scriptguru
CGN Regular
- Location
- Central Okanagan (BC)
It wasn't easy, but it was worth it. I just finished installing and fitting the trigger for NP-29 and want share some details to save some time (and possibly money) for the ones who want to do the same.
Post digest for people who don't have much time to read:
1. The stock trigger worked, but was shaky.
2. Installing a new trigger was hard and took much time.
3. New trigger feels and looks great, much better then the old one.
Now the long story.
The pistol worked just fine with the stock trigger, but the trigger was annoyingly wobbly and shaky. It would rattle if I shake the pistol. It would go up and down, left and right, and there were pretty huge gaps between the trigger and the frame, so I decided to replace it.
The guy in Reliable Gun was very skeptical about Norincos and it probably sounded funny when I said "sure, I can fit it myself" but he didn't laugh. The trigger was $40, it's a superb aluminum trigger with steel bow.
Norincos are unique guns, I found it in a hard way. Not because they are uniquely good but because there is absolutely no guarantee that factory part will fit. For example, when in Reliable Gun we tried to find a barrel bushing that would just fit into the slide we couldn't. Same stuff with trigger. First I had to file frame quite a lot because inside it was very rough and because the trigger was way to wide and a bit too tall to fit inside. However Norinkos are made of good steel; that's kind of good, but now when you are trying to file it.
When I finally could install the trigger and even made it travel back and forth without effort, I found a funny thing - magazine wouldn't fit inside when trigger is installed. It just didn't go in. It turned out that I needed to file off about 1/2 of the trigger bow thickness (but only on one side!) to solve two problems - to make a magazine fit into the frame and trigger, and to make pulling the trigger possible when magazine is inserted. I played this game on "hard" level - my wife slept so I couldn't use Dremel, and it took a while to file it manually.
I also was going to polish the sear and hammer and remove burrs from them (after all I've seen I expected to find them as rough as frame) but found them surprisingly well made so they didn't really need almost any polishing.
I'm skipping all the desperate moments when I couldn't disassemble or reassemble it. No experience with 1911 + some Norinco-specific quirks = lots of frustration.
OK, the gun is assembled! Let's try to pull the trigger with a snap cap in the chamber. Bummer - it kind of works, but not always, and I need to pull trigger really hard. It really puzzled me and I put the gun back to safe.
A week (or more) later I felt like I'm ready to continue the fight. I tested the trigger many times trying to understand what's wrong with it and came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the grip safety. I found a really good article on M1911 website (not sure if it's not against the rules to insert a link, the article name is "Wilson Combat Drop-In Grip Safety") which helped me to solve the problem. The new trigger bow was a tiny fraction of inch longer than the old one and as a result it didn't fit the grip safety well. Here are couple pictures with captions from another forum to illustrate what I am talking about (thanks to the author of the pictures Harwood Loomis!):
Grip safety arm must lift high enough to allow the trigger bow to slide under the upper, forward tab (at left in photo)
Trigger must be able to move back to this position without drag
I had to file the grip safety now, but it didn't take long and I was super happy that this problem was so easy to resolve (in contrast to my previous "adventures" with the gun).
The result
The trigger feels very good, it's fitted into the frame like triggers on much more expensive pistols and works well. Reliable Gun didn't have a blued trigger and I wasn't sure that the "stainless" trigger would look good in a blued pistol but I didn't really have much choice. However I am pleased with the new looks of the gun, the new trigger looks very good in the blued NP-29.
I will keep improving the gun more, little by little, but for now I'm done. Definitely it would be much easier just to send the gun to the gunsmith but
1. I am cheap (my Jewish/Ukrainian blood probably plays significant role here) and it's painful to pay even much less money than a good gunsmith would charge for this kind of work. I'd rather do it myself and save the money for ammo.
2. Making things better with your own hands is a special pleasure.
Based on my experience, I would only recommend trying to install new parts in Norinco if you have all the tools needed, feel confident about assembling / disassembling / modifying guns, and mentally ready to buy new parts in case you break something. If it's your only gun and you don't have experience in working with mechanics, you better keep it as is or ask for help.
