M14 Op Rod Saddle Rubbing Barrel!?

Travis Bickle

Travis Bickle

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Well this is a new one....

Just picked up a new to me Norc M14.
I just properly indexed my Norc M14 barrel. Took off the Op Rod Guide, center punched the barrel nub, hammered rod guide back on in lign with gas system yadda yadda standard Norc M14 tweaking etc
I have not fired it yet.

However I noticed when doing the tilt test with no spring installed that the charging handle made it almosy 3/4 of the way back and then stuck fast. It did this before but I assumed it was because the barrel was off index.
I can force it through to the rear with what I call medium effort and it will go and it will cycle etc but with force to pull it back the last 1/4 of the way.
I thought it was the notch/riding nub in the rod handle binding in the receiver notch until I noticed that it was the op rod saddle (the curved out area that rides under the barrel) rubing up hard under the barrel just under the chamber area bulge forward of the receiver!
There is considerable wear on this portion of the barrel clearly from the previus user shooting it, it clearly functioned in this manner though telling from the heavy wear on the barrel where it makes contact. The machining in that spot under the barrel looks really rough even by Chinse M14 standards, it was definitly the last barrel that cutting bit cut before it was deemed "no mole good!" :D

My op rod is not bent in any way, I rolled it, measured it, set it across machine steel surfaces etc

Anyhow, I am going to be getting an op rod off a buddy to try in my rifle to make sure it's not my op rod saddle that was badly machined. It may be the barrel was not cut properly though!
Just curious if anyone has run into this issue. Is it common? I'm not talking about slight contact with the barrel I'm talking it hits that spot and forces the charging handle down so hard in the slot that it takes a screw driver to push it up in the notch to remove it!
If it is the barrel, how do I get it shaved? Bastard file and some patience? I don't care what it looks like under there as long as it works. Other than that it's a very well made looking Norc M14.
 
Niether of mine make that much contact, but one of them has a decent shiny spot on the barrel in that area. Gun shoots really well and passes the tilt test and such so I haven't done anything about it.

Have any pictures of the area?
 
There's enough slop in the oprod system that some minor rubbing will occur. I had the same in my genuine USGI TRW M14. Don't sweat it, just make sure you put a little a grease on the barrel where the rub marks are and you're good to go.
 
Take a file and remove a bit of material from the barrel where the op rod rubs . It wont hurt the rifle at all.
We indexed the barrel correctly last night and I was hoping when you worked on the the op rod guide today it would pass the tilt test but no luck heh ..
And you stole that rifle by the way ....good find !
 
Last edited:
chalkriver said:
Take a file and remove a bit of material from the barrel where the op rod rubs . It wont hurt the rifle at all.
We indexed the barrel correctly last night and I was hoping when you worked on the the op rod guide today it would pass the tilt test but no luck heh ..
And you stole that rifle by the way ....good find !
Click to expand...

lol Oh yeah, nothing a little filing won't fix eh? ;)
Thanks again for your gigantic wrench as well Sir.
 
The following is from Gus Fisher. See post #2, point #5.

http://m14forum.com/gus-fisher/119852-m14-op-rod-binding-does-not-pass-tilt-test.html


5. If you still feel some binding or real rubbing as you run the OR all the way from the rear going forward a couple three inches back, what MAY be happening is the saddle of the OR is rubbing/binding on the bottom or side of the breech of the barrel. (Like I wrote before, this usually doesn’t happen with GI. Configuration barrels, but it can.) At this point, get your Dykem or magic marker out and cover the surface of the saddle that rides underneath the barrel. Then run the op back and forth in the receiver channel to show you any places the OR saddle is rubbing on the barrel breech. High Spots need to be cleared by garnet paper and sometimes filing with a half round file. When it feels like you almost have it, here is a little trick I use.

Take a piece of 320 grit garnet paper and wrap it around the underside of the barrel breech WITH THE ABRASIVE SIDE pointing away from the barrel and towards the op rod. Pull/push the op rod over it for a few strokes. This may be a little hard to do. Then take the garnet paper out and clean off any abrasive residue and see if the OR saddle is still binding. If so, do it some more until it does not bind when the garnet paper is removed.
 
