Another Old Range Report that Might be of Interest...
Hello.
Several months ago, I got a like-new Norinco 1911 at the upper end of what I would pay, but I've not regretted that purchase. In an earlier post, I described the things I did with the pistol. After finally getting the fixed sights regulated, I took the pistol out today for a check and to move the fixed sights if necessary.
The Pistol: This pistol came stock. Nothing's been done in terms of accuracy, but it does have some add-ons that I did myself.
Kimber blk rubber stocks
Colt hardchromed grip screws
Stainless Colt thumb safety
Chip McCormick trigger
Ed Brown sear and hammer
Flat, 20LPI-checkered, M/S housing
Wolff 18.5lb conventional recoil spring
Wilson Shock Buff in place
Colt E-nickled magazine release
Colt E-nickled slide stop lever
Wilson "drop in" Grip Safety (It did!)
Skateboard Tape on front grip strap
Gunsmith, Scott Mays, added the fixed sights. The rear sight is a King's hardballer and I flat don't remember what the front sight he silver-soldered on is! He then applied a matte finish to the top of the slide and polished the flats before bluing.
Ammunition: Today, the pistol was fired with the following rounds and an 8-round Wilson magazine was used:
Winchester USA 230 gr FMJ
Federal 230 gr Classic JHP
Corbon 200 gr +P JHP (Old, pre-Gold Dot bullet)
Handload:
200 gr Rucker CSWC
5.0 gr Bullseye
WLP primer
Starline Cases
LOA: 1.27"
For what it's worth, which ain't much, it'd rained up here today. Just for grins I fired a round of each JHP into some mud and pulled out the expanded bullets to see. Not a scientific test a tall and likely meaningless, but interesting, at least.
The bullet, round on the left is Corbon, while the other's the Federal.
Distances & Testing: Today, all firing was slow-fire with the 15 yard groups being fired standing, w/2-hand hold. No fifty-yard stuff today; I was running short of time and didn't care to trapse through the mud all that much. Also, twenty-five yard groups were fired from seated with my arms rested on my range box and a coat rather than standing.
15 Yards:
Each of these 10-shot groups were fired with the handload described above. When I'd do my part, it did its.
It becomes clear that the sights need to move a bit to the left.
I wasn't shooting very well here.
At this point, I messed around with the fixed sights and moved to 25 yards. Again, these were fired from a rest and not freehand.
25 Yards: The group fired with the USA ball consisted of 6 shots, all that I had left and as the picture will show, I blew one of them! The handload's group was of 10 shots.
So, the gun's "on" plenty good for me and for the uses I'll put it to.
Observations: I have continued to be pleased with this pistol's reliability. Roughly, 1200 rnds plus have been fired with zero malfunctions. Ejected cases are not dented or bent and ejection remains positive. The home trigger-job which was done on this pistol continues to remain true and crisp. Accuracy has been most surprisingly pleasant for a service grade pistol.
While my personally-owned and tested Norinco 1911s consists of but one, based on my experiences, I highly recommend these pistols for folks wanting a fun-to-shoot, reliable and pretty darned accurate forty-five. I suspect that many buy these as "base guns" for more refinement. This one's "refined" enough and will stay as it is.
Best.