Post digest for people who don't have much time to read:
1. The stock trigger worked, but was shaky.
2. Installing a new trigger was hard and took much time.
3. New trigger feels and looks great, much better then the old one.
Now the long story.
The pistol worked just fine with the stock trigger, but the trigger was annoyingly wobbly and shaky. It would rattle if I shake the pistol. It would go up and down, left and right, and there were pretty huge gaps between the trigger and the frame, so I decided to replace it.
The guy in Reliable Gun was very skeptical about Norincos and it probably sounded funny when I said "sure, I can fit it myself" but he didn't laugh. The trigger was $40, it's a superb aluminum trigger with steel bow.
Norincos are unique guns, I found it in a hard way. Not because they are uniquely good but because there is absolutely no guarantee that factory part will fit. For example, when in Reliable Gun we tried to find a barrel bushing that would just fit into the slide we couldn't. Same stuff with trigger. First I had to file frame quite a lot because inside it was very rough and because the trigger was way to wide and a bit too tall to fit inside. However Norinkos are made of good steel; that's kind of good, but now when you are trying to file it.
When I finally could install the trigger and even made it travel back and forth without effort, I found a funny thing - magazine wouldn't fit inside when trigger is installed. It just didn't go in. It turned out that I needed to file off about 1/2 of the trigger bow thickness (but only on one side!) to solve two problems - to make a magazine fit into the frame and trigger, and to make pulling the trigger possible when magazine is inserted. I played this game on "hard" level - my wife slept so I couldn't use Dremel, and it took a while to file it manually.
I also was going to polish the sear and hammer and remove burrs from them (after all I've seen I expected to find them as rough as frame) but found them surprisingly well made so they didn't really need almost any polishing.
I'm skipping all the desperate moments when I couldn't disassemble or reassemble it. No experience with 1911 + some Norinco-specific quirks = lots of frustration.
OK, the gun is assembled! Let's try to pull the trigger with a snap cap in the chamber. Bummer - it kind of works, but not always, and I need to pull trigger really hard. It really puzzled me and I put the gun back to safe.
A week (or more) later I felt like I'm ready to continue the fight. I tested the trigger many times trying to understand what's wrong with it and came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the grip safety. I found a really good article on M1911 website (not sure if it's not against the rules to insert a link, the article name is "Wilson Combat Drop-In Grip Safety") which helped me to solve the problem. The new trigger bow was a tiny fraction of inch longer than the old one and as a result it didn't fit the grip safety well. Here are couple pictures with captions from another forum to illustrate what I am talking about (thanks to the author of the pictures Harwood Loomis!):
Grip safety arm must lift high enough to allow the trigger bow to slide under the upper, forward tab (at left in photo)
Trigger must be able to move back to this position without drag
I had to file the grip safety now, but it didn't take long and I was super happy that this problem was so easy to resolve (in contrast to my previous "adventures" with the gun).
The result
The trigger feels very good, it's fitted into the frame like triggers on much more expensive pistols and works well. Reliable Gun didn't have a blued trigger and I wasn't sure that the "stainless" trigger would look good in a blued pistol but I didn't really have much choice. However I am pleased with the new looks of the gun, the new trigger looks very good in the blued NP-29.
I will keep improving the gun more, little by little, but for now I'm done. Definitely it would be much easier just to send the gun to the gunsmith but
1. I am cheap (my Jewish/Ukrainian blood probably plays significant role here) and it's painful to pay even much less money than a good gunsmith would charge for this kind of work. I'd rather do it myself and save the money for ammo.
2. Making things better with your own hands is a special pleasure.
Based on my experience, I would only recommend trying to install new parts in Norinco if you have all the tools needed, feel confident about assembling / disassembling / modifying guns, and mentally ready to buy new parts in case you break something. If it's your only gun and you don't have experience in working with mechanics, you better keep it as is or ask for help.
.
