Got the custom Nork back!!!

Claven2

Claven2

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Well, it took about 4 months to get done, but I finally got the custom 1911 back from Jason Spencer at Gunco. Not his fault really as there was a delay in getting all the parts.

Anyhow, it's AWESOME. It's amazing this started as a cheapo Norinco!

All the flat surfaces are polished to a showroom low lustre blue, all the rest of the gun is bead blasted and blued matte. The MSH was welded up at the bottom and filed back to size for a tight fit. The frame was blended to the MSH. The beavertail was hand filed and fitted. Dovetails were cut for Novak profile. Bushing hand fitted. Grips are Hogue extra fancy Goncalo Alves.

Sights are Smith Enterprise tactical lo-rises for a Novak cut. mainspring housing is Colt series 70.

Almost everything else is Wilson, though I kept the Nok barrel, slide stop, mag release, frame and slide. The gun is an early Lever import that (luckily) doesn;t have the ugly Norinco rollmark on the slide :twisted: Also did not come with a lowered and flared ejection port - Jason did that too.

Let me know what you guys think! I think it looks great :)

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The front sight is also SE, and is the one that comes with the rear sight. It's dovetailed int othe slide. Will try to get another pic up later.

As for how it shoots, it shot well before the work, but I just got the gun back an hour ago, so I can;t say for sure right now... :oops:
 
Unregistered said:
Looks good. I just might have it done. How much did it cost? [roughly in a ballpark figure if you don't want to disclose - I'd be interested]
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Well the labor, milling, blueing, welding etc. was $425 plus tax. The parts, on the other hand, I don;t have a total for as I bought them here and there, but you can add up the stuff you want from the Wilson website or from Brownells. Or you could use other mfgr parts from Ed Brown, Nowlin, CMC or wherever...

As for Jason's work, it speaks for itself. Jason is a true craftsman and if you give him the nod to do his best work (ie, you are willing to pay for it) he can do amazing things with wood and steel.

Now if you go to ARMCO or any of the other good pistolsmiths in Canada you will find that there really are no bargains on good 1911 work. If you want a nice gun - it will cost. Oh well.

But I can recommend Jason now for 1911 work. I'm truely impressed. :)
 
Claven2, very nice pistol. This is my 'rinco #2, which is set up for carry. The main difference between yours and mine is the MSH. I prefer the rounded MSHs but that is just me. Your smith did you proud and now we want a range report! Regards, Richard :D
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Anybody care to explain what a MSH is? By looking for a straight/versus rounded piece on the two featured Norc's, it looks to be the back of the handle/magazine well (below the beaver tail safety). M=magazine... S=Stupid_Question_CanFire... H=handle ?

I always assumed that piece was just part of the frame, but there is a difference between the two Norc's in that area. :roll:

Oh yeah - awesome looking rigs fella's !
 
MSH -Main Spring Housing. Generally speaking the 1911s were flat, and became curved with the 1911A1. Completely interchangable.

Very nice pistols, Gents. Very interested in the range report. :)
 
Speckfire said:
Wow that's a Norc :shock: :shock: ??? China is going to be jealous ;)
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Yeah, well, chinese making under $2 a day aren;t going to put the care and worksmanship into their mass produced products. Luckily, us comparatively rich North Americans can :twisted: and turn their nice "rough forging" into a finished gun... :shock:
 
Now you spent more than the price of a new Norinco on improving it... It sure looks wonderful though. My main block in doing mods has been reliability - given that sometimes "improvements" can have unexpected adverse effects. When you post your range report, I would be most interested in hearing about its feeding and cycling, though given what I've seen so far, I wouldn't be surprised if its perfect after break-in.

My only other thought is that you've spent more than $1000 on that pistol. But being a Norinco, it's resale value will likely be lower than that. Was it a wise decision to build up the Norinco to this degree as opposed to buying a Kimber or something?
 
Nice pair of Norks Richard. I must say though, I really like the Novak mill cut for that streamlined look to the rear sight. IMHO, your No.2 pistol would look that much better if you got it modded :)

Anyhow, I know I have less into this gun than alot of Kimbers, and I'd have to say the comparable Kimber (Tactical Custom II $970 USD at Cali Police Ordnance or Royal II $900 USD are probably closest) isn't really any nicer than my finished pistol. In fact the fit and finish on mine is probably better than an out of the box Kimber. Yes, I have experience with Kimber guns.

Also, by the time TSE or someone gets a Kimber into Canada and pay all the import/export BS the price is much higher than US MSRP and if someone goes this route, they get exactly what they want.
 
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