Norinco mods

Streak Eagle

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Do you fellows think it would be worth bringing a Norinco .45 up to the point of being a reliable shooter? It seems to be extremely accurate when shooting military grade 230 g hardball (o.a.l., charge, etc.) but chokes on anything else. Polished the ramp by hand which helped the 230g even better, but not so much for a 230g XTP type defensive round. I'd like to make it a carry gun, but doubt the 230g hardball. Incidentally, this weapon LOVED the 230g Black Talons. Never had a feeding problem, but can't get them. Tried the replacements but no dice.
 
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If set up properly your norinco should shoot any bullet profile. Careful with the polishing, etc as the feed ramp angle and barrel set back distance is VERY sensitive

Tune your extractor, and here's a good place to polish, the extractor hook. Install fresh springs and a GOOD 7 round mag with new mag spring. Detail clean, lube and see if the nork doesn't run just fine.
 
OP you can certainly tune a Norinco to be a fun range gun. As an EDC, why? There are so many better options that I would rather bet my life on.
 
did up a Norinco 9mm ,trigger job , bushing ,springs , sti trigger etc. like the pistol but would have been better to save the time and money . Always tuning something on it . Bought a DW pointman nine and the Norinco never leaves the safe
 
I recall when Norinco 45's were in great demand, commanding prices well beyond what they sold for when they first came on the market. Must be good metal in the frames & slides, as I know they were in demand because they were used as a basis for custom builds, & race guns.
Not sure they still are, as there are so many great 1911's on the market for bargain prices..& in recent history, name brand 1911 prices dropped, a lot..

A gunsmith that knows 1911's should be able to tune up your Norinco so it functions reliably with any load / bullet you feed it..but as mentioned earlier, needs to be tuned by someone that knows 1911's.. not just someone with a dremel. The barrel may need a little throat angle modification, or chamber reaming..not expensive, but needs to be done by someone with 1911 skill. My gunsmith took my Officer sized RIA 1911 that shot 1911 ball ammo w/o a problem, but any SWC or HP round wouldn't feed. He used a chamber reamer (after measuring chamber w/ a gauge) and very lightly reamed the front of the chamber. Told me "it's a little tight , in the front of the chamber." Took only about 2 turns with the reamer (less than a minute) and suddenly my pistol feeds everything reliably. Really helps to know a good gunsmith.
 
I have an ATI FX45 K that came with a threaded barrel.
Original barrels were cut to short for suppressors to fully seat without pushing back in slide and taking gun out of battery.
Sent back to ATI and seems like I got a new barrel and the old one back.
That said after a few hours of polishing and swapping out a few parts, it probably can shoot better than I can.
No where near as sweet as Colt Gold Cup but think I only paid $350 for it WITH a threaded barrel.
Lot of fun to shoot with suppressor.
So I would also say yes to playing with your Norinco!!!
 

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I should have mentioned..if doing extensive mods, like having expensive sights installed to an inexpensive pistol.. (really to any firearm)
plan on keeping it a long time, as you'll rarely get the money invested in a gun, returned, if you decide to sell it.

I Bought a RIA GI style 1911, chambered in 9mm, because to use a Colt 1911 chambered in 45acp, (which I already owned) & converting it to a 9mm,
would have cost more than I paid for the brand new RIA 1911 in 9mm. This was years ago, when the GI model was the only one offered by RIA....
the fancier models weren't produced by them, or anyone, @ the time. The RIA 9mm was reliable, but I started putting $ into it..different grips, wanted better sights, had it Cerakoted (didn't like the parkerized fact. finish) trigger job, new springs..soon I had invested about what I'd paid for the entire pistol..

Really liked having a 1911 in 9mm, but stopped putting $ in the RIA & bought a (used) Springfield Loaded Target on gunbroker..
It had a SS finish (what I really wanted) & a bunch of features I like, & I didn't have to pay more for them. I'd tried finding a new Loaded Target, none were FS @ the time. Funny thing is, I bought the S/A for about the same $ I'd spent , buying & adding parts to the RIA..
 
Norinco 1911, used as lab rat / training for diy smithing. affordable , good steel.
 

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Do you fellows think it would be worth bringing a Norinco .45 up to the point of being a reliable shooter? It seems to be extremely accurate when shooting military grade 230 g hardball (o.a.l., charge, etc.) but chokes on anything else. Polished the ramp by hand which helped the 230g even better, but not so much for a 230g XTP type defensive round. I'd like to make it a carry gun, but doubt the 230g hardball. Incidentally, this weapon LOVED the 230g Black Talons. Never had a feeding problem, but can't get them. Tried the replacements but no dice.

Bill Wilson built up several Norinco 45s
 
Norincos are solid guns with lots of potential as long as you keep in mind that no matter what you put into it it's always going to be a Norinco. You'll never get big money out of it so don't put big money into it.

This one got some Tussey magic sometime in it's life and it's a heck of a gun - reliable with all the ammo I've tried, great trigger, and very accurate.
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Norinco's have tough steel, I used up 2 carbide bits during cutting of Novak style dovetail for rear sight. the first one broke so I had to reduce the cutting speed.
 
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