My Norinco 1911 (NP29) Experience

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So I have a Norinco 1911 in 45, it has worked great so far. I picked up a NP29 to use for IDPA.
Using light loaded factory ammo (cheap 115 gr Remington stuff).
2 malfunctions on the first mag through it.
In the next 100 rounds I may have had 2 stovepipes.
Then I had a serious jam. The slide locked up with a spent case partially in the chamber and the slide about 1/2" out of battery. Couldn't figure out how to unjam. Eventually we pushed the case fully into the chamber, slide still jammed. Then we hammered the back of the slide on the edge of a table and were able to push it back into place. Took it home, cleaned it, properly oiled it, back to the range.
Using the same light factory ammo I had a couple of the same slide jams in the first dozen rounds.
Trying some 124gr reloads (4.8gr CFEpistol, 124gr Hornady FMJ RN, a starting load) I put about 120 rounds down range with a malfunction every 5-10 rounds (failure to eject mostly) until I started getting the same jammed slide out of battery every few rounds.
During this time, the front sight simply fell off when I fired a round. Also the slide frequently fails to lock back, probably the crappy sticky stock magazines. Also the trigger wiggles vertically, and if it is high it will not move backwards and you cannot fire.
Also if I pull the slide back on an empty gun and slowly let it forward, it sometimes stops on its own about 1/4" out of battery.

Summary: not a good experience. Thoughts? Try different ammo? Should I try to return it? Or should I take it to a smith and have him work it over?
 
Tear down - do a full clean of it - slide stopping when you let go means something is holding it up. Fit and finish is normally not very good so some people smooth out the slide to help make it smoother as they normally can have serious finishing flaws and rough machining.

Oil it good - try different magazines - try a number of different brands of ammunition. Trying these things 1 at a time will help eliminate what it could be.

At the end of the day remember this is a Chinese cheap handgun.
 
Sounds like a lemon to me! Try to return/exchange it.

Mine ran like a top as does my 45 Commander.

M
 
I've owned 2. First one ran 200 rounds straight without a stoppage. Just kept loading and shooting at the same target. At 15 yards, (other than 3 operator error flyers) all the rounds were in a 6" group. It was very reliable with every kind of ammo except one of my reloads that had an OAL a bit too short for it's liking. Ended up selling it out of boredom.
The second NP29 was similar except that it went 450 rounds before I cleaned it. I had 2 stovepipes on the first mag, then it ran straight with zero issues. It wasn't quite as accurate as the first, but they aren't target guns anyways. I would completely disassemble it, look for roughly machined areas, try to smooth any you can, and then once back together, as suggested above, try one thing at a time. The most common issue with these is the magazines. They are crap, have burrs occasionally on the inside raceway, and are either sprung too tightly or too loosely. The second most common issue with this (any pretty much any handgun) is that they have their own unique likes and dislikes. Two guns coming off the assembly line back to back may very well like completely different brands and weights of ammo. Before gunsmithing or returning it, I'd get some McCormick or other quality mags and a large variety of brands and bullet weights to see what the "node" is that this gun likes.
The fact that it isn't going into battery makes me pause. Take a careful look when you manipulate the slide to see if anything rough is "catching" anywhere on the slide with enough friction to slow it's return to battery. (plus oil the crap out of it). Dremel lightly, or sand/file lightly if something obvious is wrong.
 
From your description it sounds like you got a lemon. The machining is rough for every norincos, but they run correctly, and some of them are pretty accurate. Normally you feel the cheapness in the trigger, not in the function. I have 3 norincos (NP22, NP27 and NP29 ) and all three function just fine, with varying accuracy. I've seen tens of them at the range and none were misbehaving like yours.

The front sight that fell has happened to more than one gun though. Just stick it back in with locktight.

Try returning/exchanging it. If you can't, I'd bet the problem is with the slide, so you can try polishing the inside of the slide, but you might go crazy before you fix it.
 
I had issues with my new NP29. I lapped the slide to frame to eliminate the slide binding. I had a very sloppy trigger as well so I bought a Caspian Trik trigger that is oversized but easy to file fit. The front site on mine was held in by 3 tiny peen marks on the slide at the front and back of the site. I removed it and applied the gel blue Loctite. Mine had ejection issues so I pulled out the extractor and discovered it was a .45 extractor so I replaced it with a EGW 9mm extractor and a STI firing pin stop that requires fitting as well, problem solved.

Trigger pull was heavy so I installed a 17lb Wolf hammer spring and a Wolf sear/leaf spring that I adusted/tuned. I then worked over the Norc sear and hammer. The Caspian Trik trigger is adjustable for over travel but not for take up so I added a .035" shim pad to that rear of the trigger bow. I ended up with a crisp 3lb trigger pull, the take up is down, you pull the trigger .30" and off she goes, very little creep. I also swapped out all the pins with a Ed Brown full precision ground pin set.

Now onto the barrel and slide. I replaced the Norc barrel link with a EGW #3 link with there oversized pin. The barrel bushing is WAY out of spec, I have a total of .018" clearance combining the bushing to slide fit and the barrel to bushing fit, the barrel actually sits off to one side in the slide. I have a custom barrel bushing coming from EGW that will drop my barrel to bushing clearance at .001" and bushing to slide clearance at .002", so .003" overall clearance combining the bushing to slide fit and the barrel to bushing fit compared to .018"

Last week I decided to slug the barrel and discovered the bore is at .357" which isn't to ideal with my bullets that measure at .354"-.355" max. In a perfect world you want the bullet to match the barrel bore diameter. New match grade barrel is not in my budget get right now so I am going to experiment with .357" bullets.

