I've been looking at these for quite a while. I really liked the idea of a small, handy but useable semi-auto takedown. Of course, I would like to have had a Browning, but not currently being possessed of the pecuniary wherewithal to acquire one, the Norinco was next in line. Now, I already have a couple of .22 takedowns, but neither is semi-auto, and both require a bit of finagling to take down & re-assemble. The idea of a simple, 1-second take down (and reverse), like something from a James Bond movie, had a lot of appeal.
I did a lot of internet searching and learned that, on the whole, the Norinco has an excellent reputation for function and accuracy (the latter of which, according to many of the accounts I've seen, equals or even exceeds that of the original Browning) and, for roughly 1/4 of the price, it's a rifle I wouldn't feel bad about taking out into the rain.
I did a lot of shopping, including here on the EE, and found that it was cheaper to buy one new, from a dealer, as sellers on the EE typically wanted $10-$30 more for a used one. Prices range at dealers from around $200+ all the way down to $169.99. Being fiscally responsible (= cheap, or more accurately, = poor), I opted for the cheapest source. This was from a non-CGN sponsor dealer, so I won't mention the name (although it starts with "Lanz"). Service was excellent, by the way.
It arrived yesterday via Canada Post - delivered right to my door. The stout box & wrapping was intact, and in good shape. When I opened the box, I found the rifle was wrapped in a plastic sleeve and inset into a styrofoam block. Here's one thing - what is it about Eastern bloc countries that they feel they have to heat up a cauldron of greasy oil, submerge the gun in it until its bubbles stop coming up, then let the whole mass congeal into something resembling an oily candle?!? I spritzed it liberally with Simple Green (that's what I had on hand) and proceeded to make a large pile of greasy paper towels, but in the end, it was nice and clean. On the outside, at least.
On closer examination, at first I thought it had a chunk missing out of the forestock. However, after examining pictures of the original Browning, I noted that this is actually a machined clearance groove, and is supposed to be there. Whew. Here's a picture of the receiver, with its somewhat rudimentary engraving. You can see the groove in the edge of the forestock wood, where it meets the receiver.
At that point, I wanted to take the rifle down, and I noticed that the takedown latch was very stiff to move (research on this revealed that no one else seems to have come across this problem, so I suspect it was a one-off). When I disassembled it, I found a small burr on the detent plunger hole for the latch - once I cleaned this up, the latch moved freely & locked properly.
Here's a pic of it taken down. It takes no more than a second or two to do this, and no longer to put it back together! Assuming the barrel-to-action fit is adjusted properly (and adjustment is a snap, done in a second, no tools required) the gun feels absolutely solid - you'd never know it was a takedown.
The stock is nicely finished, with a high gloss. The butt has little grain visible and is quite bland, although the forestock has a fairly nice grain. Both have what appears to be hand-cut checkering (with sharp edges & small inconsistencies not found in machine-cut or stamped checkering). All in all, quite good, especially considering the price point.
Interestingly, the gun has a threaded muzzle, with a well-fitted crown cap which should protect the crown nicely. Although I haven't measured it myself, the threads are apparently the common American SAE type, rather than metric. When the day comes that suppressors are legal in Canada, I'm all set to go (ROFLMAO). Here's a pic with the cap on and off (pardon the dog hair on the front sight!)
Just like the Browning version, the gun can be almost completely disassembled without tools. Since I needed to clean the internal organs of the action to remove the large quantity of Bunker 'C', I went ahead and did this. It turns out that while it is simplicity itself to take it completely apart, putting it back together can be, um, challenging. I heartily recommend viewing (and reviewing and reviewing) some of the Youtube videos available on this. It will save you kinking the bolt spring (ask me how I know - although I was able to salvage mine - I should have spent more time with the $^#%^#& videos first!!). I used WD-40 to clean the action - not as a lubricant (we all know it's not great for that), but as a non-injurious solvent that won't attack wood finishes etc. It worked great, and did leave a thin film of lubricant, which is all that is recommended for this gun. Some gunsmiths even suggest running it dry all the time.
