I picked this up a up a few weeks ago. It's a Norinco 1911 "compact" - says so on the slide. It's really a commander - 4.25" barrel and slide.

These are pretty rare maybe a few hundred to 1K before importation was banned. I've only seen one once, in the 1990s at a gun shop.

This particular 1911 has matching numbers on the frame and slide. It is HEAVY! It doesn't rattle and the slide feels like it's on ball bearings - like a Beretta slide. I'm not sure if the beaver tail or safety is original or not, but they've been on for a very long time. It had wood grips, but I replaced them with Hogue anodized aluminum grips that I had stashed away.



I like it!

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Thread Killer.

I didn't realize Norinco imported any commander sized 1911's. Interesting find.

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- Change it back -

Same. I am unaware of their existence.

Learn something new every day. Cool!

My camera isn't good enough to pick up the roll marks, but here are some more picts.

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Thread Killer.

It's not the camera, it's the lighting. In the bright sunshine your aperture is closed and your shutter is trying to compensate. Just a suggestion, but you'd actually get better lighting in the shade.

Nice gun by the way, I'm like the others, have never seen or heard of a commander sized Norinco.

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Live long and prosper

The Norinco 1911’s were the best non Colt 1911’s around at the time.

They’re still better guns that the lower priced 1911’s (Tisa, RIA etc) available today.

The Norc's are good 1911's. Tried to buy one of the two Commander sized guns I saw through the years. In my experience the slides are hard, much harder than the Colts I've worked on.

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Qui plantavit curabit

That’s not a new gun, right? There haven’t been new Norincos here since the 90s.

I found this commie defector a few months ago. Its a great gun. I’ll buy every one I see.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

No, it's not new. It hasn't been shot much. Seller gave the "1991-1995" import date.


BTW, That's a nice N1911!

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Thread Killer.

In addition to improving the lighting, if you have any image editing software, you can also play around with light balancing, curves, and contrast to bring out detail that would otherwise be invisible.

Norinco 1911s are great foundations to build customs. Sadly sold mine. Only seen full size.

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213th FBINA

Over the decades, I've seen a bunch of Norinco "Government" models, but never one of their "Combat Commander" versions. Yes, the steel in Norinco 1911's is very hard, it can quickly dull a file or cutter.

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I had a full size GI model Norinco 1911 several years ago. It was a solid pistol. Rumor was that the steel used in the guns was railroad iron? I was speaking to Jim Clark, Jr. about them one time and he said that he bought any Norinco 1911 he could find for just the barrel in them alone that he used in his custom 1911 builds. He said they were very accurate barrels. Like so many others over the years, I foolishly sold mine to get something else. Wish I still had it.

I believe the OPs gun has seen quite a bit of custom work. Aside from the beavertail and trigger, the finish isn't anything like the plain parkerizing used on the factory guns. Very nice gun though.

Norincos were commonly used as a base for a lot of custom 1911s. Good guns and the price was cheap. I've seen some really nice Norinco custom pistols.
Several years ago I stumbled across a box stock Norinco Government model. I though about customizing it, but decided to leave it original as unmolested guns are getting hard to find.

I owned a couple Norincos and never had any problems with the limited shooting I did with them. I hear a lot of folks talking about gunsmith's loving them, but when they were plentiful, I contacted Novaks about having some custom work done. At the time they told me that that wouldn't work on Norincos. The fellow I talked to didn't seem too impressed with them. I'm not sure if they changed their policy later or not.

I've seen the compact Norincos online before, but I've never had my hands on one.

I google searched "Norinco 1911 compact" and looked at images. A Glocktalk forum thread popped up w/a picture. It's exactly how mine is.

Here's the thread:
Went to pick up a Glock, put a Norinco 1911 Compact on layaway | Glock Talk

It looks like the grip safety, extended thumb safety, trigger and grips are original to the gun.

There are also blued Norinco 1911s around, too.

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Thread Killer.

Again, I learn something new every day.

Nice score. If I found one I’d buy it too. I own a full size 1911 Norinco. I’ve known about the Commander for a long time, just never seen on in the wild. I have an old Wilson Combat catalog and it lists Norinco as one of the pistols they would work on. Also lists Wilson parts for them. Mine has a Wilson Combat long pad competition trigger.