M1911 is so much fun! It is not just a gun. It is many other things besides a gun. I fully understand why so many people are obsessed with it, because I am.
When Marstar's new Norinco NP-29 shipment arrived in late October, I ordered one right away. I had another Norinco 1911 in .45 ACP, and a 9mm addition should be fun. And, I also like to do some kind of "project" to one 1911 while shooting the other. The .45 was a very tight and nice shooter. However the finish was crappy. I can't stand the tool marks, rough surface and the glossy polished bluing. On the other hand, finish on the NP-29 was somehow better. The only complaint was that the trigger was very heavy - it felt like 80 lbs. After 200 rounds and a lot of dry firing, there was no improvement at all. I had to squeeze very hard to fire the NP-29, and grouping suffered.
As a result, one project became two: re-finish the .45, and tune the trigger of the 9mm.
Refinishing:
For the re-finishing job, I ordered a Black Oxide Kit form Caswell Canada. It is a room temperature solution so I won't have to boil hot chemical at home. Some people on CGN had some good results with this product. The kit came to my house 7 days after I ordered it. It contained 16oz of concentrated solution and 2 cans of deep penetrating oil.
The next thing I did was to dehorn the slide and part of the frame. The gun had some very sharp edges, and a small file and 220 grit sand paper did the job nicely: just to remove a little bit of metal so the gun is smooth in touch, but still looks the same. I am never a fan of any "melting" look. Too much.
When everything is ready (distilled water, chemical resistant gloves, etc), I went to the stripper (yeah...) to bead blast the slide, frame, bushing, slide stop, grip safety, thumb safety, MSH, hammer and recoil spring plug. The original bluing came off in seconds. The silver color looked kind of strange on my gun...
Dipping the parts into the 1:9 solution for 5 minutes, they became black. And then soaked them in the oil to displace water, and let them dry by themselves. I rubbed of some black color from the parts with a pc of cloth, but a nice dark charcoal grey finish (almost black) stayed on the gun. Because of the bead blasted surface, the gun now has a matte dark finish that looks powerful. It is very similar to the Kimber pistols' black oxide finish.
Compared to the 9mm, the .45 now looks so much nicer. It won't be long before I re-finish the 9mm too. Maybe after I receive the straight MSH from Brownells....
Trigger:
As I had mentioned, the new NP-29 had a very heavy trigger, and it doesn't become any lighter after 200 rounds and a lot of dry firing. I ordered a Chip McCormick hammer & sear set ($37), and a Wilson Combat match long trigger ($16) from Brownells. I had never done any work on pistols before so I was quite nervous when I started.
After fitting and polishing the trigger shoe and bow, the Wilson trigger slides into the frame smoothly. I kept the Norc disconnector, but replaced the sear and hammer with the Chip McCormick ones. Then re-assembled the gun. Wow... It is soooo different. I now have a nice crisp 3 pound trigger. Amazing drop-in parts.
The next project will be ... maybe sights? It will never end. That I know for sure.
When Marstar's new Norinco NP-29 shipment arrived in late October, I ordered one right away. I had another Norinco 1911 in .45 ACP, and a 9mm addition should be fun. And, I also like to do some kind of "project" to one 1911 while shooting the other. The .45 was a very tight and nice shooter. However the finish was crappy. I can't stand the tool marks, rough surface and the glossy polished bluing. On the other hand, finish on the NP-29 was somehow better. The only complaint was that the trigger was very heavy - it felt like 80 lbs. After 200 rounds and a lot of dry firing, there was no improvement at all. I had to squeeze very hard to fire the NP-29, and grouping suffered.
As a result, one project became two: re-finish the .45, and tune the trigger of the 9mm.
Refinishing:
For the re-finishing job, I ordered a Black Oxide Kit form Caswell Canada. It is a room temperature solution so I won't have to boil hot chemical at home. Some people on CGN had some good results with this product. The kit came to my house 7 days after I ordered it. It contained 16oz of concentrated solution and 2 cans of deep penetrating oil.
The next thing I did was to dehorn the slide and part of the frame. The gun had some very sharp edges, and a small file and 220 grit sand paper did the job nicely: just to remove a little bit of metal so the gun is smooth in touch, but still looks the same. I am never a fan of any "melting" look. Too much.
When everything is ready (distilled water, chemical resistant gloves, etc), I went to the stripper (yeah...) to bead blast the slide, frame, bushing, slide stop, grip safety, thumb safety, MSH, hammer and recoil spring plug. The original bluing came off in seconds. The silver color looked kind of strange on my gun...
Dipping the parts into the 1:9 solution for 5 minutes, they became black. And then soaked them in the oil to displace water, and let them dry by themselves. I rubbed of some black color from the parts with a pc of cloth, but a nice dark charcoal grey finish (almost black) stayed on the gun. Because of the bead blasted surface, the gun now has a matte dark finish that looks powerful. It is very similar to the Kimber pistols' black oxide finish.
Compared to the 9mm, the .45 now looks so much nicer. It won't be long before I re-finish the 9mm too. Maybe after I receive the straight MSH from Brownells....
Trigger:
As I had mentioned, the new NP-29 had a very heavy trigger, and it doesn't become any lighter after 200 rounds and a lot of dry firing. I ordered a Chip McCormick hammer & sear set ($37), and a Wilson Combat match long trigger ($16) from Brownells. I had never done any work on pistols before so I was quite nervous when I started.
After fitting and polishing the trigger shoe and bow, the Wilson trigger slides into the frame smoothly. I kept the Norc disconnector, but replaced the sear and hammer with the Chip McCormick ones. Then re-assembled the gun. Wow... It is soooo different. I now have a nice crisp 3 pound trigger. Amazing drop-in parts.
The next project will be ... maybe sights? It will never end. That I know for sure.
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Your thread will be referenced too when my 3 Norinco 1911's come in. I ordered the NP-29 9mm single stack, the 1911 Commander 45 ACP and the 1911 Government 45 ACP. I will be converting the Government into a .22 rimfire by using a Kimber conversion Kit that i have already bought. The plan was to have a 1911 for any occasion. I will be performing your work on all of them, providing i can find someone local that can do the beed blasting. 
