Thoughts on Norinco NP-29 1911-A1

Kondor

Kondor

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Hello, title pretty much explains it, my restricted should hopefully (knock on wood) be here in less than a month now, i have wanted a 1911 for some time, but with the dollar as low as it is and .45acp most costly than 9mm i was thinking a 9mm 1911 may be the way to go. Curious to get a bit of info from current / past owners or if you have shot it even! My only concern is the ambi safety, i've heard its sharp and annoying, but i do plan to replace it as soon as possible. PS if you see it available anywhere could ya give me a heads up if possible? Thanks for your time! :d
 
I had a Dominion Arms NP27 in 45acp. It was a good gun but finished (if you can call it that) pretty rough. If I were to buy a 1911 now I would probably get a Ruger, they are very nice for the price. And the safety/slide release is like a knife.
 
I picked one up last month, haven't fired it yet. I wanted something in 9mm and I wanted to get a cheaper 1911 that I could mess around with in preparation for getting a better quality 1911. The Norinco NP 29 fit the bill. The safety didn't seem to be an issue for me, the previous owner seems to have done a bit of sanding on this one.
 
Can't help you with availability, But my buddy has a Norinco 1911 in 45 and it works surprisingly well, In fact, my S&W 1911 broke during an IPSC match and I used his for the rest of the stages with no hiccups

I also think it makes a good gun to learn on, you can rip it apart, file all the sharp corners, polish the feed ramp and enjoy

There is a tonne of youtube videos out there on how to tweak a 1911
 
I bought one recently, a chrome model from Durham Outdoors. I completely dismantled it and cleaned/lubed it before I took it out of the house. I found the magazines were hard to insert and would not lock in properly so I took out the magazine release pin and used a Dremel tool and ground down the sharp edges on it. The mags are still a little resistant going in, but not too much of a problem. They lock in perfectly now and they eject fine. Only got out shooting with it once so far but it was good.
My only advice to anyone buying a Norinco model is to be aware that a lot of common 1911 parts will not fit so you have to buy Norinco parts in some cases. Marstar lists a lot of these parts.
Good luck with your purchase and have fun.
Glen
 
My experience with the NP-29 is that it has a lot of potential and ticks quite a few checkboxes for the dollars, but unless you have some smithing/troubleshooting skills and a healthy portion of patience I feel your money/energy are best placed elsewhere. SAM pistols or a STI Spartan (if you can find one) would be a great place to park your money.

Thanks,
Cal.
 
Have you even owned one? I have had numerous and still have, many Norc's, 1911 in 45acp, NP29 in 9 mil and a NZ85 also in 9mil. ALL are great shooters, yes they are not as refined as more "expensive" pistols, but I have shot against guys with high end CZ's and Kimbers and can out shoot them in a lot of cases. To the OP, judge for yourself, go handle them and then decide if you want to spend money on the gun or shoot more ammo with the money you saved.

RedSeal said:
Do yourself a favour and pass on a Norinco. Save up and buy quality.
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All very interesting. after reading the comments and the other posted thread link i am still leaning towards buying one when possible, looking to be a future gunsmith i like to tinker and fix issues, that wont be a problem. the 9mm is alot cheaper than .45acp i really want a 1911
 
I have had one for 6-7 years. for the money it's an excellent buy, and has always shot reliably and well. The stock mags where junk, but i had wilson's on hand (10 rnds) and they run like a champ. You can shoot it as is fine, or as stated, it's a great tinkering learning gun, and your not worried about making a mistake as it's not a huge cash outlay. Plus you'll end up selling it (if ever) for not much less then your paid if you keep it in good condition. I've moved on to a STI Sentry in 9mm, but keep it as a loaner.

They have some sharp edges, but no more then a new colt. They will shoot better after a few hundred rounds as they bed in a bit. If your anywhere near Kitchener waterloo, or are willing to drive there i can meet you and let you shoot mine on the range if you like and you can judge for your self. I have most other common current 9s as well if you'd like to try a few? (no walthers or HK's, sorry. )
 
Another option to look into for a 1911 type 9mm is the Star model B's that a few of the dealers have. I've heard some good things about them, and they're in about the same price range.
 
