M14 Fed. Ordinance Receiver

jgass

jgass

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I am very green at this medium but I am going to throw something out to see if there is an answer out there:

I own an M14 with a Federal Ordinance receiver. The rifle is mil spec throughout (possibly apart from the receiver), performs unbelieveably well, was very accurate and dependable until the receiver separated. Page 252 in Jerry Kuhnhausen's book "The U.S. .30 Cal. Gas Operated Service Rifles " indicates some Fed Ord receivers were too soft. Mine apparently was and I did have a beautiful bruise to prove it. Photos available online if anyone is interested (of the rifle, not my bruise:))

Now the query: This is one of my favorite firearms and I don't want it to become a parts rifle. Local gunsmiths are well tuned to 'sporting' firearms' but I have no confidence in their ability on the military stuff. Can anyone guide me to a competent gunsmith in Canada that can replace/repair the receiver on an M14 ?
 
Replace the receiver ? Do you mean swap your parts onto a Norinco receiver ? I was gonna suggest Doug over at Ellwood Epps in Orillia....
 
Norinco ?? I have no experience with modern Chinese firearms. Are they reliable ?
 
Are all the parts of the rifle GI? If so, buy a M305 for $399, plus delivery and taxes, break for the receiver, assemble your GI parts on the Chinese receiver. This should make a first class rifle. Sell the left over Chinese parts. Some parts, like the rear sight set and wood won't bring much, others, like the barrel unit, trigger assembly and operating rod should be easy to sell. All done, might cost you a couple of hundred dollars to replace the receiver. There is nothing wrong with the Chinese receiver; generally thought to be better quality than current M1A units.
Next question is where you are located. There are a number of folks around who could do the work. Two way postage would jack up the cost a bit.
 
The Federal Ordnance M14 type rifle you've got is built on a commercial receiver with all USGI parts. Federal Ordnance also produced a number of rifles built on the same receiver with all Chinese parts back in the 80's IIRC.

As Tiriaq suggested, buy a Norinco M305, strip it of all parts and transfer your Federal Ordnance M14 parts to the Norinco receiver. I did exactly that with my 12(3) TRW M14. I sold all the Norinco parts, except the bolt and op-rod, then tranferred all the USGI parts to the Norinco receiver. I acutally come out ahead in the end. Unfortunately, I am left with an un-sellable TRW M14 receiver. Oh well, it'll help me maintain my 12(3) status. The Norinco receiver is better than any other commercial receiver. It is forged and has the proper geometry, something that is a bit of a crap shoot with commercial receivers. You'll have no problems selling the spare Norinco parts. If you're not in hurry, wait for Hungry to put on another M14 clinic and you can do mosts of the difficult work at the clinic, i.e. barrel changing and indexing. Everything else, you can do yourself without special tools. :D
 
I've been working with USGI (real) M14's since 1986 and I've found that the current batch of Norinco M14 receivers are truly amazing. Their geometry is on par with the TRW manufacturer if not better.

And that is the reason I have built up TWO of the Norc M14 receivers with USGI parts and heavy Douglas NM barrels. :evil:
 
Springfield M1A receivers never been, are, or will be Mil Spec because they were made for civilian market, period. Never heard of one broken brittle receiver while indexing a barrel. Easy to find problems on everything on the internet... Someone can elaborate on this ? ;)

tiriaq said:
8ball - Insofar as you are very well informed, please elaborate.
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8ball said:
Springfield M1A receivers never been, are, or will be Mil Spec because they were made for civilian market, period. Never heard of one broken brittle receiver while indexing a barrel. Easy to find problems on everything on the internet... Someone can elaborate on this ? ;)
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I am sure that you are very satisfied with your Springfield M1A Super Match. But how is a cast, off-spec. receiver superior? They are off-spec. because they are made for the civilian market? Springfield makes them deliberately off-spec, because they are made for the civilian market? That makes no sense whatsoever.
 
Oh man - where to these 'Springer/Fed Ord is better just because' guys come from anyhow?? :rolleyes:
 
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Modern metallurgy have nothing have to look to what you are referring. You would never sit in a plane if you would know how much parts are made from cast metallurgy. Ruger handguns are made from cast metal and are rock solid.;)

Scarecrow said:
Springfield receivers are cast, norinco are forged. Doesnt take a genious to figure out whats better.
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Just have a look at the "M14 Rifle History and Development" by Lee Emerson. You will get a good information in there...

tiriaq said:
I am sure that you are very satisfied with your Springfield M1A Super Match. But how is a cast, off-spec. receiver superior? They are off-spec. because they are made for the civilian market? Springfield makes them deliberately off-spec, because they are made for the civilian market? That makes no sense whatsoever.
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Thanks everyone, except for Bart212 and a couple of others who took my question less than seriously. I really did not expect more from this forum and when I indicated I was 'green at this medium' I meant the Gunnutz forum, as I am certaily not unfamiliar with firearms. The replies from tiriaq and RifleDude are most appreciated. Thanks Guys !
Sarcastic responses turns away contributers to what otherwise can be a gem of a forum.
Bye.
JG
 
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