Norinco AK Type 56 or Norinco CQA

[h0stag3]

Hi guys,

I have searched and searched on the forum and some of my questions have not really been answered by older threads.

Since there is a good special going on the Norinco Type 56s it has piqued my curiosity and at the price they can be had is reasonably affordable at this point in time before my first born is here later this year. Then I am not sure how the finances will work or look :-).

At current the AK is going for just under R6K. I phoned a few gunshops today and the average price of the CQA is around R12000 and they are only getting them in 2months time.

What I want is a semi-automatic rifle for 3gun. I have never done 3gun before. I know a few people that shoot with ARs and LM4/5s but I have not seen them in a while to direct certain questions their way. I also want a rifle to finally join the guys at Sports Adventure Shooting :-)

1) Licencing: I know that one could licence an AR but what about an AK? I have dedicated status but read on a different thread of a few years ago that the CFR is full of when it comes to AKs. What kind of motivation can be looked at from a S16 point of view for an AK.
2) Does SAPSA endorse AKs?
3) Ammo availability. I am getting conflicting reports from people(their sources:unknown) that AK ammo is scarce and not as freely available as 5.56x45. This concerns me because what is a gun if you can't feed it? Still a gun, but a sad one ;-).
4) What is the actual current price difference between the two? Buying Norinco or Barnual ammo VS ammo that you can reload? Where can these be bought as my Google-fu yielded few results and some of the sites do not display prices.
4b) What are the reloading costs involved between the two? I know that .223REM(I am varying it ;-)) is much cheaper, but how much cheaper?
5) How freely available are the reloading components? Brass? Bullets?
6) Parts. I know that the ARs have got lots of parts and there are quite a few gunshops that supply them. What about AKs?
7) Accuracy. I have heard that The CQAs are fine with regards to accuracy, but just how much worse is the AK?

I can't think of anymore questions now :-).

See, I want to weigh everything up because I can only afford one SLR/MSR right now. So it is either an AK with a tin of ammo or a CQA that will sit and look pretty for a while while I save up for ammo.

But I have not decided on either.

If it leans towards the AR, I would love to get a more expensive AR, but what I have seen is that the next best thing is on average R3-4K more expensive. Go for the CQA and the STAG is R3-4K more expensive. Then DD. Then NEA. Then Colt. Etc etc. The lotto evaded me again....

Thanks guys!

[vo1ty]

Following this

[Craig Gerstner]

While the AK might be fun to shoot , it is not a competitive platform for 3 Gun. Get the CQA you won't regret it.

You can licence both platforms.
Yes.
Norinco 7.62 x 39 is readily available.
223 is 50% cheaper to reload than 7.62 x 39.
More parts for AR than AK.
More bullet options available for 223
Both are accurate, but you will shoot the AR better -ergonomics.

[P1LGR1M]

I ordered a full case of AK ammo today, waiting at my dealer and could have gotten more if my budget allowed, so not too difficult to source. Personally think people are over playing the scarcity of the ammo.

Good luck with choosing. I just handed in my Type 56 app...and with a full case of ammo still less than the CQA.

[h0stag3]

While the AK might be fun to shoot , it is not a competitive platform for 3 Gun. Get the CQA you won't regret it.

You can licence both platforms.
Yes.
Norinco 7.62 x 39 is readily available.
223 is 50% cheaper to reload than 7.62 x 39.
More parts for AR than AK.
More bullet options available for 223
Both are accurate, but you will shoot the AR better -ergonomics.

Thanks Craig! I shoot for fun, can't compete with guys that have an ammo tree in their back yards :-D.

Valid points.

[h0stag3]

I ordered a full case of AK ammo today, waiting at my dealer and could have gotten more if my budget allowed, so not too difficult to source. Personally think people are over playing the scarcity of the ammo.

Good luck with choosing. I just handed in my Type 56 app...and with a full case of ammo still less than the CQA.

My point exactly. If I can get exact prices I can see which is better in the long run. When that point will come when the CQA will start being cheaper.

[pdh]

While the AK might be fun to shoot , it is not a competitive platform for 3 Gun. Get the CQA you won't regret it.

You can licence both platforms.
Yes.
Norinco 7.62 x 39 is readily available.
223 is 50% cheaper to reload than 7.62 x 39.
More parts for AR than AK.
More bullet options available for 223
Both are accurate, but you will shoot the AR better -ergonomics.

This

Close thread

[Skaaphaas]

Yeah, IMO get the T56 if you've always had a fascination with an AK.

In pretty much every other respect the CQA is preferable.

[Ryan Purvis]

While the AK might be fun to shoot , it is not a competitive platform for 3 Gun. Get the CQA you won't regret it.

You can licence both platforms.
Yes.
Norinco 7.62 x 39 is readily available.
223 is 50% cheaper to reload than 7.62 x 39.
More parts for AR than AK.
More bullet options available for 223
Both are accurate, but you will shoot the AR better -ergonomics.

+ 1

I found the M4 platform to be a lot easier to use especially with the DMG/ 3 Gun format.

[Paul]

Why do you say that CQA's are out of stock?