My Norinco "Sacrificial Lamb"

[p35hp]

At last count I think I own aprox 11 shotguns,10 rifles, 13 pistols and 8 revolvers.. Live in your typical ranch style house.. My bedroom on the far end, kitchen off the main entrance. Should things go "bump" in the night a well worn but dependable 12 ga Remington 870 loaded with #2 lead is close to my bed.. If the need for a firearm should present itself at other times, a Norinco 1911A1 lives atop the refrigerator in the kitchen.. Why the Norinco? Because the damned thing works. On today's market it's probably the least valuable of any of the handguns I own that I'd stake mine and my family's life on.. It aint pretty, the SSI ONT CA import mark is not stamped square on the frame and the Norinco logo is not stamped to a uniform depth.. The Colt 1911A1 my Daddy carried from North Africa to Germany still has a better parked finish than the Norico had when new. Paid 200.00 for it years ago from a friend who just bought it and learned the next week his son's Christian school tuition was going up 250.00.. His pride would not accept my offer of a loan and I've had the A1 since. Should I come home and find my house vandalized and the A1 gone I'll be heartbroke, hopefully the Fort Knox "Yeager" model safe will be intact and I'll be in the market for another Model of 1911A1, because like I said, it was cheap and THE DAMNED THING WORKS.. jim

[robertbank]

Interesting post. From reading various forums I have yet to find one manufacturer of 1911's that for reasons only gun god knows have problems. Guns that cost $2,500US won't do this or do that yet my three Norincos all go boom every time I pull the triggger. The sights are frankly, not much more than pimples on the slide yet when you put the front sight between the gap in the rear sight the bullet and all subsequent bullets seem to hit close to the same spot. Like you said the darn things work. Maybe it is time Colt, Springfield and Wilson to name a few should take a good hard look at the Norincos and give up some of the fancy for reliable.

[Brian D.]

One of my Norks is up to about 20,000 rounds now, nothing has broken, I just do normal spring replacement.