What/How to make my Norc 1911 better. What Else???

ForaFewDollarsMore

ForaFewDollarsMore

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So I have just completely disassembled my Norc 1911 Commander. I wanted to improve on it, but not sure what to do or why it might make it a better pistol. I don't want to change everything. Just things that might be prudent. I was thinking of taking it to a gunsmith that I have been dealing with a while and see if he can tune it up so to speak. Don't really know what would be involved.



So far I ordered from Marstar
-Checkered Wood Grips. (wanted these for awhile)
-Extended mag release. (a piece fell of my current one and I lost it)
-New slide lock. (old one has bluing thats spotty, doesn't look good)

Also I polished the feed ramp on the barrel and polished the whole barrel to a nice shine. Using mothers polish.

Started to do the same with the frame and slide. Have to be careful cause the bluing.
Was also thinking of changing the sights. To what Im not sure.


*If anyone has some Ideas would be appreciated. Thanks
 
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The slide rails on Norc 1911 is a bit coarse & if you were to sand it with #1200 & water at the same time, after which you finish it with a good polish, you will see what a difference it makes when you rack it later on.
a word of caution, do not try to press sand, repeated gentle sanding with the sand paper wetted is the way to go. Remember, it's to smooth up the rough part of the rail & not to file the metal.
 
Brownell's will probably be more expensive. Go to Wolff springs and look up your model. Be sure to order the ones for the Commander model and I believe they have a minimum order amount now so spend enough. (I think it's $25). Pick up springs for any other model you have too!
 
Abit course seems to be an understatement. They seem pretty rought right in between the rails. I don't think that 1200 grit will do anything.

I sanded the barrel already with 1000 grit, then 2000 grit and then used mothers. I have a beautiful finish on its now. The rails are much much rougher. Almost to the point where it looks like I need a file.

Also I'm worried how I am going to sand even in between without over sanding the sides. You know on the frame you have the rails and the in between the rails is where its very course. Does that make sense? Do I even have to worry about in between? The frame does ride there. Well I have to figure something out.


tadosan said:
The slide rails on Norc 1911 is a bit coarse & if you were to sand it with #1200 & water at the same time, after which you finish it with a good polish, you will see what a difference it makes when you rack it later on.
a word of caution, do not try to press sand, repeated gentle sanding with the sand paper wetted is the way to go. Remember, it's to smooth up the rough part of the rail & not to file the metal.
Click to expand...
 
Found this guy. Might give it a try. I could go very easy at first and see where I get. Very fine sandpaper. Mabey a gunsmith would be better.? Well I'll see where I get.

[youtube]eiRoX2jrQ-A[/youtube]
 
Im at the site but don't know which model to pick for the Norc. Would I go to Colt? the pick the commander option? Sorry for sounding stupid but I have to make sure.

handofzeus said:
Brownell's will probably be more expensive. Go to Wolff springs and look up your model. Be sure to order the ones for the Commander model and I believe they have a minimum order amount now so spend enough. (I think it's $25). Pick up springs for any other model you have too!
Click to expand...
 
Well I sanded the rails, and polished the frame and slide with some mothers. Looks real nice. Anything else is abit over my head. Gonna stop there. Gonna drop in some parts and continue with my range gun.

Will try and post some pictures after.
 
colinjw said:
Yes, go to the Colt section as the Norc is a Colt clone.
BTW. Not a stupid question.
Click to expand...

Thanks for helping him out colinjw. Easy to forget how confusing some sites like WOLFF can be. I recall trying to buy a trigger/bolt spring for a J.P. Sauer six shooter! Between the Ruger, Colt and Uberti configurations of the same model I almost bought one of each just to be sure!!!
 
Well I ordered a spring set. I have to say that it was a great learning experience taking the 1911 completely apart. I learned alot. Alot of parts, and putting it together really helped me learn how the internals work.
 
You really need to stop now and look into some books on tuning 1911's.

For example the "polishing" you did with the 1000 and 2000 then Mother's polish on the barrel removed some amount of metal. A good measure of a 1911's accuracy is based on how well the nose of the barrel fits into the slide bushing. If it wasn't overly tight and sticky you just made it even more loose and lost some accuracy potential.

Same with the slide rails. Fitting is far more than simply sanding or stoning away metal. If the slides were already a little sloppy then you just made them even MORE sloppy. Oh granted it might feel nice and smooth now. But if the slide is able to wiggle back and forth and up and down where's your accuracy potential going?

Part of the problem is that "polishing" means a lot of different things to different folks. To you it clearly means smooth and shiney. But to a gunsmith "polishing" means different things based on the context of the task at hand. For example a smith might peen down the rails of the slide and frame to remove some play then "polish" them with a special slip stone or diamond hone or even a special wetordry sandpaper tool to ease the fit for a slick and glide'y fit. In many cases this sort of "polishing" merely aims at topping off the bumps so they all look like an even range of equal height plateaus. He's not polishing for smooth and shine when he's "polishing" down for a fit. But then in the next moment things can shift and he'll be polishing the sides of a frame or slide to make things smooth and shiney. The key is that he understands the methods he is using to remove metal and how to limit them to achieve his goals. And make no mistake about it. When you polish your gun like you've described you DID remove some amount of metal.
 
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