I should have just left it alone....

I've had this 1911 for less than a week, haven't even shot it yet, and here I am messing with it.  I started off with a decent 1911A1 from Norinco actually.  This particular pistol had a decent finish (the exterior anyway), the slide to frame fit was nice and tight, and the barrel, barrel bushing and slide almost seemed perfectly matched.  I actually ordered all the parts below before I even got my 1911, but if I'd known that the one I would get would be in such good shape, I probably would have left it alone.

Wilson Combat High-Ride Beaver Tail grip safety that was labelled as semi-drop in.  It was definitely semi, haha, as it was a right pain in the arse to install and make fit.

I originally ordered just the hammer, but the more I read, the more I thought that I would probably have to order a hammer strut and hammer strut pin because the Norinco unit was all staked in and I would probably wreck it taking it all apart so I ordered the Smith and Wesson hammer strut and hammer strut pin to go with the Smith and Wesson hammer.

Of course, I also read about matching hammers to sears so i figured I couldn't go wrong by ordering the Smith and Wesson sear and disconnector, but in the end, I couldn't make it work and ended up using the Norinco sear and disconnecter with the Smith and Wesson hammer.

The top is the Smith and Wesson hammer/strut assembly, the one below is the Norinco 1911A1 Government unit.

The Springfield Armory flat main spring housing, below is the Norinco unit.

 The Springfield Armory unit fit right into the Norc without any modifications.  I just had to strip the parts from the Norc one and trasnsfer them over to the SA one.

Here's another shot of the Smith and Wesson Hammer/Strut assembly with the Norc one.

And another shot.  Something I notinced, and I don;t know if it's important or not is, the S&W one had more play and wobble in it than the Norc one.  

Comparison of the Smith and Wesson sear and disconnector and the Norc units.  The ones to the left are the Norc ones.  It's a shame I didn't have the skills to make the Smith and Wesson parts work, since I bought them already.

The Norinco 1911A1 Government trigger and the Wilson Combat Match trigger, long pull.  It was not quite a drop in, but needed only a little massaging to fit.  When I finally got it installed, it had less wobble than the trigger on my Remington R1E.

I ended up getting this file set, right after buying a single file that didn't quite work out...why?  Well, the Wilson Combat Drop-in Beavertail grip safety wasn't exactly a drop-in unit, but I've read that nothing ever is.

Anyway, after essentially butchering it, I managed to make it fit.  I'm sure in the hands of a real gunsmith, it wouldn't have been so messed up.

I ended up filing the $hit out of it, being the expert gunsmith that I am.  Anyway, it was a nightmare trying to make this thing work, but somehow I managed.  It doesn't look pretty, but it functions, and it was sort of a fun learning process.  

The new look of my Norinco 1911A1.

Wilson Combat Match trigger.

Smith and Wesson Skeleton hammer.

My butchered Beavertail grip safety.

The Springfield Armory flat main spring housing, which was the only thing that actually dropped right in without any fitting.

I think I probably should have left my 1911 alone, but I couldn't resist.  In retrospect, this particular Norc 1911 was a such a good example, and it had a classic look, I really should have kept it stock, and in the original 1911A1 Government look, especially since it didn't have any Norinco or Made in China markings.  The finish was decent as well, but I didn't really thing about it until I started taking it apart.  Well, I've kept all the original parts and didn't modify the pistol itself so it's not impossible to return it to the stock appearance. 

Haha, maybe I'll get another one from Canada Ammo if they still have the deal in a month or so :)