Norinco M4 CQ5.56 Reliability - You Decide
- Thread starter lmar
- Start date
If you do the trigger job and you turn your completely reliable $900 AR turns into a jamamatic that fires when it feels like it, (and cracks off the odd double) you have officially surrendered the right to ##### about crappy Chinese stuff. A much saner idea would be to order an LPK and replace the heavy/gritty but totally reliable Chinese trigger group with a not gritty and reliable Stag/Armalite/RRA trigger group. Having been around firearms since the age of seven, I shiver every time some talks about cutting springs, I wonder why that might be?
Polishing the engagement surfaces and the pins will go a long way to smoothing the trigger on any AR-15. I have done trigger jobs without cutting the hammer spring. They do improve the pull, and there is no risk of light hamer strikes.
I did, ACOG TA31F, it rocks..
"I would agree, it does 'work as advertised', however, you are getting less power to the hammer, and could cause light primer strikes on milspec (harder) primers."
Hey, with the relative inability to find decent milspec ammo around, the majority of my ammo is commercial anyways.
As far as cutting springs etc on a cheap Chinese rifle as quoted previous, I don't really care. What is a new replacement spring worth, a couple bucks? If I wanted to spend mega dollars on an Armalite, Stag etc thats what I would have done. For a cheapo rifle mine works great and no complaints. Whatever amateur gunsmithing I can do to improve my knockoff for little dollars makes perfect sense to me.
I went a step further than was suggested in the 15 minute trigger job (www.sargenthome.com) article... Instead of just using polish compound on the trigger assembly I took it all apart and carefully used a stone to polish off the surface and followed with extra fine diamond rubbing compound. Also be careful as a Norc safety doesn't come out exactly as described in the article because of being ambi. I removed the grip as well as the detent to allow for easy removal.
Hey, with the relative inability to find decent milspec ammo around, the majority of my ammo is commercial anyways.
As far as cutting springs etc on a cheap Chinese rifle as quoted previous, I don't really care. What is a new replacement spring worth, a couple bucks? If I wanted to spend mega dollars on an Armalite, Stag etc thats what I would have done. For a cheapo rifle mine works great and no complaints. Whatever amateur gunsmithing I can do to improve my knockoff for little dollars makes perfect sense to me.
I went a step further than was suggested in the 15 minute trigger job (www.sargenthome.com) article... Instead of just using polish compound on the trigger assembly I took it all apart and carefully used a stone to polish off the surface and followed with extra fine diamond rubbing compound. Also be careful as a Norc safety doesn't come out exactly as described in the article because of being ambi. I removed the grip as well as the detent to allow for easy removal.
Here's my Norc upper on my Armalite lower
There are some very small differences in finish quality, but I'd hardly say that the Norc's finish is drastically different. The forward assist is painted (and showing wear) as is the e-port cover but I'm guessing that getting an Armalite 14.5 upper would cost more than the entire Norc rifle. The Norc's upper receiver housing and barrel are just fine.
There are some very small differences in finish quality, but I'd hardly say that the Norc's finish is drastically different. The forward assist is painted (and showing wear) as is the e-port cover but I'm guessing that getting an Armalite 14.5 upper would cost more than the entire Norc rifle. The Norc's upper receiver housing and barrel are just fine.
#1bcshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- North Of The DMZ (US border)
I just replaced mine with USGI trigger/hammer
Difference was night & day and didn't cost that much either .
- Location
- Kumankissmyass, BC
Here's my Norc upper on my Armalite lower
There are some very small differences in finish quality, but I'd hardly say that the Norc's finish is drastically different. The forward assist is painted (and showing wear) as is the e-port cover but I'm guessing that getting an Armalite 14.5 upper would cost more than the entire Norc rifle. The Norc's upper receiver housing and barrel are just fine.
Does the Norc upper fit tightly with the armalite lower or is there a bit of play?
#1bcshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- North Of The DMZ (US border)
Never seen a AR with out a little bit of play
#1bcshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- North Of The DMZ (US border)
Can't wait to get my second;
Only problem I've had was with RRA 10 round mags with a 10th round, with my own reloads - I don't think I'm putting enough crimp into the rounds and that bullet to be pushed in to the casing (I think that's more of a mag issue than the gun).
That aside, I put a CMMG .22LR kit into it and fired off about 500 .22LR with mixed results (ammo issue).
My own reloads and PMC 55 gn FMJ's I've had about 200 rounds through, no problem.
Out of the box, $900 well spent I'd say; great to recapture the nostolgia of being in the military, without the boot-####ery or condescending know-nothing ass-hats, and at 1/3rd the price of a regular AR.
Only problem I've had was with RRA 10 round mags with a 10th round, with my own reloads - I don't think I'm putting enough crimp into the rounds and that bullet to be pushed in to the casing (I think that's more of a mag issue than the gun).
That aside, I put a CMMG .22LR kit into it and fired off about 500 .22LR with mixed results (ammo issue).
My own reloads and PMC 55 gn FMJ's I've had about 200 rounds through, no problem.
Out of the box, $900 well spent I'd say; great to recapture the nostolgia of being in the military, without the boot-####ery or condescending know-nothing ass-hats, and at 1/3rd the price of a regular AR.
It's a bit more snug than the Norc lower, but it's more of an individual difference thing than a brand thing. I would describe the fit between the 2 as better than the average that I've seen.
