Originally Posted by Youngfreshtoodeath
It's more like the Honda of the gun world...
Humm... I would definatly not compare Norinco to Toyota or Honda... They're good starter guns for the money.
No, actually Honda is a very good comparison - think motorcycles not cars and especially when Honda first moved into the worldwide motorcycle market in the 1960s.
Honda produced and sold a small motorcycle - the Cub. They didn't design it to be a recreational vehicle but to provide efficient, affordable transportation to people who could not afford or did not want a car or other full-size motor vehicle. The Honda Cub had a small 50 to 90cc engine and an easy-to-operate semi-automatic transmission. It was cheap, extremely reliable and simple to operate. It wouldn't get you anywhere fast, but it
would get you wherever you wanted to go - on dirt tracks, if necessary, with your whole 3rd World market stall of goods piled on the back of the bike. About the only maintenance it needed was gas, oil and air in the tires.
Lovers of existing British, European and American motorbikes derided the Hondas for sounding like sewing machines and "having no soul". I think "no soul" meant they didn't leak oil every time they parked like the British bikes, didn't have zillions of aftermarket parts available for custom touches - but also didn't need wrench time every week - like the American bikes, and cost about half as much as most bikes on the market.
Fifty years later, Honda has sold over
100 million Cubs worldwide, making it the most produced motor vehicle on the planet ((not motorcycle, motor
vehicle), many of the original Cubs are still on the road around the world, and Honda is
still producing them (with improved engines but otherwise the same model) in factories in Asia and South America. They aren't glamorous, ###y or sporty motorbikes, but they are utilitarian and work perfectly in rough conditions long after the glitzier models have broken down.
So yeah, I think maybe Norincos
are the Hondas of the gun world.
Actually, though, the problem I see when people compare Norincos to North American firearms is that they compare the Norincos to the
wrong firearms - mainly because the
right firearms aren't produced much in North America anymore.
A Norinco is the modern equivalent of those ubiquitous economy hunting firearms that were made and sold in the millions during most of the 20th century (until about 1970 or so): plain-Jane .22 rifles and single-shot or pump shotguns with names on them like Cooey, CIL, or JC Higgins, Sears Roebuck and other "store brands". They weren't designed to be masterpieces of the gunsmith's art or to sit in a safe and become family heirlooms; they were built as rugged farm and country utility tools to be worked long and hard until they were finally worn out - just like a hardware store shovel, scythe or axe.
In handguns, the similar equivalent would be all the handy little economy-grade .22s and small revolvers made by companies like Iver Johnson. Again, they were not designed to be masterpieces of art or foundations for custom accessorizing but to be simple, cheap reliable tools for target practice, pest control and self-defence.
If you consider Norinco rifles, shotguns and handguns in that light, they look a whole lot different than if you insist on comparing them to semi-custom tweaked 1911s and ARs.
BTW, in some ways I find the "they make good starter guns" comment funny: for diehard gun lovers, this may be true. Similarly, in earlier generations, many shooters probably started with store-brand guns, then "graduated" to fancier toys. But for millions of utility users, the store-brand "starter guns" were actually their "good enough" "ending guns". And for someone who just wants to enjoy plinking, casual target shooting or basic hunting and pest control, I expect a Norinco shotgun, rifle or pistol will also be more than "good enough".
Wether they're "good enough" or "ending gun" well... It all depends on your standards, how deep are your pockets and in what type of shooting you want to get involved.
