I took my Norinco JW25a out shooting after I fixed up after Canada post threw down the stairs. Overall I like the gun. It’s a nice looking 22lr that full fills my 22lr needs.
It is also fun to describe it:
A Chinese gun copied from a Czechoslovakian gun made to look like a German gun.
Stock:
The wood is good enough and certainly looks like a mauser. I really don’t like how mausers attach their slings. The hole through the stock was not cut all the way through but that was an easy fix with a small stick. Because of the hole through the stock for the sling, the sling often sits against your face which is mildly annoying. Overall quite happy with it.
Magazine: 5rds, metal
From what I have been told it matches up with the CZ455 magazines but I am not made of money so I don’t have one to compare it to. Not planning on buying to many since they are 65 bucks for a metal one and 60 for plastic, no thank you. It does feed well and if very sturdy. I expect it to last for a while.
If you really want to get the mauser ish feel there is enough room to top the magazine. It is a little tricky at first but you can load like a real rifle
Bayonet lug?:
Yes there is a bayonet lug and from what I have been told all mauser bayonets will fit. I don’t have one yet but I believe one would fit on it. Also my cleaning rod does not stay in the gun at all. I think the threads are stripped. The rod is too short to be useful anyway. I might glue it in for looks
Sights:
The sight picture is not great but it does work. If you are the type who puts a scope on everything then you only party care. It will be a little tricky to find a scope that will work because the rear sight is quite high. I like my iron sights so you can figure that out for yourself. The gun shoots high even on the lowest setting. The rear sight says 25 but its shoots more like 100. Aim low as if you were shooting a 300 yard zero milsurp. Once you figure out where to hold its fine. Maybe you could grind down the rear to make it lower but I am not that skilled. I am also not expecting to find any higher front sight posts
Speaking of the front sight, I tried to move it in the field because to me dead on windage is way more important than elevation. I could not more that sight. I tried nicely at first then tried hammering with my leatherman then my lee enfield bayonet but it would not budge. After trying with a real hammer and punch it still would not go. So I went with the “f&*k it I don’t care anymore” also known as the “you are either going to work or break” hammer technique. It worked, I managed to more it. Hopefully its enough. I will also say it was bore sighted perfectly, not sure if that was the factory or last owner. It still had to more to the right a lot though. The sight is actually touching the protector
Accuracy:
I forgot to take pictures but take my word for it. I also don’t bench rest any gun. I stand and shoot a gun like they were meant to be used. (not judging bench rest shooters, I just don’t get the appeal, not my thing) It is plenty accurate to shoot beer cans or what ever woodland critters at 50 meters. Once you get good with the individual gun I am sure you could hit beer cans at 100 meters. It does group nicely.
The bolt:
It comes apart nicely. No tools required to disassemble and simple design. It is decently smooth but gets gritty after firing 100 shots. It always works though. I also use the cheapest 22lr I can find. I was using the Winchester 222 and 333 count boxes.
The Safety:
Well it sucks. The location is fine but it was so hard to use that I probably won’t use it. The biggest issue is that you have to push against the firing pin spring and push the cocking piece back on not a nice surface. I took a round file to it and got it so that it is possible to move but it takes a lot of force to get on. It comes off with reasonable force but it’s still hard.
Safety off
Safety on
It is also fun to describe it:
A Chinese gun copied from a Czechoslovakian gun made to look like a German gun.
Stock:
The wood is good enough and certainly looks like a mauser. I really don’t like how mausers attach their slings. The hole through the stock was not cut all the way through but that was an easy fix with a small stick. Because of the hole through the stock for the sling, the sling often sits against your face which is mildly annoying. Overall quite happy with it.
Magazine: 5rds, metal
From what I have been told it matches up with the CZ455 magazines but I am not made of money so I don’t have one to compare it to. Not planning on buying to many since they are 65 bucks for a metal one and 60 for plastic, no thank you. It does feed well and if very sturdy. I expect it to last for a while.
If you really want to get the mauser ish feel there is enough room to top the magazine. It is a little tricky at first but you can load like a real rifle
Bayonet lug?:
Yes there is a bayonet lug and from what I have been told all mauser bayonets will fit. I don’t have one yet but I believe one would fit on it. Also my cleaning rod does not stay in the gun at all. I think the threads are stripped. The rod is too short to be useful anyway. I might glue it in for looks
Sights:
The sight picture is not great but it does work. If you are the type who puts a scope on everything then you only party care. It will be a little tricky to find a scope that will work because the rear sight is quite high. I like my iron sights so you can figure that out for yourself. The gun shoots high even on the lowest setting. The rear sight says 25 but its shoots more like 100. Aim low as if you were shooting a 300 yard zero milsurp. Once you figure out where to hold its fine. Maybe you could grind down the rear to make it lower but I am not that skilled. I am also not expecting to find any higher front sight posts
Speaking of the front sight, I tried to move it in the field because to me dead on windage is way more important than elevation. I could not more that sight. I tried nicely at first then tried hammering with my leatherman then my lee enfield bayonet but it would not budge. After trying with a real hammer and punch it still would not go. So I went with the “f&*k it I don’t care anymore” also known as the “you are either going to work or break” hammer technique. It worked, I managed to more it. Hopefully its enough. I will also say it was bore sighted perfectly, not sure if that was the factory or last owner. It still had to more to the right a lot though. The sight is actually touching the protector
Accuracy:
I forgot to take pictures but take my word for it. I also don’t bench rest any gun. I stand and shoot a gun like they were meant to be used. (not judging bench rest shooters, I just don’t get the appeal, not my thing) It is plenty accurate to shoot beer cans or what ever woodland critters at 50 meters. Once you get good with the individual gun I am sure you could hit beer cans at 100 meters. It does group nicely.
The bolt:
It comes apart nicely. No tools required to disassemble and simple design. It is decently smooth but gets gritty after firing 100 shots. It always works though. I also use the cheapest 22lr I can find. I was using the Winchester 222 and 333 count boxes.
The Safety:
Well it sucks. The location is fine but it was so hard to use that I probably won’t use it. The biggest issue is that you have to push against the firing pin spring and push the cocking piece back on not a nice surface. I took a round file to it and got it so that it is possible to move but it takes a lot of force to get on. It comes off with reasonable force but it’s still hard.
Safety off
Safety on
