norinco 1911 customization

thedanielm

thedanielm

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What are some easy modifications that can be done to a bone stock norinco 1911 45acp? I need some ideas :)

First on my list is getting rid of those brown plastic grips. they are unbelievably hideous. Id love to find some nice black/grey laminate grips if they even exist, how hard would it be to make grips? I have experience and access to a well equipped woodworking shop.

Also lookin for an extended slide release. Im sick of reaching for that little stumpy release.

I know there are mixed feelings on full length guide rods. I think they look cool, is that enough merit to adding one?

How hard is it to swap in a nice aluminum trigger?

I dont shoot competitively so with the stock barrel and bushing im sure its more accurate than i am.

anyone have any have any pics of done up norincos they wanna share?
 
I bought a used Norinco 1911 45 ACP in great shape then I put in a flat mainspring housing, a long trigger and a set of Hogue "cosmetic seconds" grips that I bought from their Hogue Auction web site. I changed the grips because they would look bad on a toy gun and after owning a few 1911's I like the long trigger and flat mainspring housing set-up best. The Hogue cosmetic seconds grips are a great deal, there are 329 sets to choose from right now at the link below, just change the ### to WWW. The pictures in the Hogue site are the actual grips that you are bidding on.

http://###.hogueauction.com/browse.php?id=95
 
All of the mods you mention are easily doable, and inexpensive as well. If you're looking at making a set of grips, there's a tutorial on M1911.org that's pretty comprehensive.
 
Here's my Norinco 1911C. Upgrades include Ajax smooth walnut grips, Wilson beavertail, Wilson full length guide rod & 22# spring, Videcki match trigger, Masen flat mainspring housing, stock hammer bobbed, polished internals, black enamel finish, etc. Fitting the beavertail was the hardest part, had to grind the frame a bit, fit by trial and error (slowly). The trigger came oversize, so you can sand it to fit without excess play, no problems there. I've always run my 1911's with Wilson 1 piece guide rods and shok buffs. They just seem to cycle smoother with them. Some parts came from Brownells, some from CGN :) . It's addictive, once you start the mods, it's tough to stop.

1911C.jpg

edit: I just realized how big that "MADE IN CHINA" stamp is...next refinish I'm grinding that off :p .
 
nice pistol!
where was the most work required to fit the beavertail? mostly just the radius around where the pin goes to hold the safety or also down the back of the frame?

Im curious about getting some springs from wolff. i noticed you said you use a 22# spring. my norinco is the full length government model, how heavy of a spring should I be using? wolff states 16# is stock. I mostly shoot factory ammo and decently hot handloads, no light target loads.

I also noticed they have regular and variable springs, as well as chrome silicon. which are best?
 
Thanks! The beavertail is a Wilson "drop-in" for a Colt Commander. I had to file down the grip tang, mostly on the underside, rounding it off a bit. Also had to fit the engagement surface, for the trigger bar, a bit of shaping there. Took about 2 hours of work to get it on. I'd watched it done a few times, but this was my first attempt at doing it myself. If I had decent tools :p , it would have probably come out nicer. But it works. I've used 18.5# recoil springs in my Colt 5" pistols, with factory ammo. I've never tried a variable rate spring.

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Here is my Norc .45, it is just a plinker to me, I wanted to get "dirty" modifying a Norinco instead of butchering a higher priced gun and end up ruining it.

I bought it from Gunnar at Armco, probably the best place to go for this type of thing, had him replace the trigger and tune the gun a bit...he does a hell of a job on triggers I must say, worth every penny, and not many pennies at all. 3.5 pound CRISP trigger.

I had him drill the holes for the sight mount, I certainly didn't want to screw that up myself and have the mount so far out of whack that there wasn't enough adjustment in the red dot to make up for it. :redface:

I also bought the grips from him, though I change them out with Legends once in a while.

I installed the beaver tail myself, took some grinding with a Dremel, but I got it done. The comp is a bushing comp, cheap but actually works pretty well. Installed a skeltonized hammer. I also polished the bluing off the sides of the frame and slide to give it the Eclipse look...spent about 10 minutes on it and it didn't turn out too bad.....I always wanted to detail polish it but I never had the time or didn't really care.

