My first 1911

[Dan Forrester]

Well I finally bought a 1911. After looking for quite some time I found a very nice Norinco 1911 SN: 527XXX with our the lanyard loop.

I waited for the Norinco because it seemed to offer the best deal for the money:

• Forged frame and slide.
• Made out of 5100 tool steel.
• Chrome lined bore.
• Loose (reliable) slide to frame fit.
• No MIM parts.

Well before I begin to customize the gun I’d like to fire some rounds through it. I have about 500 rounds of wolf 230 grain steel case. Should I fire this ammo? I believe the US WWII surplus .45ACP was steel cased so I don’t see why it would be a problem. This would be the first and last steel case ammo for this gun. I just have the ammo and would like to use it up. What do you guys think.

One of the few changes I would like to do to this gun is give it a good finish such as a hard chrome or NP3 finish. However before doing this I would like so smooth out the gun what areas should I concentrate on. I was thinking of using a dremil tool with a felt tip and some jewelers rouge. What areas should I concentrate on smoothing out? Any areas I should be careful with or should I just hit any rough spot? I want to do this not only for functioning but also a nice even chrome job.

About the only other change I need to make is to change out the sights. Will I need some new dove tale slots cut? I would like to install low profile Novak tritium sights. Obviously I’d like all of my polishing and dove tale cuts done before the chrome job.

What do all of you 1911 guys think? Am I on the right track or heading into trouble?

Thanks, Dan

 

[Bufford t. Justice]

First of all. Forget the dremmel. Let a qualified smith handle any Mods. Norks are pretty decent as is. Get a feel for the gun before you do anything. Run a few hundred rounds thru it then you'll know more what it may need. Your Wolf ammo will shoot ok most likely but it'll burn dirty. Buy some winchester white box, some federal, some Rem and see what it likes. The Novaks are a good idea just feed it first. They come hungry out of the box.

 

[lawdog41]

Shoot it.
Get some good magazines, Metalform or Wilson Combat.

If you really feel the need to tinker:
fluffandbuff.htm

The slides of some of the Norinco's are bloody hard and I've blown up enough dovetail cutters on them to never want to dovetail another.

For a plater that's also a "smith" and of true top shelf quality:
Accurate Plating and Weaponry

I'd send my own guns to Bob in a heartbeat and will probably be sending my Gold Cup that way soon.

 

[daysleeprx]

I love Norks. I have two, both awesome guns and great platforms for tuning. Both of mine were worked on by Ed Vandenberg.

 

[loop]

Customized Norc

The Norinco is quite possibly the best format for a custom 1911 available today. It is true mil spec and the working parts are easily exchanged for upgrades.

I'd rather build on one of them than any of the "1911A1s" on the market today.

My "toy" will hot within a half inch of where I point it on the first shot, every time.

I'm still rebuilding a Norc I bought this spring. It is down to 9 original parts. It has the frame, barrel, slide, link, link pin, plunger tube and you guess the rest. It is the best first-shot 1911 I own. For some reason I struggle with a second shot from this gun. But, the first shot is always within a half inch of POA.

The best thing is it was so easy to customize. All the parts were within .001 of spec.

I need another one. This one's done.

 

[Evenflo76]

I just traded a Glock 26 for a Norinco. It was customized by the owner who builds and modifies his own 1911's.

The only parts left from Norinco are the Slide, frame, extractor and MSH. Everything else is aftermarket. It has the fully throated ramp barrel from Colt, series 70 mark IV. The finish has been redone with a GunKote/duracoat type baked on finish. The sights have been modified to Kings Hardballer. The front sight is just a standard blade with no dot. I am told $100 to cut frame for other types novack or Dovetail over the cost of the sights... for now I will stick with these.

I was told by the builder that when Norinco de-engineered the 1911, they ended up using a much stronger metal forging than we ever did. This makes Norinco's desirable for custom builds...

Here's a pic: