NORINCO NP22 > Review & Range Report

[Fleetwoodmac]

Hi guys, this is SA from TGF. I'm the Site Admin there and I am sharing our small effort to review and test at the range the above mentioned gun. This review is written by our member KBW who is also a member here and is being re-produced here partially with his express permission.

REVIEW & RANGE REPORT – NORINCO NP22



NP22 is a Chinese clone of legendary Sig P226 pistol, exported by Norinco. It is not known which company is manufacturing these handguns, most probably more than one company as the system in China goes. Perhaps that is the reason one would find large variation in performance in different pieces. However, overall NP22 is a robustly manufactured gun that performs pretty well. Being a clone of one of the best ever handguns, it has no design flaws as such. It is one of the cheapest 9x19 handgun and is commonly available in all big cities of Pakistan. Another variant of NP22, available in Pakistani market is HP 77B. Basically the same handgun, it is a little more crudely finished and is slightly more in weight.


BASIC SPECS
Model: NP22
Manufacturer: Norinco, China
Caliber: 9x19 mm Parabellum
Dimensions: 196x140x37 mm
Barrel: 112 mm
Weight(unloaded): 780 grams (875 with magazine)
Capacity: 15 rounds
Sight Radius: 159 mm
Slide: Steel
Frame: Aluminum Alloy
Sights: Fixed three dot sights.
Trigger Pull: DA….. 6-7.5 daN, SA…… 2-3 daN
Finish: Matte blue slide and black frame.



Note: Most of the NP22 pistols shown in this review are not NIB. The pics should be viewed keeping in mind this aspect.


REVIEW

Packing:

NP22 comes in a plastic pistol case that includes the handgun, two magazines, a cleaning rod, few spare springs and a users manual. Packing, though not flessy, is sufficient. At least better than Russian, Serbian and few Taurus handguns which come in a cardboard box.



Finish, Looks and Manufacturing Quality:

NP22 for sure has Sig P226 looks. However, on close inspection NP22 looks a little crude and to say the least, does not attract the buyer in first go. Though Sig P226 design is an attraction in itself but the crude finish instantly neautralises buyers enthusiasm to some extent. The internals are even more crudely finished, though solidly manufactured and one can straightaway make out that they would last a long time. Rough edges and tooling marks are visible at many places. The matte blue finish is just average and leaves a lot of room for improvement. It is somehow straightaway evident that in NP22, Norinco has saved money on finish. In Finish, looks and quality of manufacturing, I would rate NP22 4/7.




Slide, Frame and Grip:

The slide is made of forged steel and is matte blue. Is heavy and solid looking though somewhat crudely finished, both from outside and inside. The firing mechanism is strongly made and very reliable. Firing pin strikes are well centered and strong. Slide to frame fitting is quite good which enhances accuracy of the gun. Unlike a CZ999, NP22 does not have Loaded Chamber indicator.

Frame is made of Aluminum alloy, is shining black in colour and light in weight. All controls, including decocker, magazine release lever, take down lever and slide release lever, all are located on the frame. Unlike CZ999, and just like new models of Sig P226, NP22 has a separate control from slide release and decocking. Moreover, there are no ambidextrous controls in NP22, which makes it a relatively simpler gun though at the cost of options for left / right hand shooters. As you can see in the pic, the main spring is quite exposed and is only covered by the grip. The frame in different models of NP22 comes both with and without acessory rails. The one shown in this review has accessory rails.

NP22 has plastic grips in black colour. As you can see in the pics, the grips are attached with the frame with two screws and have been strengthened at the back side, primarily because the alloy frame has not been extended upto that area. The checkering is nice and even, providing good grip to the hand.


Action and Barrel:

NP22 is a recoil operated, locked brech pistol, which uses Modified Browning linkless short recoil operation, just like Sig P226.

The barrel is 112 mm long, is made of forged steel and is chromelined from inside only. The quality of rifling is uniform and precise which overall results in enhanced accuracy.

The chamber is strong and well made. Feed ramp is large in size and well polished, allowing reliable use of all types of ammos, specially JHPs.


Trigger Mechanism:

I have so far checked six different NP22 and was not impressed with the quality of trigger in general. A little on the heavier side (6-7.5 lbs in DA and 2-3 lbs in SA mode), the trigger has over play and creep, resulting in un-even break at times. Only one out of six NP22 had a very soft and precise trigger. Some trigger work would surely be needed on most of the shelf NP22s. This is one area where Norinco needs to put in some serious effort.


