What can you tell me about NORINCO pistols?

[Tirod]

May I ask why it was banned?

They weren't banned so much as voluntarily excluded by treaty. The issue was that China wanted a trade treaty to sell us everything in BoxMart. Giving up guns was an easy concession that Clinton was handed on a silver platter.

Did the American manufacturers care? The European importers? You bet, it was in their special interest to support Clinton and get Norinco to accept exclusion. They got rid of a major competitor.

Follow the money.

Now, a lot of custom 1911's are Czech or Turkish, not American. The custom makers order them rollmarked as their own, finish them, and ship. The liberal "country of origin" laws we have allow it.

 

[krupparms]

Norinco is one of the largest Arms Dealers in China if not the world. They sell all over the world. They provide wepons packages to a lot of countries &private companies. They are part of the P.L.A. & provide China & our enemies with some excellent wepons . You can probably get some information by looking them up on the internet. I would be surprised if they don't have a Website.

 

[5-SHOTS]

I'm the happy owner of a Norinco TT-Olympia .22L.R. caliber. It's an all steel pistol that actually looks like a real pistol, not like a plastic toy or a futuristic gun; it's easy to disassembly and clean and cheaper than dirt to purchase; I wanted a .22LR. pistol with all those features at the same time and the Olympia was the only gun that fitted them 100%.
I don't like the wooden grips which are crude and needed some work to make the magazine release button function properly (the plastic grips I saw on other examples are alot better, but I can't find a place where I can order them). I also had to locktite the sight's screws after the first range session, but that's all.
External finish is decent while internally you can see alot of machining marks, but you can also see the hardness tool imprints on many parts (thing you can find today only on pistols like SIG-Sauer, for example). The internal finish of the barrel is perfect and the magazines are decent. The gun is delivered with the optional front weigh, the screws to mount it and a steel cleaning rod. The pistol is very very reliable; I had problems (2300 rounds fired in a year) only with 150 rounds of Remington Subsonics which proved themselves to be TOTAL JUNK. The accuracy is incredible considering the sight radius and the sights, which are exactly alike the ones on the original, 80 years old, Walther. All things considered I LOVE my Olympia.

For what is worth I've also red only good things about the Norinco 1911 and NP34.
The .223 Remington Norinco M4 and the copy of the Garand .308 Winchester caliber are very good according from some friends experience.

 

[TennJed]

I'm the happy owner of a Norinco TT-Olympia .22L.R. caliber. It's an all steel pistol that actually looks like a real pistol, not like a plastic toy or a futuristic gun; it's easy to disassembly and clean and cheaper than dirt to purchase; I wanted a .22LR. pistol with all those features at the same time and the Olympia was the only gun that fitted them 100%.
I don't like the wooden grips which are crude and needed some work to make the magazine release button function properly (the plastic grips I saw on other examples are alot better, but I can't find a place where I can order them). I also had to locktite the sight's screws after the first range session, but that's all.
External finish is decent while internally you can see alot of machining marks, but you can also see the hardness tool imprints on many parts (thing you can find today only on pistols like SIG-Sauer, for example). The internal finish of the barrel is perfect and the magazines are decent. The gun is delivered with the optional front weigh, the screws to mount it and a steel cleaning rod. The pistol is very very reliable; I had problems (2300 rounds fired in a year) only with 150 rounds of Remington Subsonics which proved themselves to be TOTAL JUNK. The accuracy is incredible considering the sight radius and the sights, which are exactly alike the ones on the original, 80 years old, Walther. All things considered I LOVE my Olympia.

For what is worth I've also red only good things about the Norinco 1911 and NP34.
The .223 Remington Norinco M4 and the copy of the Garand .308 Winchester caliber are very good according from some friends experience.

If you ever find out where to get the plastic grips let me know. I would love to pick a pair up for my TT Olympia. I didn't even know plastic grips for them existed

 

[5-SHOTS]

If you ever find out where to get the plastic grips let me know. I would love to pick a pair up for my TT Olympia.

That's for sure! If you have better lucky than me finding them, please let me know also.

I didn't even know plastic grips for them existed.

The first run of Olympias arrived here in Italy all had plastic grips, as well as plastic pads for the magazines; "unfortunately" I purchased one of the second run. The pistol with plastic grips looks like the ones on the pics I posted. The colour is a funny "carrot tone" but I think the quality of the plastic grips is more consistent than the wooden ones. The second pic is from this website: http://www.huuto.net/kohteet/pienoispistooli-norinco-tt-olympia-22-lr/280521187, but I can't undestand a word and I don't know how to contact the seller to ask him how he obtained both sets of grips.

 

[stressed]

That's for sure! If you have better lucky than me finding them, please let me know also.


The first run of Olympias arrived here in Italy all had plastic grips, as well as plastic pads for the magazines; "unfortunately" I purchased one of the second run. The pistol with plastic grips looks like the ones on the pics I posted. The colour is a funny "carrot tone" but I think the quality of the plastic grips is more consistent than the wooden ones. The second pic is from this website: http://www.huuto.net/kohteet/pienoispistooli-norinco-tt-olympia-22-lr/280521187, but I can't undestand a word and I don't know how to contact the seller to ask him how he obtained both sets of grips.

