Norinco Luger

[Wilhelm]

Both of my Norinco AK's are ugly too....but they are 100% reliable and shoot like champs. One of them has over 10,000 rounds through it with zero jams. In fact, no Norinco firearm I've ever owned has given me the slightest bit of trouble. The same can be said of my Norinco NDM-86 (SVD). That thing can hit a man at 1000 yards but sure is ugly. Exterior metal finishing is crude in the extreme but on the inside it's a thing of beauty. You gotta' remember that Norinco is in the business of making firearms that work. They polish and fit parts only where necessary. And when they do, their work is as good as you are going to get. How pretty it is is either low priority or no priority. I have never seen a Norinco product that was not top notch quality. You can't jugde a book by its cover. Also, ther is no "Norinco" per se. That is a name used to market products made by MANY state run military factories throughout China. All of them build for the military and as such have very high quality standards when it comes to durability and function. I don't think the Chinese made this Luger to collect. I think they made it for a mass market audience as an inexpensive way to enjoy shooting a Luger without paying the high price of an original or the worry of it breaking. I'd take a Norinco anything any day of the week!

[suum cuique]

Originally Posted by Wilhelm

Both of my Norinco AK's are ugly too....but they are 100% reliable and shoot like champs. One of them has over 10,000 rounds through it with zero jams. In fact, no Norinco firearm I've ever owned has given me the slightest bit of trouble. The same can be said of my Norinco NDM-86 (SVD). That thing can hit a man at 1000 yards but sure is ugly. Exterior metal finishing is crude in the extreme but on the inside it's a thing of beauty. You gotta' remember that Norinco is in the business of making firearms that work. They polish and fit parts only where necessary. And when they do, their work is as good as you are going to get. How pretty it is is either low priority or no priority. I have never seen a Norinco product that was not top notch quality. You can't jugde a book by its cover. Also, ther is no "Norinco" per se. That is a name used to market products made by MANY state run military factories throughout China. All of them build for the military and as such have very high quality standards when it comes to durability and function. I don't think the Chinese made this Luger to collect. I think they made it for a mass market audience as an inexpensive way to enjoy shooting a Luger without paying the high price of an original or the worry of it breaking. I'd take a Norinco anything any day of the week!

A friend of mine bought a Norinco M 14 type rifle in the late 80's, the finnish was not impressing at all but it was a very reliable rifle. About the same time I aquired a Norinco made SKS. It's an reliable, cheap rifle. Why buying a more expensive semi auto AK? A SKS does the same job. Solid as a rock.
And last but not least, plenty of affordable accessories are offered for this rifle. Stocks, mags, scopes and much, much more....

[nukem556]

Well, the reliabilty of an AK is based on its ingenious design, not any particular manufacturer....hell, back in the 80's, back alley gunsmiths in Peshawar were making functional copies using nothing more than files, hand drills , and foot powered lathes. As far as the reliabilty of a Norinco M14 clone, sure it might be reliable for a few hundred rounds. In Kunhausen's exhaustive work on the M14/M1A ,he documents major dimensional errors and substandard heat treatment of the Chinese versions, e.g the bolt, the critical heart of the weapon, measured 37 Rockwell hardness as opposed to GI standard of 52, and the locking lugs were badly miscut. My Springfield M1A has approx 3500 rnds through it and headspaces and shoots tight as a drum...would you put your face behind a Norinco after 3500 rnds?

Nuts and bolts aside, I paid 1200.00 for my M1A back in the mid-90's and could have bought a Norinco for 600.00, and did it gladly. That's 600.00 that will never buy the ammuntion to kill my sons with. The Chinese generals are on record stating they are planning for total war with the US, but we keep whistling past the graveyard and sending them our money. We are precisely at the same point now as we were with Germany and Japan in the late 1930's......a lot of Chamberlains and precious few Churchills ...(insert Satayana's quote here)

[Wilhelm]

[QUOTE=nukem556;186369]Well, the reliabilty of an AK is based on its ingenious design, not any particular manufacturer....QUOTE]

Try telling Century arms that.