My son and I have acquired some of those cheap Norinco 1911s. All of them shoot about 2 to 4 inches left, for me. This is not unusual. Most guns that shoot POA for other shooters hit to the left for me. All but one had perfect elevation. One shot about 4" high.
I tried to drift the rear sights, but even with a large bolt for a drift and a good sized hammer, with slide in a vice, the rear sight would not budge.
I posted a message here, asking if there was any truth to the rumour that the sights were LocTited or soldered in place. Nobody confirmed that, but others reported they could not get the sight to move.
I could not see any evidence of solder, which seemed like an unlikely explanation anyway, but LocTite did seem like a possibility. So I applied heat with my BBQ starter wand, then soaked in oil, and hit it hard. No luck.
Today I went to see Rodger Kotanko about some other gun issues, but I took a bag of 1911 slides and told him of the problem. He was skeptical of the solder and LocTite theory, too. He put the first slide in his vice, and used a nylon block and a hammer. On the first blow the sight flew across the room. This was the same one I had heated and oiled.
WTF???
I noted oil on the bottom of the dovetail, so I think in the week the slide sat around, the oil finally gut into where it could do some good. There was no sign of LocTite. But the dovetail was kinda rough. The sight was nicely made and very smooth. My theory is that in the 15 years or so the guns were in storage, the rough dovetail grabbed the steel sight. Oil is your friend.
The other slides had not been oiled. One sight popped out very easily. Two others took a steel punch and some strong whacks with a good sized hammer.
I decided that the pistol that shot high needed a taller front sight. In my sight bin I had a fibre optic front sight with a Colt Series 70 tenon (correct sight for a Norc). It is about 100 thou taller than the stock sight (making it shoot lower - what I want).
This is too much correction (I think) so I took the opportunity to install a taller (by about 70 thou) rear sight.
The other slides got the original rear sights put back on. They are now adjustable for left right without having to use a sledge hammer. I used a needle file to clean up the dovetail, so it is not rough and broke the sharp edges on the sight base. A dab of oil in the dovetail probably helped, too.
I tried to drift the rear sights, but even with a large bolt for a drift and a good sized hammer, with slide in a vice, the rear sight would not budge.
I posted a message here, asking if there was any truth to the rumour that the sights were LocTited or soldered in place. Nobody confirmed that, but others reported they could not get the sight to move.
I could not see any evidence of solder, which seemed like an unlikely explanation anyway, but LocTite did seem like a possibility. So I applied heat with my BBQ starter wand, then soaked in oil, and hit it hard. No luck.
Today I went to see Rodger Kotanko about some other gun issues, but I took a bag of 1911 slides and told him of the problem. He was skeptical of the solder and LocTite theory, too. He put the first slide in his vice, and used a nylon block and a hammer. On the first blow the sight flew across the room. This was the same one I had heated and oiled.
WTF???
I noted oil on the bottom of the dovetail, so I think in the week the slide sat around, the oil finally gut into where it could do some good. There was no sign of LocTite. But the dovetail was kinda rough. The sight was nicely made and very smooth. My theory is that in the 15 years or so the guns were in storage, the rough dovetail grabbed the steel sight. Oil is your friend.
The other slides had not been oiled. One sight popped out very easily. Two others took a steel punch and some strong whacks with a good sized hammer.
I decided that the pistol that shot high needed a taller front sight. In my sight bin I had a fibre optic front sight with a Colt Series 70 tenon (correct sight for a Norc). It is about 100 thou taller than the stock sight (making it shoot lower - what I want).
This is too much correction (I think) so I took the opportunity to install a taller (by about 70 thou) rear sight.
The other slides got the original rear sights put back on. They are now adjustable for left right without having to use a sledge hammer. I used a needle file to clean up the dovetail, so it is not rough and broke the sharp edges on the sight base. A dab of oil in the dovetail probably helped, too.
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