Norinco Greatness

Shooting a bit of steel this morning with one of my norico 45's, worked fine , put a scope on for the hell of it and shot the center of a bullseye target when I got it dialed in.
One of the other guys was not impressed with the trigger, after shooting a STI that he had $4K into, It was so nice I shot terrible with his.
Guess I am use to 300.00 guns, mind you shoot 2000.oo ones also.
Also have one in 9mm works with anything.
I have sold afew DA NP27's and found the fit and finish very good.
But the mags are not good.
 
Norincos are actually good guns! They have a bad rap because they are cheap. If you are used to driving cadillacs and everyone else drives cadillacs, you would laugh at anyone with a chevette, and even put them in a different standard socially. That is the problem with Norinco. I have seen a few gun club members that have these, and they did shoot very accurately and reliably!
 
So far that is the case with mine! Accurate and reliable! They're Grreeaaat! lol
Last time i went to the range, i bench rested my NP22 to see what kind of accuracy it was capable of and i was amazed.
I fired five rounds at 25 yards. 4 of the five landed in a 1.75" group and the fifth made it a 4" group and i'm certain that one was my fault.
 
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Norinco greatness? I don't know what to make of that. But a $350.00 (old numbers) .45 ACP that shoots well and allows a low budget shooter into the sport? That's pretty sweet indeed. My beef with the Norinco threads is this: A cheap Norinco is just that. So what. It shoots well, is of a questionable build, and won't ever be a beauty queen. Nothing wrong so far.

But when you tell me that a more expensive firearm is a rip off because according to you the Norinco is every bit the gun, you have lost the plot. I have handled and shot Norincos and I wouldn't want one. I don't have a tight budget so I don't have to own one. I stopped buying cheap tools 30 years ago as I personally feel that cheap tools are disposable and not a pleasure to use. My opinion, my budget.

You can't diss a Norinco for being cheap and effective. But you also can't diss an expensive gun for being a rip off because it looks like a Norinco but costs more. The devil is in the details and Norinco is not into details. You get what you pay for... yeah I could go on and on. But, don't tell me that a Norinco is as good as an expensive pistol and don't call a Norinco a sh!t waste of time.

You get what you pay for. You know that. Norinco is no different.

If you have them and enjoy them, that's great!
 
fdc said:
Norinco greatness? I don't know what to make of that. But a $350.00 (old numbers) .45 ACP that shoots well and allows a low budget shooter into the sport? That's pretty sweet indeed. My beef with the Norinco threads is this: A cheap Norinco is just that. So what. It shoots well, is of a questionable build, and won't ever be a beauty queen. Nothing wrong so far.

But when you tell me that a more expensive firearm is a rip off because according to you the Norinco is every bit the gun, you have lost the plot. I have handled and shot Norincos and I wouldn't want one. I don't have a tight budget so I don't have to own one. I stopped buying cheap tools 30 years ago as I personally feel that cheap tools are disposable and not a pleasure to use. My opinion, my budget.

You can't diss a Norinco for being cheap and effective. But you also can't diss an expensive gun for being a rip off because it looks like a Norinco but costs more. The devil is in the details and Norinco is not into details. You get what you pay for... yeah I could go on and on. But, don't tell me that a Norinco is as good as an expensive pistol and don't call a Norinco a sh!t waste of time.

You get what you pay for. You know that. Norinco is no different.

If you have them and enjoy them, that's great!
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I can only speak from my limited experience with 1911s. 8 Colt MKIVs (Govts and Combat Elites,Gold Cups, most of which were tuned into Stock competition pistols), a Springfield 1911A1, a couple of WWII Remys (built into pin guns), a Vega (biggest POS ever), a Ruger SR1911 and 7 Norkies. No expensive Baers, Wilsons, Browns or Nighthawks.

All I can say is all my NORINCO 1911s were different because I definitely got more than I paid for. My Norkies were and are the best values in any 1911 that I have ever owned. Only one of my Norks has been tuned, it is a previously enjoyed customed (awesome job by Roger Kotanko) Sport.

I have bought one used Norinco that had an occasional Failure to Feed but sold it before I could figure out the reason....could have been a simple recoil spring replacement. One new Commander that had a couple of stovepipes in the first couple of mags, but that could have been because of my reloads. I do prefer the older pre-2011 Norkies as I feel they were fitted better.

