When it comes to products made in China, most domestic people immediately start thinking about cheap, low-quality products that are copies of products from other manufacturers. However, the time when the Chinese only copied and saved on everything, apparently, is passing. Judging by the weapons that are now offered for export, it can be seen that in the country there are already not only specialists capable of making cheap copies, but also designers capable of developing their own weapons, as we like to say "which has no analogues in the world." …
In this article, we will try to get acquainted with the pistol, the final version of which was demonstrated back in 2014, but for some reason was not noticed, although an outwardly ordinary "wrapper" of the weapon hides a very interesting automation scheme with a semi-free bolt. But first things first.
Appearance and ergonomics of the NORINCO QX4 pistol
Externally, the weapon is similar to the QSZ-92 or Type 92 pistol, but this is only externally. For some unknown reason, many consider this pistol to be large and angular. NORINCO QX4 really gives the impression of a massive, heavy weapon, but it should be noted that they worked with the weapon not only in order to achieve sane characteristics from it, on a par with modern pistols, but also made certain efforts to make the pistol convenient to use. The pistol clearly cannot be called outdated in appearance, except that the large slide stop levers and the flat heel of the store are no longer in vogue, otherwise we can talk about a completely modern appearance, perhaps a little strict, but not everyone likes the Glock with a pink frame.
The controls of the weapon consist of a trigger (so far nothing without it, but Italian designers are working on it), a safety switch, a slide stop lever and a magazine eject button. Interestingly, the button for ejecting the magazine and the fuse switch are duplicated on both sides of the weapon. Sights consist of a rear sight and a front sight, made by separate parts from the shutter casing, that is, it is possible to adjust and, if desired, replace the sighting devices, but it is unlikely that the seats will be compatible with the rear sight and front sight of other manufacturers.
The handle of the pistol, although it looks too thick, is only outwardly, as European practice has shown, the handle of this shape is quite comfortable and grippy. The disadvantages include, perhaps, that the lack of the possibility of adjusting the weapon to the size of the hand, using replaceable pads on the back of the weapon handle, but this can hardly be considered a serious disadvantage. According to the majority of owners of short-barreled weapons, such linings make it possible to fit very conditionally, although no one denies that even such an opportunity to adapt the pistol for themselves is better than none. Usually, they also forget about such a moment as adjusting the thickness of the handle depending on the season. So in winter, people usually wear thick gloves, taking into account this item of clothing, it would be nice to adjust the weapon to a different hand size. However, shooting with gloves from this weapon is still a pleasure, since the safety clip is small in size.
On the bolt cover of the NORINCO QX4 pistol and on the front and back sides there are notches that allow you to use any comfortable grips when pulling the bolt cover back. In the frame of the weapon under the barrel there is a landing mount for installing additional devices, a flashlight or a laser designator.
NORINCO QX4 pistol design
If the appearance of the NORINCO QX4 pistol does not stand out from the general background of other pistols, then the design of the weapon is very interesting and unusual. If you pull back the shutter casing, then on the outer surface of the barrel you can find spiral grooves, moreover, in the process of movement of the shutter casing, the barrel itself will rotate around its axis.
It is this original system of interaction between the barrel and the casing-bolt that is the main design feature of this pistol. The automation system is built according to the scheme with a semi-free breech, the braking of the casing-breech is provided by the interaction of the liner in the casing-breech and the barrel of the weapon. After the shot, the shutter casing tends to roll back, pushed by the sleeve, which is pushed by the powder gases. Free to take its extreme rear position, the shutter casing does not allow interaction with the barrel of the weapon. The barrel of the pistol is connected through the liner with the casing of the bolt, the liner itself is fixed in the casing-bolt and enters the grooves on the surface of the barrel. Thus, moving backward, the shutter casing turns the pistol barrel around the axis, which slows down the pistol's automation, allowing the use of relatively powerful cartridges. In this design, it is noteworthy that the barrel has the ability to move only in the form of rotation around the axis of the barrel bore, it does not perform any other movements, which should have a positive effect on the accuracy and accuracy of fire.
The weapon automation system is certainly interesting and unusual, but the question arises why all this was implemented, while more familiar automation systems successfully cope with the task set for them, are easier to manufacture and have extensive statistics on reliability in a variety of conditions. exploitation. We can say that all these efforts are only to increase the accuracy of the weapon, but this is not a sports pistol. This whole design has another very remarkable advantage in the form of easy and complete adaptation of the NORINCO QX4 to various ammunition.
Of course, you can't jump over your head, and in order for the pistol to start feeding on various cartridges normally and without surprises, you will have to replace the barrel, magazine and bolt cup, or be limited only to those cartridges that have separate similar metric parameters. For example, to adapt a pistol from a.40S & W cartridge to a.357SIG, you only need to change the barrel, since the bottom of the cartridge cases are identical, or rather, the cases themselves are completely identical, just a bullet with a smaller caliber is inserted and compressed into the.40S & W cartridge case.