Dake21 said:
Mine does that too. I have a scratch one inch long and an eight of an inch wide under the barrel.
Click to expand...

It is not uncommon for it to rub even on USGI M14's although it is NOT supposed to contact that area.
If it does not cause binding of the op rods charging handle in the groove/track of the receiver then it's not enough to cause any concern I would say.
On mine it physically forces that part down so hard that I can't even remove it by hand/have to pry up on the charging handle slightly with a screwdriver to simply remove the op rod from the receiver track.
It makes it much harder to cycle the action manually so I could imagine the stress that's being exerted on the system when actually being fired at the speed of hundredths of a second!

I will know for sure what the issue is tomorrow.
The Op Rod does not look bent at all. I've checked it on all sides and using a machine steel flat surface etc
I will be getting a friends Op Rod from his Norc M14 tomorrow that has zero issues.
If it still rubs, I'm going to have to assume it's the barrel that was badly machined on the underbelly.
If I need a new Op Rod, first I'm going to try the paint trick to find the high spots on this one, then use a dremel with polishing stones to take down the surface of the op rod saddle and see if that fixes it. I was reading the link posted on the last page about having to get it rehardened after grinding/polishing, I say bah! Maybe if you cut into it a quarter inch or something ridiculous.
If it's the barrel doing it I will hit it with a file nice and slow using the paint trick as well to find the high spots only.
Will update and try and put up pics as I go once I resolve the issue.
May be some good advice/info for the forum.
Thanks all!
 
Sniper_485 said:
Is it possible you're op rod guide wasn't put on the barrel in the correct position? I have heard of that before.
Click to expand...

haha well speaking of which...

I looked up the link to the m14 forum and followed the instruction. Op rod wa misaligned with the piston (I thought only indexing the barrel would fix it) and it was said to move the guide in line with it. After a few tap it is now in line and I pass the tilt test. Well that was easy :d
 
Dake21 said:
haha well speaking of which...

I looked up the link to the m14 forum and followed the instruction. Op rod wa misaligned with the piston (I thought only indexing the barrel would fix it) and it was said to move the guide in line with it. After a few tap it is now in line and I pass the tilt test. Well that was easy :d
Click to expand...

If it moved that easily then it can move again.
The right way to do it is to align.index the barrel, make sure it's spot on.
Then punch out that pin that's through the op rod guide.
Tap the op rod guide forward off the raised barrel portion it sits on.
Then get a small center punch and hammer a whole bunch of center punch welts on that raised surface.
Then using a brass punch you can hammer the op rod guide back onto that spot and tap it right in line with the gas system. That way you know it's on there good.
There is an awesome sticky at the top of this Section on all the "how to's" and tweaks to get the most out of your Norc M14 for the least amount of money spent Sir.
Old posts from the days when this site was full of useful info and people who helped others.
 
Hey, I miss writing them stickies at the top of the forum! LOL :)

All good advice here! I just took sandpaper and a file to the high spots after ensuring indexing is all good! Sure is nice to have the tools to do all this stuff. I'm glad all you guys up in the "Valley" are able to help each other out there! :cool:

Yes, even my USGI M14's had rubbing here and there.... Including some USGI M1 Garands! Not a worry unless you've been listening to the same naysayers I encountered back in 1986 who warned my #### would fall off if I sanded the under barrel / op rod conflicts! :eek:

Cheers all! Happy New Year! :wave:


Barney
 
So quick update; it was not the op rod that was machined bad, the underside of the barrel just forward of the receiver where it tapers to the actual barrel profile was all wonky!
My friends op rod bound up even harder than mine did. Clearly because it hadn't been smashed over the barrel hump abnormality a million times to smooth it out a bit.
Bound up to the point of being hard to cycle it by hand without excess force!
I used marker to find the spots on the barrel that were abnormal. There was a small 1/2 wide raised portion along the left side of that hump under the barrel. I took a file to the underside of the barrel with slow, rounding strokes and made it uniform. Half hour of slow methodical filing, hump is now uniform. Now she passes the tilt test with the smoothness!
Another Chinese M14 fixed on the dirt cheap! :rockOn:
 
Glad to hear this .. Next we have to get that flashider off and try reversing your gas locking ring .
If that fails I have some of TacticalTeachers superduper sniper shims for it :)
 
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