Recoil Mechanism:

Owing to a heavy slide, reasonably good recoil spring and reasonably good slide to frame fitting, NP22 has a manageable recoil. The placement is second shot is pretty quick, however, there is room for improvement in this area.



CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLETE REVIEW INCLUDING REVIEW OF THE GUN'S SIGHTS, MAGAZINE, SAFETY MECHANISM, RELIABILITY, MAINTENANCE, SUITABILITY OF PURPOSE AND 50M ACCURACY TESTING ETC INCLUDING HIGH-RES IMAGES.



Accuracy:

I tested four different NP22 at the range and shot another two during various range shooting sessions. By and large, its quite an accurate gun, however, the accuracy level differs from piece to piece, some times drastically.
As you can see in the target pics below, one NP22 is just Average, two are Accurate and the fourth one is Fairly Accurate, though I believe the fourth one had the max accuracy potential. Detail reason is given below.

Below are the range test results of four different NP22 pistols.

NP22 #1
Condition: Excellent, 99%
Dist: 10, 20 & 30 M
Ammo: POF 2Z
Sequence: 5 shots from 10 M, 5 from 20M and 5 from 30M on the same target.
Stoppages: None out of 17 bullets (including two warmer rounds each before two tests)
Score: 106 / 150 (70.66 %)
Groups
- 10 M................2.4 inches (40/50 pts)
- 20 M................6.3 inches (25/50 pts)
- 30 M................8.4 inches (20/50 pts)
- ....................... 85/150 (56.66%)

Overall Score......... 106+85=191 / 300 (63.66%)
Accuracy Rating: AVERAGE


As you can see, NP22 #1 just gave an average performance on the paper. The groups are scattered with no definite pattern.


NP22 #2
Condition: Excellent, 99%
Dist: 10, 20 & 30 M
Ammo: POF 2Z
Sequence: 5 shots from 10 M, 5 from 20M and 5 from 30M on the same target.
Stoppages: None out of 17 bullets (including two warmer rounds)
Score: 128 / 150 (85.33 %)
Groups
- 10 M................1.6 inches (45/50 pts)
- 20 M................3.6 inches (40/50 pts)
- 30 M................6.8 inches (30/50 pts)
- ....................... 125/150 (83.66%)
Overall Score......... 128+125=253 / (84.33)
Accuracy Rating: ACCURATE


This NP22 shot well. The groups are reasonably good.



CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLETE REVIEW INCLUDING REVIEW OF THE GUN'S SIGHTS, MAGAZINE, SAFETY MECHANISM, RELIABILITY, MAINTENANCE, SUITABILITY OF PURPOSE AND 50M ACCURACY TESTING ETC INCLUDING HIGH-RES IMAGES.

[David the Gnome]

It would be cool if we could actually buy Norinco guns here in America. I don't see them lifting that ban anytime soon.

[Fleetwoodmac]

That's one of the primary reasons why I shared this review with TFL membership. Thought you guys might be interested in learning about it. I'll be posting a few more handgun reviews which are not available in the US in the coming days.

[gyvel]

If you want to see some really interesting items from Norinco that are unavailable in the USA, go to www.Marstar.ca website.

Apparently, Norinco is making clones of almost everything, including the pre-war Colt Woodsman, CZ 75, Browning Hi-Power and a bunch more.

Of course, WE here in "the land of the free" can't get them because of that moron Clinton.

[CainA]

Boy those Chinese are good at copying things.

-Cain

[Fleetwoodmac]

@ CainA,

They indeed are.


@ gyvel,

Thanks for the link. Will check it out.

[IM_Lugger]

Yes here i Canada there are tons of Norinco options and other guns there are banned from US. I have a Norinco M4 and the Colt woodsman copy. For what I paid for them, they are great guns! I was going to get NP22 for my Bday but ended up with a real SIG

[Fleetwoodmac]

Well a SIG is a SIG .... ain't no doubt 'bout that.

But you're right. Norinco offers very good value for money.

[KBW]

Norinco is making nice gun in very affordable price. I have used six NP22, still have one. Its a nice gun for its price, however, there may be drastic variations from piece to piece. Majority of them are quite accurate. All of them are strongly built with a good quality 4140 steel barrel. Not very nicely finished, though.

[Skans]

Question is, what would be the price, if it were sold in the US? $100, $200, $300? Much more than $300 and I'd rather find a good used Sig.

[Fleetwoodmac]

@ Skans,

A visit to the www.Marstar.ca website will tell you that Norinco's clones can be had for 1/3rd the price of original. Doesn't mean they're as good as the original. At the same time it doesn't mean that they're quality, reliability and performance is 1/3rd of the original.

