Norc CQ M4 vs NEA AR-15

Don't compare the finish with a 7075 forged with a 6061 billet.
6061 basically is the easiest and the least expensive material to machine in terms of machinability and tooling (tool wear) cost.
That's another point with me. Was once a machinist and now doing gunsmithing as a hobby and have worked with many metals.

I even wrote Dave at NEA about his choice for T-6061 billet. The company and him have his reasons, but being that I'm skeptical to begin with I shall let time pass and see how billet T-6061 holds up against forged T-7075. Nobody is paying me to beta test their firearms, so let's see how it holds up before I make any decision. I'll also certainly support a Canadian business anytime if the quality is there.

In the meantime, my Norc M4 reminds me of a bastard child that doesn't take s**t from nobody. ;)
 
That's another point with me. Was once a machinist and now doing gunsmithing as a hobby and have worked with many metals.

I even wrote Dave at NEA about his choice for T-6061 billet. The company and him have his reasons, but being that I'm skeptical to begin with I shall let time pass and see how billet T-6061 holds up against forged T-7075. Nobody is paying me to beta test their firearms, so let's see how it holds up before I make any decision. I'll also certainly support a Canadian business anytime if the quality is there.

In the meantime, my Norc M4 reminds me of a bastard child that doesn't take s**t from nobody. ;)

And your telling me that chinese pot metal is to T-7075 standard??? Really???
I've seen a M305 barrel fly 30yards down range once...I highly doubt they use T-7075.
 
The one thing you have to remember about Norc firearms, they are all made in different factories, which each make different firearms as I understand. One firearm distributed by Norc being crap does not mean than all are. And the reverse is true. So far (1.5 years, maybe 2000 rounds?) my Norc M4 has proven to be reliable.

Comparing this to an M305 is pointless. The don't use the same materials and they are not made in the same place.
 
And your telling me that chinese pot metal is to T-7075 standard??? Really???
I've seen a M305 barrel fly 30yards down range once...I highly doubt they use T-7075.

Somebody posted a good thread a couple of years ago where they tested the Metal used by Norinco and it was found to be better than all of the american made crap out there.
 
What good is a lifetime warranty when there's no guarantee the company will be around for even another year.

Maybe less with a company who cuts costs with substandard parts, deceit and shills to promote their product.
 
What good is a lifetime warranty when there's no guarantee the company will be around for even another year.

Maybe less with a company who cuts costs with substandard parts, deceit and shills to promote their product.
I havent been paying attention lately apparently. NEA seems to have established a bad name for its AR's?
 
I was going to go for the NEA-15 DMR 5.56, 18" BARREL PRE SALE! FREE SHIP
From ammo source. But now reading this thread I'm a little nervous. I like the 18" barrel on it where as the norinco is hands down great, and I wanted one. But after seeing one up close at the range one day, it feels far to small for me, I'm just not a fan of the carbine. Any suggestions on a good long barreled AR for under $1500? Please don't flame me lol
 
I was going to go for the NEA-15 DMR 5.56, 18" BARREL PRE SALE! FREE SHIP
From ammo source. But now reading this thread I'm a little nervous. I like the 18" barrel on it where as the norinco is hands down great, and I wanted one. But after seeing one up close at the range one day, it feels far to small for me, I'm just not a fan of the carbine. Any suggestions on a good long barreled AR for under $1500? Please don't flame me lol

I would say Stag from Arms East but non are shown on their site right now. Send and email and ask. I know they offered some in the past and I would guess they could get them.

Another option might be used off of EE.

Rifle length AR's are actually kind of hard to find now. Everybody wants carbines or PDWs it seems.

Another option would be a 16 inch with a mid-length gas system. That barrel length seems to be popular now. Wolverine and others have/had a great deal on Daniel Defense 16inch carbines. Might want to check out their site or contact them. I believe other dealers had the same offer but I'm not sure which ones.
 
At the end of the day, the NEA product is reasonably good with a great warranty. In my experience, most of the naysayers don;t own one, often have never seen one in person, and invariably own $2000+ AR15's that are now selling for $1500 new because NEA has forced so many retailers of USA-branded AR's to lower their prices to stay competitive.

In other words, buy an NEA if it fits your budget with confidence. After market parts fit so you can change what you don't like over time and in the unfortunate case your gun might have an issue, they seem to always be making it right promptly.

Alternately, if you have little more dough to spend, take advantage of a $1400 LMT or Stag. IF NEA ever goes out of business, quick as a flash those rifles will cost $2000+ once more.

NOTE: I do NOT work for NEA!!! lol.
 
Enjoy the NEA you have coming and let us know how it pans out. Get a T-Shirt too while your at it.
I want nothing, but stellar reports.

Screw the T-Shirt!:p
But as soon as I get the NEA-15 (which should be next week) I'll let u know if it was really worth the money. I'll try to pass 250rounds through her, and I'll make an accuracy report as well as an internal parts review.

I hope it turns out to be a good rifle. Cause ultimatly...its my money on the line.:owned:
 
To people who are skeptical of the NEA choice of billet T-6061 ... Daniel defense is now producing AR's out of this material.

To the guy from Bathhurst, the Norc are not pot metal don't spread misinformation. The Norcs are very well made and there are a few threads on here discussing their actual quality. Norcs are not just civi junk, civilian sales are like .001% of Norc sales, their primary buyers are foreign milliatary and LE.

