Should I buy a NEA AR?

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Black slide

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I am not interested in NEA Politics.

I own a Norinco AR which has greatly exceeded expectations, however I would like to upgrade. In all honesty does NEA make a good AR? I suspect they do on account of the posts made by non-haters, however if there is a legitimate reason why quality is a concern please specify.

Will a NEA rifle be more reliable and durable than my Norinco CQ. I am looking for quality.

I understand that are other alternatives, however I am specifically looking for a quality AR set up with a 12" rail and a 14" - 16" barrel.

BCG?

Barrel?

My Norinco has never missed a beat and is accurate as hell for $700.

I would love to own a DD rifle and still might. The NEA is a few hundred $ less and that makes it appealing. I already know DD makes a bit#$en rifle!

I might be putting my Norinco CQ up on the EE. Has roughly 400 rds. Kept clean, comes with 1 norc mag, 1 pmag and a 36" tactical NCstar bag.

Thank you for any feedback.
 
Black slide said:
I am not interested in NEA Politics.
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Fair enough.. but if you do a search on the NEA you'll learn all you need to know to answer your own questions. As you stated there's equal amounts of haters & NEA kool-aid drinkers on here.

It seems early NEA products can really be a crap shoot as to what your getting with them.

That said.. They are reportedly looking at altering & improving their QC and manufacturing issues, so the current/next batches may or may-not be better.

As always ymmv depending on how you read into the NEA threads.

I think alot of regulars here will tell you to spend the extra $$ and go with a DD
 
i have a couple of Nea's and a Norinco 10.5....the NEA rifles are a little (not much) nicer on the fit and finish, but the Norinco's are a good little work horse rifle that seem to work well...(NEA have their problems from time to time)...my advice would be to keep shooting the Norinco and save a little bit more and go with a higher end rifle, and never look back.

LMT, Armalite, Colt, and Stags would be my starting point...at least that is where i would start, then possibly consider going up from there..
 
No, you shouldn't buy an NEA. The quality and reliability are hit and miss at best. Some work and some don't. You could also buy another upper which could effectively give you another gun for a lot less money. I think that if there is a question in your mind about how good the rifle is, you should leave it alone.
 
Playing devil's advocate, there is a consistent waiting list for an NEA and they sell every rifle they produce before it even arrives to a dealer. There are some folks here who are still posting issues with rifles made in the first production batch - the product has supposedly improved since then and the reported issues are becoming far less frequent.

Draw your own conclusions, but 10 years from now, if NEA still exist, some of the regulars here will still be doing a btt on negative NEA threads from 2011.
 
Black slide said:
.....My Norinco has never missed a beat and is accurate as hell for $700.....
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So the problem with it is.....?

What exactly do you mean when you refer to upgrades? Tackykewl dressup or serious performance enhancing modifications? What aspect of performance do you need to enhance? What sort of shooting are you doing?
 
If the way your Norc is running is keeping you happy, you have no reason to roll the dice on an NEA. Save 1/3 of an extra paycheck and jump up to a DD. Better yet, keep saving and reach higher.
 
Keep enjoying the Norinco, until you can afford a DD, just excellent value for the money.

I bought an early NEA before the DD's entered the market, read all the threads, wasn't very happy with the finish.

I never had a chance to shoot it, but I sold it to a first time AR owner on the EE. He had a few minor problems with it, it was a very early model number - under 35! NEA sent replacement parts, and it's running great.

The Daniel Defence AR's are just so much nicer, and their reputation is excellent. I think if you were to compare the two in person, it would be a easy decision.
 
Antoine22 said:
Norinco to NEA is barely an upgrade imo.
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If your opinion is based on what you have read about NEA on CGN, then I can understand why you would have that opinion.
The reality is, as long as you get a fully functional NEA (which has been hit or miss in the past but does not appear to be the case as of late) you are getting a superior barrel, free-float rail, and a lifetime, fully transferable warranty.
 
pbr streetgang said:
i have a couple of Nea's and a Norinco 10.5....the NEA rifles are a little (not much) nicer on the fit and finish, but the Norinco's are a good little work horse rifle that seem to work well...(NEA have their problems from time to time)...my advice would be to keep shooting the Norinco and save a little bit more and go with a higher end rifle, and never look back.

