Norinco m305a from SFRC
- Thread starter Jest4phun
- Start date
You won't find them cheaper - that's for sure.
Glad to see you take responsibility. To be frank, it's disappointing to hear styrofoam under the bolt catch and an aftermarket op rod were to blame. That's on you, not the dealer.
Just saying.
Na I don’t blame the dealer at all it was all me I think it was mostly the fact I just got so frustrated over it and not knowing what to do after finiking with it for a while to no avail on my end, Oprod wasn’t to blame tho it didn’t function even before I put it in so it made me just more frustrated when I put it in with the new spring hoping it would help
John at m14 medic couldn't even fix my rifle, the reciever is out of spec somehow and no other bolts other then the junk MIM bolt would fit in it
I made a big stink to North Sylva and they finally agreed to look at it hopefully they replace it
I made a big stink to North Sylva and they finally agreed to look at it hopefully they replace it
That's pretty odd. Even if a bolt is binding, you can usually determine where and either remove some material from the bolt or the receiver itself. Of course, it depends what the issue is. If the receiver geometry is too far off, it may not be repairable at all.
Most of the receivers we see today were made in 1994 or earlier. The "lotto numbers" on the underside of the receiver are date codes from when the receiver was originally forged and machined, though not when it was assembled.
I've seen 2013 and 2014 dated receivers with 1991-1994 date codes - that's pretty common. The Chinese made a LOT of these when they thought they were going to be able to import them to the USA as a very cheap alternative to the M1A. And they were generally very well made using TRW drawings provided by Keng's. They did incorporate a few shortcuts not found on GI receivers, like not squaring up the underside of the op rod rail, or leaving a wider op rod guide ledge like Springfield does on the M1A since there was no disconnector assembly. They also skipped a couple cosmetic machining operations at the heel that only mater on full auto guns. But otherwise, the Chinese receivers are made on manual machines with special fixtues - an exact copy of the GI assembly line. They don't suffer from some of the issues modern US commercial receivers have to cheapen manufacture on six-axis milling machines. I particularly like that they used a long end mill on a 90 degree head to squarely machine the bolt seat at the back of the heel. No other maker today does that, and it's the best way to do it.
All that said, everyone produces the odd lemon. Even some GI receivers failed gauging and were scrapped at the plant, or scrapped by the military if an armorer found the issue later.
One thing I do often find "off" in chinese receivers is the location of the vertical spline above the scope mounting bolt hole. Unlike virtually every other measurement on these guns, it appears the Chinese cut those splines by eye, and they are often out of spec - either too far forward or too far back to match the GI drawing, making some of the early M14 mounts (and the ARMs 18) tough to fit properly. On chinese receivers, I tend to use the Sadlak or SEI mounts as they don't use this spline at all.
I'm not sure what part of the reciever was out of spec but John said my gun was the second one he's ever had come across his bench that he could not fix. Just my luck I guess
He tried numerous Chinese and usgi bolts and none of them would work
He tried numerous Chinese and usgi bolts and none of them would work
Probably should have an update but to be completely honest it been almost a year since I sent my m305a back to sfrc to be fixed since it had some issues chambering and closing the bolt but when they told me it was all good and it worked and turned out to be some styrofoam in the rifle that prevented it from functioning as a new firearms owner I accepted it, however when I got it back it still didn’t work and had the same problem but after some backlash and being bashed on CGN on this thread I decided as a new firearm owner I didnt wanna pursue it anymore and look like a retard since I honestly didn’t know anything bout it. So it sat in my safe for almost a year until recently I had the opportunity to obtain some m305 parts from a gunsmith who was gutting his to build a GI version, turns out that what was causing the issue with my rifle was actually the trigger pack that came with my m305a the mag catch was actually too high and basically jammed my mags into my bolt. So after almost a year of it sitting in my safe I really should have just went to a third party gunsmith it turns out.
