New Grips for the 1911

I ordered some Springfield Armory wood grips about a month ago.  I guess it was a bit confusing for them to process a Canadian credit card and send it here, but they were on sale and I was in no hurry.  Shipped to my door, it only set me back $41 CAD.

I tossed them on my Norinco 1911A1 Government that I got from the Canadaammo.com 1911 + ammo combo.  That was a sweet, sweet deal at $499.99 and they must have sold a ton.  It's a great 1911 fit and finish, and probably the most inexpensive 1911 on the market today.  The fit and finish on previous Norincos I've come accross were sketchy at best, but this batch was unlike any Norcs from the past.  Anyway, I used to be all into the tacticool mall-ninja black pistols with all the tricked out bits like the beavertail grip safety, the skeleton trigger and hammer and fibre optic sights (haha, sort of like my Remington R1E), I've come to really appreciate the classic look of the 1911A1 Government look, and with a classy set of wood grips, it really pops. 

New grips for my 1911A1

I searched high and low for these Springfielf Armoury wood grips, or the Springfield Armory Cross Cannons grip ($40 plus shipping from Springfielf Armoury).  Amazon and Ebay had a set of these "US" stamped grips selling for about $30 plus shipping so I was fortunate enough to have somone on CGN sell me theirs for $30 shipped.  Figured for $30, it would dress up my Can Am deal Norinco 1911A1 Government, especially since this batch didn't have any Norinco or Made in China markings anywhere on the pistol.

I still have yet to master the art of taking pictures in my apartment with crappy lighting.

Anyway, they're a decent set of grips and I'm pretty happy with them.  I think the wood grips definitely compliment the classic design.  I still like the modernized 1911s with the beaver tail grip safety, the skeletonized hammer and trigger etc but I've also developed a liking to the classic look as well.

Polished some of the internals of my Norinco 1911A1

I just can't leave well enough alone, haha!  I've been watching this guy Jay Williams build a 1911 from the ground up and it's a pretty informative series.  Before watching it, I barely knew how to detail strip my 1911, let alone mod it.  Now I'm comfortable with the detail strip, and tinkering here and there, and even understanding some of the mechanisms.  Some of the stuff that's still way beyond me is the contact points between the hammer and sear, and some other fitment issues like fitting a slide, fitting a barrel and bushing.  I'll probably watch this series some more and use it as my 1911 bible.  Here's the first vid in a series of 11 videos.

I didn't quite go that far, but I decided to at least start with baby steps and polish a few parts of my 1911, try to make it a bit smoother.  I stripped it all apart and started and started polishing the trigger bow, but eventually I polished the trigger itself.  All I had laying around was 320 grit sandpaper, Scotchbrite and Flitz:

Compare that to the original:

A lot of people polish the trigger bow track as well, but I didn't have the file or the smarts to do that so I just left it at this.

Next, i did the sear and disconnector.  I didn;t have the courage to polish too much because I didn't want to start taking material off, just wanted to smooth out the surfaces a bit.

 Here's the other side of the sear before polishing.

More shots of the disconnector.

I took some sandpaper to the track inside the grip safety for the hammer strut.  

Again, I wasn't sure if my sanding would take off material so on the hammer strut, I sanded it for a bit, then quit when it felt a bit smooth enough.  I may revisit it later to get it smoother.

Sanded down the side of the contact points of the hammer as well, but I didn't go anywhere near the contacts between the hammer and sear.  No tools, no jig, no experience.  Better leave that to a pro.

I tried polishing a bit of the barrel, but that was a lost cause.  Frig that steel is hard, so all I was able to do was polish a bit of the chamber feed lip.

Anyway, I slapped it all together and the trigger did feel smoother, but was still a heavy pull to break.  I've been reading about cutting a coil or two off the mainspring, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea.  I'll do a bit more reading, maybe get a pro to take a look at it, but so far, it's a lot better than when I got the Norc. 

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 :)