You CAN bring your Norc to the USA (proof)

Well, that's the last thing I ever buy from SJ Hardware.
Hey Moose. I'm sure there are a lot of folks that thought the same thing. Why the hell spend thousands on a shooting trip and bring a $300 norc? My pistol happens to be reliable and accurate, though not real pretty. I guess I got lucky. And therein lies the problem with norcs. Badboy: no offence taken.
 
600 rounds over 4 days? what did you do for the other 3.99 days?

Drills, drills, and more drills. Then live rounds. Then drills, more drills, more drills. Drink water. Shoot live rounds. More drills, more drills, more drills. It was heaven.

Lots of individual instruction. Man, those instructors have eyes like hawks. Touch that trigger when you're not supposed to just once...
Here's an example of individual instruction: "Rick, your support hand is not timed correctly and it's slowing down your presentation. Touch the index finger of your support hand to your sternum at the same time as you first grip the pistol. Then your support hand will be positioned properly to grip as you move the pistol forward after rotation. Do it in slowmo and I'll critique as you move"

My first thought was "How did he know? He's standing behind me."

I'm a retired Professor. I really admire good teaching.

We also had the opportunity to do a "walk through" in a house with posters of good guys and bad guys and shoot at them. That was a blast. (Individual instructor was right behind you)

Day three we had a steel plate challenge, shooting in pairs, draw from a holster after the beep. First target was a hostage taker at 5 meters. You had to "head-shoot" the hostage taker and swing the Head-sized plate to the side without touching the hostage. After that was accomplished, there were two life sized steel targets to engage at about 15 meters that would fall when hit (with a .45 anyways). First shooter to drop their targets wins. Take as many shots as necessary. Reload if necessary. Targets didn't always fall so multiple shots were often needed. .45 had a distinct advantage. Shoot the hostage and you lose. Pairs were drawn at random, and you shoot till you lose. What a blast! I made it to the top four. Better than I expected for an old geezer.
 
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Very cool! When I was on the phone with the ATF they told me no Norinco, no Russian surplus SKS and no Tokarev (because it has no safety).

How did you do it, did you note anything else or did they just approve it as is? Either way very cool to know it is possible!
 
Very cool! When I was on the phone with the ATF they told me no Norinco, no Russian surplus SKS and no Tokarev (because it has no safety).

How did you do it, did you note anything else or did they just approve it as is? Either way very cool to know it is possible!

Not really high tech... I just filled out the form, faxed it in and crossed my fingers. The three pages at the beginning of this post are scans of the exact documents I submitted to batf. Maybe it was approved because it was a pretty clear in and out of the country. Maybe I just caught the clerk on a good day. Difficult to ascertain with any accuracy the criteria by which batf approves or disapproves the application. Pretty hard to miss the CHINA I put in capital letters. I was prepared to rent a gun if they turned me down, so I was really in a no-lose situation. The decision wouldn't affect the trip any. As a few of the posters have mentioned, answers from batf when questioned have tended to be negative, but perhaps the answer depends on the wording of the question, and the level of training of the batf representative on the phone.
Just watch -the next time I apply they'll turn me down.

Edit -perhaps the fact that the dates on the batf application directly matched the dates I was registered for the course (plus travelling time) was a factor in its acceptance. I'm still only guessing.
 
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Amazing, one of the gentleman that I compete with had his Norinco on his Form 6NIA rejected. But then last year they approved my Winchester M97 Trench gun and this year it was rejected as US Government supplied war material. Try to figure that out.
 
Day three we had a steel plate challenge, shooting in pairs, draw from a holster after the beep. First target was a hostage taker at 5 meters. You had to "head-shoot" the hostage taker and swing the Head-sized plate to the side without touching the hostage. After that was accomplished, there were two life sized steel targets to engage at about 15 meters that would fall when hit (with a .45 anyways). First shooter to drop their targets wins. Take as many shots as necessary. Reload if necessary. Targets didn't always fall so multiple shots were often needed. .45 had a distinct advantage. Shoot the hostage and you lose. Pairs were drawn at random, and you shoot till you lose. What a blast! I made it to the top four. Better than I expected for an old geezer
I agree with the advantage going to the 45's. I used a G17 for the course of fire you are describing and if the course you describe is the same as the one I shot, the 'bonus' steel was actually placed on the berm. I could hear it hitting but had to nail it a 4th time before she fell. Folks were cheering cuz they could hear the 'bell' but still it wouldnt drop. Yes, the manual 'shoot house' was a lot of fun. Certainly gets the heart rate up doesn't it?
dB
 
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Being on CGN for over 9 years, I'm surprised that your Norinco pistol didn't either jam up, fall apart, or wear down every gunsmith in the country's tools with its incredible unobtainium super hard mega steel. :dancingbanana:
 
Very cool! When I was on the phone with the ATF they told me no Norinco, no Russian surplus SKS and no Tokarev (because it has no safety).

How did you do it, did you note anything else or did they just approve it as is? Either way very cool to know it is possible!

