Marstar has a new shipment of their Norinco “Bushranger” rifles. These are small bolt actions, sporting either a 5.56x45 (223Rem) or a 7.62x39 barrel.
The rifles are similar, but not the same.
Overview. The rifles come in a foam-lined cardboard box. Each is dripping in gooey oil and will need a wipe down with paper towels and some brake cleaner. Don’t forget to rinse the bolt body and wipe out the inside of the mags.
The rifles are light and handy. I am guessing around 6 pounds. Both come drilled and tapped for scope bases and a set of Weaver bases are included with each rifle. They are pre-installed on the 7.62 and in the box for the 223.
The magazines are removable single stack 5 shot. They remind me of Remington 788 magazines.
The bolts look like giant 22LR bolts. Round on top, scalloped on the bottom. Each has a pair of solid locking lugs at the back (not at the front, like a Mauser.) The rear locking lugs remind me of the Remington 788. Finish on the action, barrel and bolts is good. The bolt parts carry the rifle serial number. I always like to see this, since mixing up bolts is not unusual.
The triggers are two-stage. One is superb, the other lumpy and creepy. The good one has a light but distinct movement to the second stage and then breaks crisply. It is just about perfect. The other is terrible, but because of the other, I know that after I clean the gunk out, polish the surfaces and properly lubricate, it should be perfect, too. It is advertised as fully adjustable, but I have not yet taken the action out of the stock to see what the trigger looks like.
I have used Rem788 actions to build fine target rifles. They had very fast locktime, but the ammo could not be over-loaded (as is common) because of case stretching (rear locking lugs). For a 7.62x39 shooting milsurp or the occasional commercial soft point, that would not be an issue. For a reloader making 223 varmint ammo, it is an issue to be aware of.
I have not yet taken any chamber measurements. The 7.62 throat is a bit deep. It accommodates the 150 gr bullet. The fact that the other rifle is marked 5.56 and not 223 means that the rifle has a deeper throat to tame pressures. It easily accommodates 69 gr bullets, although that bullet is too long to stabilize in the 1:12 barrel. In fact, it chambers some match ammo I have here with 80gr Sierra loaded to 2.475”. These are much too long for the magazines. So if you handload, you have a choice of seating bullets near the rifling or short enough to fit the magazine – but not both.
Both rifles are drilled and tapped for scope bases (supplied). I am guessing the threads are metric. You can buy metric screws at Crappy Tire, if needed. The 5.56 rifle has open sights. The 7.62 barrel is clean. This is puzzling. It would make more sense to me to have the open sights on the 7.62. If they were zeroed, they would be an excellent back up to the 2 ½ power scope the rifle begs for.
The open sights are Remington knock-offs. Both front and rear are held on with 2 screws. I intended to take them off the 5.56 because it will get a 10X scope for gopher hunting. Maybe I will put them on the 7.62 where they belong.
The 5.56 has a slightly longer and heavier barrel. 22 ¼” vs. 21”. It is 0.650” at the muzzle, vs. 0.550” for the 7.72. Both barrels are 0.95” at the receiver. The receivers are 1.20” diameter.
The stocks are some kind of light wood. They come pre-dinged and marked. A friend of mine recently bought the Norinco 22LR target rifle and re-finished the stock with some stain and urethane. It looks 500% better. I will do the same to these, making sure I paint the inside of the stocks with urethane, too, to make them more waterproof.
The length of pull is man-sized - about 14 ¼”.
I presume the rifles are made in the same factory – but maybe not. The 5.56 is marked “Made in China by Bisley Small Arms”. The 7.62 is simply marked “Made in China.”
Even before I fire a shot, I am impressed with these rifles. You should all buy one or two to encourage Marstar (and others) to keep up the importing of good cheap guns and ammo.
I started the thought process by thinking I would by the 5.56 rifle and replace the barrel with an old stainless steel Kreiger 1:9 This would not only be more accurate, but would shoot the 69 gr match bullets.
But now that I see that the 5.56 barrel is a little heavier, I will bed the action and give it a try. It will stabilize the 60 gr flat base HP bullet and the Sierra 63 semi-spitzer soft point. They are good enough for gophers to 200 yards.
Then I realized the 7.62 has the correct bolt face for the 6PPC, and there are lots of burned out 6mm barrels laying around. Because these rifles have small receivers, I can cut 5” off the shank of old barrels, exposing rifling in good condition.
Rdit: I mispoke when i said my friend re-finished his Norico with urethane. he used steel wool to smooth off the panted stain on the rifle and then rubbed on several coats of Lee Valley Tung Oil. It looks much nicer now.
