Picked up my Norinco NP29 today - initial impression

Snakehunter

Snakehunter

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Location
Kenora, Ontario
My Norinco NP29 sat at my local post office all week while I was in southern Ontario ;-(
I picked it up this morning, got home, and set about unpacking, stripping it down, cleaning and reassembling.
Opening the plastic case I saw the gun in a sealed plastic bag and immediately noticed the usual Norinco oily mess.
Upon removing it from the bag the first thing that stood out (really!) was the big, ugly magazine release.
Stripping the gun down was really easy. Fit and finish are not great but I didn't expect much for $370.
After cleaning all that oily mess off I began reassembling and found the slide and its parts were easy to put back together, but fitting it all back on the receiver was a bit of a bear. I ended up with a minor idiot scratch, but I'm not that upset.
After assembly I found racking and releasing the slide was a bit tighter than I'd like, but it is fairly smooth with no gritty feel. Dry firing the trigger showed no creep and no gritty feel.
The loading of magazines has shown itself to be problematic. Both the supplied Norinco magazines would go in about 2/3rds of the way and just stop. Application of a little extra force would overcome the stoppage. I bought a Kimber magazine last week for it and the same issue occurs. It seems I have some tuning to do.
Seating the magazine fully requires a bit of a firm shove but I suspect that this will be just be until break-in.
I will be taking it out this weekend for some shooting and I'll report back on the shootability.
For now I will say here's what I like - Price, adjustable rear sight, full guide rod, trigger (so far), and engraving is very light so anybody more than 3 feet away won't see it's a Nork. The included manual is actually better than the one I got with my Ruger 1911!
Here's what I don't like - Mag release button, front sight (yellow dot is hard to see for my eyes anyway), poor finishing of contact surface between barrel/slide/receiver. I'm eventually swapping out the button, sights and grips, although the grips are okay. I will also be doing some polishing of the problem areas. Overall I am very happy so far with my purchase. We will see if that happy feeling stays after some shooting.
Here's the beast;
 
The mag release problem is common. Sharp edges on the mag release. It will wear in if u dont want to polish it. All is need is just a good spank when loading and problem solved. Seen this many times on 1911s, especially the off shore ones, but also frequently on Kimbers too. Just have fun with it.
dB
 
I have one exactly the same as yours. I'm quite happy with it and it's super value for the money.
 
daBear said:
The mag release problem is common. Sharp edges on the mag release. It will wear in if u dont want to polish it. All is need is just a good spank when loading and problem solved. Seen this many times on 1911s, especially the off shore ones, but also frequently on Kimbers too. Just have fun with it.
dB
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I had that problem on my STI Trojan and STI TargetMaster. A little rounding of the leading edge that makes first contact with the mag as it slides by is all it takes. The top one has been done, the bottom one is still stock.
View attachment 41718

You should also look up the Logman modification to your slide stop. I've done that too and it really helps keep the slide stop in position during reassembly.
 
here's a pic of the Logman modification I did to my slide stop.

IMG_0301_zpsc38ec0b3.jpg
 
Hey
just wondering how the gun is shooting ..
been eye balling one of these on one of the sights and may want to add to my 1911 collection
Glenn
 
I have one from the ammo source. It's good. Ran 50 rounds through it no problem, only issue is its ejecting all over the place. But hopefully it's a minor thing.
 
Glad it works for you too EHG. Love my 1911's so wanted to avoid the "idiot scratch" as much as possible. And the bonus is the groove makes it easier for the slide stop to depress the plunger as you push it in.

EHG said:
Hey VanMan, good tip on the slide stop. Works like a charm. :)
I had to replace the slide stop on my NP29.
Click to expand...
 
