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Thread: History of the m14s/m305 from Marstar- John, how about filling us in?

  1. #11
    CGN Regular kirkf's Avatar
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    I think that's Republic of China (Taiwan) which is said to have bought the tooling, vs People's Republic of China (mainalnd China), where Norincos are born- my understanding is that the People's
    Republic of China is said to have reverse-engineered the M14.
    On that point you could be right. I don't have a clue whether or not selling it to 'taiwan' was just a way to get around US state department export rules in 1969, or how independent Taiwan was back then vs. now.
    Did Taiwan ever produce any of the guns?

    Kirk

  2. #12
    CGN frequent flyer Kveldulf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kirkf View Post
    On that point you could be right. I don't have a clue whether or not selling it to 'taiwan' was just a way to get around US state department export rules in 1969, or how independent Taiwan was back then vs. now.
    Did Taiwan ever produce any of the guns?
    I know nothing about US export rules or Taiwanese firearms production but I do know this -- in the first half of the twentieth century, China went through a decades-long civil war that made that little affair in the United States look like a family tiff. It ended, or at least entered an extended pause, when the pro-west Nationalist government was forced out of the mainland and forcibly took over the island of Formosa. Through the 50s and 60s and for some time beyond, they were armed with state-of-the-art American weaponry, much like Israel, and they were prepared to go to war literally at any minute.

    In the 80s, I worked for a company that sold Taiwan-made computers. We were dragged over the coals for running a newspaper ad with red ink. Red is the colour of Communism.
    Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
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  3. #13
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    THE M-14 SEMI AUTO;
    I am going from memory here, I would have to check the files for exact dates etc....

    Some years ago we were approached by Norinco to sell their product line of firearms here in Canada, they said they were not happy with the sales vaolume at that time....You must remember that the M-14 and the AR-15 clones, just to mention a couple, were being sold for hundreds of dollars higher than even today's prices.

    We met with some of the administration of Norinco on several occasiosn to discuss what we wanted and what they expected, we met here, in China, in Nuremberg (IWA) and at SHOT.

    We reached an agreement with Norinco several months later, we needed many issues made clear before we signed on, the most important being how we would extend our warranty policy to cover Norinco firearms.... Another part of the agreement covered the training of our gunsmith at the various factories in China.

    Once we introduced the Norinco firearms to the Canadian market and the consumer took note of our much lower pricing than what was being offered in Canada at that time by other importers.... A couple of things happened;
    1) All hell broke loose and we received threatning calls from dealers, other calls were more suttle, like "can't you bring up your prices so we can all make more" ? Funny the consumer found that they liked our prices....
    2) Sales soared, within the first three months of having product in our warehouse we sold more than all other importers combined for the previous year....

    It was not alwys a smooth road, we had issues, we always resolved them with the hlp of the people in China.... They either came over or we went there....

    At times there were production and QC issues, I'm certain most of our customers will agree that the overall fit and finish has come a long way since we began importing. We managed to always try and prevent any potential issues, somtimes causing delivery delays, but since we do warranty everything is it easier to fix minor things before they become a major problem, thats why Frank, our gunsmith, is in the factories on a regular basis....

    Many of our happy customers ask how we can maintain lower pricing that many others who import from China, it is simple, we buy in volume directly from the factories, we are the importer, we are the vendor, we sell directly to you the retail customer and to many dealers all over Canada....

    You must also realize that some importers are simply not happy with a modest profit margin and want more of your hard earned money, if the market supports that, fine it is a free market system in Canada....

    I hope we have replied to some of your questions, if you have others ask ....

    John

  4. #14
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    Thanks John- appreciate you taking the time to write!

  5. #15
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    What is the situation for the M-305s now? It seems to me that demand used to outstrip supply. Is that still the case, or have things calmed down now?

    Quote Originally Posted by johnone View Post
    Once we introduced the Norinco firearms to the Canadian market and the consumer took note of our much lower pricing than what was being offered in Canada at that time by other importers.... A couple of things happened;
    1) All hell broke loose and we received threatning calls from dealers, other calls were more suttle, like "can't you bring up your prices so we can all make more" ? Funny the consumer found that they liked our prices....
    2) Sales soared, within the first three months of having product in our warehouse we sold more than all other importers combined for the previous year....

    You must also realize that some importers are simply not happy with a modest profit margin and want more of your hard earned money, if the market supports that, fine it is a free market system in Canada....
    That is pretty bad.

  6. #16
    CGN Regular Pule's Avatar
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    m305 is a great deal, thanks for all your hard work John

  7. #17
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    Appreciate the feedback John, as always, thanks for playing along with us. haha.

  8. #18
    CGN Regular bradofcanada's Avatar
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    Great read,the M305 I bought from you guys a couple years ago is still shooting great.Thanks for the info,I love interesting little tidbits like that.
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  9. #19
    CGN frequent flyer Crisco 1's Avatar
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    Is it true I get a free M 305 on my birthday?

  10. #20
    CGN Ultra frequent flyer fenceline's Avatar
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    Yes, on your 305th birthday you get a free 305. Simply pick it up in person.
    CQB, 3 Gun, ISSAC and Service Rifle Shooter.
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