Traded For A "Norinco"(?) 1911 - School Me

[doc540]

I'm hustling to finance the K-22 I just bought here.

serial #508xxx

"pre-ban"?

Funky grips but seems to be a decent 1911.

any idead what it's worth cuz I'm dumping it pronto

 

[redlevel]

I have two of them. I bought one back in the 90s and the other two years ago. I paid $400 otd for the used one, including a box of factory ammo. They are tough as Chinese railroad steel. No mim, all steel forgings, a faithful copy of the 1911A1, so those parts fit. Mine have been
reliable. I only use hardball in 1911s cause God and JM Browning meant it to be. I wouldn't trade mine for any of the entry level 1911s available.

 

[cmort666]

The major components (frame, slide and barrel) are simply of EXCELLENT quality.

The smaller parts (leaf spring, etc.) not so much. In fact, they're likely to be pure garbage.

I bought mine from a friend for $300, around ten years ago. It had a problem with the hammer "following", so I pulled the mainspring housing to have a look at the leaf spring. It was BRIGHT red with rust. It had NO finish of ANY kind on it, where a normal part would be blued or parkerized.

The guy who works on my guns replaced a bunch of the smaller parts and did a little tuning. Now it's 100% reliable and has a EIM legal 4lb. trigger. It's one of my favorite carry guns.

As an amusing side note, when I got the gun, it had the factory "GI" brown plastic grips. The first time I cleaned the gun, I flushed the frame out with some Outer's Gun Scrubber spray cleaner. I went to set the frame down to check on the slide... and COULDN'T! The Gun Scrubber had melted the grips to my hand! I'm not sure what they were made of, but it must be akin to polystyrene model plastic. I trashed the grips and got a set of Eagle fake ivories, which look really good.

The sights aren't as nice as more expensive guns, but they are three dot, if rather small.

 

[cmort666]

Mine have been
reliable. I only use hardball in 1911s cause God and JM Browning meant it to be. I wouldn't trade mine for any of the entry level 1911s available.

Mine is a carry gun, and I never carry ball in ANY carry gun.

It shoots GI ball, my 200gr. LSWC softball handloads, 117gr. Aguila IQ, and the Hornady 200gr. TAP that I carry, equally reliably.

 

[doc540]

Thanks for the info, gentlemen.

 

[Arik]

My shoots everything ive fed it including all HP ammo. Only mods done to it was an added ambi safety. Im a lefty. I was able to hit 100 yard steel plates fairly consistently. I paid $250 for it in February. Next im thinking of slowly replacing the small parts but not any time soon.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[cmort666]

Assuming that I get a real job eventually, I'd like to send it to somebody to have GOOD iron sights installed, since that's the ONLY thing it lacks.

 

[Fishslayer]

[Threadjack]

As an amusing side note, when I got the gun, it had the factory "GI" brown plastic grips. The first time I cleaned the gun, I flushed the frame out with some Outer's Gun Scrubber spray cleaner. I went to set the frame down to check on the slide... and COULDN'T! The Gun Scrubber had melted the grips to my hand!

A lot of cleaners have an ingredient desinged to attack plastic residue from shotgun wads. A problem with polymer frames.

[/Threadjack] Carry on.

 

[cmort666]

[Threadjack]



A lot of cleaners have an ingredient desinged to attack plastic residue from shotgun wads. A problem with polymer frames.

[/Threadjack] Carry on.

Outer's is a pretty big company and can't afford to repair/replace a bunch of people's guns. I STRONGLY suspect that the fault lay with the materials and NOT with the cleaner. I've used it on Glocks with not a hint of damage of any kind.

It's hardly a big leap from poisoned dog food and lead paint on children's toys to inappropriate grip materials.

But as I said, the major components are first rate.

 

[BUFF]

The Norinco 1911 might have been the highest quality firearm imported from China. They have an excellent reputation among 1911-oriented gunsmiths. It was a case of reverse engineering done right. They have always been a pretty good value, quality versus price.

 

[LVSteve]

Assuming that I get a real job eventually, I'd like to send it to somebody to have GOOD iron sights installed, since that's the ONLY thing it lacks.

Like most GI style 1911s.

 

[m1gunner]

On the Norc I had, the barrel steel wasn't properly hardened in the lug area. Rapid wear and deformation of the lugs. I replaced the barrel with a new USGI chrome lined barrel, problem solved.

As far as selling, it should sell quick for $350, priced at $450 it will take a while, as that is above new RIA price. They are well built guns, but like the Spanish Star, folks consider any Chinese gun as sub par as to quality.

As to the rusty leaf spring, mine was lacquer coated from the factory for corrosion protection. Good idea to replace that part with a proper finished spring.

 

[Ironhand]

My brother has one that he bought back in 1993 or 1994. It was definitely used when he got it, but he also shot it a bunch until the sear broke. It went full-auto on him during a range trip, dumping an entire mag in one short burst. He put it away and promptly gave it over to a gunsmith, who replaced the leaf spring with a Clark 4-leaf spring, as well as some other small parts he thought should be upgraded.

Fast forward 17 or 18 years and he still shoots it all the time with 0 problems. It still has the tiny sights and safety, worn blued finish, and hard plastic grips it came with.

 

[Jswiney9]

The Norinco 1911 might have been the highest quality firearm imported from China. They have an excellent reputation among 1911-oriented gunsmiths. It was a case of reverse engineering done right. They have always been a pretty good value, quality versus price.

Basically what I was going to say. They are actually pretty decent guns except for those tiny little sights. I wouldnt mind getting my hands on another one. I replaced a few of the internals with better parts but besides that I like them!

 

[papajohn428]

I had one back in the late 90's, found it in a pawn shop for $250, whoever had it before me had spent several hundred dollars replacing everything but the frame and slide, it was really tricked out. New stainless barrel, match trigger, Commander hammer, better sights, the works. I sold it in a weak moment and regret it, it would feed anything.

 

[Bib]

I've got one....serial # about 1000 over the O.P's. The lugs on my barrel broke and I replaced it with a "gunshow" special. I got lucky....it dropped right in and fit as well as if it had been hand fitted by a 'smith. My extractor wore out after about 30,000 rounds. One thing to watch out for....my grip screws do NOT interchange with any of the others I have..(possibly metric?) Careful not to booger-up your threads if you're swapping grips. I've done a lot of tinkering with mine over the years & it's now semi-retired. I've got a S&W 1911 .45 and an STI Spartan 9mm 1911 that I shoot regularly. I don't think I'll ever part with my Norc, though.

 

[cmort666]

One of the amusing things about them is the roll mark that says "Model of the M1911".