I believe they were trying to find someone to make bolts for them. I would easily pay the $190 for the Italian stock and another $100 for the Bishop's. They look really nice and are 10x better than what they come with. Solid walnut and really well made. Good luck finding cheaper.
The stock prices are not bad.....but really what do you have at the end of the day? A $550 Norinco .22 that you probably couldn't sell to anyone for $300. A really nice stock for a rough and sloppy action....meh, for $550 I'd just buy a CZ if I wanted something REALLY nice and accurate for that price. Hell even the Zastava Z5 come with really nice wood and shoot really well for $300...and you can buy mags for them for $20 too lol.
Perhaps you are arguably right. But I personally enjoy making improvements and am not interested in resale values. If I was I would be broke from the upgrades I have paid for. I have heard numerous write ups that they are excellent shooters and with a little bit of work can be even better. I am very confident you would get the money back out of the stock at those prices. There are a ton of people looking and willing to spend that minimal amount.
Thats my thoughts as well. I can't see turning a $200.00 rifle into a $500.00 plus rifle. I bought one because they are great shooters for a great price. I like tinkering, and don't mind spending some time doing some work and fine tuning on it to make it better.
this is all very true, to me I think I am going to leave mine alone, been watching where this has been going with the stock, however at $200 I have a very accurate rifle, upgraded for very little money with some epoxy and polishing. if you take into consideration the upgraded new stock and price of the rifle at $550 then put glass and rings to match you could easily tie up a small bundle of money into a norinco 22, actually this pushes the limit for me personally on any 22. I think I will enjoy as is and save the money for can ams next great deal. my 2 cents anyway.
It isn't fair to include glass and rings into the equation since you will need them on any gun you buy. $550 is on the outside for me. I don't imagine spending much more. But then again, $20 here and $30 there adds up REAL quick. Do you want a sling, swivels, spare mags, scope cover, hard case, trigger lock, pillar/bedding kit, trigger kit, refinishing and so on and so on? Any gun becomes hundreds by the time you are done. It's just a matter of where you want to spend it and on which rifle. If you are content to use a stock NS522 then power to you. A great buy and good fun.
I just received my NS522 rifles yesterday. I came to the same conclusion. I looked at my CZ 452 and it's a lot nicer than the Norc. But it would also cost $530 new. The cost of a new stock on the Norc, iputs you into the CZ territory. I'm actually pretty impressed with the Norc so far. For $200 it's a heck of a rifle. The action is rougher than the European or high end American stuff. But it's not bad. Some parts have extensive machine marks, yet other parts when needed are finished decently enough. The hammer forged barrel is fairly nice as well. Mine look pristine. The ones we have are also the target crowned versions.
For $200, it's awesome. But once you start into new stocks, other than as a project it gets to a price point where it doesn't make sense. I agree at the $550 mark just get a CZ. The only thing that might make me change my mind is if these Norcs can out shoot the CZ. At this time, I don't know. If the Norc can out shoot the CZ and can run with an Annie, Walther, Kimber etc then it's a different ball game as you're up against $750-$1000 rifiles. $550 then isn't out of the question if that's the case. For now that's still an unknown for me.
First, its not a Norinco, its a NS.
Second, I have a CZ 455 Varmint. I also have a NS 522 for a year now and the CZ shoots slightly better but not by much.
The truth is with a nice stock, the NS 522 is a 500$ rifle and it will compete against any other 500$ rifle any day.
What I like about the NS >>> its way more balanced than my CZ Varmint.
You can also leave it stock and enjoy your 200$ rifle kicking asses to 400-500$ rifles.
If you are going to get into an expensive gun by adding everything to it would be better to buy an Anschutz 64 model and taking the hammer forged barrel from the Norinco and mating them.
Any idea if an Anschutz 64 trigger group will fit on the Norinco, I have a new one sitting in my Anschutz sights and parts.
Any idea if an Anschutz 64 trigger group will fit on the Norinco, I have a new one sitting in my Anschutz sights and parts.
If you are going to get into an expensive gun by adding everything to it would be better to buy an Anschutz 64 model and taking the hammer forged barrel from the Norinco and mating them.
Any idea if an Anschutz 64 trigger group will fit on the Norinco, I have a new one sitting in my Anschutz sights and parts.
What rings do you recommend for the NS522?
Any idea if an Anschutz 64 trigger group will fit on the Norinco, I have a new one sitting in my Anschutz sights and parts.
What rings do you recommend for the NS522?
