Project Norinco Commander !
- Thread starter BCWILL
- Start date
Well in my boredom waiting for parts to arrive I eventually decided to ditch the Star Trek emblem and Norinco marks off the Slide as well. Same electric stencil marks as the frame, came off very quick.
Also located a factory Colt mag a friend had lying around so that will be finished to match the pistol when the time comes.
Free is always good !
And lastly I did finally track down a 1911A1 short trigger(only scarce when you need one) so that's now on it's way too.
Thanks to Gunnar from ARMco !
That will be it for awhile, at least until some parts arrive........
Also located a factory Colt mag a friend had lying around so that will be finished to match the pistol when the time comes.
Free is always good !
And lastly I did finally track down a 1911A1 short trigger(only scarce when you need one
) so that's now on it's way too.Thanks to Gunnar from ARMco !
That will be it for awhile, at least until some parts arrive........
I don't know what I'm missing here but for someone that hasn't worked with metal a day in his life, can you explain how are you exactly "removing" the markings??? Are you filling in the the marks with ajb weld or something and then buffing/polishing it after???
Is there any worry about weakening the frame/slide??? Looking at my Nork Commander right now, the markings on the slide are fairly deep. The ones on the frame look shallow enough to not worry but it seems like a lot metal to remove from the slide.
Elbow grease....
Removing markings!
That Norc is looking good! I was thinking that this is probably peanuts compared to the Vaquero you sold me a few years back. At least its flat and not as deep as those damm Ruger roll marks. Personally I can't stand it when firearms manufacturers fell the need to stamp a bunch of crap writing all over a nice looking firearm.
Keep it up,its looking great,oh and by the way like that Ruger if you grow bored with it after you have put countless hours, blood, sweat and maybe a few tears into the Norc and want to rid yourself of it, you know how to reach me!LOL,A guy can try right?
Not exactly true,eh Will !
That Norc is looking good! I was thinking that this is probably peanuts compared to the Vaquero you sold me a few years back.
At least its flat and not as deep as those damm Ruger roll marks. Personally I can't stand it when firearms manufacturers fell the need to stamp a bunch of crap writing all over a nice looking firearm.Keep it up,its looking great,oh and by the way like that Ruger if you grow bored with it after you have put countless hours, blood, sweat and maybe a few tears into the Norc and want to rid yourself of it, you know how to reach me!
LOL,A guy can try right?
I would keep it polish metal cuz I like the bling factor but I can see that the park would also give it a nice vintage look too. One question I have is the sear spring. Wear can you get aftermarket one's for this? Cuz my stock nork one is so tough that when I use my 22LR conversion kit and my hands get tired I start getting some FTF. I just noticed this problem after my aftermarket one broke that I got from flee bay.
Not exactly true,eh Will !
That Norc is looking good! I was thinking that this is probably peanuts compared to the Vaquero you sold me a few years back.
Keep it up,its looking great,oh and by the way like that Ruger if you grow bored with it after you have put countless hours, blood, sweat and maybe a few tears into the Norc and want to rid yourself of it, you know how to reach me!
That comment wasn't for the OP, it was meant for me, lol. Sorry if it was taken the wrong way...
No worries...Bugsy has been known to sound confusing, I don't understand him myself at times...
Haha you've definately pillaged me of guns at some weak moments.........but don't hold yer breath, I won't be selling off any Commanders, just yetBCBUGSY said:
Well I used a technique called "draw filing" as it's easy to keep a flat surface and minimizes file marks...a good file is the key, and a bit of elbow grease as mentioned, simply clamp the piece down good and grasping both ends of a flat file draw it across the surface till marks are gone.volks_r_us said:
Finish up with some fine emery paper and polish till yer happy. Hope this helps clear it up abit
Here this explains some techniques much better then I can......number 8 in particular.
http://www.wikihow.com/File-Metal
Because removing the markings will involve shaving the surrounding metal down each case needs to be examined closely and measurements taken to determine how much metal will need to be removed. I've seen Norincos with markings that are only "scratch deep" and others where the markings were significantly deep in the metal. For the ones that look like they were merely scratched on as with electro markings a few file stokes or even some time on a coarse sharpening stone will do a great job. For the deeper markings it's probably best to live with them since too much metal would need to be removed. The only alternative in those cases is to fill in the markings and use some sort of coating.
I felt the same way. But after I watching a buddy last spring, I decided to do it myself this winter. Took my time and it went better than I expected. Got it put back right the first try.
That's what Norcs (especially) are for. Learner/project pieces, if you are so inclined.
Yeah,ok I get it now!
Like Will said I can be easily confused!I read it and couldn't help but think how many hours he put into a gun I bought from him. Seems he either likes a challenge or has a real distaste for roll stamping! LOL
Later,Bugsy.
Well got away from work today so I had a choice to either paint the baseboards in the living room..........or work on my Commander ?
Seeing how the Wife is at work till later tonight I got to choose which chore I tackled The 1911 won
Thanks to MARSTAR the postman dropped off a couple goodies today, one of which was my 1911A1 grip safety so that became today's "improvement" !
I was surprised it pretty much dropped right in, the fit inside the frame channel was as good as the original beavertail maybe even abit better.
sorry I didn't notice how blurry a couple of pics are...