If you had access to someone who had plastic grips, you could make your own with access to 3D printer.

 

[Kiln]

Norinco firearms are better than people think. Despite those warnings in the Norinco manuals saying they have pretty limited lifespans, they actually hold up pretty well.

 

[TennJed]

That's for sure! If you have better lucky than me finding them, please let me know also.


The first run of Olympias arrived here in Italy all had plastic grips, as well as plastic pads for the magazines; "unfortunately" I purchased one of the second run. The pistol with plastic grips looks like the ones on the pics I posted. The colour is a funny "carrot tone" but I think the quality of the plastic grips is more consistent than the wooden ones. The second pic is from this website: http://www.huuto.net/kohteet/pienoispistooli-norinco-tt-olympia-22-lr/280521187, but I can't undestand a word and I don't know how to contact the seller to ask him how he obtained both sets of grips.

Interesting. The wood grips are my ONLY complaint on the gun. I have quite a few 22s and it probably my favorite. It is every bit as well built and as accurate as my Ruger MK, S&W 422, and S&W 617.

I have been meaning to pick up a couple of S&W 41 mags because they are suppose to work in the Norinco TT Olympia (and the Smith 422)

 

[Speedo66]

Lets not forget that Norinco also made SA M-14 copies, Winchester 1897 shotgun copies, and Browning .22 auto rifle copies.

Love my Norinco SKS.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I have the Browning .22 Auto copy...I think it was called the ATD...for some reason the muzzle didn't have any finish on it

 

[tipoc]

They make good 1911s.











tipoc

 

[PabloJ]

Lets not forget that Norinco also made SA M-14 copies, Winchester 1897 shotgun copies, and Browning .22 auto rifle copies.

Love my Norinco SKS.

Looked over short barreled SKS with flat spike bayonet. Very good handling little carbine giving nothing away to Russian SKS imo.

 

[Radagast]

I've shot a customized Norinco .45 1911. It was ugly, but accurate and reliable.
Recent production 9mm single stack 1911s had stiff triggers but were otherwise good. The double stack 1911 had very poor accuracy. Second hand CZ75 clone had poor fit and finish and was unsafe to shoot, can't remember what the exact problem was.

Canadians get a lot of Norinco product, www.canadiangunnutz.com is their home forum, you will find plenty of info there.

 

[5-SHOTS]

If you had access to someone who had plastic grips, you could make your own with access to 3D printer.

Thanks stressed, your advice is great but unfortunately I have no access to both...

Interesting. The wood grips are my ONLY complaint on the gun. I have quite a few 22s and it probably my favorite. It is every bit as well built and as accurate as my Ruger MK, S&W 422, and S&W 617.

I have been meaning to pick up a couple of S&W 41 mags because they are suppose to work in the Norinco TT Olympia (and the Smith 422).

I still can't belive how accurate the Olympia is. I also heard or red somewhere that S&W 41 mags works in the Olympia and maybe in the SIG Trailside (Hammerli X-Esse); check also the Hammerli P215 family. All the pistols mentioned descend from the Walther Olympia.

 

[strange246]

I've owned 3 Norc 1911a1's, still own 2, one a beautiful blued version, and a NIB nickel plated model, and a parkerized version, I recently parted with the parkerized version to fund a pistol I had been hunting down for 15+ years and though I'm happy with my "unicorn" I still regret selling the Norc...Fantastic guns...The Olympia is on my short list with their M1A copy for buying next...

 

[arspeukinen]

Great gun for the price. I bought a 1911a1. Worst trigger ever and too weak tension on the extractor, easily fixed.

 

[cdb1]

This is just weird.

It is true.

 

[tipoc]

Just on the "the bans" of Norinco firearms. The first one was during the Clinton administration. Most have been not bans but limits on what can be imported to the U.S.

Currently Norinco ammo, non military shotguns, etc. may be imported but handguns and copies of semi automatic weapons cannot.

This began as part of a 1994 ban, IIRC, on munitions imports from China which was a part of a trade dispute with political overtones. It also was a part of gun control steps taken in the U.S.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-05-27/news/1994147083_1_rifles-ban-on-chinese-chinese-military

The 2001 ruckus and sting operation:

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,135999,00.html

The 2003 limits as a result of sales of prohibited material to Iran and Pakistan:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/may/23/20030523-123039-1385r/

Those limits were lifted in 2005 but the limits on SKS's, 1911's etc. remained in place.

There is a pattern here. First as we all know trade and investment with China has increased exponentially since the Nixon administration first opened it up decades back. Each decade has seen an acceleration of that with no end to it in sight. Second, now and again the U.S. will be irritated with China and punish it by some limitation on trade which lasts a few years, effects little and moves on. The Norinco trade limits are a part of that that also serve anti gun interests in the U.S.

The third part importation aspect of things does piss off the U.S. government.

There is growing tension between China and the U.S., in the Pacific, Mid-East, and Africa. Trade limits and bans are political tools. They are used to apply pressure.

tipoc