So i was in a gun shop the other day, and I was looking at some hand guns. They have a slightly used HK USP in 9mm with threaded barrell and accessory rail on the frame for $1175 AUD. Very nice pistol indeed, but fucking expensive. They also have norinco 85's for $550 brand new. I have handled both of they, the Norinco felt better in my hands than the HK (to my surprise) and the safety on the HK despleased me.

I cant find a very extensive review on the Norinco 85, so I am apprehensive about buying it, but that being said, the HK is sexy and well made, but very expensive... I am torn here. Anyone used a norinco knock off of CZ model hand guns? If so can you let me know the functionallity and accuracy?

oh and FYI a new CZ 75B which is what I wanted in first place is $1050 AUD

Are you shooting IPSC? How long?

If you're looking for a CZ look at the SP-01, it's made for production in IPSC IIRC and from my research is probably one of the best choices out there. As for the HK, i don't like the trigger a great deal either and it seems people either love or hate the mag release.

If you want something in New/Great condition you'll pay $1100-$1600 for most guns, The best suggestion i can give is to keep an eye and ear out at your pistol club (Have a chat with the president too!) because people often sell their shit to upgrade/shoot a different division w/e and you can pick up some good bargins, last time i was there someone was selling a G17, holster, 6x 10rnd mags, mag pouches, belt, and 200 or so rounds of 9mm for $1000 (might of been $1100? either way it was cheap), unfortunatly i still don't have my Cat H licence .

oh BTW, second hand glocks from guys at the club are a good idea because unless they have another glock they won't need the holster or mag pouches which saves you even more, where as i they're selling say a CZ-75 to upgrade to an open Tangfoilo or whatever they are called, the holster are often the same which means you'll have to buy those new and seperate .

Hmmmm.

About 3-4 years ago a brand new Glock was about $999.

The Norincos work I guess. When you hear about the gangs with pistols, and the 'Glocks' that A Current Affair buys after 30 minutes in the pub, they are generally Norincos.

If you shop around you can get a new G17A for ~$900.



Mephistos Minion, O/T but you don't by chance know were i can pick up a case of 7.62x54R? (besides lawrence ordinance)

I can do some digging. I know a bloke who has some 8mm. He might have 7.62x54R too. I need some after the 5th Aug (new permit to acquire comes in for a 1953 chinese M44 XD). I think i still have you on MSN cant for the life of em remember your addie tho. gimme the first few letters here and ill find you on there k?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I honestly wouldn't go with the Norinco, if you want a CZ design, you should probably either get an original one or a Tanfoglio, they're both relatively fairly priced.

I'm from a country with high gun prices too, and both CZ and Tanfoglio are quite inexpensive when compared with other makers, unless of course you go for the uber customized Tanglio Limited models, those are quite pricey.

I have a Tanfoglio Force and it works great, okay I have it in .22 but it's identical to her bigger cousin, so really I'm sure you'd love the Tanfoglio, they're easy to customize and they have great customer service too.

Regarding Norinco, my range was given one of their 1911 clones for free by the Italian Norinco importer, I swear after barely six months of regular use, the barrel had lost the rifling(well not totally but it was visibly fucked), the gun was all loosy and the firing pin broke.

Also the gun looked really bad, the finish was awful, I've seen it next to some guy's Colt and the Norinco looked fake, like on of those cheap toy guns that shoot pellets, it also came in a carboard box, no kidding, it didn't even have a plastic case.

Seriously you get what you pay for, Chinese products are generally speaking shit, they use low quality raw materials, cheap unskilled workforce, they try to cut the costs in every step of the production process, it's inevitable that the final product will be bad.

The only thing I would buy from Norinco is maybe one of their former arsenal SKS, but definately not one of their copies, just buy a good quality second hand pistol, really.

It's also unethical if you ask me, Western firms invest quite a great deal of resources in R&D, behind a new product that comes out there's a lot of effort to bring something new to the customer, and it's fair that the customers should buy an original product so to compensate the company for their innovative and creative work.

I don't think norinco is all bad. I'm not doubting what LuKaZz420 said for a second, but from my experiance with a couple of their .22 rifles (Bruno/CZ clones) they're pretty good, the one i've got now i've had for almost 11 years and has has 10's of thousands of rounds through it without anything going wrong, with a bedding job it shoots MOA. The bad side is that the metal work is little rough in places, and the stock is made from a very light wood, I actually bored a 3/4" hole as deep as i could and filled it with #8 shot to add some weight and make it ballance better.

^ I know people who are more than happy with their Norincos, one guy has one of their AR-clones and couldn't be happier, but from what I've seen personally they're not reliable in quality, maybe that 1911 that my range got was particularly bad and an exception, I don't know.

But since I witnessed first hand a pistol literally self-destruct after a few thousand rounds, I felt I had to tell the guy who was planning to buy something from the same brand.

My point was that even a second hand quality firearm could actually outlast a cheap product, I mean if I invest on a Beretta I know that in ten years time I'm still gonna have a perfectly functioning firearm as long as I take care of it, with Norinco I really wouldn't know, maybe I could be one of the lucky ones and get a perfectly good product, maybe in six months time I'd have to go shopping again.

It's the gamble factor that I don't like.

Im not in australia so I cant comment on prices.

But I know that knock offs suck and so do CZs

HKs are nice.