Internally, it was roughly machined where it didn't matter, and nicely machined where it did matter. Once cleaned out, the action was very slick indeed. The rear sight is a rough copy of the Browning one, adjustable for elevation (windage is adjusted by tapping the sight back and forth in the dovetail, like the Browning). In the end, if I decide I don't like it, I have an adjustable Wilson Combat sight, originally intended for one of my Colt 1911's, that will fit perfectly & is screw-adjustable for both windage and elevation. The dovetail for the rear sight is 5/16" (versus, for example, the 3/8" dovetail of the Ruger 10/22 sight), so if I wanted to use my spare 10/22 sights, I could open up the dovetail with a triangular file. I doubt this will be necessary, though. The front sight is a nicely rendered post with a high-visibility bead on top. The barrel is also drilled & tapped for a scope mount, specifically the proprietary Browning one. Who knows, I might even put a RedDot on it, just for fun.
If you do get one of these, when taking the rifle down, remember to grip the gun by the receiver and foregrip, NOT by the stock and foregrip. Gunsmiths seem to be inundated with broken stocks, both on the Norinco and Brownings, from people choosing to ignore this advice (clearly spelled out in both guns' manuals). The gun being slender means that the wood surface where the butt meets the receiver is also slender - heavy twisting of the butt puts too much torque on this area, and WILL cause stock breakage. It doesn't matter if it's a Norinco, Browning, or any of the other very similar designs. If you come across one with a broken stock, they are regularly repaired by gunsmiths. Apparently, there are aftermarket ones available specifically for the Norinco.
From what I've read, virtually all of the Norinco parts are interchangeable with their Browning counterparts, usually with little or no fitting required. I have read postings advising that only a few parts are interchangeable, yet I've not heard of any specific examples. The parts commonly susceptible to breakage (extractor, firing pin, springs, etc.) are 100% interchangeable with easily sourced Browning parts. In one case I read about, a Browning owner, whose gun was missing a whole bunch of parts, bought a Norinco, just for the parts he needed. All of them worked without fitting, and it saved him a fair bit of money.
Anyway, I haven't had it out to the range yet, but I'm confident it will run well. It is, of course, advisable to use high-velocity, round-nose ammunition to avoid feeding problems, but in the videos and threads I've seen, a clean gun & the proper ammo will ensure it feeds & functions well. I'm looking forward to it, and I'll update after my first range session with it.
Sorry this was a little long (thanks for your patience!), but IMHO this little rifle is an amazing value-for-money item that I'm sure others might be interested in. I know I'm going to enjoy mine! It will be going with me camping, boating, etc. etc. Now...I need to find a case for it. Hmmm....
I did a lot of internet searching and learned that, on the whole, the Norinco has an excellent reputation for function and accuracy (the latter of which, according to many of the accounts I've seen, equals or even exceeds that of the original Browning) and, for roughly 1/4 of the price, it's a rifle I wouldn't feel bad about taking out into the rain.
I did a lot of shopping, including here on the EE, and found that it was cheaper to buy one new, from a dealer, as sellers on the EE typically wanted $10-$30 more for a used one. Prices range at dealers from around $200+ all the way down to $169.99. Being fiscally responsible (= cheap, or more accurately, = poor), I opted for the cheapest source. This was from a non-CGN sponsor dealer, so I won't mention the name (although it starts with "Lanz"). Service was excellent, by the way.
It arrived yesterday via Canada Post - delivered right to my door. The stout box & wrapping was intact, and in good shape. When I opened the box, I found the rifle was wrapped in a plastic sleeve and inset into a styrofoam block. Here's one thing - what is it about Eastern bloc countries that they feel they have to heat up a cauldron of greasy oil, submerge the gun in it until its bubbles stop coming up, then let the whole mass congeal into something resembling an oily candle?!? I spritzed it liberally with Simple Green (that's what I had on hand) and proceeded to make a large pile of greasy paper towels, but in the end, it was nice and clean. On the outside, at least.
On closer examination, at first I thought it had a chunk missing out of the forestock. However, after examining pictures of the original Browning, I noted that this is actually a machined clearance groove, and is supposed to be there. Whew. Here's a picture of the receiver, with its somewhat rudimentary engraving. You can see the groove in the edge of the forestock wood, where it meets the receiver.
At that point, I wanted to take the rifle down, and I noticed that the takedown latch was very stiff to move (research on this revealed that no one else seems to have come across this problem, so I suspect it was a one-off). When I disassembled it, I found a small burr on the detent plunger hole for the latch - once I cleaned this up, the latch moved freely & locked properly.