Inerds are pretty much stock aside from the trigger and polishing a few odds and ends to make it run smoooooth. The beaver tail and slide stop come from an STI Ranger II I had.

By the sound of your post you want to do alot of the work yourself, which is good to learn, however, the trigger, which is one of the most important aspects of modifying a gun IMO, I have left to a pro like Gunnar.......and I am glad I did. But now that I have seen a few trigger jobs I would tackle it myself, but I do know that right now I could not get it as smooth, crisp and light as someone that has had years of experience.

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Peter...that is a nice job on the beavertail. I am not sure how much iron you had to take out of there, but it looks like a nice fit.

Mine wasn't a drop in beavertail, as I said it was from a Ranger II, but I had to take a hell of alot of iron out to make it fit. Yours definately turned out better than mine, but luckily it doesn't pinch my skin so I am happy.

...and I have never seen it done before so I just winged it. Also mine required rebluing after having to grind out so much.....Jiffy Marker bluing that is. :)

Nice job....
 
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nice to see alot of guys tinkering with their norincos! thats why i got mine, ya don't feel so bad filing, rebluing and swapping out parts on a $350 pistol :p

BuddyHollyDied said:
By the sound of your post you want to do alot of the work yourself, which is good to learn, however, the trigger, which is one of the most important aspects of modifying a gun IMO, I have left to a pro like Gunnar.......and I am glad I did. But now that I have seen a few trigger jobs I would tackle it myself, but I do know that right now I could not get it as smooth, crisp and light as someone that has had years of experience.
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hmm i could be wrong but i thought all the fancy business with the trigger had to do mostly with the hammer/sear relationship rather than just the trigger itself.:confused:

I looked at a pre-prepped hammer/sear at brownells website but I dont think im gonna change that just yet.
 
thedanielm, if you replace the grip safety you may have to replace the hammer, sear, and trigger for the 1911 to function correctly. The old hammer may not work with the new grip safety and that starts the process of replacing all three. Regards, Richard. :D
 
thedanielm said:
hmm i could be wrong but i thought all the fancy business with the trigger had to do mostly with the hammer/sear relationship rather than just the trigger itself.:confused:
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I agree and I should have been more clear in my post about "replacing trigger/trigger job".....its the delicated filing, polishing, tuning of the hammer/sear to achieve a crisp light trigger.....which Gunnar does well.
 
panal cut to get rid of factory serrations then put in some SVI'ish ones
flat-topped slide
installed STI front and rear sites
beveled the mag well
undercut the trigger guard
installed STI beaver tail
trigger and mainspring housing are STI
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Not to hijack the thread, but does anybody know any dealers in Canada who stock aftermarket barrels, like Kart or Clark, or even Nowlin?
 
1851 Navy said:
Not to hijack the thread, but does anybody know any dealers in Canada who stock aftermarket barrels, like Kart or Clark, or even Nowlin?
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If you are looking at replacing the Nork barrel, a properly fit bushing and link will do wonders. My NP29 (9mm) shot OK stock, with a slightly longer link and fitted bushing it shoots as good as my SIG.
 
Replace the bushing or link but there is nothing wrong with Norinco barrels. Do as Hitzy said and have a link and bushing fitted.

Take Care

Bob
 
Hitzy said:
If you are looking at replacing the Nork barrel, a properly fit bushing and link will do wonders. My NP29 (9mm) shot OK stock, with a slightly longer link and fitted bushing it shoots as good as my SIG.
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Actually, I was looking for a longer 6" barrel for a future project. But you guys are right about the stock Norc barrels. A tighter bushing does do wonders.
 
Even basic norcs can look good with minor stuff: new trigger (Marstar, I think), grips (also Marstar, I think), Wilson magwell to frame off the butt.- insides polished up a bit where needed. Bluing on slide is first rate, well polished, left slightly matt on the sight plane. So far everything else is stock...
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