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 :)

Norinco 1911A1 Government - Canada Ammo Deal

I've been following this link on Canadian Gun Nutz about this deal from Canada Ammo and it's a helluva deal.  Just wish I had the bucks to but a few more.  Anyway, there are over 3000 posts on this thread, and who knows how many units they've sold, but this deal's been around since the end of April, and with the recent ammo shortage, I'm surprised they have any left at all.

Lots of rumours about this particular shipment of 1911s.  Some say they're just factory defects, some have really poor finishes, including sharp burrs, or blemishes on the blueing, others have cracked grips.  Some rumours have this as a government military order that went south and these ended up on sale.  There are no Made in China or Norinco markings on these pistols so that’s probably what fueled that rumour.

Lots of people are getting these things just for the cheap ammo, and flipping the 1911 itself for a bit of a profit, but I think I’ll keep mine for a beater gun and return my Remington R1 Enhanced to Safe Queen status. 

I caved and ordered this deal last Tuesday (without telling the missus, so I’m really on her $hitlist right now), Canada Ammo confirmed the order on Wednesday, I called the CFO on Friday morning, and Canada Ammo shipped it that afternoon. I went to pick it up on Monday afternoon, after work. That was probably the fastest I ever got a transfer of a pistol from the retailer into my greedy little hands.

The Ammo came in a wood crate, that was packed in cardboard. The ammo itself comes set in Styrofoam, and in these crappy cardboard boxes that are ready to melt. But the ammo inside is brass cased, and supposedly reloadable. Also, Norc .45acp ammo has been known to be loaded hot and fairly reliable so I could care less about the packaging.

The 1911 came packed in a crappy plastic bag that was filled with grease, or cosmoline, or whatever other toxic substance they use in China to pack guns and make baby formula.  It’s then seated in a Styrofoam bed (much like the Transformers of old), inside a cardboard box of equally quality that the ammo came in.  The pistol comes with a user guide, a bore brush, and two mags.  Canada Ammo also includes a magazine, some target sheets and an M16 pen, which is a cute little novelty. 

I tore open the packaging like it was Christmas and picked up the pistol to find it was covered in this muck. One of the mags was inside so I popped it out and did a safety check, just in case. I found some cotton wad stuck in the muzzle. They had one of those stuffed in my Norc M14 as well. Anyway, I racked the slide and boy was it rough. Talk about the polar opposite to my Remington. But still, despite it being a bit rough around the edges, the pistol had some good heft to it and felt solid. There was no rattle in the slide, which was mated to the frame with little tolerance. The barrel, bushing and slide were also fitted well, with almost no wobble whatsoever. The only thing that had a bit of a rattle was the grip safety, but it functioned just fine.

My grips were intact, unlike many I’ve heard that came before mine. Still, they were the ugliest things in the world, and would not go back on after I cleaned her up.

I’ve only field stripped my 1911s so far, and I’ve never had the courage to detail strip it, but the last few weeks, I’ve built up my courage and went a little further than the field strip. I’ve been practicing with my GSG 1911 .22lr and got as far as taking off the mainspring housing, the grib safety, and the ambi-thumb safety. When I got a hold of my Norc 1911, my plan was to do the same, but the thing was so filthy, I decided to go all the way and got it down to almost a complete takedown. The only thing I didn’t completely break down was the mainspring housing itself, the spring inside of the mag release, and the firing pin in the slide. 

Taking down the 1911 this far wasn’t that bad, and if I do it a few more times, I’m sure I’ll get used to it. I didn’t have any brake cleaner like most people use, so I hosed the parts down with plenty of WD-40, let it soak for a bit and then wiped off whatever gunk was left. I then gave everything a light coat of G96, my favourite fragrance of gun cleaner/lubricant.  

Since I had everything apart, I was tempted to polish a few parts up, but decided to see if I could get the thing back together again first. I managed to get the thing back together again, did the function test and was relieved that everything worked the way it should. The only parts I had trouble with were the mag release, which would get caught up and not pop back up. I gave it a quick squirt of CLP, wiggled the screw around a bit, and fed a mag in, and that seemed to solve the issue.  

I'm not sure if you can tell just by looking at this shot, but the gaps between slide and frame were minimal on my Norc, and there was almost no wiggle room. 

Grips from my GSG 1911 .22lr, also syntheric, but look and feel way better than the little pieces of crap that came with the Norc. 

It was all pretty tight between the barrel, bushing and slide as well.  I remember picking up a Norinco 1911 a long time ago, and there was a ton of wobble, but not this one.  Just luck I guess.

I took my Remington and GSG out to play with and compare, and by far, the Remington was fine jewelry compared to the Norc, but at least with the Norc, I won't be afraid to toss it around and get it scratched up.  As I said before, the Remington will resume her duties as Safe Queen.

Norinco 1911A1 .45acp

Remington R1 Enhanced .45acp

GSG 1911 Tactical .22lr

The Norinco 1911 is pretty rough around the edges to say the least, and it shredded basically any cotton swab that touched it, but functionally, the pistol seems to work. I’ll know for sure once I take her to the range, but from past reviews, there doesn’t seem to be many issues with this pistol.



Competition Match Hammer & Sear Kit

The great thing I've learned about the Ruger 10/22 is that it can be a cheap and easy rifle to tinker with, especially for beginners like me who have zero gunsmithing skills. 

I picked up a Competition Match Hammer & Sear Kit like the one found at Cabela's for a pretty decent price and found it to be incredibly easy to install.  Also, there are plenty of youtube videos out there to help you along in case you get lost with the instructions.