LMT, Armalite, Colt, and Stags would be my starting point...at least that is where i would start, then possibly consider going up from there..
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Can't sum it up any better than that.
 
Runningfool said:
If your opinion is based on what you have read about NEA on CGN, then I can understand why you would have that opinion.
The reality is, as long as you get a fully functional NEA (which has been hit or miss in the past but does not appear to be the case as of late) you are getting a superior barrel, free-float rail, and a lifetime, fully transferable warranty.
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bolded part is a good summary of what I read in the archives too. That's the reason I went with a Stag. You don't read stuff like "as long as you get a fully functional Stag". There isn't a question about what you are getting when you buy a higher quality rifle.
 
I handled a couple of NEAs display firearms and the Norinco had better fit and finish than the NEA. In fairness they were early production models, but if you're willing to display something with such gross machining flaws, what are you letting get shipped out the door? I decided against buying the NEA and bought a combo Dlask/Colt.

Get a Dlask or ATRS if you want to go Canadian, or save up for a higher end AR.
 
jdman said:
I say go for it.:popCorn:
we have all heard they have turned their lives around, so whats stopping people now?
Why havent we seen any thorough reviews of the "gen 4's" yet?
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Wow, we're up to gen 4's already? (having been only about a year, I don't see how that's exactly a good thing...) Maybe the reviewers are waiting for replacement rifles/parts, who knows... :rolleyes:

And while I'm not necessarily a fan of the Norc, I wouldn't exactly consider a move to an NEA an "upgrade". More like stealing from Peter to pay Paul, and potentially creating more of a headache. The Norc is renowned for always going "bang" when you pull the trigger; the NEA also, although this is more often the sound of out-of-spec parts failing spectacularly... ;)

The NEA is a second-rate rifle, at best. At worse, it's a glaring example of the colossal fail involved in screwing up a tried-and-trued design. The only thing the NEA stands as a testament to is the outsourcing of cheap components and lack of any and all quality control. I can't believe this particular rifle still has its defenders, and it has to be a combination or ignorance, denial or outright shame.

Back to the OP... my advice is to stick with your Norc -or- look at something like a DD. I honestly don't think you'll be happy enough with the marginal (if any?) gains in moving to an NEA for the extra cash outlay. If you have a chance, I'd probably suggest trying to handle or fire one first. Best of luck!
 
I own both norinco and NEA, aside from the obvious advantage the NEA has in parts (IE comes with rail, extended trigger guard, free float rail, mil spec buffer tube, quad rail) the barrel is better on the NEA, and so is the warrenty...

its also the cheapest PDW you can buy that comes stock with a quad rail, lo pro gas block, modded lower, ect ect.. in canada,

if there are some of the dreaded issues, well,
it is hassle free... my NEA was sub 200 serial #, NEA had responded to me very fast, within 24 hrs I had them send me a shipping label, and gave me a QD sling point stock and buffer plate without me asking for free stuff... and I was not out of pocket a single cent.

my norinco has no such warrenty... a knights, lmt stag, S&W ect... you are SOL if something goes wrong... so while you may only have a 2% chance of something going wrong with those brands as opposed to say a 5% chance with NEA (no where near that high... but haters will spew torrents of hate if i dont at least say NEA is more then 2x likely to fail then any other brand)
where as NEA will 100% take care of you...


that being said, I shoot both my norinco and NEA in competitions, and plenty of LMT, stags, noveskes below me on the score sheets.

there are also some above me,

looking back on my purchase, I definetly do NOT regret saving 400-800$ buying the NEA over other brands...
 
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