Got out this afternoon to shoot the new NP29. Before I went I took the Dremel tool to the magazine release and now it seats the mags perfectly. I still have to give a little shove but that's okay.
Shooting report - went through about 3 magazines, about 24 rounds with no hiccups. All shots were on paper with all but 3 in the 6" black. I was not striving for accuracy but evaluating for function. Gun was shooting and cycling fine. Ejected brass was all over the place, including on hitting me in the nose and a few hitting me on top of my head! Spent brass was in an arc from about 2 feet in front to about 4 feet rearward - a 6 foot radius. I'm going to buy a new extractor rod for sure.
As soon as I was happy with the performance of the gun I put up a new target and proceeded to shoot for accuracy. First 2 shots were just right and low of the bullseye and then I got a friggin' squib!!
As my club is closed to vehicles because of our biathlon use and is walk in only, I neglected to bring my full range bag with my tools and squib rod. My day was done.
Even with such limited shooting I can offer the following - the Norinco mags suck, even with my Uplula loader they are hard to fill. The Kimber was dream in comparison (at $50 a piece they should be). The ejector sucks. The trigger guard will need polishing of the sharp edges.
On the positive side - there is darn near no recoil. I knew there'd be a big difference from my .45 but I was shocked at how manageable this thing is. I am satisfied with my purchase but I think I will make a few alterations and see just how much I can get out of this gun.
One thing I should correct is that in my initial report I stated it had adjustable rear sights. It doesn't.
That's all for now,
Glen
PS - this is my 4th Norc and I am thoroughly pleased with them. The NP29 is the only one I have had to modify but for a stainless 1911 for $370 I ain't complaining!
 
Snakehunter said:
Got out this afternoon to shoot the new NP29. Before I went I took the Dremel tool to the magazine release and now it seats the mags perfectly. I still have to give a little shove but that's okay.
Shooting report - went through about 3 magazines, about 24 rounds with no hiccups. All shots were on paper with all but 3 in the 6" black. I was not striving for accuracy but evaluating for function. Gun was shooting and cycling fine. Ejected brass was all over the place, including on hitting me in the nose and a few hitting me on top of my head! Spent brass was in an arc from about 2 feet in front to about 4 feet rearward - a 6 foot radius. I'm going to buy a new extractor rod for sure.
As soon as I was happy with the performance of the gun I put up a new target and proceeded to shoot for accuracy. First 2 shots were just right and low of the bullseye and then I got a friggin' squib!!
As my club is closed to vehicles because of our biathlon use and is walk in only, I neglected to bring my full range bag with my tools and squib rod. My day was done.
Even with such limited shooting I can offer the following - the Norinco mags suck, even with my Uplula loader they are hard to fill. The Kimber was dream in comparison (at $50 a piece they should be). The ejector sucks. The trigger guard will need polishing of the sharp edges.
On the positive side - there is darn near no recoil. I knew there'd be a big difference from my .45 but I was shocked at how manageable this thing is. I am satisfied with my purchase but I think I will make a few alterations and see just how much I can get out of this gun.
One thing I should correct is that in my initial report I stated it had adjustable rear sights. It doesn't.
That's all for now,
Glen
PS - this is my 4th Norc and I am thoroughly pleased with them. The NP29 is the only one I have had to modify but for a stainless 1911 for $370 I ain't complaining!
Click to expand...

You can easily tune your extractor in a vice. I had the same issue with my Norc extractor, bend it to the right tension and you are good to go. There are videos on you tube how to easily do it in a vice. I have polished the breech face and feed ramp with 800 grit sand paper and that is about it. If you want to spend a few bucks I recommend the Wilson combat value line hammer and sear and put a 15 pound hammer spring in for a 4 pound trigger pull.
 
Hello Glen
glad to hear things went well.
I myself will wait till some time in the new year to pick up another 1911 as no rush.
hope you have a great new year and happy and safe shooting
Glenn.
 
I bough the Norinco 1911 in 9mm about 5 months ago. I just love it. I have shot close to 2000 rounds through it with very little problems. My first pistol.
I really did not like the stock mags so I bought some Wilson 10 round mags. Which work great!
I did the following work to mine but not all at once:
polished the feed ramp
polished the slide rails
Put a new STI Delrin trigger in and polished the bow
Just recently put a new slide release in it. Only because the original one was a little long, I kept resting my thumb on it and the slide would not stay locked back after the last round in the mag was fired.
I just make sure it is well oiled. A little white lithium grease on the slide and go shoot.

I have never had a problem with my extractor, how ever I understand that they usually do have problems and all it takes to fix is a little tuning. I guess I just got one made on a wednesday. :)
 
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