I'd just say that it offers good value for money for someone who cannot afford the original thing.

Me? Well I would rather save and buy the original. But then that's me.

[Skans]

Priced at about $350-380 Canadian. That's roughly $340-370 American. Not bad.

[Claddagh]

Anybody want to bet on whether the Chinese are paying SIG any licensing fees or royalties for manufacturing a reverse engineered 'monkey copy' their design? Anybody?

Didn't think so.

[Skans]

Anybody want to bet on whether the Chinese are paying SIG any licensing fees or royalties for manufacturing a reverse engineered 'monkey copy' their design? Anybody?

The Chinese don't have the following words in their vocabulary: Patent......Trademark.....or License Fee. Their government has banned these words and thoughts from use by the masses. As soon as your lame politicians grow some balls and pass a law that gives immunity (and grant money) to Americans who reverse-engineer anything made in China, you'll see things change.

Oh, one thing to note - don't we do the same thing with the AK47? Aren't most of the AK's made for US consumption being made in the US? I wonder if Global Trades, DCI, and Arsenal are paying licensing fees to Russia?

[Claddagh]

Were the AK's ever patented and/or those patents registered here or anywhere else? SIG's were and are. And this particular SIG isn't a 60+ year-old military design, either. Just sayin'.

[Bamashooter]

i owned 2 norinco sks's over the years and they were both garbage. i dont understand why anyone would want one personally. its your money.

[KBW]

@Bamashooter
Sir, I partially agree with your comments. Norinco quality control standards are not really great.

Let me also acknowledge at the outset that I am no gun expert / technical man. The review written by me is a shooter's perspective of a gun in Pakistani environment. I don't think that the excerpts of my review quoted above convey the whole picture accurately.

Anyway, I tested 6 different NP22 pistols to write the above review and fired over 2000 rounds with them collectively from different positions and different distances, starting from 10 to 50 M. In performance, 2 of the NP22 that I tested proved very good and could be compared with any gun in the range of 500-800 US $. 3 were average, run of the mill type and 1 pistol was what I could call GARBAGE. All six of them did not have a single FTF/FTE in more than 2000 rounds which speaks high on reliability factor.

The better ones shot like this ................


20 rounds from 25 M, off hand. This is not bad. In fact I find it difficult to hit 10 in the bull from 25 M even with top end guns. But this was a better piece. The garbage ones, as you can see in the first accuracy test in the review, did not even hit all on the target.




20 rounds from 50 M, with hand supported. As you can see, 16 out of 20 are making a group of around 8 inches which is not bad from 50 M. I wont call it a garbage performance though its not very good also.


Now, this is the performance of a gun that costs US $ 350 in Pakistan. In comparison, a Glock 17 costs US $ 3500-4000, a Sig P226 costs US $ 4000-4500, a S&W M&P 9 costs US $ 2500-2700, a Beretta Ninety-Two costs around US $ 3500-4000, even a Taurus PT92 cost around US $ 700-750. After having shot all of them, I am 100% sure that Sig P226 and Glock 17 are not 10 times better in performance than NP22.

You guys are lucky that you get very nice guns in the range of US $ 500-1000. We have to mostly take our options from guns like Norinco brands, Taurus brands, Russian brand, Turkish brands etc. In a very low price, Norinco offers a solidly made gun with top quality steel, miserable finish, high reliability, reasonable accuracy and off course the buyer has to pray for his luck that he gets a good piece as Norinco quality controls are not the best. And...... we have to live with it. So I wont call NP22 a garbage, its something that is affordable for us and works reasonably well.

regards

[Fleetwoodmac]

Now, this is the performance of a gun that costs US $ 350 in Pakistan. In comparison, a Glock 17 costs US $ 3500-4000, a Sig P226 costs US $ 4000-4500, a S&W M&P 9 costs US $ 2500-2700, a Beretta Ninety-Two costs around US $ 3500-4000, even a Taurus PT92 cost around US $ 700-750. After having shot all of them, I am 100% sure that Sig P226 and Glock 17 are not 10 times better in performance than NP22.

+1 KBW

[baggy270]

I just got one of these in 9mm. $349 plus shipping in Canada....great deal plus looks and shoots just like a SIG226. I found the finish quite good and it shoots under 3" at 20 yards. First time out shot 200 rounds with zero miss feeds or fail to eject. Had one reload fail to fire but squeezing the trigger again, it went off!

Just bought some Hogue rubber grips with finger grooves but it may be a tad to large to get my hand around so may go for the Hogue grips without the finger grooves.

Great review too by the way....it's what pushed me into buying one for myself!

Dave