Norinco JW 105 reviews ??

lone ranger

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I am looking for a non restricted budget 223 cal rifle. I have read mixed reviews on the JW-105...Some say the earlier ones were junk and the later ones better. $349 is a good price ...if it works.
Just want to do occasional yote hunting. Nothing fancy.I don't mind rough edges & machining marks.
 
I dig the looks and price tag...Almost got one for the lady friend to mess around with... Likely would have got one if the LGS had one. Pick up a savage and don't be a test bunny lol.
 
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I have used a 105 and two of the 103 models in 7.62x39. Overall they work well, they do have some issues and roughness, and none that I used were perfect out of the box, but nothing really that bad. The one common bad thing is that the wood stocks are kind of iffy and would really benefit from a bedding job.

Of the 3:
-one had some roughness on the bottom side of the bolt where it would slide on the receiver when cycling the action, so it didn't slide as smoothly as some guns, but functionally it worked fine.
-one had a little too much wood taken off where the trigger guard is sunk into the wood, so the bottom edge of the trigger would rub and sometimes catch on the inside of the metal guard. I could have filed a bit off the bottom of the trigger itself, or tried to bend the guard out slightly, but I found a few small washers to shim it out made it sit flush with the wood around it and fixed the problem fine.
-the last one was probably the worst, where the extractor is ramped to slide over the rim of the cartridge when pushing forward was a little less ramped than it should have been, so it could be a little fussy when pushing the bolt forward. It's annoying, but nothing you can't deal with once you know how to make it work. You could probably carefully file the ramped part, or maybe lighten the spring a little, but I'm not confident enough to start doing that myself. This one also had the scope mount slightly misaligned. They were close enough that some scopes would work, it depended on how much adjustment they had, but others would run out before you got it sighted in. I found the easy fix was a set of burris rings with the plastic inserts worked for the scope I had that wouldn't adjust far enough.

Now for the good things!

I'm not a bench rest shooter, and I can't get MOA with any gun regardless of how accurate it is, but when I really sat down with it, I was getting better groups with the 7.62x39 jw-103 than I was with my savage 16 in .308 at 100 yards (this was with brass cased non corrosive norinco from canam vs white box Winchester). This may be from less recoil translating into less unintentional flinching/compensating, or it could just be that the gun shot well.

The triggers were actually pretty decent. Not amazing by any means, but not nearly as bad as I was anticipating. Not sure how adjustable they are, I never really looked into it as I was happy with how they came.

The mags are single stack box mags, so they stick out of the bottom of the gun, so you can't carry it one handed by the magwell, but they're pretty robust feeling. The mag catch reminds me of older savage 340's or bolt action shotguns, but it worked.

They're pretty light to carry and balanced well carrying it. This is where the not quite hardwood stock made it fairly light (I didn't measure, just overall impression).

The bolt is fairly simple design, not many moving parts, doesn't seem to be a whole lot to go wrong with it. I don't know what replacement parts are like, but I've had people mention it looks like a BRNO clone, but I don't know them well enough to comment.

All in all I would say I am happy with what I got out of them. They're a cheap fun way to get in some trigger time and practise and really I like the feel of it better than an axis, and you could use it as a learning experience in bedding or polishing without feeling bad if it didn't turn out 100%.
 
great post dand83. It does sound pretty hit or miss for sure. Something like the Nork pistols...some are great and others are kinda sketchy. LOL
 
Get a Savage Axis, $300-$350+/- for the gun alone, $350-$400 for the package rifles.
The Norks have pinned barrels, rough action and #### finish.
 
Like any Norinco they lack quallity finishing. With a little love you can make them smooth like butter.
I had one in 7.62x39. It had the thinnest 30ca barrel ever! Once warm it shot all over the place.
Over all mine was poorly finished. It had a sloppy bolt and thin barrel. The mag spring was weak, and additional mags were impossible to find at a realistic price. Furniture was soft and marked easy.

I was hoping it would be a cheap bolt gun to compliment my sks. It had no problems with surplus ammo, however it was dissapointing only getting a couple shots off before accuracy was lost.
That being said, mine was older and used. Who knows what a newer production version in great condition and .223 is like.
 
Thank you to all that chimed in. After reading this info,..its just to "hit or miss". with quality control. The thin barrel thing worries me. Why didn't they put a little more effort into it. I really liked it. I'm going to look at the savage Rifle & see what I can come up with.
 
ive had a 103 for years and find it to be very useable, just picked up a 105 from marstar and i really like it so far, the biggest thing with these rifles is they are extemely dirty when new. you must strip it down and clean it completly . spray out the trigger group and the bolt give the chamber a really good scrub. these guns are nice to shoot for the price, i also have a couple savage axis and enjoy them too but they are not without there issues like really heavy trigger that needs fixed and the stock isnt fabulous. even the accutrigger model i have had to have the trigger modded but still isnt as nice as the 105 trigger. if you like to tinker you will have a good rifle with the norincos.
 
I picked up a 105 second hand, never got to shoot it. Firing pin broke right away. When I finally found the importer, he said it would take 6 months to a year to get a new pin. Talked to a few gunsmiths, all poo-pooed it, said the firing pin was made out of pot metal. Traded it for next to nothing. First and last norinco i will ever own.
 
You can get a Zastava M85 in 7.62x39 for under $400 shipped when CanAm has their sales.
No reason to buy the Nork 7.62x39 version ever. Lol
 
Not cheap enough to be worth losing your eyesight over imo

IMG_20131114_140035_zps2b624036.jpg
 
That's your pinned barrel combined with Chinese QC KABOOM lol.
I remember that one, pin was drilled through the chamber.... No QC at all.
 
That's your pinned barrel combined with Chinese QC KABOOM lol.
I remember that one, pin was drilled through the chamber.... No QC at all.

Hmmm? You know this as a fact? I gave the pieces away to some fellow who wanted the magazine.
 
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