The rifles are similar, but not the same.
Overview. The rifles come in a foam-lined cardboard box. Each is dripping in gooey oil and will need a wipe down with paper towels and some brake cleaner. Don’t forget to rinse the bolt body and wipe out the inside of the mags.
The rifles are light and handy. I am guessing around 6 pounds. Both come drilled and tapped for scope bases and a set of Weaver bases are included with each rifle. They are pre-installed on the 7.62 and in the box for the 223.
The magazines are removable single stack 5 shot. They remind me of Remington 788 magazines.
The bolts look like giant 22LR bolts. Round on top, scalloped on the bottom. Each has a pair of solid locking lugs at the back (not at the front, like a Mauser.) The rear locking lugs remind me of the Remington 788. Finish on the action, barrel and bolts is good. The bolt parts carry the rifle serial number. I always like to see this, since mixing up bolts is not unusual.
The triggers are two-stage. One is superb, the other lumpy and creepy. The good one has a light but distinct movement to the second stage and then breaks crisply. It is just about perfect. The other is terrible, but because of the other, I know that after I clean the gunk out, polish the surfaces and properly lubricate, it should be perfect, too. It is advertised as fully adjustable, but I have not yet taken the action out of the stock to see what the trigger looks like.
I have used Rem788 actions to build fine target rifles. They had very fast locktime, but the ammo could not be over-loaded (as is common) because of case stretching (rear locking lugs). For a 7.62x39 shooting milsurp or the occasional commercial soft point, that would not be an issue. For a reloader making 223 varmint ammo, it is an issue to be aware of.
I have not yet taken any chamber measurements. The 7.62 throat is a bit deep. It accommodates the 150 gr bullet. The fact that the other rifle is marked 5.56 and not 223 means that the rifle has a deeper throat to tame pressures. It easily accommodates 69 gr bullets, although that bullet is too long to stabilize in the 1:12 barrel. In fact, it chambers some match ammo I have here with 80gr Sierra loaded to 2.475”. These are much too long for the magazines. So if you handload, you have a choice of seating bullets near the rifling or short enough to fit the magazine – but not both.
Both rifles are drilled and tapped for scope bases (supplied). I am guessing the threads are metric. You can buy metric screws at Crappy Tire, if needed. The 5.56 rifle has open sights. The 7.62 barrel is clean. This is puzzling. It would make more sense to me to have the open sights on the 7.62. If they were zeroed, they would be an excellent back up to the 2 ½ power scope the rifle begs for.
The open sights are Remington knock-offs. Both front and rear are held on with 2 screws. I intended to take them off the 5.56 because it will get a 10X scope for gopher hunting. Maybe I will put them on the 7.62 where they belong.
The 5.56 has a slightly longer and heavier barrel. 22 ¼” vs. 21”. It is 0.650” at the muzzle, vs. 0.550” for the 7.72. Both barrels are 0.95” at the receiver. The receivers are 1.20” diameter.
The stocks are some kind of light wood. They come pre-dinged and marked. A friend of mine recently bought the Norinco 22LR target rifle and re-finished the stock with some stain and urethane. It looks 500% better. I will do the same to these, making sure I paint the inside of the stocks with urethane, too, to make them more waterproof.
The length of pull is man-sized - about 14 ¼”.
I presume the rifles are made in the same factory – but maybe not. The 5.56 is marked “Made in China by Bisley Small Arms”. The 7.62 is simply marked “Made in China.”
Even before I fire a shot, I am impressed with these rifles. You should all buy one or two to encourage Marstar (and others) to keep up the importing of good cheap guns and ammo.
I started the thought process by thinking I would by the 5.56 rifle and replace the barrel with an old stainless steel Kreiger 1:9 This would not only be more accurate, but would shoot the 69 gr match bullets.
But now that I see that the 5.56 barrel is a little heavier, I will bed the action and give it a try. It will stabilize the 60 gr flat base HP bullet and the Sierra 63 semi-spitzer soft point. They are good enough for gophers to 200 yards.
Then I realized the 7.62 has the correct bolt face for the 6PPC, and there are lots of burned out 6mm barrels laying around. Because these rifles have small receivers, I can cut 5” off the shank of old barrels, exposing rifling in good condition.
Rdit: I mispoke when i said my friend re-finished his Norico with urethane. he used steel wool to smooth off the panted stain on the rifle and then rubbed on several coats of Lee Valley Tung Oil. It looks much nicer now.
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