Norinco 1911 shooting low

billbmcleod

billbmcleod

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I recently picked up a Norinco 1911 in 45 acp. It has a fixed rear sight (dovetailed) so no adjustment. I finally got around to shooting it and all shots were low by 12" @ 20 yds. I can only assume that it is my grip and not the gun as I am sure they would not install sights that did not at least get close to lining up. This is my first center fire auto loader and have been a revolver shooter for years.
Is it typical for these things to want to tip the barrel down when fired?
Again I suspect my grip is the problem and have looked this up on U-Tube but I don't see my problem.
The loads I am using are a bit above middle of the road so I am sure there is enough there to get down range.
Any ideas?
 
20 yards shouldn't be a problem even if you're throwing the bullets. It very well could be the sights. Is it a brand new gun? If you have experience shooting revolvers and you're a decent shot I would think it wasn't you. Even though it shoots low do they group good? Another sign if its you or not. Lastly They make adjustable sights for 1911 Im pretty positive about that. Its a Norinco so It could just be the gun. (Not knocking norinco I just bought a 1911 in 9mm yesterday.) Lastly next time you're out ask another guy with a semi if you can try his. Tell him why you want to try it out and your problem Im sure he will let you shoot his and let him shot yours. That will be the final absolute if it is you or not. I would.
 
Have someone else shoot the gun. If it is still that low, you need to install a lower front sight. Good time to switch to a fibre optic sight.

File the front sight down until it hits where you want. Measure the height of of the low sight and buy a FO of the same height.

Front sight is either an oddball dovetail size or a staked on. The stake model is s standard Colt narrow tenon Series 70.
 
I would get someone that has shot auto pistols shoot it, before you do anything to the sights.

Typically, new shooters will jerk the trigger at the last moment, and send their shot low. I've seen this thousands of times. Good triggers minimize, but do not eliminate this, and more difficult triggers emphasize this. There is nothing wrong with the Norinco 1911's but they may not have a trigger that you are used to. That would be the first place I would start, anyway.
 
Get a second shooter to fire the gun and confirm it's not you first off.
Low hitting means your front blade is too high. It's a Norc. Take a flat file to the front post and slowly file it down. Keep it flat, keep it steady and keep it square. A little goes a long way when you have a 6" sight radius with a handgun.
Once you get it bang on, get some black engine block paint, acetone the filed shiny metal and put two solid coats of engine block paint on it. You can put the slide in the oven at a low temp to cure it fast and hard just don't bake her at 500F or anything stupid.
I did this with an AR15 barrel once and it worked amazingly. Extremely durable finish, damn near invincible actually and it has a nice matte black finish when hard.

I personally like my hanguns to shoot a little high at 15 meters. I filed my Pietta 1873 down to shoot about 2" high at 15 meters. This puts me bang on at 25 meters. Shooting a handgun at 25 meters or even past that distance doesn't make any sense anyway.
That would be my exact approach personally. Take it for what it's worth.
 
Same thing happened with my norc 1911 9mm, low 10" and right 8". Got some lpa 70/80 series adjustable 1911 sights and after playing around a bit... viola, right in the bullseye! I also painted the dull yellow front dot with testers white enamel.
Ps. My indoor range is 18 m.
 
There's no such thing as non adjustable sights. Some get adjusted with small screw drivers. Others require a brass punch, hammer and a file. But all of them are adjustable with the right tools.

As mentioned above your front sight is too tall or the rear sight too short. But given that it's easier to remove metal than to put it back on I'd echo the idea of some careful and very incremental removal of metal from the front sight to bring the POI up to match the POA.

If/when you file down the front sight maintain a slight downwards angle towards the muzzle so you see only the rear edge when sighting normally.
 
Try shooting it off a rest to make sure its not your technique. Mine shoots a tad high but is perfect for a 6 o'clock hold on a NRA target, it did need drifting to center the group but I don't think that's abnormal in any gun.
 
Mine shots about 3 inches to the left at 20 yards. I could move the back sight but have just gotten use to holding over to the right. Groups are great and it's a fun gun to shoot. I have a Browning Hi-Power that shoots to the right and a Browning Medalist that is bang on dead center once I adjusted the sights.

Guns with battle sights can be adjusted but unless they are really way off I just live with it and hold off.
 
If your group is good, then don't worry about your grip. Are you shooting 230gr ball? Lighter bullets tend to hit lower so if you're using a 185 try the 230. Otherwise take a file and dress down the front sight. I did this 40 years ago on my Colt Gov't model that was hitting low at 25 yards, it ain't a sin to get it where you look where the gun is hitting.
 
I would take it apart and measure the clearance on the barrel bushing to barrel. Some of those norc 1911's has really sloppy bushings.
I bought one and it had almost 0.008" clearance and would shoot pie plate groups at 20 yards.
A new barrel bushing made a huge difference for me
 
BCRider said:
There's no such thing as non adjustable sights. Some get adjusted with small screw drivers. Others require a brass punch, hammer and a file. But all of them are adjustable with the right tools.

As mentioned above your front sight is too tall or the rear sight too short. But given that it's easier to remove metal than to put it back on I'd echo the idea of some careful and very incremental removal of metal from the front sight to bring the POI up to match the POA.

If/when you file down the front sight maintain a slight downwards angle towards the muzzle so you see only the rear edge when sighting normally.
Click to expand...

no such thing as non adjustable hey ? ...my dan wesson has very fixed rear sights , ....
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