Got one and I consider it as a project more than a gun. Every edge on the slide serrations can be used to shave with so one has to handle with care. The safeties are not quite as bad but they are certainly not "friendly" either and will benefit from some smoothing and rounding.

The basics are all there but the whole gun needs what I've seen referred to as "de-horning" to make it friendly to hold and use. Plus in my case the detent pins for the slide lock and thumb safety is something really odd that jumps out way too far so it needs to be replaced as well.

The thing is that by the time all these little jobs and the major amount of de-horning is done the stock bluing will be just about all gone so a full re-bluing is going to be needed to make it look decent.

I've handled and shot an NP-29 that was done up by a shooting buddy and which fixed all these woes. The gun is a laser driven tack driver and with the mag well he added along with nicer grip scales a lovely gun to look at, hold and to shoot. And that's why I'm keeping mine and hope to get to it pretty soon.

If you don't have a shop to do all this tinkering then go for a SAM or some other option. Paying someone else to do all the work will raise the budget up to well over $1K. And by that time you may as well buy a Kimber or S&W or some other gun which is more ready to use right out of the box.
 
BCRider said:
Got one and I consider it as a project more than a gun. Every edge on the slide serrations can be used to shave with so one has to handle with care. The safeties are not quite as bad but they are certainly not "friendly" either and will benefit from some smoothing and rounding.

The basics are all there but the whole gun needs what I've seen referred to as "de-horning" to make it friendly to hold and use. Plus in my case the detent pins for the slide lock and thumb safety is something really odd that jumps out way too far so it needs to be replaced as well.

The thing is that by the time all these little jobs and the major amount of de-horning is done the stock bluing will be just about all gone so a full re-bluing is going to be needed to make it look decent.

I've handled and shot an NP-29 that was done up by a shooting buddy and which fixed all these woes. The gun is a laser driven tack driver and with the mag well he added along with nicer grip scales a lovely gun to look at, hold and to shoot. And that's why I'm keeping mine and hope to get to it pretty soon.

If you don't have a shop to do all this tinkering then go for a SAM or some other option. Paying someone else to do all the work will raise the budget up to well over $1K. And by that time you may as well buy a Kimber or S&W or some other gun which is more ready to use right out of the box.
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Sage advice /\
If you want an inexpensive 1911 that shoots reliably and as accurately as any other 1911 this side of $1000, is made from excellent steel albeit finished roughly, looks decent from 10 ft., endure paper cuts (at least till your callouses develop), are willing and/or can take some 280 grit sandpaper and use cold blue on most external edges and corners of it, don't mind an even rougher looking interior, or you're a pragmatist like me who doesn't care about gun brand names, cosmetics and snob appeal, then you will be happy with a Norkie 1911 9mm.

I almost love my NP29. In my hands, a little bit more accurate than my .45 versions. Not picky with ammo, shoots well with 124 grn cast Lee mold Truncated Cone tumble lube, resized .357 bullets over 3.8 grn Universal.

Only had one issue; the stock Chinese mags snagged and rounds did not feed, on the 3rd or fourth round and caused stoppage every time. The solution was simple. Took a file to the front corner of the follower. 10 minutes to do both mags and have been flawless since. Also have 2 x Tripp Cobra 10-shot and they have been 100% reliable from the start.
 
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The np29 is based on early model of 1911 so it is a bit different then the recent ones. I used to have one Fun to shoot, and easy to sell.
 
I'm in the same boat as Kondor. I've done some research and there may be "better" pistols out there for a first (feel, weight, kick, etc.) and in the same price point (ish) but I ended up being my stubborn self and pulled the trigger (pun intended) on the Norinco P29, I dropped a holding fee on the last one at Flaherty's. I was going to go with the Walther PPX range kit but someone got to the last one before I did, not that I'm entirely upset.
 
It's a good all steel pistol...what you do with it is up to you...you're own build etc......personally I loved all my norincos..but I don't have them any more...
 
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