Have a look at my thread here. It gives some info.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283680
My opinion on the NP-34 is somewhat skewed, in that I bought one primarily to use the frame as the platform for a SIG 228 slide. I have shot it in more-or-less the Norinco configuration though, and it is pretty damn good for 350 bucks if you ask me.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
- the grips are not great. Not as bad as the 226-clone, but think about getting something else. Any grips for a SIG 228 will fit.
- the magazine it comes with is pretty bad. I never use mine. It doesn't function reliably. SIG 228/229(9mm) mags work perfectly, as will Mec-Gar 228 mags, which will also function perfectly.
- Note that your $350 fun has gone up $50 per mag, and $20 for grips already.
- The DA pull is brutally hard. This is all about the main spring (the spring that gets compressed when the hammer is being pushed down). I replaced it with a reduced power 19lbs. Wolff mainspring. Made the DA useable. Very, very slight change in the SA. SA trigger is o.k. out of the factory. The spring should be less than $10 bucks, changing it out is not all that straightforward if you are not experienced with these guns. Hiring a gunsmith to do it may not make that much sense economically.
- I am also not %100 sold on the factory recoil spring. It has the opposite problem of the mainspring... doesn't seem stiff enough for me. Get a SIG factory one or a Wolff.
- I don't like the old style "ribbed" SIG trigger that is copied on this gun, so I replaced the trigger with a SIG short trigger.
O.k., so I am picky. The only thing you absolutely need if you buy this gun is some decent mags and some ammo. All the other stuff is optional. Having said that, a whole bunch of guys on here will tell you to buy another gun that costs a bit more, but you get two decent mags with it and you don't have to change anything to get a decent workable gun out of it - and frankly it is pretty hard to argue with that advice. I bought mine as a project. If I were going to buy one 9mm gun for plinking I'd get a SIG P229 in 9mm. If I was going to get one 9mm and I was on a budget I'd get a CZ-75 or a SIG Pro. If I was on a really strict budget I'd look for a used SIG 226 CPO, SIG Pro, or CZ-75. If I was on a less than $500 budget I guess I would get the NP-34, one $50 SIG mag, and a couple boxes of ammo and go shooting once.
Some people will bring up frame issues. That appears to have been largely corrected with newer models, but all guns will fail at some point. It can be hard to predict when and how. Major failures of the slide or frame will make repairs impractical. It can happen with any make or model.
) ... so I might have two of them soon. The main difference seems to be... the real one has a German proof-marked frame - which is nice. No doubt about it that original is cooler than Chinese copy 100% of the time. The only problem is how many 228's have come up in the EE in the past few years? Now how many of those have been restricted... and what was the price? 
