What can one expect from the Norinco 1911 GI?

mr00jimbo

mr00jimbo

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I have my Colt and like it quite a bit. I like the idea of GI style 1911s. The Norinco 1911, of course is said to be a steal of a deal. Is there anything "wrong" with it, for the price? Will it have sharp, crude edges? Is there any chance of headspace out of spec issues like the M14?
I just want a basic GI 1911 with good steel, good reliability. Will I need to do anything to refine the Norinco?
The next step up the ladder is the Springfield GI or Mil-Spec from the US.
 
Norks usually will function well out of the box, fit tends to be loose, sharp edges everywhere, exterior finish is usually well polished, interior will look ####ty with many tool marks, sights are too low and too small for any kind of accurate shooting....but it goes bang.
SAM makes a nice 1911A1 style .45 also in 9mm. Fit is tight, finish is excellent, sights are higher profile and useable as is, sharp edges cleaned up, hard to find any tool marks, all CNC machined or precision cast parts.
Hard to beat the Can Am Nork deal though.....if I was just looking for a gun, SAM would be my pick.
 
The ones I've seen can arrive with anything from "tuned" to "loose". It's a bit of a dice toss. And most certainly you'll find that the edges will need to be "de-horned".

If you just want to buy and then shoot I'd go with something else with a better reputation for consistency. If you don't mind tinkering and re-shaping a "diamond in the rough" then by all means get the Norc and build it up into whatever you wish. It may be that you simply dehorn it and, if needed, tune the trigger. Or you may end up going crazy on the internals while keeping the exterior pure GI. Just know that with a Norc you get what you get. It may need NOTHING to meet your expectations or it may be that you need to swap out pretty much everything in the action to get the sort of trigger you want. It's tough to say.
 
I've been reading a couple of american forums and all the guys down there rave about the Norinco 1911s. These are OLD ones that were imported back in the early 90s (i can't remember exactly when). I've also heard that norinco's fit and finish has improved 10000 fold in the last few years. I'm HOPEFUL that this means they're decent :) And if they're not, then you get to practice dehorning, melting, fitting parts, milling dovetails, refinishing.....
 
Not familiar with finer 1911's but mine functions perfectly with no finishing issues.
Well worth it to me. The trigger is heavy though.
If you want a true G.I. style WWII 1911 this maybe be it. Fits the same criteria as the original. Cost effective, reliable, quickly produced.
 
This was my first shot out of the Norinco from Can Am @10m. I'm happy with it!
norinco.jpg
 
If you're looking for a GI gun with more refinement try the STI GI. The Norc is pretty similar to real GI 19111A1's though - sharp edges and all. Also Armco has an older Norc right now, it's been tuned so it should be a GI with better trigger and reliability. I have an Armco Norc and it's flawless.
 
There's a thread with dozens of posts reporting back on the gun, interspersed with hundreds of posts whining about how long it takes to arrive.

It shoots well out of the box.

It will take at least six weeks to arrive.

The ammo is easy to sell at $300+ and the gun can fetch $250+ any day, so there's no financial risk.

Just like Canada Ammo's $99 M213 deal from a few years ago, guys will sit on the fence for weeks and then go begging in the EE for a used at at the same price.

Just like with the M213, I took about 20 microseconds to decide and then bought two - one to play with and one for a rainy day.
 
I have one and one on the way! They look great right out of the box, you may get one with cracked grips , they will send you replacements but most people go on ebay or dealers mentioned above and get new ones anyways. As for the sharp edges, there may be a few but I have a ruger target mkIII competition stainless that had problems right out of the box ( finally figured out it was not assembled completely) and its internals are very very sharp with many rough tooling marks, I paid almost $600 for that rig! So a few sharp edges and a few hundred round should smooth everything out. Good luck with whatever you decide. Oh yea, this deal has been on for over 2 months so not sure how many are left, if it is the norc you choose, get your order in quick!
 
I just received and tested a pair of them. Sights were on. Grouping was good. Function was 100%. Both triggers crisp, but one is too heavy. Grips are crap.

A very good deal.

The difference between a $300 Norinco 1911 and gold is that gold sometimes goes down in value.
 
Ganderite said:
I just received and tested a pair of them. Sights were on. Grouping was good. Function was 100%. Both triggers crisp, but one is too heavy. Grips are crap.

A very good deal.

The difference between a $300 Norinco 1911 and gold is that gold sometimes goes down in value.
Click to expand...

...lol...

I've got one coming. Decided to buy after examining one a fellow CGN'er bought.

Gotta be the best buy for a GI style 1911A1 going right now.

As for what can be expect from one? If it can reliably shoot to the center of mass from 10 yds on in, then it does all it was meant to.

:canadaFlag:
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NAA.
 
I have a computer copy of lazerus 2000's online m14 seminar, in which he states that the springfield armory m14's have no better quality control that the norincos. I have 4 norincos in my cabinet including 2 1911s, and I can honestly say that their finishing and quality control is no worse that a long list of other so called premier brands.
Mike
 
Took mine out today for first time. It performed better than price would suggest. The Norc ammo makes dirty bird seem clean and smokes like the old west inside the range lmao but all worked perfect.
Getting use to the small sights. Made a nice hole in a center mass target. Gun is wet with oil in pic and pretty much flawless in appearance. I was expecting the worse so it makes me even happier that it`s a keeper.

target_zps09d9ce4c.jpg
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