OK! So I got this on Saturday but didn't have time to open it until this afternoon. Here you can see you get you owner's manual and a plastic bag containing one smelly, greasy gun.
So I donned the rubber gloves and broke out my favourite degreaser and set about the task of getting this rifle ready to fire. Through the grease, I noticed several scuffs on the butt of the rifle that must have occurred at the factory. "Nothing too major." I told myself and carried on. (They don't show up so well in the photo so I can see I am not making a big complaint here at all)
I continued degreasing the gun. This necessitated taking the it completely apart, which was not overly difficult, with a couple exceptions. First off, I could just barely budge the take down latch. It was very stuck until I helped it along with the handle of a toothbrush. As soon as I got the barrel off, I realized that I had two problems.
The first one was announced by the sound of splitting wood.
Sadly, when I went to take the barrel off, I had the butt resting on a stool. I didn't realize it, but the butt was a fair bit loose and as I wrenched the barrel off, the butt rotated against the receiver, splitting off some substantial wood chunks. The pics above show the stock on reassembly, after I smoothed the splintered part out a bit on my belt sander.
The other problem was that the takedown latch had it's retaining pin hole drilled all wonky. The hole on one side is approximately 1/8" on one side and 1/16" on the other. These holes are not aligned, and there was no pin present. The latch itself had gotten nicked by the drill at some point too. This raised a ring of burs on the side of the latch. This is what made it so difficult to operate the latch. A few strokes of a fine stone sorted that out. I was annoyed at this point, but I was committed.
I continued stripping and cleaning the gun. When I disassembled the trigger mech of the gun I noticed something unique. This is the only striker fired .22 I have ever owned. I thought that the double extractor claws at 6 o'clock on the bolt face were interesting too. Then I realized how nice the trigger is. If it weren't for the slight bit of take-up, I would probably have to make the trigger pull heavier.
Striker cocked
Striker in fired position
(The striker: You can see the stud on the left side that rides in a groove inside the bolt.)
(Extractor claws on bolt face)
Once all the guts were cleaned up, it was a quick matter to throw it all back together. The hardest part was getting the recoil spring back into it's home.
There were a few things about this rifle I expected to be done to a low standard. The first was the trigger pull, which is really light. Second was the sights, which are actually ok. The third thing I expected to be sketchy was the checkering. It is actually quite nice.
(Rear Sight: Note tapped holes for scope mount)
(Brass beaded front sight with untested 1/2 x 28 threaded muzzle)
(Fore end)
Overall, I like this design. There is a simplicity and elegance to this design that even carries through the Norinco workmanship. There are some obvious flaws though. It doesn't really work as a takedown rifle, unless I risk losing the latch, detent and spring. Then there is the stock...
But will it shoot???
To be continued...
*UPDATE* - Canada Ammo is sending me a new stock and takedown latch!
With these replacement parts installed, this rifle should be in optimal shape!
Thanks Canada Ammo!
