Norinco KL-3B .177 Caliber Review

Overall Rating

Fairly accurate
Good power
Excellent value for the money

Heavy trigger
Poor quality control

I bought both the Norinco KL-3B .177 and a .22 rifles after seeing prices of $22.95 and $27.95 respectively. The guns came soaked in oil but once wiped clean, worked fairly well. There was some roughness in the cocking of the .177 rifle and both had very heavy triggers. I decided to dismantle both to de-burr, clean and re-lube parts.

The trigger mechanism is very basic but polishing and re-lubing the sear points did help. I was surprised, however, to find that the compression chambers on both rifles were badly scored and gouged even though I had fired only about a dozen pellets through each one. I find it hard to believe that such few firings could cause this kind of damage and suspect that some of it may have occurred during the manufacturing process. I attempted to smooth out the chambers with a brake cylinder hone but couldn't remove the gouging. I de-burred and sanded the piston assembly to reduce further compression chamber damage.

After reassembly, both rifles operated smoother. The triggers were still on the heavy side but an improvement over what they were. Overall, it's a very good rifle considering the price and you're not likely to find a better deal, particularly in a side-lever action. It has fairly good accuracy and power along with a good looking wood stock. Not sure how long it can maintain this level of performance but at this price I'm not worrying about it and besides, it is a fun gun to shoot.

Members' Comments onLawren5's Review

• Tommyda on 23rd May 2006

  Hi, it's half year ago you posted this review and I was wondering if you can share your experience after using this rifle(s) for few months. Thanks, Tommy.