In order to adapt the pistol to the new ammunition, it naturally needs to be disassembled. To disassemble the weapon, the slide stop lever is pulled out, after which the barrel and the slide are removed from the casing, new ones are inserted in their place, for another ammunition and everything is assembled back. It remains only to insert the magazine with the necessary cartridges and the weapon is ready for use. All these procedures are performed without any tools, and the absence of small parts allows all this to be done almost on the knee in the field.
The pistol currently has kits for using cartridges 9x19,.40S & W,.45ACP and our domestic 7, 62x25. It is noteworthy that for each cartridge, the rifling pitch on the outside of the barrel is different.
The trigger mechanism of the pistol is hammer, double action. When the fuse is turned on, the trigger is on the safety cocking. The trigger pull adjustment is not provided for.
Characteristics of the gun NORINCO QX4
If we talk about the NORINCO QX4 pistol in numbers, then we have the following meanings. Regardless of the ammunition used, the pistol has a total length of 195 millimeters and a weight of 930 grams without cartridges. The weapon is fed from magazines with a capacity of 12 rounds for.45ACP ammunition, 13 rounds for.40S & W, or 15 rounds 9x19 or 7, 62x25. There is no information on the length of the weapon's barrel, but taking into account the design, we can say that it will be the same for all ammunition. The height of the pistol is 140 mm.
Pros of the NORINCO QX4 pistol
The main advantage of the new Chinese pistol is the original design, which, in theory, allows you to create a more accurate weapon than the currently widespread samples. It is difficult to say how much this opportunity is implemented in the NORINCO QX4 pistol, even seeing in front of oneself a vivid example of the fact that the Chinese designers have clearly moved to a sufficiently high level, you still cannot get rid of the thought that this is still a Chinese product. Arguments in favor of the high characteristics of this pistol may be the fact that for the sake of similar parameters, it is unlikely that someone would bother with the manufacture of a more complex weapon barrel, as well as do a really large amount of work on cheap materials.
The second positive point is the ability to easily and quickly adapt the pistol to various ammunition without a special tool. The ability to buy one pistol and use all common cartridges is a definite plus of the weapon. The only thing missing is the cheapest.22LR on this list, although it would have been just elementary to add it - by separating the barrel from the bolt cover, making a weapon with automatic blowback.
Even if you look at the possibility of adapting a pistol to different cartridges not from the civilian side, then this is just a plus. On one base, a pistol can be assembled, suitable for both the army and the police and for the guards - a universal weapon for everyone, differing only in the used ammunition.
A separate plus should be noted that the fuse switch and magazine eject button are duplicated on both sides, which is an uncharacteristic feature for Chinese weapons.
Cons of pistol NORINCO QX4
The first negative point in a weapon that cannot be missed is weight. And although a famous character said that weight is reliable, almost a kilogram without cartridges is somehow a lot for a modern pistol, especially with a polymer frame in the design.
Maintenance and operation do not seem to raise questions, but the reliability of the pistol in adverse conditions is a big question. It is doubtful that the weapon will remain reliable if the grooves on the surface of the barrel become clogged with dirt. Of course, the shape of the grooves and the mass of the shutter casing (which, by the way, explains the large weight of the weapon), contribute to the fact that the grooves will be cleaned even with contamination, but even if so, all this dirt will still remain inside the pistol, in which there is still there is also a trigger mechanism. However, no one has yet mocked the weapon on a large scale in order to check its reliability, therefore it is too early to draw conclusions. There is no doubt that the pistol will work in a shooting range or "sterile" urban environment, with proper care.
Total
What conclusions can be drawn about the NORINCO QX4 pistol in general. The pistol is really interesting, with a claim to versatility, I think that it will not be difficult to make more compact versions on its basis. However, with all this, the weapon is really heavy. For constant carrying, the pistol is really heavy, although I don't think that it will be impossible to get used to it in another week, but this heaviness has its advantages. Thanks to the heavy breech cover and the automatic system, the recoil of the pistol, even when using the most powerful cartridge options, will be much softer than most pistol models with more familiar designs. For widespread distribution in the army and the police, this weapon is also suitable if you close your eyes to the mass, thanks to the possibility of using various ammunition. For some reason, it seems to me that with a great desire, on the basis of 7, 62x25, you can make a cartridge that would satisfy the most stringent requirements of any army, but for the police there are a wide variety of cartridges with very effective bullets, and among the 9x19 and.40S & W cartridges, and even more so among.45ACP.
The appearance on the market of firearms with such a design suggests that Chinese designers can already create their own products and conduct their own development and research with a very good result. Of course, for a long time there will be an opinion that if something is made by a Chinese, then it is of poor quality and not reliable, but if you look at this pistol, you can see a completely competitive model of weapon.
Regardless of the attitude towards China in the geopolitical context, one cannot fail to notice that the new unique weapon should spur other manufacturers, including domestic ones, to create something interesting, effective and, most importantly, reliable. So in this case, the appearance of such weapons is only a plus, but wars are won not with pistols, especially modern wars.
