14 thoughts on “Norinco Type 97 For Civilian Market?”

  3. Will they be available here? Or are they not considered “sporting purposes” enough?

    That’s a rhetorical question, right? There’s no way we’ll see ’em here.

    Canada’s gun laws might not be as liberal as those in the US, but they don’t have the restrictions on China imports like we do. The Norinco 1911 and M1A’s are still for sale there, not here. All we can get are their pump-action shotguns.

  5. I though Canada considered “assault weapons” restricted?

    Did a little searching on the web here to re-familiarize myself with Canada law. Looks like they have three licenses and 3 categories of weapons: Unrestricted, Restricted, and Prohibited, but you can still get a license even for Prohibited classes of firearms.

    Roughly speaking, bolt guns and semi-auto rimfire rifles are in the unrestricted category. Semi-auto centerfire rifles and all handguns are in the restricted category, and whatever they figure an assault weapon is in the prohibited category. I had no idea where the M1A clones sit in that list, but I see posts over on THR often enough from Canadians getting their PolyTech M1As to know it’s still possible to obtain them. Perhaps the lack of a pistol grip means they’re not an “assault weapon” under Canadian law?

    I thought all Norinco firearms are verboten here. Could easily be wrong about that, though.

    You are indeed wrong about that one, but it’s an easy mistake to make. We don’t see much from Norinco in the states today. The only two example that jump out at me are the Winchester 1897 clones that are used by the Cowboy Action Shooter types and the NEF Pardner Pump which is just an 870 clone made by Norinco. Here’s a thread on the 870 Clone with “Made in China” pictures.

  6. My 1887 Lever Action Shotgun is a Norinco clone of the original Winchester. Some Norinco products are imported under the International Arms Corp.

  7. No Norinco here unless it’s a shotgun: 1887, 1897, etc. Strictly verboten since 1998 when Slick Willy nixed import of Chinese made products (MAK-90’s, NHM-91’s, etc) via executive fiat. Consequently prices of replacement parts for Chinese made ‘sporting’ rifles are non-existent and spendier than ever.

  10. Justin, you’re a little off the mark with your understanding of Canadian gun laws, but not by much.

    There are three classes of firearms as you said; unrestricted, restricted, and prohibited. The restricted list is made up of pistols and selected semi-auto centerfire rifles that the government labled as “too dangerous” or “scary looking” such as your American AR-15 style rifles and the Soviet AK-47, and rifles that do not meet barrel length requirements. The unrestricted list is made up of shotguns, hunting rifles, and a few semi-auto “assault weapons” that the government overlooked. The Norinco Type 97 is one of them, as is the M1 and both are listed as unrestricted. Prohibited firearms are ones capable of automatic fire and are only available to law enforcement, military, government agencies, and a handfull of companies that were given special licences to obtain fully automatic weapons.

    The Type 97 will be available to civilian purchase in Canada around December 2008. I plan on pre-ordering. :)

    Cheers from Canada,
    -Ffynn

  11. Just to add to your comments Ffynn. The prohibited firearms also include all previously converted full auto to semi auto firearms. People that currently have these firearms are only allowed to keep them till they die, or sell to another collecter with this status.

    When Bill C-68 came out in Canada, they restricted or band so called “assault weapons” or anything that remotely looked like one. What they didn’t take into consideration is development of new firearms like the Norinco Type 97, Robinson XCR, etc which do not fall into the current restricted catagory.

    I think its time the USA removed some of its restrictions with China so you to can enjoy these toys.

    And Yes, I pre oredered a Type 97 as well. Expecting delivery Dec 2008.

    John

  12. I still say that looks to be a fine weapon, and I want one! While I was over at the “Firearms Blog”, I also looked at the “Alex Bullpup”, and drooled a lot!

  13. Quick update on Prohibited firearms in Canada. AKs, short barrelled handguns (under 105mm with some exceptions for Olympic class pistols — eg. Walthers, Pardinis, Hammerlis), full autos, etc are prohibited, however anyone who owned one at the time of the ban was “Grandfathered” so that the ban does not apply to them for as long as they own their firearm. Grandfathered individuals may also continue to aquire their class(es) of prohibited firearms for as long as they own firearms in that particular class.

    AR-15s are classed as Restricted, the same classification as most handguns. A special license is required, and is only issued to competitive target shooters and collectors.

    Hope this clears things up.

  14. You guys, south of the border have all kinds of weapons that we can’t get in Canada and your gun laws in most states are really liberal because of the constitution which gives you the right to keep and bear arms. We have no such garantee. To get a permit to puchase firearms and ammunition we have to take courses ( at our own expense) with a ton of paperwork to obtain a PAL (Possesion and Aquisition Licence) It takes months after taking the course to actually get the licence. The RCMP actually phones your references and interviews them. Once you have your PAL then you can go to your local sporting goods shop and puchase a firearm which has to be registered in the government firearms registry, sometimes a slow process. Handguns are restricted weapons ( must have a 4.125 barrel minimum length)and some types are not allowed to be sold here. You must also be a member of a gun club and have an authorization to transport the handgun to and from the range, if you want a handgun unless you have a collectors licence. The law gets a little weird when it comes to semi auto rifles. As long as the barrel length is proper( 18.5 inches minimum) and it doesn’t look too mean then they are considered unrestricted but can only have a magazine capacity of 5 rounds. Hunting rifles and shotguns are generally unrestricted because they have long barrels and only hold a few rounds. (less than 5) We are not allowed to conceal any firearms of any type or carry them on us unless at a range or out hunting. (no handguns allowed for hunting) Some types of short shotguns are allowed for hunting as an auxilliary weapon against dangerous animals for example the Defender type shotgun. The Norinco Type 97A meets the requirements for an unrestricted firearm but it certainly looks like an assault rifle. This get stranger. The RCMP has approved a 10 round magazine (AR type) which fits the 97A simply because there is a pistol ( the AR .223 cal.) that uses this magazine and pistols are allowed to hold 10 rounds and they said, all right you can use it in the 97A. Go figure, but I’m not complaining. I have a Ruger Mini 14 that will fire long mags. but I can only have the standard 5 round magazines. Same ammo ( .223cal.) so what’s the difference? Oh well. Welcome to Canada and our strange gun laws. I will recieve my Norinco Type 97 in a few weeks. Gonna waste a lot of ammo I think, but should be fun.

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