The problem I see with NEA is that their price point is an attractive distractor in the sense that you see a $1k AR but huge names like DD, stag and LMT are only marginally more expensive.

I'm all for buying Canadian but the $1k price tag to means that I might as well cough up a few hundred more for a LMT or DD. Its like when Mazda pushed the price of the RX7 into the $45k range in the 90's, for only 9k more you could be into a 911 ... See my point?

The Norc is unquestionably a bargain and the price point is so attractive that it's hard to hold the few flaws against it. People always say "well you will put about $1k worth of parts on it then you should have bought the more expensive brand. I understand that argument... But I would but $300 of Magpul on a LMT as well. I don't need much else except ammo and mags, so I'm set. About 1k through my Norc 10.5" with no issues. I am building another AR upper right now using DD Parts. There is a big dif in the look , but I am not regretting my Norc.
 
I understand your point, at first I was looking at a PWS Diablo or a LMT MRP. But there was no way on earth I could afford the price tag, and the norc are just not my style, its actually...well...ugly. Then I saw the NEA. As for accuracy, I have no clue. I know the Norcs performs really well at 100yards with 55gr bullets. But as I posted before, as soon as I get the rifle, I'll be able to compare both rifles.

As for the pot metal it was a figure of speech. One if my friends bought a M305 and after the 4th bullet the barrel snapped in two and flew downrange. This kinda gave me a negative view of Norcs. But thats beside the point.
 
Do you know Catlin ?


The Norc m14 are phenomenal value and are made of better quality materials than the yank products as far as the receiver goes. Once in a while you get a norc lemon but it's rare considering the quantity of guns they produce.

I will not dispute the NEAliiks better , it unquestionably does! The quad rail is a plus as well as the many barrel length options. I'm glad you like what you bought cause that's all that matters !
 
Do you know Catlin ?
I know its off subject, Catlin the guy who drives his Jetta like there's no tommorow? Yes I do.:D

Also I can't talk #### about NEA because I don't have it yet, its in the mail.
But I had the chance to try a few models of norinco.

The NP22 (1911 in .45) is great
The HP9 (copy of 870) is heavy but great
The M305 lasted for 4 rounds.
The JW-15A Works great
The Jw-105 biggest piece of #### ever 4 out of 6 were defective.

This is all the models of Norinco I had the chance to try.
So I can't judge the CQ AR, but I can tell in general that Norcs are hit n miss when it comes to quality.
 
It sure would be nice if those that HAVE the NEA could post up pics, there aren't many out that are not from NEA...

Once I get it I'll make sure to make lots of gun #### just for you!!!
And its true, NEA and Honey Badger Armaments only published about a dozen of different pictures out there.
 
To people who are skeptical of the NEA choice of billet T-6061 ... Daniel defense is now producing AR's out of this material.

To the guy from Bathhurst, the Norc are not pot metal don't spread misinformation. The Norcs are very well made and there are a few threads on here discussing their actual quality. Norcs are not just civi junk, civilian sales are like .001% of Norc sales, their primary buyers are foreign milliatary and LE.

The problem I see with NEA is that their price point is an attractive distractor in the sense that you see a $1k AR but huge names like DD, stag and LMT are only marginally more expensive.

I'm all for buying Canadian but the $1k price tag to means that I might as well cough up a few hundred more for a LMT or DD. Its like when Mazda pushed the price of the RX7 into the $45k range in the 90's, for only 9k more you could be into a 911 ... See my point?

The Norc is unquestionably a bargain and the price point is so attractive that it's hard to hold the few flaws against it. People always say "well you will put about $1k worth of parts on it then you should have bought the more expensive brand. I understand that argument... But I would but $300 of Magpul on a LMT as well. I don't need much else except ammo and mags, so I'm set. About 1k through my Norc 10.5" with no issues. I am building another AR upper right now using DD Parts. There is a big dif in the look , but I am not regretting my Norc.

That's the same conclusion I came to in terms of price point.

I was looking at when the NEA comes out with their monolithic rail and 18" DM barrel. Using their advertised prices and projected overall cost (monolithic upper price was listed, and the extra for the 18" barrel could be projected from current offerings). Well I bought a LMT MRP 16" barrel export model instead. With LE discount I ended up paying about $100 more for the LMT than what the NEA configured how I wanted it would have cost. Now granted it's not an 18" barrel but it's user changeable if I decide later that the barrel it came with isn't good enough. With no accuracy reports on the 18" or frankly the shorter barrels it was one of those decisions that made itself. I bought the last LMT MRP export rifle. So it was one of those decisions that had to be made quickly. But still I do my homework first. The math just didn't fit for the NEA.

Also as for the Norc. I've seen a buddies shoot his which had a free float handguard along with magpul stuff on it. I saw it shoot 1 moa at 100 meters using a pistol grip bipod and 3moa red dot sight along with quality ammo. The hammer forged barrels on the Norc seem to shoot pretty well. The finish on the rifle wasn't that great but everything else did the job. That being said I would rather spend more and get something a bit nicer overall. For a base police carbine rifle I went with the Armalite, I have a Stag 2T for free float barreled overal AR15 and now the LMT MRP.

Cost have come down with some of these other AR rifles due to the NEA and the Norc. Take advantage of it. I did.
 
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