Posted: 6/3/2012 9:19:11 AM EDT
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Hi all, I came across a norinco last week that caught my eye for being in very good condition. I have been wanting a basic G.I style for some time so I put money down to hold it. I had not studied up on Norinco's but knew they have a good reputation despite their origin.
My question is about comments I have read now that I am studying up. Most are favorable with the only concern I found being about barrel lug to slide lockup issue. Being a machinist but not a gunsmith I would like to know exactly what to look at to see if this pistol has an issue. I have other 1911's (Gold Cup and a Defender) and have had others so I am pretty familiar with 1911's but dont want to let my desire for a new pistol lead me into buying a problem child, at his point if I found an issue I could apply my deposit to someting else, like ammo. Serial number was in the 309xx range if that helps. Point of this pistol would be as a base for making a reliable full size. I prefer 1911's more than any other pistol but have never had one as reliable as the Glock I typically carry. Thanks for any input. |
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If your only concern is barrel to slide lock up, and you intend on simply using it as a base for something else, buy it if the price is right. The lock up does leave a little to be desired, just look for peening on the barrel and on the inside of the frame. But you likely wont find any. Mine is 522xxx and the lock up isn't great and mine isn't as accurate as my Colts, but is hasn't missed a beat. I'm not claiming to be any sort of expert here, but I think a lot of complaints stem from owners comparing the Norinco to Kimbers, Colts, etc. FWIW, I paid $500 for mine, LNIB, about 6 months ago. |
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Field strip and look at the barrel locking lugs. They should have sharp corners. Peening will appear as rounding or 'chipping'.
Also look at the locking grooves in the slide, although the frame and slide are a much harder steel than the barrel. Mine is a 510,000 series model. No problems at all. Shoots anything. |
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I found one for $450 unmolested this year:  It had the dubious distinction of having the worst trigger pull of any pistol I've ever bought. It maxed out a 10lb trigger pull gauge so we never did find what it was other than 10+ lbs originally. It has a Wilson trigger with a McCormick sear now and comes in at 3.5lbs. It does have the chrome lined barrel and eats any and everything. |
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Maynard,
The trigger sounds about the same as the one I am looking at. I'm curious about the finish on the Norinco's. This one a very good finish and is free from wear and tear other than the slide serrations are not perfect (maybe original machine shop work that is not perfect). The blueing on the slide is almost too good compared to a lot of the photos I am looking at which usually show Norinco's to have a more matte or even parkerized look. The slide blueing is not as good as my Python but its better than some of the new stuff I see, the frame is much less polished. Any input what original Norinco finish looked like ? |
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Maynard, Yours doesn't have the lanyard loop in the MSH did it come like that? And if so, what NNNxxx is yours? The slide serrations on mine are pretty rough, I think they all came like that. Most of the ones that I have seen have a more matte type finish on the slide and a glossier frame; Maybe the earlier ones were all glossy? |
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Quoted: Maynard, Yours doesn't have the lanyard loop in the MSH did it come like that? And if so, what NNNxxx is yours? The slide serrations on mine are pretty rough, I think they all came like that. Most of the ones that I have seen have a more matte type finish on the slide and a glossier frame; Maybe the earlier ones were all glossy? It came with an arched MSH and no loop. Not sure of the serial right now and yes the frame is a little glossier than the slide, that's just a bad pic. |
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Quoted:
Maynard, The trigger sounds about the same as the one I am looking at. I'm curious about the finish on the Norinco's. This one a very good finish and is free from wear and tear other than the slide serrations are not perfect (maybe original machine shop work that is not perfect). The blueing on the slide is almost too good compared to a lot of the photos I am looking at which usually show Norinco's to have a more matte or even parkerized look. The slide blueing is not as good as my Python but its better than some of the new stuff I see, the frame is much less polished. Any input what original Norinco finish looked like ? I've got two Norincos. On one, the slide and frame have a parkerized finish. The other one is blued. On this one, the bluing is bright, except for the sides of the slide, which are matte blued. I have read some reviews from older gun magazines current to the time they were being imported. These two finishes are consistent with Norinco production in the early 90s. They both have digested every kind of hardball and HP I have ever put thru them. They work with every type of mag I have tried to date as well. That's more than I can say for the Springfields I have owned in the past. They remind me very much of the WWII GI pistols I have fooled with over the years. They are a bit roughly finished, but they are very reliable. I have heard of the locking lug problem, but I haven't seen it on either of these. |
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Quoted:
Hi all, I came across a norinco last week that caught my eye for being in very good condition. I have been wanting a basic G.I style for some time so I put money down to hold it. I had not studied up on Norinco's but knew they have a good reputation despite their origin. My question is about comments I have read now that I am studying up. Most are favorable with the only concern I found being about barrel lug to slide lockup issue. Being a machinist but not a gunsmith I would like to know exactly what to look at to see if this pistol has an issue. I have other 1911's (Gold Cup and a Defender) and have had others so I am pretty familiar with 1911's but dont want to let my desire for a new pistol lead me into buying a problem child, at his point if I found an issue I could apply my deposit to someting else, like ammo. Serial number was in the 309xx range if that helps. Point of this pistol would be as a base for making a reliable full size. I prefer 1911's more than any other pistol but have never had one as reliable as the Glock I typically carry. Thanks for any input. My Norinco already is a "reliable full size". It is as reliable as a Glock, which is no more reliable than a lot of pistols. If you get it and it shoots well and is reliable, don't "build" on it. Leave it alone, shoot it, carry it. In fact, I am carrying my Norinco this week. I have HK USPs, Sigs, and Ruger P-series. All are 100 percent reliable and I carry all of them regularly, although just one at a time. 
My Norinco 1911 will not be used as a base as it is just fine like it is. Personally, and I ain't fussing at you, a lot of the complaints of reliability is where people seem to always have to be customizing or tinkering with their 1911s. I have not done anything to my RIA Tactical and I also carry it and I have not had a chance to wring out my SR1911 yet. |
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Well, it's been a while but I brought the Norinco home today. The shop where I bought it is very lay a way friendly and I took advantage of it.
The pistol is in the 300xxx serial range, has ugly plastic grips and a trigger that is probably 10# or more. After field stripping and cleaning I am not sure if previous owner used white lubriplate grease or if it still had some original shipping grease / cosmolene in it. So far so good. I will take to the range tomorrow and find out a little more about it. |
Mine's like the one Maynard has, mine is a 528XXX shown in photo below. Came with original box, magazine, cleaning brush & rod, and original grips, about 20 rounds through it, max, so far. Just picked it up this last week from my Boss, turned out to be really, really cheap.... ;)
And with some pristine period correct Pachmayr wrap-a-rounds installed today: 
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All that is marked on the barrel is at the lug I think it was a c w. It looks like a new one to me, maybe not shot much.
The grips are nice but just a tad small for my hands, they are nice looking but not for a base 1911 I'll put some nice Standard grips on it. And the sights are just fugly on this gun !! |
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Make sure the barrel lugs don't look like this:
That's about what mine looked like. The gun shot so well I had vowed never to mess with it, but I wound up replacing the barrel with one out of the junkbox to keep from chewing the slide up. It passed all the fit tests OK, but I haven't had a chance to take it to the range to see if it shoots any different. The Voices kept urging me to go for the .460 Rowland kit, but I found if I turned the radio up loud enough I could drown them out... |