Marstar's 1887s?

HI
Just picked up my Norinco 1887 and I have to say that I m very impressed with it.The stock is a nice piece of walnut unlike the wood that was on the early 97s.The wood to metal fit is excellent and the bluing is a nice deep blue.
Out of the box the action was a tad stiff at first but after cycling the action a couple of times it smoooooothed right out.All and all I m quite pleased with it,cant wait to take it out for a go.
 
chasseur said:
...All and all I m quite pleased with it,cant wait to take it out for a go.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chass...appreciate the info. When I got my Norc 97, it had some rough parts which I found needed a bit of polishing to get working more smoothly, like manufacturing burr's or somesuch. Have you found any of these on the '87?

Also, I noticed during Cowboy Action, a couple of the guys with originals are able to put two shells in, squeezing one down and closing with one motion putting the top one in and the lower one ready for cycling. How do the internals look to allowing this? What I mean is, can you get the two shells in at the same time?
 
Hi
Mine did have a couple of small burrs when I first took it out of the box but after cycling it for a while with some dummy shells it smoothed right out.As far as loading two shells at once it is possible with practice though as for myself I m not planning on competing with it so I m not too concerned with the practice as I bought for a fun gun for playing with.
 
Well I got mine last evening and while the fit, finish and wood is much better than the early 97's it is still Norinco. The wood on mine is an orangy-blonde with a "walnut" grain and a satin finish. I would be afraid to try to refinish as I don't know what's under it.

The action is a little stiff, but not unpleasant for a new gun. The only part that is really sticky is the unlock on initial opening and the lockup on closing. That last 1/8" on closing is also what unlocks the trigger mechanism - so if you don't close it totally it will not go off.

Have yet to shoot is, but I eagerly tried loading and cycling it with dummy rounds. Here's where I became disappointed. I have never held or used an original, but I have watched videos where the shooter pushes 2 rounds down into the gun, closes the action and bang bang - 2 shots in 3 seconds (4 seconds for amateurs).

My 87 will not do that. I need to push the one shell down and the other into the chamber, or the top shell gets hung up and must be removed first before trying again. Spent half an hour working with it - no dice.

Nice gun. Worth the $399, in fact good value for the money, BUT I can load and shoot a SxS or my 97 faster.

Can anyone tell me if the 2-shell loading is a standard feature of the 87, or if they must be modified first???

JB
 
flip1 said:
Can anyone tell me if the 2-shell loading is a standard feature of the 87, or if they must be modified first???

JB
Click to expand...

Thanks flip, that was just the info I was looking for. I heard that getting the '87 to accept the two shells did require a mod of some sort, but I had thought since Coyote Cap was 'advising' the Norinco factory on the '87 that he may have had them build in this mod there, I guess not. Looks like something that will still have to be done after purchase.
 
I just found COYOTE CAP GUNSMITHING WEBSITE goto www.coyotecap.com/index.htm then goto GUNSMITHING SIMPLIFIED , the 2 shot capability is there, it just needs to be tweeked to make it work. He has a list of small complaints about the first production run , what he tried to do to help them and how it resulted, but there are fixes included for most of the little complaints.
 
That's good news. I have to assume that the new ones Marstar received are 2006 manufacture, but that could only be confirmed by the serial numbers having '06' at the beginning. If they are that will eliminate some of the problems listed on Cap's website.
 
Well I checked on Cap's website and printed off the gunsmithing info on the 87. I also checked my serial number and there is no 05 or 06 designation.

I then went on the CAS forums and have learned that the IAC and Cap 87's are built by Norinco, BUT to different specs. The Norinco 87's that we have in Canada are the basic 87's NOT the same as the ones with the 2-shot feed system which Cap designed and actually shipped over to China for them to install on the IAC and Cap Norincos.

Having been practicing with 12 ga snap caps, I have also found feeding and ejection problems the same as Cap refers to on his website. I will be taking the gun and his website information to the gunsmith that I bought the gun through for him to rectify things.

TALK ABOUT BEING DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!!!

I have emailed Cap to find out if his components are available for purchase, but I haven't heard back yet.

A WORD OF CAUTION. I could have ordered this gun direct from Marstar, but I would now be dealing long distance on warranty issues. Fortunately I bought it through a local guy, who got it at dealer cost and sold it to me for the same $399 plus shipping as I would have paid to Marstar - but now I have a local guy to complain to without the hassles of shipping costs. CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL SHOP FIRST BEFORE YOU BUY ONE OF THESE GUNS. They are new and the bugs have yet to be worked out of them.

JB
 
Hi
Have been playing with my 87 and have noticed a couple of things.If I cycle the lever hard on winchester ammo the extractors slip past the rim of the shell, but if I cycle it at a regular pace there is no problem with extraction and ejection.This might be a case of finding the right ammo which works with the gun and learning the guns quirks.All and all though I still like it.
 
Well I finally got the chance to shoot mine with live rounds. After spending evenings practicing loading and dry firing with snap caps, I put 50 rounds through her on the timer. Rather disappointing.

Gun at port arms, shells in my belt:
97 Pump, consistent 2.4 seconds for 2 rounds
SxS, consistent 2.7 seconds
87 Lever, anywhere from 3.4-4.5 seconds for 2 rounds

The difference was even more severe for 12 round strings.

The problem is that without the 2-shot loading the top shell must be started into the chamber by hand. If you don't, the front of the shell hits below the chamber opening, because there isn't a ramp to guide it up. Ejection was also a little hit or miss if the lever wasn't racked with some authority. The hard plastic buttplate has to go too. The butt actually pulls away from your shoulder when you work the lever and then it ends up low on your shoulder for the second shot which means you shoot high.

I must also confess to some operator errors as I occasionally forgot that I had to lever the gun. A SxS is automatic, and the 97 slide comes back on recoil if you hold backwards pressure on it. There's just something foreign about racking a lever on a shotgun.

Anyway, that's my report. Fun to play with, but I'll stick to my other guns for competition for now.

JB
 
Hi

Had a chance to take the 87 to the range today and put a couple of boxes of shells through it.Mine worked flawlessly with no jams, extraction or ejection problems though I did not bother with the two shot loading technique as I m not into competition.Just had a fun work out with it and it didn let me down at all
 
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