Is a Norinco CQ-A/ M4 a good thing?

mattarmstrong

mattarmstrong

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This has probably been talked to death in the past but I'm new to the site. I know the cold truths about these Commie ARs but the fact is I'm a young father and money is tight. The basic set up of the Norinco M4 is basically what I'd be looking for in an AR anyways and I'm just looking for something to bang away with at the range. I don't wanna throw what little money I have away on junk. I guess I'm just looking for advice from anyone who has one? Do the work well? Can you hit anything with them? Thanks!

Matt
 
I have one of the first batch of the M4-gery ones that came into the country. It has been 100% reliable and no issues with lots of rounds through it. The accuracy has a lot to do with the ammo, with handloads I was getting 1.5 to 2" groups at 100 yards with Norc ammo it opens up to about 3"-4" or so.
 
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I have had good luck with Norinco guns. My 1897 Winchester clone just keeps on pumping. I shoot lots of informal clays with it. I had a 45 1911 which was built like a tank but it was cheaper to swap it for a STI than upgrade it. It shot great without malfunctions.

I have a CQ A from Marstar. The ejection port cover locking pin fell out but that's an easy fix. Rest of the gun is solid so far. I haven't shot a whole lot of rounds (300-400 or so) but those I have hit where I was aiming. Only out to 50m with a cheap Colt clone 4x scope. So far so good.

It looks and feels solid in other respects. I bought it because I wanted an AR but didn't want to spend a bunch of cash on what for me is just a fun gun. Trigger pull is not super clean but OK for a battle rifle. I like it. I have an AR that I wanted without breaking the bank, it's reliable and fun. YMMV of course but I'm very happy with mine.

TJ
 
My experience with Norinco rifles are that they are quite accurate. They have good barrels! Reports seem to indicate they are fairly reliable as well. Most most important bits of the rifle, all found in the upper, are well made. Everything else can be replaced on the cheap with western-manufactured parts if reliability is a concern. I've found Norinco ammo gets better results when used in Norinco rifles, but I'd still avoid it and use American Eagle .223 or better.
 
I’ve had my coffee, so I’ll go. Yes, it’s been discussed at nauseam, the search function is your friend but sometimes you’ll have to enter Norc for short. Here’s a good thread to see what others have done:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...-M4-####-thread-lt-3-(Beware-Chicom-guns-ITT)

If you’re on a tight budget, the Norinco is the way to go. It’s not junk, but some here will be sure to tell you it is. You’ll also get some rich @$$hole who will tell you to save your money, and buy a KAC instead.

The Norinco CQ-A shoots fine out of the box. If you decide to dress it up, you will hear “lipstick on a pig” a lot.

Last summer, the Canadian dollar was strong, and irunguns was bringing in US-made ARs for the same price or less for a Norc, so Norinco ARs were taking a hit. Remember, when these things first hit the Canadian market, a Colt AR could easily run $2,500, last year, Colts went for about $1,000. With the Canadian Dollar tanking, they’re probably about $1,400-1500? Anyway, it wasn’t unheard of to be able to buy a US-made AR for about $600 (was it DPMS or S&W?) from various dealers. Norincos dropped in price from $700 down to $600. Some dealers even had them on sale for $500.

Anyway, back to your post, you’re a young father, money is tight, the Norinco CQ-A is the set up you’re looking for and you’re just going to bang away at the range, a $600 Norinco is for you. I had one for a few years, and only sold it a few months ago to pay for other toys. I put a few rounds through it, maybe around 5 thousand or so, never had any hiccups or failures. Others have put more through theirs. If you’re google-fu is good, you’ll find a couple of sources that indicate that the Norc CQ-A has a hammer-forged barrel, so it should give you years and years of shooting enjoyment.
 
Look into NEA as well if you are looking for a budget AR, they are Canadian made and are on par or better then Norinco. Also have great warranty which Norinco does not.
 
Honestly, for the way I use my da-556 (m4 clone, plinking at the range), I couldn't imagine spending more money. It works well and seems pretty well made.
 
I had one, sights didn't line up, several failures to fire, but it was pretty accurate and cheap.
I sold it a few weeks later and bought a Daniel defense.
If money is tight get it , if you can save up buy a used DD off the EE.

Remember, don't buy something that you can't feed. Ammo isn't cheap it might be better to buy a 22.
 
mattarmstrong said:
This has probably been talked to death in the past but I'm new to the site. I know the cold truths about these Commie ARs but the fact is I'm a young father and money is tight. The basic set up of the Norinco M4 is basically what I'd be looking for in an AR anyways and I'm just looking for something to bang away with at the range. I don't wanna throw what little money I have away on junk. I guess I'm just looking for advice from anyone who has one? Do the work well? Can you hit anything with them? Thanks!

Matt
Click to expand...

Matt, beyond the origin and some minor stuff - these ARs workm they go bang when you pull the trigger; are no heavier than others and look/function like other ARs. For a cheap plinker with surplus ammo, these fit the bill perfectly.

Sure you can get american made as well but guess what, there not gonna do anything special that this rifle won't do. You can spend much more and get just as much gun... like DDs for example :)
 
The Norc M4 rifles kick butt at our CQB matches , ORA run, at Langemark Range, Base Borden, ON. The money you save, allows you to buy lots and lots of practice ammo. That's a good thing! :cool:

And yes, I've had my butt handed to me by Norc rifles! :eek:

Cheers and keep helping the nooobs out there! :wave:

Barney
 
I've had my CQ-A for about 4 years now and have never had a problem with it. The mags that came with the rifle have fed fine but the cut out on them is pretty annoying to look at. As others have stated accuracy is very good with these rifles but I did find that the rear sight on the carry handle of my rifle had a slight twist to it as if a spring was keeping it from pointing straight ahead. I replaced that with some magpul sights and a red dot anyways so no more issue there. The Norinco CQ-A has even been used in competition by the Chinese special forces in which they took 1st and 2nd so....nuf said. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/06/23/chinese-special-forces-competing-ar-15-rifles/

If it's all you can afford, go for it and use the money saved on ammo.
 
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