My Colts, before they were tuned, had way, way more issues than my aforementioned Norincos. If anything, I must've paid too much for the Colts.
 
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fdc said:
Norinco greatness? I don't know what to make of that. But a $350.00 (old numbers) .45 ACP that shoots well and allows a low budget shooter into the sport? That's pretty sweet indeed. My beef with the Norinco threads is this: A cheap Norinco is just that. So what. It shoots well, is of a questionable build, and won't ever be a beauty queen. Nothing wrong so far.

But when you tell me that a more expensive firearm is a rip off because according to you the Norinco is every bit the gun, you have lost the plot. I have handled and shot Norincos and I wouldn't want one. I don't have a tight budget so I don't have to own one. I stopped buying cheap tools 30 years ago as I personally feel that cheap tools are disposable and not a pleasure to use. My opinion, my budget.

You can't diss a Norinco for being cheap and effective. But you also can't diss an expensive gun for being a rip off because it looks like a Norinco but costs more. The devil is in the details and Norinco is not into details. You get what you pay for... yeah I could go on and on. But, don't tell me that a Norinco is as good as an expensive pistol and don't call a Norinco a sh!t waste of time.

You get what you pay for. You know that. Norinco is no different.

If you have them and enjoy them, that's great!
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I bought an American built 1911 9mm for $1350. I did not get what I paid for. Probably a lemon and not the norm but still very disappointed. Won't say what brand as I didn't intend this to be a bashing session. Only intended this to be a Norinco praise thread.
 
There are definitely outliers on both sides of the story! My experience is just that and it isn't exhaustive. My STI 9mm is the tightest 1911 I own and it has been perfect. I just bought a Brown and it is as loose as my Kimber. Finishes won't make a gun reliable or more accurate but they take time and that's money. Not worth it to many and I respect that!
 
If you go in with an open mind, I really don't think you can be really disappointed with norinco. all the ones I have had were just okay from the finish side of things, but perfect in the performance side of it all. Just buying my most risky norinco investment to date though...DA762 sig 226 clone in 7.62/25T.... I have heard nightmare stories of this gun, I hope it doesn't ruin my view of norcs
 
I wish I could afford more 1911's. Then I'd own some more expensive stuff. The $1350 I dropped on my last one is the most I've ever spent on one gun. It's a lot for me and a bad time for such a disappointment. I love most guns. Especially expensive ones. I'm amazed at the value of the Norc. The finish doesn't give me warm fuzzy feelings at all but saving lots of money and buying more ammo does! Especially when the cheap gun is a great shooter.
 
Greenhorse six said:
Of the few Norincos that I have , 1911a1 ,M14 ,sks , cq311 , AK84s , the only one that gave me any grief was the AK , its a jam O'matic , not that its something that I have to worry about any more , but , you would think they'd get the AK right .
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I very clearly remember firing a Chinese semi-auto AK in 7.62x39. Every single round chambered and fired. Most functioning problems in semis are either lack of lubrication or a bad magazine.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
I very clearly remember firing a Chinese semi-auto AK in 7.62x39. Every single round chambered and fired. Most functioning problems in semis are either lack of lubrication or a bad magazine.
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The 84 was in 5.56 - hence, issues. The 5.56 doesn't have the taper of the x39, the AK was designed around that taper, so even "good" mags can suck.
 
those 84s 223s were designed to please u.s. customers but it is just a wrong calibre for that gun.
 
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I have had Nork 1911's that shot as accurately as any rack-grade 1911 I have ever owned - no matter the brand. Fit and finish on them was about GI grade at best. I have had a number of M14/305's all of which would shoot much better than their price tag indicated. The fit and finish on each of them was perhaps one notch above "suck" and one had an atrocious head-space issue. Two Nork M4geries that I owned would shoot alongside my Colt. The M4geries may be one of their best guns.
 
Love the heavy rail road steel they use for the frame and slide. The weight really helps with how it recoils. With some TLC my NP29 is a favourite of my 1911s.









 
I'm happy overall with Norinco, especially given the prices.

My collection would be a lot smaller without them.

T97
T97
Backpacker
NZ85B
CF98
AR15
 
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