Norinco 1911

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J

jar_head

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im looking at taking a friend of mines Norinco 1911 off his hands for a really good price. the condition isnt that great, looks a little worn and apparently it miss feeds every couple of rounds. im not worried about the look of the gun as i can always reblue or chrome ect. my main concern is the miss feeds which i suspect is due to a faulty feedramp. ive never owned a 1911 and had very little shooting time with one.

what i need to know is, is it worth picking up a cheap norinco or alternatively spending more and getting a colt or other brand? what sort of cost of repairs would i be looking at if it is the feed ramp?

thanks

jar_head
 
Do NOT let anyone work on the feed ramp! odds might be ~1:200 that it's needed, maybe less. The feeding problem(s) are probably caused by the mag, the extractor, or both. These are cheap to fix.

I would advise letting a GOOD 'smith check it out for you. A quick safety check, and field strip to eyeball the insides takes only a couple of minutes, but a long time to learn what to look for.

Norincos are made of very good steel. Colts cost 2X - 3X as much, and might need as much or more to be put "right". The jamming can have been a good thing, as it probably limited the use of the gun.

b-
 
mis feeds with what? factory ammo? reloads? both?
could be as simple as changing bullet styles,oal,etc.

Or even just a very good cleaning.
 
If the price is right, GET IT!
You can always deal with the feeding problems later on because 1911's are easily repaired at home.

As the poster above me, berkw stated, Norinco's are made from good steel, and are a worthwhile project. You can fix that pistol up into any configuration you please with all of the excellent aftermarket parts that are available for 1911's.

If the price is right, GET IT!
 
berkbw,

Is right on the money. Leave the feed ramp alone, the problem is most likely where the other forum members have indicated.

The Norinco is an awesome 1911 platform. I have a customized Norinco 1911 and it is one of my favorite 1911's and I own Colt's and a Kimber. If the price is right, get it, if not, pm me and tell me know how much he wants for it.
 
I don't know much about Norincos except this: My friend bought one on a whim back before the import ban. He paid $300 for it and he says it shoots better than his Colt Gov't Model, his Colt Commander, and his Colt Gold Cup. The Norinco is the gun he carries all the time. I wish I had been smart enough to buy one.
 
I'd be willing to bet that if you got a few Chip McCormick shooting star magazines as replacement to the stock mags, your feeding problems will go away.
 
My Norinco 1911 is my favorite gun to shoot. Picked it up cheap for $220 with one clip and a box of ammo. Had it three years and could not be more satisfied.
 
The important thing about the Norinco's .......... is if it was fitted properly at the factory ......I am talking barrel lugs to Slide lugs. If they are messed up in any way . I would walk away fast from this pistol. Some Norcs have terrible problems in this area .......... and you would have to have some machine shop to fix it at home. Of course it would depend on which was out of spec. ............ barrel or Slide. Because of the toughness of the Norcs steel ..these problems are not easily fixed.

Anything else can be worked out of the pistol within acceptable cost guidlines.

Just MHO.

JF.
 
is it worth picking up a cheap norinco
Click to expand...

All depends on the final price...If you plan on changing out most of the parts anyway, I'd buy it. If you don't want to put any $$$ into it, I'd pass on it...
 
I have had my norinco 1911 for 3 years now and never had a single hickup, I bet it needs a good cleaning and maybe a new recoil spring.
 
ok well im getting the norinco for $1 and a beer!!! but im in South Africa so it is a good price. i would be willing to spend a bit on it and it would not be my carry gun so i would mainly use it for rec shooting and maybe even idpa if i can get it right.

all your advise has been helpful. like i said i havent seen the gun yet but ill take some time and get it to the range and shoot it and strip it ect when i get a chance. i spoke to the owner and he said it only jams on reloads so i think that might be the problem! ill get a box of factory ammo/carry ammo and see what happens. what sort of upgrades are recommended to do on the norinco's/1911?

thanks
 
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Norinco

I bought a Norinco back in 1993 and have never regretted it. I had the pistol GunKoted and it looks like a million bucks and shoots like it too! Wish it didn't say China on it, but i was an E-4 when I bought it.
 
what sort of upgrades are recommended to do on the norinco's/1911?
Click to expand...

Probably none if it works fine. Keep & shoot it as is. If you really need to make any changes, keep it minimal because that is not a gun that will go up in value and you will never-ever recoup additional $ thrown into it.
 
If the feed ramp has been altered by Dan the Dremel Dude, I would pass.

There should be about a 1-2mm gap between the frame and barrel with the slide locked back. It's not uncommon for kitchen table gunsmiths to whittle this necessary gap away in an attempt to improve feeding. The only way to fix such a job is welding up and recutting the ramp, which would be more than the pistol would be worth once you had it done.

If the gap is present, a good magazine will likely solve the problem. Buy or borrow a Wilson 47D magazine (you will want one anyway if you get a 1911, and you can easily resell it if you don't) and ask to shoot the pistol with your magazine. If it shoots well, buy it.

Here is a blog page of mine with more stuff to check.
 
DItto what Sniper350 said. Check the barrel lugs. Some of the Norincos that I've been seeing lately have had lug deformation and setback in just a few rounds due to insufficient vertical lug engagement. This has been observed in roughly one in five...mostly in the older guns.

On the 32nd inch gap...

None of the Norinccos that I've seen have it, but seem to feed ball and hollowpoints with a ball-like ogive just fine. They often give a little trouble with SWCs in stock configuration.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bh6K5rNenc

This guy has a great video of how to take apart a 1911, which happens to be a Norinco model.
Click to expand...

That fellow has made the best three videos on 1911 disassembly/reassembly. The take-down is in two parts. And he is using a commander model Norinco -- from up in the Canadian prairie. He has a good speaking content and style to go with the excellent images.
 
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probably the pos magazine in it.

buy a Wilson Combat magazine, use hollowpoints with round heads (I think they're caled "ogive").
 
probably the pos magazine in it.
Click to expand...

Actually, I've found the OEM Norinco magazines to be very good once a Wolff spring is installed...with very few that are out of spec dimensionally. Only one has given me a problem, and only because it wouldn't drop free except in one pistol. Aside from that, it was fine.
 
ok im getting the gun for free(well $1) so i dont mind spending a few $$ on it to get it shooting nicely. i really dont buy any guns/cars/beer as an investment!! this gun will be used to defend myself and a little target fun ect so if i need to spend $1000 on it to getting it working to the way i liek then thats fine ill do it.

would installing a wolf spring help with the feeding problems? i know the owner of this gun and he isnt a kitchen table smith. he wouldnt try repair his own gun and as far as i know the most he has done was polish the ramp to try sort out the problem.
 
I bought mine from a friend, who got it from his brother. I payed for it with the original Bush $300 tax cut.

It took replacing some trigger group parts and a little minor gunsmithing, but it's now an accurate, reliable handgun.

I was cleaning it one day, using Gun Scrubber or the Shooter's Choice spray cleaner. I went to put the frame down and COULDN'T! Apparently the stock grips are made out of some kind of crappy polystyrene or cellulose. After I peeled the grips off of my hand and pitched them in the garbage, I ordered a set of fake ivory grips from Ajax. It looks really good with those. The sights leave a bit to be desired, but with the three dots, they're still better than the GI sights.

For a reasonable price, Norincos are a good investment.
 
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