Its not a 64 action copy, its a 54 copy
Semantics....Norinco doesn't "make" guns anyway, they export them. Still a Chinese gun made by Chinese workers, showing all the typical Chinese QC, whether it's NS or Dominion Arms, Polytec, NSR, etc, still the same Chinese factories turning them out.
The barrels are finished pretty well, best I've seen yet from China. Everything else on the gun has the typical tool marks, roughness, sloppyness etc, sawdust quality wood,, and you have to remember these were made in the early '90s for the US market, and that was probably the peak of Chinese QC.
It's ALWAYS going to be a $200 gun regardless of how much you admire it....unless you fix all the fit and finish flaws first, there is little point to putting $300 wood on it. It will still look like #### next to a CZ...lol
I have a TOZ78 that is similar quality...rough-ish metal and action, some tool marks, mags are plastic, but a hardwood stock (beech), awesome trigger, and it shoots like a laser beam. Paid $100 NIB from Armrus when they went out of business....bought a couple of them actually.
I have a $300 Z5 that shoots tighter then my 522, and the 522 is nowhere in the same vicinity quality wise....I bet there are sub $200 Savages that also shoot as well. Not sure why you would even equate price with accuracy like "You can also leave it stock and enjoy your 200$ rifle kicking asses to 400-500$ rifles"....those higher priced rifles have higher quality components and are made in first world countries, price doesnt equate accuracy universally. Again, are you a loser if you come up short against a sub $200 Savage?
I just finished d&t on the trigger housing for a blind 6/32 over-travel screw, used some epoxy wood to bed the trigger guard so no more washers, polished some contact points on the trigger/sear, free floating and bedding the action today at some point...it's not that I don't like these guns, I have 2 of them, I just see them for what they are, a decent deal for $200 when compared to other $200 rifles.
Last edited:
Hitzy, one of my American market 522s was sent (by a previous owner) to J.C. Blauvelt, a noted gunsmith in the American Northeast, whose reputation was made on his devotion to improving the accuracy and reliability of weapons meant to be used in competitive shooting events. The previous owner of my rifle paid about $300 for it brand new, shot it in some local small bore metallic silhouette matches, then sent it off to Blauvelt for one of J.C.'s very popular "accuracy packages", which then (circa 1997) cost around $300. It has been glass bedded, aluminum pillar bedded, the trigger drilled and tapped for set screws after all trigger components had been extensively polished, the trigger spring was then lightened, the bolt was polished after its face had been squared, the extractors were adjusted and polished, and the barrel crown was re-cut and finished with a target crown. It was expertly bedded in a very nice, if somewhat plain, factory Bishop stock, and was then returned to its original owner, who continued to shoot it in metallic silhouette matches for several years. Some years later, I bought the rifle and I can assure you that the action is very smooth, the trigger is wonderful, and the accuracy is outstanding. It is no $200 Chinese rifle....
Last edited:
That's odd. I bought a Norinco. Considering Norinco is just an exporter and this rifle says made in China on the side.. I would think it was a Norinco. NS = Norinco Sport? Don't really care though.
https://www.canadaammo.com/product/detail/norinco-em332-match-sporting-rifle-22lr/
The question is, how would the NS522 shoot with a good stock? One actually inletted for it along with the proper bedding etc. Or say a good synthetic with alluminum bedding block? Right now even with the mods, I can't help but feel the stock is the bottle neck in accuracy. The design itself of the stock isn't really for target or varmint shooting. There are better designs for it. Although the stock wasn't as bad as I was expecting.
At $200 these rifles are a real bargain. Annie 54 style action, hammer forged barrel and the triggers on 3 of 4 on mine are very good. It should also be noted that we have the ones with the target crown. Most of the ones in the US had the sporter standard crown. While not a Norinco or chinese firearms fan, I have to say I do like these 22LR rifles. I would however like to see some nice stock options. But then you do run into the price issue as you could just buy a nicer rifle for the same money once you factor in the cost of a new stock.
Last edited:
As discussed in the 522 "mods" thread, aftermarket stocks for the 522 are few and far between. Don Stith, a long time bench rest shooter, stock maker, and NS522 fan, makes a "sporter" style BR stock for the 522. I don't know if he will export one to Canada. Otherwise, Keng's is about the only other game in town, as they were the original importers of the 522 barrelled actions in the US. Again, I don't know if they will import stocks to Canada. Don Stith built one or two of these guns for his own use and was quite pleased after restocking the gun with his BR sporter design and adding a trigger from an Anny.