Two spots that require some attention will be the frame "edges" I circled in the following pics....just two spots where the Norc Factory didn't quite get the radius ground in a nice arc. No biggy, just abit of smoothing required to make it prettier....I'll likely reshape the safety and frame together to improve this fit and make it a much smoother fit in the hand.
Same thing on both sides of frame...
The only real fit issue that affected the grip safeties function was the lower edge of the safety was bottoming out on the mainspring housing...better to long then too short here, some minor polishing on the top of the housing and it fit right in without rubbing.
I didn't have to address the inside edges at all......it fits and functions perfectly ? Obviously a testament to the precision of Norinco parts
I do plan on reshaping the "tail?" of the safety abit just so it doesn't look as chunky, but I'll get to that when I reshape up the ears on the frame abit....more cosmetics
That's all for now.........it's Miller time !
Seeing how the Wife is at work till later tonight I got to choose which chore I tackled
The 1911 won Thanks to MARSTAR the postman dropped off a couple goodies today, one of which was my 1911A1 grip safety so that became today's "improvement" !
I was surprised it pretty much dropped right in, the fit inside the frame channel was as good as the original beavertail maybe even abit better.
sorry I didn't notice how blurry a couple of pics are...
Two spots that require some attention will be the frame "edges" I circled in the following pics....just two spots where the Norc Factory didn't quite get the radius ground in a nice arc. No biggy, just abit of smoothing required to make it prettier....I'll likely reshape the safety and frame together to improve this fit and make it a much smoother fit in the hand.
Same thing on both sides of frame...
The only real fit issue that affected the grip safeties function was the lower edge of the safety was bottoming out on the mainspring housing...better to long then too short here, some minor polishing on the top of the housing and it fit right in without rubbing.
I didn't have to address the inside edges at all......it fits and functions perfectly ? Obviously a testament to the precision of Norinco parts
I do plan on reshaping the "tail?" of the safety abit just so it doesn't look as chunky, but I'll get to that when I reshape up the ears on the frame abit....more cosmetics
That's all for now.........it's Miller time !
Well my 1911A1 trigger arrived very fast from Gunnar at ARMco...a big thanks for the speedy shipping ! Great service !
Decided to fit that tonight, went smooth, polished the sides till it slipped in and out like it was on glass rails. Some minor tweaking to ensure it cleared the inserted mag nicely and that was that.
I actually got really lucky with the Colt replacement hammer, it's the slimmed down Commander type. The hardest part to installing it was removing the strut from the original Norc hammer, that little pin was TIGHT and they "punched" the sides to hold it in place ! I used my vise with a small bit to act like a press..it worked without damaging the strut or pin ! But with alot of pressure, you would not have got that out with a punch and hammer... noway !
With some very very minor "dressing" up the sear surfaces and I mean minimal, just a smoothing up, it actually was finished up very well and matched up to my existing sear almost perfectly... trigger pull is "decent" almost no noticeable creep and measures bang on 5 lbs...I can improve on that later but I'm quite pleased with the fit and function for now.
Waiting for the spring kits from Brownells.....should be soon I hope, been three and a half weeks since they shipped them ? Maybe monday...
Got lots to do in the meantime, next I'll begin the final shaping of the grip safety and frame, clean up the edges, smooth up things etc.
Then it'll be almost time for the Parkerising !
Decided to fit that tonight, went smooth, polished the sides till it slipped in and out like it was on glass rails. Some minor tweaking to ensure it cleared the inserted mag nicely and that was that.
I actually got really lucky with the Colt replacement hammer, it's the slimmed down Commander type. The hardest part to installing it was removing the strut from the original Norc hammer, that little pin was TIGHT and they "punched" the sides to hold it in place ! I used my vise with a small bit to act like a press..it worked without damaging the strut or pin ! But with alot of pressure, you would not have got that out with a punch and hammer... noway !
With some very very minor "dressing" up the sear surfaces and I mean minimal, just a smoothing up, it actually was finished up very well and matched up to my existing sear almost perfectly... trigger pull is "decent" almost no noticeable creep and measures bang on 5 lbs...I can improve on that later but I'm quite pleased with the fit and function for now.
Waiting for the spring kits from Brownells.....should be soon I hope, been three and a half weeks since they shipped them ? Maybe monday...
Got lots to do in the meantime, next I'll begin the final shaping of the grip safety and frame, clean up the edges, smooth up things etc.
Then it'll be almost time for the Parkerising !
I'm curious why you went with the A1 grip safety over the original? I could see it if you also switch to a spur hammer but since you're keeping the ring (oval?) style hammer they seem to go with the swoopier beavertails that I guess I just see them as a matched pair. The present combo just looks odd to me.
I actually think it looks sweet in the bright as it is now. I've always been a blued gun fan but pictures like yours are making me lust after a stainless gun of some sort.
I actually think it looks sweet in the bright as it is now. I've always been a blued gun fan but pictures like yours are making me lust after a stainless gun of some sort.
Why the A1 safety ? I dunno just a preference thing really....I like the Old school "Classic" 1911A1 look. I'm not against beavertails or ducktails I just go for the look of the "Original" commanders. I changed the hammer to a more "classic" looking Commander one, albeit a "modernized" version
Here's one of my Original Colt Commanders....I just love the look of them,that's all.
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