whats a better m14 norinco or polytech?

I had a 2007 edition Norinco M14s. The barrel was poorly indexed and the Chu wood stock was very soft. None the less it shot very well. I just bought a Poly M14s and have made the following observations: barrel is indexed perfectly, metal finish is darker, polymer stock is tougher and nicer looking than the chu wood Norc. I have not fired this rifle yet. I expect it to perform the same as the Norc did.

regards, Darryl
 
Bcviking said:
im in the market for a new m14 whats better norinco or polytech?
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On this board, there is little distinction between company. The M14S family are usually considered as coming from the same anonimous corporate source. A more relevant way to categorize these rifles is by year of arrival in Canada.

Generally, each batch is an improvement over the last. The considered opinion of the most respected M14S guru on the board is that the last batch is the best. The first few lots were feckin' awful, with punky stocks and soft sights. Then little by little, the importers tightened their buying standards.

The board is quiet now waiting for Johnone to announce the arrival, as opposed to the rumour of arrival, of Italian made semi-auto M14 rifles.
 
Some say overall quality of build and finish has improved over the batches.

By CGN accounts, the headspacing seems to be consistently better. The fit and finish hasn't improved much in my opinion. The latest Polytechs seem to have a very nice, smooth black parkerizing but it seems to be faster wearing than then lighter batches from earlier years.

There are still indexing issues and part finish quality issues on some. Ask Craftsman 441 about his Poly vs his Norinco...

I make no comments on the Chu Wood stocks, they make for fun decorations if you want to kill spare time with sand paper and Tung Oil. I've never even bothered to fire any of mine in Chu Wood. The polymer stocks are pretty nice. Has a fat palm and more vertical grip than USGI but also a lower comb. I'm satisfied with USGI fiberglass though.

Triggersets can vary between the ages as I've seen. Most roughness just need more working in. I have plain Norc, mismatch USGI and USGI....and the Norc are pretty damn smooth.
 
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The rear sights on my 2007 are better than the ones on my Poly, which I find the metal too soft on. However on the Poly, the stock and finish are better, the trigger much better. The bayonet lug is just icing on the cake!
 
I think your best bet is if you can look over the individual rifle you are considering buying, as opposed to assuming anything based on generalities.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
I think your best bet is if you can look over the individual rifle you are considering buying, as opposed to assuming anything based on generalities.
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Bingo
What to look for on any m14s/m305 , poly or norc
Is the flash hider correctly machined? Look for a tilted front sight base
Is the rear sight base centerline machined to agree with aperture center?
Headspace varies so if you can check it do so
Any other issues can be easily adressed
Soft metal in the rear sight can not be established until the sight has been removed for inspection
I prefer the grey parkerizing of the norcs over Poly's as it is definately a tougher finish.
In my opinion there is no advantage of buying one over the other with the exception of headspace which in the many poly's I've worked on has been a few thou closer to NATO spec than the recent norcs
A surprising number of my clients who purchased plastic stock poly's are having me customize usgi fiberglass to ditch the poly plastic
One poly stock I've examined after one clients range day, exhibited heat damage in the forstock which I assume was caused by hot gasses from the gas system.
 
I would say... buy both because I did (nah, I'm just joking) and I quite liked all of them. All depends (more serious now) on your comfort level with all the variables. I recommend the Poly and it's plastic stock for you Chu (me included) wood stock haters. It's worth paying a tad more (up to the price point of $ 525) to achieve a slightly better set of rear sights and plastic stock that won't turn out carcinogenic or flammable in a survival SHTF scenario. Hey... maybe SurvivorMan might do an episode on the benefits of a Chu Wood stock when you're in a tight spot.

I quite like the BLACK (or almost black) parkerizing on the Poly.... looks real cool! :D

That being said, my latest teaching M14 tool is a 2007 series Norc! And yes it's sitting inside a USGI glass stock.. my favorite upgrade. Nothing fancy, no $ 1K cheesegrater tacticool stocks since my soft 'teacher' hands get beat up on that JAE / VLTOR style railed stocks. :eek:

Buy what works for you and your budget!! :)
 
norinco markets their own 7.62 NATO FMJ , i absolutely fail to comprehend why our major dealers do not have a huge amount of it in stock.... It's kinda silly
 
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