Here's a pic of it taken down. It takes no more than a second or two to do this, and no longer to put it back together! Assuming the barrel-to-action fit is adjusted properly (and adjustment is a snap, done in a second, no tools required) the gun feels absolutely solid - you'd never know it was a takedown.
The stock is nicely finished, with a high gloss. The butt has little grain visible and is quite bland, although the forestock has a fairly nice grain. Both have what appears to be hand-cut checkering (with sharp edges & small inconsistencies not found in machine-cut or stamped checkering). All in all, quite good, especially considering the price point.
Interestingly, the gun has a threaded muzzle, with a well-fitted crown cap which should protect the crown nicely. Although I haven't measured it myself, the threads are apparently the common American SAE type, rather than metric. When the day comes that suppressors are legal in Canada, I'm all set to go (ROFLMAO). Here's a pic with the cap on and off (pardon the dog hair on the front sight!)
Just like the Browning version, the gun can be almost completely disassembled without tools. Since I needed to clean the internal organs of the action to remove the large quantity of Bunker 'C', I went ahead and did this. It turns out that while it is simplicity itself to take it completely apart, putting it back together can be, um, challenging. I heartily recommend viewing (and reviewing and reviewing) some of the Youtube videos available on this. It will save you kinking the bolt spring (ask me how I know - although I was able to salvage mine - I should have spent more time with the $^#%^#& videos first!!). I used WD-40 to clean the action - not as a lubricant (we all know it's not great for that), but as a non-injurious solvent that won't attack wood finishes etc. It worked great, and did leave a thin film of lubricant, which is all that is recommended for this gun. Some gunsmiths even suggest running it dry all the time.
Internally, it was roughly machined where it didn't matter, and nicely machined where it did matter. Once cleaned out, the action was very slick indeed. The rear sight is a rough copy of the Browning one, adjustable for elevation (windage is adjusted by tapping the sight back and forth in the dovetail, like the Browning). In the end, if I decide I don't like it, I have an adjustable Wilson Combat sight, originally intended for one of my Colt 1911's, that will fit perfectly & is screw-adjustable for both windage and elevation. The dovetail for the rear sight is 5/16" (versus, for example, the 3/8" dovetail of the Ruger 10/22 sight), so if I wanted to use my spare 10/22 sights, I could open up the dovetail with a triangular file. I doubt this will be necessary, though. The front sight is a nicely rendered post with a high-visibility bead on top. The barrel is also drilled & tapped for a scope mount, specifically the proprietary Browning one. Who knows, I might even put a RedDot on it, just for fun.
If you do get one of these, when taking the rifle down, remember to grip the gun by the receiver and foregrip, NOT by the stock and foregrip. Gunsmiths seem to be inundated with broken stocks, both on the Norinco and Brownings, from people choosing to ignore this advice (clearly spelled out in both guns' manuals). The gun being slender means that the wood surface where the butt meets the receiver is also slender - heavy twisting of the butt puts too much torque on this area, and WILL cause stock breakage. It doesn't matter if it's a Norinco, Browning, or any of the other very similar designs. If you come across one with a broken stock, they are regularly repaired by gunsmiths. Apparently, there are aftermarket ones available specifically for the Norinco.
From what I've read, virtually all of the Norinco parts are interchangeable with their Browning counterparts, usually with little or no fitting required. I have read postings advising that only a few parts are interchangeable, yet I've not heard of any specific examples. The parts commonly susceptible to breakage (extractor, firing pin, springs, etc.) are 100% interchangeable with easily sourced Browning parts. In one case I read about, a Browning owner, whose gun was missing a whole bunch of parts, bought a Norinco, just for the parts he needed. All of them worked without fitting, and it saved him a fair bit of money.
Anyway, I haven't had it out to the range yet, but I'm confident it will run well. It is, of course, advisable to use high-velocity, round-nose ammunition to avoid feeding problems, but in the videos and threads I've seen, a clean gun & the proper ammo will ensure it feeds & functions well. I'm looking forward to it, and I'll update after my first range session with it.
Sorry this was a little long (thanks for your patience!), but IMHO this little rifle is an amazing value-for-money item that I'm sure others might be interested in. I know I'm going to enjoy mine! It will be going with me camping, boating, etc. etc. Now...I need to find a case for it. Hmmm....
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I have one question though.