Before:

The one thing about the Archangel kit is that if you ever have to even do a field strip, you have to take the whole thing apart, and off the top of my head, I count at least 7 screws before you even get to the rifle itself.  It is a pain in the buttocks.

This kit cost me $64.99, same as at Cabela's which usually retails it for $69.99, but I think it's been on sale for the longest time. I'm sure there are tons of other brands out there that provide similar kits, but I went with this one because of the mostly good reviews and the fact that there was "no gunsmithing required" or "no fitting required" are music to my ears. 

I don't have good progress pictures, and as you can tell, this is basically a shot of the trigger group taken down and strewn across my work mat along with other bits and pieces. 

One thing that did have me concerned was extra parts when I was finished.  I'd imagine that's a vehicle mechanic's nightmare, after reassembling an engine to find an extra bolt of two lying around, wondering where it should have gone.  My kit had a few extra washers that I was assured from the manufacture were not meant for 10/22s with the polymer trigger group. 

Anyway, nothing interesting to look at really, except a bunch of parts laying around, but what I should have taken was a picture of my face, with the look of dispair after reasembling the rifle.  I forgot to lube any of the moving parts.  I had to take the whole thing apart again, then put it back together.  Normally, I wouldn't complain about a field strip, but anything that requires screwdrivers and allen keys can be a bit of a pain. 

After:

At the end of the day, it pretty much looked exactly the same from the outside.  To tell you the truth, I haven't had the 10/22 long enough to complain about it's performance, let alone find a reason to "upgrade".  I did the function test a few times, and it seemed like I put the thing together correctly.  We'll see about that the next time I take her to the range.



Playing with the Contour Roam at DVC

I know it's supposed to be an action camera and filming myself from a static positon isn't very dynamic, but then again, I'm not a very dynamic kind of guy.  Anyway, just testing the thing out and demonstrating my embarassingly crappy marksmanship skills (or complete lack there of).

A quick vid of me throwing lead downrange with my new Ruger 10/22 in the Archangel Nomad stock.  It's supposed to look like the H&K G36....not a bad copy, but far from perfect.

Vid of my Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced.  I love this thing, as it practically shoots itself, but since I hadn't been to the range in a while, I was pretty rusty.  The groupings were horrendous but I manage to get them down to a respectable size near the end of the session.  One stupid thing I plan to change out is the silly Smiley Face grips I got for it.  They look pretty neat, but the smooth finish was kind of hard to work with and I had to regrip almost after every shot.

Lastly, my oh so tacticool GSG 1911 Tactical.  Haha, it's even labeled tactical when you buy it.  I threw on the fake suppressor and the cheapie light and laser combo just to get used to the feel....I don't know why.  Anyway, it's still fun to shoot, even though it's not really suppressed and I'm not the international special forces operator.  Cheap on ammo though, way cheaper than blazing through a box of .45acp.

Gotta love trolls

Last year, I upload a short vid of my buddy trying out his M14 in a Troy Chassis. It’s a simple video, pretty harmless, just showing a guy having a bit of fun with his new toy.

Then today, I get a notification of two comments posted:

This, coming from toothless hill-billy who's parents are probably brother and sister.  The guy posts videos of tractor parades....wtf.

Ruger 10/22 in the Archangel Nomad stock (AKA G36 conversion)

I came across a pretty smoking deal on the new Archangel Nomad stock for the Ruger 10/22 that was too hard to pass up.  I wasn't even looking for a new rifle and really didn't have much interest in the Ruger 10/22 (since I already had the capability to shoot .22lr out of my AR with the CMMG conversion kit) but this stock kit was so cheap, I just had to get it.

The next day, I started looking around for a cheap Ruger 10/22 but they were pretty much sold out everywhere.  Somehow, I stumbled on one at Wholesale Sports and that too was a really good deal.  So I ended up picking up the rifle as well, and that very same day, my buddy Jay put it all together for me.

According to him, the stock kit was a perfect, without any mods or gun smithing.  The only hiccup he ran into was with the Ruger.  The front sight post was not as easy to drift out as expected.  In fact, it was wedged in so tight, he ended up just drilling it out.  After that was done, the rest of it just fell together.

The kit is made of pretty sturdy polymer.  I've never held a real G36, but the ergonomics on this replica felt pretty good.  Took it out for the night 4wheeling and when we had the chance, I let off a few rounds.  It seemed to shoot pretty flat, but I'll have to take it out during the day and see what kind of groupings I can get. 

Anyway, this new toy will be a nice, cheap alternative to shooting 5.56 or 7.62.  Yeah, I know, I can shoot .22lr out of my AR, but it's a pain to clean, plus I have to send a few 5.56 out of the pipe to clear the gas system, and at the indoor range (DVC), that's impossible so I have to wait until I get a chance to get to the outdoor range.

Night 4 Wheeling

The Jolly Green Giant is still off the road, but I tagged along with my pals Jay, Wes and Roy for some night 4wheeling.  Didn't take a lot of pics, but here's a shot of Wes' Jeep

Trying out a new toy

I picked this Contour Roam action camera for my course a few weeks ago, too bad I can't post any of the videos from it, but here are a few shots of me and some pals messing around at PCDHFC.

 

The cam works great, it's easy to use, and it's definitely waterproof. Not sure what else I'm going to use this thing for though....I haven't touched it since my course ended a month ago, haha!