I experienced the slide not locking back on a empty mag and discovered I was hitting the slide stop because it is so long. I have a EGW slide stop coming aswell, the pin part on the new one is .203 which will match the slide stop holes in the frame, the Norc slide stop pin measured at .195". The EGW barrel bushing and slide stop will definitely snug things right up. I would like to send the gun after I get those parts installed sometime to http://darkinternational.com/index.php?main_page=privacy&zenid=c6f8eecd737be91155cb047d692657a8 for there competition fit slide to frame for $75.00.

I use a 11lb Wolf recoil spring with my 9mm 147gr Campro's, 3.1gr TiteGroup, CCI primers with a OAL of 1.120"

I clipped 2 coils off the bottom of each mag spring and have no issues..

I expected a reasonable gun but definitely not a perfect gun considering the price of them. I will have a few bucks and time in it and yes it will still just be a Norinco but I have enjoyed doing the work and will end up with a great shooting 1911. :cool:

I wouldn't really recommend the Norinco NP29 1911A1 to a guy who doesn't have the ability or want to tinker :rey2 . Over the weekend I will add up the $$$ amount in parts I have bought for my NP29 so far.

Please excuse any typos, I am extremely tired and better get offline lol.

PM me with any questions or consider sending your whole gun to Dark International for a work over.
 
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IMHO, a new norc pistol should only be purchased from a reputable vendor that will replace a defective gun.
Before shooting, the new gun is disassembled, old lube removed, all rough spots are stoned/sanded/polished, especially the slide grooves, lightly lubed and then reassembled and function tested. No trigger job is needed on the newer ones IMO. I won't invest much to fix one, but I don't mind a bit of tinkering but generally it should shoot very well new. I will not accept a gun with a sloppy slide fit.

If it behaves badly on the first trip to the range and getting worse, I'd just return it for replacement.
I've never had to do that though, my Norinco experience with so far is very positive, except for recent a broken NZ-85 firing pin, probably caused by a dirty gun.
Buying a used Norinco from a person with good feedback who says a gun is reliable/accurate and has no issues is a good way to ensure you don't get burned with a lemon.
Well, that's worked for me anyway.
Sorry to hear yours did badly, if the cleaning already recommended doesn't fix it, get it replaced if you can.
 
I've owned a few NP29's and I guess I was lucky. All ran well. Maybe because that was back in 2004, 2005, 2006... Currently I've heard so so news from many of my clients who I sent over to the NP29 camp. Now I'm kinda regretting this advice. That's it... get a Glock! I'm sorry, I could not resist. I'm just attempting some lame humour on a Friday morning before the long weekend.

I hope you guys get some warranty work satisfaction.... :wave:

Barney
 
TacticalTeacher said:
I've owned a few NP29's and I guess I was lucky. All ran well. Maybe because that was back in 2004, 2005, 2006... Currently I've heard so so news from many of my clients who I sent over to the NP29 camp. Now I'm kinda regretting this advice. That's it... get a Glock! I'm sorry, I could not resist. I'm just attempting some lame humour on a Friday morning before the long weekend.

I hope you guys get some warranty work satisfaction.... :wave:

Barney
Click to expand...

Not to derail this thread, but what would you recommend for a sub $400 pistol for tactical and competitions Barney?
 
I just picked up an NP29 and also started reloading 9mm. I made a box of 125grn Lead RN from the hornady guide took it to the range and on every round it failed to eject or would stove pipe. A friend of mine was there with some really hot 9mm reloads. I fired the whole box he had and it worked fine.
My NP29 needs full power to work i presume because of the weight of slide and recoil spring. Also its really new and has not had much of a break in.
Will try some hotter loads this week.
 
IanC said:
I just picked up an NP29 and also started reloading 9mm. I made a box of 125grn Lead RN from the hornady guide took it to the range and on every round it failed to eject or would stove pipe. A friend of mine was there with some really hot 9mm reloads. I fired the whole box he had and it worked fine.
My NP29 needs full power to work i presume because of the weight of slide and recoil spring. Also its really new and has not had much of a break in.
Will try some hotter loads this week.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^

There is a lot of merit to the above.... New pistols require a break in period.... And best to determine what ammo/load works for a particular one, too.

I have no real experience with the latest crop of Norc 1911's [the ones with the forward cut slide serrations & blocky sites, etc].... But I have owned quite a few of the older series Norc 1911's.... I've never had a lemon among any of them. I still have a couple.... Generally, I like 'em....

1CanadaFlag.gif

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NAA.
 
Still alive said:
Who does warranty on Norcs? I thought they were all buyer beware type guns with no recourse?
My hope is that with the US glut of guns now, that the prices will drop so low here that US guns are the same prices as Norcs. Like the S&W AR now. At least for a while.
Click to expand...

Bought from Down range supplies. Canada ammo did the warranty.
 
IanC said:
I just picked up an NP29 and also started reloading 9mm. I made a box of 125grn Lead RN from the hornady guide took it to the range and on every round it failed to eject or would stove pipe. A friend of mine was there with some really hot 9mm reloads. I fired the whole box he had and it worked fine.
My NP29 needs full power to work i presume because of the weight of slide and recoil spring. Also its really new and has not had much of a break in.
Will try some hotter loads this week.
Click to expand...

You can also go with a lighter recoil spring instead of the hotter loads. I run a 11lb Wolf spring, the stock Norc spring is pretty heavy or at least the one that came in my late model NP29 is.
 
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