Well, despite my pledge to be a "one gun" guy, I weakened today and bought a Norinco CQ-A1, otherwise known as an M4 carbine.  Our gun laws are daft, but there are some bright exceptions that allow us to have guns that Americans have to go through hoops to buy.  One of them is an M4 with a 14 1/2" barrel, which sells for $675 Cdn. 

It comes with 2 magazines (pinned by law to 5 rounds), a sling, cleaning kit, manual and an oil bottle.  The carry handle is detachable, exposing a Picatinny rail for mounting an optical sight.  The quality is much improved over previous Norinco offerings, the most noticeable being the black anodized finish, rather than the previous BBQ paint.  The rifle is fully milspec as well, with all AR parts interchangeable.

More good news for us here in Canada is the acceptance by the RCMP of the LAR-15 "pistol" magazines which have a 10 round capacity being legal for use in an AR rifle.  I bought 5.

Range report to follow.