Do you have your Type 81?

Do you have your Type 81 rifle?

  • Yes, fixed stock from TI, its a keeper.

    Votes: 72 40.7%
  • Yes, folding stock from TI, its a keeper.

    Votes: 61 34.5%
  • Yes, fixed stock from TI, its defective.

    Votes: 12 6.8%
  • Yes, folding stock from TI, its defective.

    Votes: 26 14.7%
  • Yes, fixed stock from Tenda, its a keeper.

    Votes: 1 0.6%
  • Yes, folding stock from Tenda, its a keeper.

    Votes: 2 1.1%
  • Yes, fixed stock from Tenda, its defective.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes, folding stock from Tenda, its defective.

    Votes: 3 1.7%

  • Total voters
    177
Both folder and fixed I ordered April 2016 showed up today, checked over very carefully, was REME back in the day and do all my own smithing. Compares just as well as my fnc1 for fit and finish. Will take them both out the back forty for a good run through tomorrow. No bends or other problems. Thanks to TI for getting these in.

That's promising at this stage of the game, mine are en route..
 
Mail lady came by today...

Fit and finish is on par with the ole Norinco SKS and much much better then my Norinco M305 and the build quality is every bit as good as a Norinco AR15 as well as on par with my Norinco 9mm.... In a word: It's a Norinco, its great, its in spec, and it works.... Love it! Thanks TI.

IMG_3555 by Shawn Douglas, on Flickr
 
Please click link and watch this video from the Military Arms Channel.... They discuss the Norinco Ak's that were imported to the USA in the early 80's and how people thought they were crude and worthless, they even mention how people would run wall lazers lights down the rifle saying they were bent.... these same rifles now are called Norinco Legends and sell for upwards to $3,000.00 USD... Watch the video and feel good about the Type 81:

https://www.facebook.com/militaryarms/videos/1449268218418306/
 
I'm kinda wondering if this poll was sabotaged by people who currently have a beef with the T81 situation. Sure there have been a few with problems, but we are up to 19 defective folders? So by the poll almost 1 out of every 2 folders should be defective but as more people comment that they are receiving them they all seem to be fine without any more defective ones. The bunch I've seen on facebook have all been fine too.
 
I'm kinda wondering if this poll was sabotaged by people who currently have a beef with the T81 situation. Sure there have been a few with problems, but we are up to 19 defective folders? So by the poll almost 1 out of every 2 folders should be defective but as more people comment that they are receiving them they all seem to be fine without any more defective ones. The bunch I've seen on facebook have all been fine too.

I agree, the poll is sabotaged
 
Really? Or course it is conspiracy that is why I also sent my bent rifle back to TI. And I know about several more ppl who would never bother to even register on cgn. So percentage of defective rifles could be even more.
 
I have received my rifles and have been able to conduct an examination of general condition and construction, as well as checking for myself the "bent" rifle issue.

I have not voted yet but I have seen nothing immediate that would cause me to reject them. Tentative keepers, I still need to check for over drilled gas ports and the like but these appear good.

The comparisons to the Norc stamped receiver AK's are spot on in my opinion, typical fit and finish issues but great guns for what they are. Anyone expecting a Valmet will be let down.
 
There are 3 types of 81 owners out there.......... the ones who received relatively straight rifles and like them. ones who received relatively bent ones but dont mind it. and finally the ones who received bent ones and no solution from TI for it. Making them ultimately disappointed with the rifle.

The ignorance of others misfortune seems to be strong with the first group. I hope you'r all proud of it cus your sure at acting like it.
 
Poll results aside, if you go through the various threads since the problem was originally discovered, quite a few users have reported having received T81's with canted barrels. So, there is definitely a problem with these and you either get lucky and get a good one or you don't.

That being said, it is more than likely true that the canted barrels were deemed "acceptable" quality control on this type of a military rifle for the Chinese, as they have no provision for receiver optics and if one rifle wears out prematurely due to a skewed trunion, they'll just scrap it and reissue another to a soldier. When these were in service, the price per unit was probably under $10 to produce and all the troops were pretty much disposable, so not giving a sh*t about geometry as long as everything "worked ok" was probably the way they operated.

The thing that is surprising though is that this receiver is of a new manufacture (semi auto only, made for export) and yet so little attention was paid in making it. When a rifle is manufactured for the civilian market and is no longer "disposable", quality control should go up a few notches. It's a 2017 commercial rifle manufactured to 1970's Chinese standards... very disappointing, to say the least!
 
The thing that is surprising though is that this receiver is of a new manufacture (semi auto only, made for export) and yet so little attention was paid in making it. When a rifle is manufactured for the civilian market and is no longer "disposable", quality control should go up a few notches. It's a 2017 commercial rifle manufactured to 1970's Chinese standards... very disappointing, to say the least!

I assume they would be using the same 1970's tooling and machinery though, wouldn't they?
 
The ignorance of others misfortune seems to be strong with the first group. I hope you'r all proud of it cus your sure at acting like it.


In all honesty, I REALLY hope mine isn't canted (it's still on the way and the CP tracking is garbage). If it is canted, it's going back either for an exchange for a good one (TI better check!) or a refund.

That being said, even if I receive the straightest rifle I've ever seen on the first shot, the mere fact that so many others got the same $1,000 product that's bent like it was shaped on a whisky barrel makes me disappointed in this whole experience nevertheless. Just because one missed a bullet in the Russian roulette doesn't make it a pleasant experience!

:(
 
I assume they would be using the same 1970's tooling and machinery though, wouldn't they?

Yes. The tooling & machinery can turn out perfect receivers every time though, it's the pace and attention to detail of the person using it that's the problem. If the factory workers employed the "measure twice, rivet once" mentality, each and every one of these would be as straight as an arrow.

This, of course, would take more time... which means fewer receivers finished in a set amount of time and that's bad for "quantity over quality". This seems to be the main issue with ALL Chinese export firearms: pump out as many as you can in the shortest amount of time possible, because other orders are already lined up!

:rolleyes:


You have to realize that in order for the barrel to be so off center like we've seen in some pics, the riveting job on some of those trunions is utter sh*t. You could quite literally do a better job drilling those rivet holes with a ruler and a Canadian Tire drill press, ffs! In fact, if a local metal shop could make receiver blanks for the T81, all of these could be drilled right and the trunions re-riveted on properly. If I was TI, that's definitely something I'd look into and use the defective rifles as parts kits to build "Canadian" T81's, maybe even with a standard side rail for optics.
 
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Curtton post a pic of it so we can see and have an idea on how bad yours is now

No point of posting pics bcos the pics wouldn't show it well.

Today, I decided not to rely on my eyes and use a straight edge, i removed my top, lower HG and bolt carrier, i lined up my receiver and the tip of the barrel is about 3/8" off to the right.
 
No point of posting pics bcos the pics wouldn't show it well.

Today, I decided not to rely on my eyes and use a straight edge, i removed my top, lower HG and bolt carrier, i lined up my receiver and the tip of the barrel is about 3/8" off to the right.

with mine I discovered that it is more tilted (rotated to the right) rather than actually bent to the right
 
Please click link and watch this video from the Military Arms Channel.... They discuss the Norinco Ak's that were imported to the USA in the early 80's and how people thought they were crude and worthless, they even mention how people would run wall lazers lights down the rifle saying they were bent.... these same rifles now are called Norinco Legends and sell for upwards to $3,000.00 USD... Watch the video and feel good about the Type 81:

https://www.facebook.com/militaryarms/videos/1449268218418306/

Nice find! They talk about them @ ~22 minutes in. Very educational background listening for the AK pattern manufacturing process as well from a very experienced source.
 
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