Sorry boys! Yes, I thought we were talking about steel. I recently fired about 80 rounds of factory match ammo through my new M1A - but that is the only factory ammo I've shot in 20~30 years. I don't think I would bother with Norinco brass or ammo - not because it isn't any good (again, I don't know) - but because I have buckets of once-fired brass from the domestic manufacturers and I can brew up precision loads that will beat the quality of Norinco seven ways to Sunday.
Sorry boys, I know it's not nice to gloat (I will be available or pommelling and wedgies later) - but yesterday I scored 300+ rounds of once fired Federal .308 brass! Somebody must have been running a machine gun or fired his bolt gun till the barrel melted down! Sweet! In any event fellas - pick up your brass and take down your targets when you're done. It gives the club's old farts one less thing to ##### about, and they are mostly volunteers.
My PAL was issues to me in January of 2011 so as you can see I haven't been shooting for very long.
Fortunately I began reloading around the same time and got into it in a very big way.
When Sandy Hook occurred in December of 2012 I only owned a Norinco AR in .233 and had on hand around 3,000 55gr bullets.
By March of 2013 I had ordered a case of 6,000 Hornady 55gr but this was at the height of the panic and I didn't know if or when I would receive my bullets.
A friend of mine ordered a few crates and I tacked on another 2 so that I wouldn't be the guy without ammo.
In the meantime I bought a Stag 3G so that I could put it on my form 6-NIA and began a Noveske build.
When the ammo came in I fired 1/2 a spam can through the Norinco and found it to be 100% reliable.
I then fired a couple of hundred rounds through the Stag with very good results 3moa standing unsupported 1.5moa off a bench with a rear bag.
At the end of August nearly 6 months after I ordered my Hornady bullets they finally arrived.
Not everyone has been reloading for 30 years and may have a large supply of everything they need already.
I can tell you that I am a lot better prepared than I was a year ago.
Let's not forget that most American ammo companies have had ammo recalls in the last year or two.