Scored a nice Norinco 1911 today

[afultz075]

Today I went on my bi-monthly roadtrip to some out of the area gunshops. Just as I arrived at the first stop on the trip a customer was trading this Norinco 1911. The guys behind the counter offered to let me take a look at it before they put it in the case. When they said $300 for it my wallet couldn't come out of my pocket fast enough. It appears to have been upgraded with some LPA (I think) sights, a commander hammer, a compensator, and a goofy looking aftermarket trigger. Gun is nice and clean inside and outside.

I'm probably going to have am ambi safety installed and have the trigger replaced. It looks like I might need a new ejector and/or extractor as the gun doesn't seem to eject spent brass or snap caps well at all.

[Nigil75]

Congratulations and enjoy! I've never seen one personally and don't know that much about them. Why was it so cheap? Or is that the normal price for a Norinco? What is a Norinco? What is special/different about them besides the compensator? I've heard of them before but don't know anything about them. In need of my daily knowledge fix please!

[knight0334]

Congratulations and enjoy! I've never seen one personally and don't know that much about them. Why was it so cheap? Or is that the normal price for a Norinco? What is a Norinco? What is special/different about them besides the compensator? I've heard of them before but don't know anything about them. In need of my daily knowledge fix please!

Norinco is a Chinese production. That barrel bushing is an aftermarket piece. The one that comes from the factory looks like any other OEM 1911.

I paid either $279 or $289 for mine brandnew back in 1993. Clinton stopped the importation of any other "nonsporting" firearms from China, so supply & demand raised the prices of Norcs. $300 is pretty good for a good condition Norinco 1911 these days.

They are pretty much an exact copy of the spec 1911A1 - except for one thing. They are made of better carbon steel than ANY other make - and I mean any. All others use a lessor grade carbon steel or stainless, where as Norinco uses 5100 series tool steel. It is harder than most tooling bits. I used (3) grinding stones just to make a .250" radius cut for a beavertail grip.

[NRA Recruiter]

They are a good enough gun that Bill Wilson was using them as a platform for custom guns until importation was stopped.

[knight0334]

They are a good enough gun that Bill Wilson was using them as a platform for custom guns until importation was stopped.

They are also on the short list of manufacturers that Clark will support for the .460 Rowland conversion.

[Guns N'at]

Nice score! Got my B-West marked Norinco 1911A1 NIB in 1993 for $225. Left mine all stock but the grip, and it continues to perform extremely well. After some very minor action work I did retaining all the original parts, it has a trigger to die for. I do use a Wilson 18.5 lb recoil spring at times, but going heavier also adds forward battering to the slide/frame going into battery FWIW. Say that fast five times.

If your pistol is anything like mine, it will be/practically 100% reliable with any properly made ammo you can stuff in a good magazine, and accurate to boot. Mine feeds empty sized cases easily, and while some say that is no mark of reliability; total reliability in actual firing backs it up. Great steel used in these pistols, and in my experience the frame and slide are cut/bored right, and mine is still pretty tight after a lot of shooting. Curious if you got the orginal mags with it?... Mine came with two, both numbered to the gun.

[afultz075]

Just got back from shooting it. It functioned flawlessly. I only shot about 40 rounds through it but no failures. The rear sight needs to go though, it was shooting about 6 inches high at 7 yards with the sight bottomed out (the front sight is too low for the rear sight). I'm just going to replace it with a low-profile GI sight to restore the GI look. I'm also going to have the original-style spur hammer installed to keep the GI look going.

[afultz075]

And yes, I did get two original mags with it numbered to the gun.

[Remington788]

They are pretty much an exact copy of the spec 1911A1 - except for one thing. They are made of better carbon steel than ANY other make - and I mean any. All others use a lessor grade carbon steel or stainless, where as Norinco uses 5100 series tool steel. It is harder than most tooling bits. I used (3) grinding stones just to make a .250" radius cut for a beavertail grip.

I read somewhere that they were made out of recycled railroad tracks (which I guess is pretty tough steel).

Any truth that this?

[NRA Recruiter]

I read somewhere that they were made out of recycled railroad tracks (which I guess is pretty tough steel).

Any truth that this?

That really doesn't matter. Unless they milled them out of the tracks, which isn't likely. The track would be melted and combined with iron ore and other nifty stuff, essentially making new steel.

The gun makers in Pakistan do make guns out of stolen rails.