1911 norc dehorn and refinish project

Duke878 said:
Noob to the 1911... what's the "horn" and why is it beneficial to remove it?
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The "horn" is anything on the gun that is sharp that you don't want to get gouged or cut by. I had a Stainless Colt Gold Cup from the "80's" where just about every edge was like a knife. No radius as all. It required a fair bit of dehorning to make it even remotely comfortable. If you haven't seen a gun with sharp edges it is hard to imagine that they can ship that way, and just how painful those machined edges can be before they are smoothed into a large radius corner. Make sense?

I have a Norc M305 that I want to dehorn to match the smooth edges of my Garand. My Marlin SBL lever needed serious dehorning as well. It isn't just 1911's.
 
Duke878 said:
It's pretty much a comfort thing right? I'm all about modding things, but performance takes priority over looks and comfort with me
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I agree with this. But some edges/burrs can ba painful.

But if I’m modding for performance, trigger job for example, the gun is apart anyway so a little inside cleanup, as well as deburring/dehorning, wouldn’t add much more build time. Deburring may need only a few strokes of emery paper, which would smooth out the rough edge or burrs, of a sharp corner. Dehorning is more involved requiring more tools and skill to do a good job to look like a Kimber Stainless Target or Dan Wesson.

I had an all-chrome Norinco Commander .45 that looked good from 5 ft. But hated shooting it. Felt like every edge needed deburring. Literally every edge including the gripping grooves, beaver tail, safety, rear sight. I would have tried emery cloth but didn’t want to risk having to rechrome it.

Btw, nice job there, OP. You’ll enjoy shooting that piece more.
 
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If you start getting cut when shooting a gun, the blood will interfere with your grip and it now moves from a ‘comfort’ issue to a ‘performance’ issue. Lol!

Nice job, OP. :cheers:
 
I have had a few and never had any problem with too sharp edges, other than the mags are sharp, if you use Nork mags, that is the best reason to get a mag loader.
I sold a few NP27 commanders and they where all good, the NP29's and 1911 where all well used.
If you are buying a new one, I would shoot a few boxes of ammo out of it , to smooth out the inside, and than start cleaning it up if you want.
There newer ones seem to be a lot smoother than the older ones.
The SAM's are quite good for the price point.
 
JasonGTA said:
I plan on buying a Norinco 1911 after basic training, I like the original GI look of the 1911. Would it be a good idea to dehorn it and reblue it after?
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If you are willing to refinish it and you like the original GI look, zinc parkerizing might be a good idea. I parkerized mine with the zinc parkerizing solution sold from this website: http://www.pjsproducts.com/radocy.htm

You can parkerize a Norinco 1911 without sandblasting it, but I tried both and I definitely prefer the result when the pistol was sandblasted.
 
Larcheveque said:
If you are willing to refinish it and you like the original GI look, zinc parkerizing might be a good idea. I parkerized mine with the zinc parkerizing solution sold from this website: http://www.pjsproducts.com/radocy.htm

You can parkerize a Norinco 1911 without sandblasting it, but I tried both and I definitely prefer the result when the pistol was sandblasted.
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Sand or bead blasting? I did a couple thing with glass beads, and also ground glass, very fine, Turned out super smooth, but still a matt finish when done.
Sand I always used after a welder, before paint, ie truck stuff.
Something way better for sharp edges is ceramic rods for knife sharping , or for flat spots , diamond plates, , like a file, and your edges will be straight, not wavy which can happen with paper, unless you use a block.
 
marshall said:
Sand or bead blasting? I did a couple thing with glass beads, and also ground glass, very fine, Turned out super smooth, but still a matt finish when done.
Sand I always used after a welder, before paint, ie truck stuff.
Something way better for sharp edges is ceramic rods for knife sharping , or for flat spots , diamond plates, , like a file, and your edges will be straight, not wavy which can happen with paper, unless you use a block.
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I used Grit #80 aluminium oxyde in my sandblast cabinet. If I remember well, the pressure was around 65 psi.
 
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