Type-97: is it really junk?

Love my T97,bought it and fitted the FTU,I've gone through thousands of rounds with the aluminium LAR15 mags and yet to have a problem.
Its accurate,its affordable,reliable,and fun.
 
It should have had a magazine like the original PLA weapon. The mistake was in using Stanag mags with an AR style magazine release. If you watch the PLA do magazine changes with there rifles you'd be impressed how fast they are. Maybe they should have skipped 5.56 all together and went 7.62X39 with AK mags for export.

 
Scarecrow said:
It should have had a magazine like the original PLA weapon. The mistake was in using Stanag mags with an AR style magazine release. If you watch the PLA do magazine changes with there rifles you'd be impressed how fast they are. Maybe they should have skipped 5.56 all together and went 7.62X39 with AK mags for export.
Click to expand...

When you keep in mind that the QBZ97/T97 was designed for export to foreign militaries, not civilian sales, the STANAG Magazines and 5.56 chambering makes a lot more sense.
 
And I have a Tavor and a Keltec RFB if you are wondering if I don't know what's good or otherwise.Well, whoever told you that is most truly full of ####. Mine has always functioned perfectly. Don't believe everything you hear on the net.
421SuperDuty said:
I called a trusted and well-known dealer in Montreal to ask about the Type-97; the guy immediately told me that it was junk, had no support whatsoever from norinco for any problems, no availability of spare parts, and was a shoddily made gun that will quickly break and leave you with no way to repair it. Is there any truth to this, T97 owners?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
The 30yr old Sears and Robuck rusted 20ga single shot shotgun which has a firing pin that stays protruded after firing it that my father in law gave me is a piece of junk.

Compared to that anything else is a gem.

Just thought id make that comparison since everybody else is comparing the T97 to a tavor.
 
Jarvy said:
When you keep in mind that the QBZ97/T97 was designed for export to foreign militaries, not civilian sales, the STANAG Magazines and 5.56 chambering makes a lot more sense.
Click to expand...

It would make sense if it works well. The problem is that it doesn't. No agency/military in their right mind would adopt a weapon with such an awkward manual of arms.

To make it work well in 5.56 it would need to use AK or Sig 550 style mags that use a paddle release like the original design.

A question for those that have the carry handle. Do these add on scope rails attach the same way that they do on an AR carry handle? If so then I wonder why no one offers a goose neck style mount for red dots. Seems like a no brained to me.
 
Leg said:
It would make sense if it works well. The problem is that it doesn't. No agency/military in their right mind would adopt a weapon with such an awkward manual of arms.

To make it work well in 5.56 it would need to use AK or Sig 550 style mags that use a paddle release like the original design.
Click to expand...

It designed and exported for Burma and Cambodia. Burma took the sample and never bought any, as they want to re-reverse engineer it. Cambodia has a boat load of M16 from the days in the Vietnam war, so I can understand their liking of 5.56 and M16 system.

Here is a picture of the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand awhile ago over who owns a temple.

Cambodian_soldiers_cambodia_15_October_2008_news_003.jpg

How well it works in the Cambodian military is a question that no one knows.
 

Attachments

  • Cambodian_soldiers_cambodia_15_October_2008_news_003.jpg
    Cambodian_soldiers_cambodia_15_October_2008_news_003.jpg
    61.6 KB · Views: 168
Canada tail said:
Most t97s have bad feeding issue and some have over drilled gas port. You have a high rate of buying a new one and having to dump it out at a loss. Some members here got lucky but some are not so much.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...nco-t97-FAIL-plus-BS-response-from-northsylva

There are numerous posts focusing on its issue. I suggest you search CGN and other online forum before buying and you will see a trend on this rifle and the people imported them. Garbage.
If you have $1000 to spare, save up and buy something that works. You do not need to get yourself a $1000 upset.
Click to expand...

Mine had the feed ramp issue, five minutes with a file and it ran 100%.
Minor adjustment.
 
sheep100 said:
If you wanna gun that works out of the box don't buy a Norinco. Some may require more than minor adjustments.
Click to expand...

I am not a Norinco fan boy but I have owned 3 over the years. I had an M305, T97, and M4. All worked very well for me. The finish can be lacking and some guys have to do some tweaking but are generally a good return for the money invested.

I have since moved on to more expensive machines but don't regret my Norinco history.

Moe
 
I don't think it's fair to compare the type 97 to a gun that costs 3x it's price. For the cost, I found mine to be robust and reliable. It fed well using LAR mags. With the iron sights I was usually able to hit clay pigeons with some consistency at 100 meters, and if sooner blame my shooting than the rifle. It gave me the same results as other rifles with iron sights. I sold mine, because I don't like bullpups, but the gun worked well as intended.
 
warrenlikesboats said:
Depends on what ur definition of "junk" is.... There are people out there who think the SKS is junk, along with every other rifle that cost less than 2 grand. They are probably the same people who use MAC laptops, wear Rolex watches, listen to Beats earmuffs and drive BMW's lol.
Click to expand...

You have people that #####es about $3k+ MSRP for any new non-restricted guns and then you have people who claims less than $1k T97 is complete junk.
 
As other have said, they're typical Norinco and can need a few tweaks to run smoothly. Fun for plinking, but they're not very suited to run and gun games... I feel sorry for those soldiers issued QBZ97. The mag well is very tight and hard to make fast changes, and that sight over bore...

Granted, you can add LHGs and FTUs to improve the ergos considerably, but then you're approaching Tavor money. Used Tavor prices have softened with all the furor over the pending sale of the X95.
 
My t97 was good no issues I got a tavor now I liked the t97 I just wanted the better option still. If the right deal came along I'd buy another one
 
looked at one for my poor mans bullpup and had the pleasure of watching someone at the range not able to get 4 rounds off in a row. He had mostly FTF but a couple failure to fire as well. No idea what ammo he was using other then it was modern 223. One benefit of the gun is you'd spend less money on ammo. I hate my vz58 ftf every 200-300 rounds of 5.56 surplus, no issues with modern ammo. I think the guy fired maybe a little less then 40 rounds while i chewed through 150 rounds. This was just my first experience years ago in person and left a bad taste in my mouth so I never bought one, could have been a dud but it's sounding like there's several duds.
 
Last edited:
cupar1 said:
looked at one for my poor mans bullpup and had the pleasure of watching someone at the range not able to get 4 rounds off in a row. He had mostly FTF but a couple failure to fire as well. No idea what ammo he was using other then it was modern 223. One benefit of the gun is you'd spend less money on ammo. I hate my vz58 ftf every 200-300 rounds of 5.56 surplus, no issues with modern ammo. I think the guy fired maybe a little less then 40 rounds while i chewed through 150 rounds. This was just my first experience years ago in person and left a bad taste in my mouth so I never bought one, could have been a dud but it's sounding like there's several duds.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good way to save money at the range. Hahaha
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom