Norinco...good, bad or ugly?

[Cocked&Locked]

I have a rather large number of handguns. In the stable are 2 norc 1911's, a commander length 45, and a 9mm in government length Both run very well, the 45 will outshoot my 5" springfield loaded (ok, i got lucky when that one was purchased, I certianly wouldn't expect that performance regularly, i just won the tolerance lottery with it) THe 9mm runs well, but the sight regulation is way off, i'm eventually going to mount new sights. The fit is decent on both guns, the finish isn't exceptional, but isn't horrible either. The commander is quite nice, and the bluing on it is more durable the the bluing on the aforementioned springfield.

The magazines that came with both pistols where garbage, didn't work, so they got chucked and replaced with good aftermarket mags (wilson, shooting stars ect...) but i consider the pistols themselves an excellent gun for little money.

That said, for your first pistol, you would probably be happier with an SR9, or a used M&P. As stated, there's really nothing you can do to them to hurt them, and their easy to get parts for. The girsan should be a solid gun as well. The one FMK i've shot feels great, but is very unreliable (heading back to the supplier for the third time,, still won't run) Yeah, glocks feel really chunky, but you'll be amazed how fast you get used to them, then they feel ok, are stone reliable, and are easy to find aftermarket parts for if you wish.

Cheers and welcome to the sport

 

[danoiwan]

I have a Norinco NP-29 which is a 9mm 1911. I also have a Norinco NP-58 which is a .40S&W Sig 226 clone. The Norinco NP-22 is the 9mm Sig 226 clone or Norinco NP-34 is 9mm Sig 228 clone.

Both shoot well after some fine tuning. The NP29 has a loose front sight and a messed up mag. I carved a zigzag pattern on the underside of the front sight and also used some blue lock tight, worked perfect. The mag needed to be taken apart and the follower needed to be smoothed out around the edges, it seemed a little to big and kept getting stuck, but works great now. The NP58 arrived with the sights way off and are extremely stiff to drift over, but after a lot of patience, works perfect.

If you don't mind the expense of .45 ACP, I would recommend the CanAm deal for the Norinco 1911A1 with 1000 rounds of .45 ACP
If not the 9mm models are just as nice.


P.S. Which ever Norinco Pistol you choose, prepare to buy new Hogue grips. The factory grips are really junky IMO.

 

[NintendoDuckHunt87]

P.S. Which ever Norinco Pistol you choose, prepare to buy new Hogue grips. The factory grips are really junky IMO.

I'll second that on the grips.

Here's mine, got it from Marstar, it's the "Sport Model" in .45ACP. The finish isn't great but, it fires fine and hits what I'm aiming at, even feeds HP with zero issues which I hear is rare for a 1911A1. The pic's got the original grips. Replaced them with a pair of Pachymer wrap arounds.

 

[PharoH]

for 550$ (give or take) like previously said an m&p 9mm would be a good starter pistol

 

[Ganderite]

I have most of the Norc pistols and more than one of some models. The 1911 45s shot very well out of the box. The 1911 9mms (recent batch) shot poorly. I re-barelled them and now they work. So I think the 1911 9mm might be risky.

I have found the Norc CZ clones to be excellent. They all get trigger jobs and Hogue grips and new sights (as do my real deal CZs).

 

[Mark-II]

I have the Girsan and it seems a decent little pistol. I'm slowly learning how to shoot it properly (used to single action triggers, not sa/da jobbies). Handloads function well in it.

I was impressed with a fellows Norc 1911 Deluxe commander, but that was a 45. My dad has a Norc Sig clone in 9mm. Horrible DA, decent SA, and it functions well also. He's got a smith looking at it since he was quite unable to drift the back sight, however.

If I had to do it again I'd buy the Girsan, honestly. Out of the box it's a better package IMO. Al Flaherty's and Prairie Gun Traders have them for decent prices. Of course being left handed, the ambi decocker and reversible mag release gives it a bit more merit for me also.

I would not buy a TT-33 again. It's a crude blaster, and when the surplus ammo is done you've got a paperweight (I have no intentions of reloading for this one). Mine broke its firing pin after maybe 1500 rounds and getting a replacement has been problematic to say the least. Get something better.

(I appreciate Ganderite's insight in the Norc 1911 9mm. I was considering one. Now I may not be!)

 

[Lexthedestroyer]

+1 on the Girsan. The thing is put together quite nicely, nice and tight. The only complaints I've heard (and this goes for the actual Berettas too) is that they may not fit well in smaller hands. That said, the pistol fits real nice in my mitts.

 

[misanthropist]

I have most of the Norc pistols and more than one of some models. The 1911 45s shot very well out of the box. The 1911 9mms (recent batch) shot poorly. I re-barelled them and now they work. So I think the 1911 9mm might be risky.

I have found the Norc CZ clones to be excellent. They all get trigger jobs and Hogue grips and new sights (as do my real deal CZs).

I recently had a good look at one of the Norinco NZ85s, which is a CZ clone.

I was impressed. I'd shoot one.

 

[luke s]

so yah you get the picture, norincos are often a lottery. I own 9 of them - 5 1911's, 4 sig p22X series. the most common issues are misaligned sights, poor mags, cheap grips, sometimes the trigger pull is awful. some need tweaking, but turn into pretty good shooters once the bugs are worked out

I am curious about granderite's (new batch) 1911 9mm, mine has been 100% perfect

 

[masa]

meh.. from an aesthetic point, it looks alright. i mean, essentially all 1911 models look the same; some are
just more nicer because of the custom shop serrations done to them, but regular custom work like
ambi safety or magwells can be done yourself. what will put the gun ahead of the herd is the barrel.
tight tolerance helps a lot as well, but a lot of people who dont work guns(i mean people who dont
take gunwork to another level and understanding the mecahnics of a gun, or people who just say its ####
without breaking it in) will claim it's jam and crap.
tight tolerance is great but, keep in mind it will jam the first couple times only because the slide and
frame is fitting themselves by doing a self lapping while cycling.

when it comes to GOOD 1911', you have to consider what comes with the gun and what extra things come
with it that may or may not benefit you(fixed sights, exotic grips, ambi safety etc...) those will boost the
initial price. are they necessary and are included every model? no.. but its nice to have i suppose.

so with that being said; will a norinco shoot just as good as a kimber or, say, wilson combat? maybe a little off?
it's all in the grip so i wouldn't consider the gun crap. all guns work the same, but it really comes down to how well
you grip and how well you control your trigger thing. with that said, it's a descent gun at a great price. just keep
in mind it's made in china and thats sort of frowned upon considering their workmanship on their products.

i use their norinco 45acp though... i shoot it no better than my b&s i feel... though i feel the b&s is better, but
that might be me thinking that way.

 

[Ganderite]

"I am curious about ganderite's (new batch) 1911 9mm, mine has been 100% perfect."

I have a standard of accuracy for a pistol. I expect it to be able to put 10 shots in the black at 20 yards. Here is a group I find acceptable:

I take a suitable powder and bullet and do a work up from below the start load all the way to max, in 0.3gr increments. I usually find a powder charge that works much better than the others. This group should be no bigger than the group in the picture above.

I bought 3 of the new batch of 1911 9mms. They shot huge vertical groups About a foot at 20 yards. The barrel had play at the chamber end, when it was supposed to be 'locked up". I bought some Roto barrels (about $50) and had them fitted. Now the pistols shoot very well.

One of them was fitted with a 7.62x25 barrel and that ammo fits a 38 Super mag. The group above was shot with that barrel, using 110 gr plated M1 carbine bullets.

The Norc 1911 45s have all shot accurately out of the box. All got better sights and grips. Two got trigger jobs, but accuracy was excellent without any tweaking. After this performance, the 9mms were disappointing.