It's entirely possible that the OP's Norinco was approved in error.
The import ban on chicom firearms is pretty clear.
My guess is someone at BATFE was asleep at the switch when the OP's app was reviewed.
 
Amazing, one of the gentleman that I compete with had his Norinco on his Form 6NIA rejected. But then last year they approved my Winchester M97 Trench gun and this year it was rejected as US Government supplied war material. Try to figure that out.

Again... clerical error I bet.
 
Being on CGN for over 9 years, I'm surprised that your Norinco pistol didn't either jam up, fall apart, or wear down every gunsmith in the country's tools with its incredible unobtainium super hard mega steel. :dancingbanana:

No, it didn't do any of those things. I did clean up the crown when I got the pistol. It completely destroyed the high speed steel cutter I used for crowning. I had to use carbide. That chrome plating on the barrel is really hard stuff.
 
I agree with the advantage going to the 45's. I used a G17 for the course of fire you are describing and if the course you describe is the same as the one I shot, the 'bonus' steel was actually placed on the berm. I could hear it hitting but had to nail it a 4th time before she fell. Folks were cheering cuz they could hear the 'bell' but still it wouldnt drop. Yes, the manual 'shoot house' was a lot of fun. Certainly gets the heart rate up doesn't it?
dB

Hey Bear: The plates fell every time with a direct hit from a .45. The bonus plates were on individual stands. The shoot house was a lot of fun, but I have to say the plate challenge was my favourite. Pretty much the whole trip was an adrenaline rush, and that's what I had to be careful about. I'm a heart attack survivor. I survived what my Cardiologist says should have been a fatal heart attack 2 years ago. Some pretty intense cardiac rehab has brought me to the point where I could undertake such a trip. The altitude (you're in the high desert at 4700') and the dryness (a spilled glass of water disappears in about 90 seconds) affected me more than I was willing to admit. The trip was an addition to my bucket list at the insistence of my wife and kids. After the first day I thought maybe they were trying to kill me. The instructors were really good about reminding everyone to keep drinking water, particularly the four Canadians and the couple from Alaska. This old dog learned a lot of new tricks in four days of world class instruction. I'll go back. There is so much to learn...
 
To the OP I wouldn't be trying to bring your Norinco down to the US even with your paperwork. The agent was asleep at the desk. I decided to try and just received approval only for my non-Norinco pistols, ARs and shotguns. They scratched out the norinco stuff and attached this....

 
Too late.

I'm wearing it.



From left to right:
Wills, Rangemaster

and "The Canadians"
Rob
Stephanie Jason(my daughter)
Col. Gerry Kosoris (Ret)
me.

As I mentioned before, I applied only for the duration of the course. I suppose the fact that my application went through with the application from a retired Lt. Col with the Canadian Armed Forces didn't hurt matters any either. Who knows? Who cares? I followed their rules and they allowed it. Why wouldn't I take it with all the correct paperwork?

Cbabes: you are the first to supply evidence of a refusal. Would be interesting to examine what the differences were between the requests. I was told that the wording on the application was critical, and to word my application exactly the same as Gerry's. I did that, and both were approved.

I tend to think that if I had applied to take it to say a winter residence for a few months, it would have been turned down. Just my .02. I really don't care. When I go again, I'll attach this previously approved form 6 hoping they will approve it again.

btw -I had no trouble in the USA or Canada. Airport security were the only folks who wanted to see the paperwork. I was led to a private room where I was asked to uncase the pistol. The security personnel checked the serial numbers on the gun to the paperwork, and I was on my way. Same procedure in Canada and USA.
 
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Too late.

I'm wearing it.



From left to right:
Wills, Rangemaster

and "The Canadians"
Rob Gravelijn
Stephanie Jason(my daughter)
Col. Gerry Kosoris (Ret)
me.

As I mentioned before, I applied only for the duration of the course. I suppose the fact that my application went through with the application from a retired Lt. Col with the Canadian Armed Forces didn't hurt matters any either. Who knows? Who cares? I followed their rules and they allowed it. Why wouldn't I take it with all the correct paperwork?

Cbabes: you are the first to supply evidence of a refusal. Would be interesting to examine what the differences were between the requests. I was told that the wording on the application was critical, and to word my application exactly the same as Gerry's. I did that, and both were approved.

I tend to think that if I had applied to take it to say a winter residence for a few months, it would have been turned down. Just my .02. I really don't care. When I go again, I'll attach this previously approved form 6 hoping they will approve it again.

btw -I had no trouble in the USA or Canada. Airport security were the only folks who wanted to see the paperwork. I was led to a private room where I was asked to uncase the pistol. The security personnel checked the serial numbers on the gun to the paperwork, and I was on my way. Same procedure in Canada and USA.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing. I would just be afraid somebody might want to start trouble when they see the Norinco. Even with the paperwork. Like you said I guess you can't get in trouble when it was approved. I didn't put any specific reason as it's good for a year and I plan on shooting more than one match down there in a year.
 
We are all probably over-examining this whole thing. I'll bet 667 has the highest probability of being correct!

And if you ever get a chance to go to Front Sight, do it.
 
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