Thought the 2009 m305's were good? 2010's going be the new 2009's?

98%Brent

98%Brent

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I am a little confused. When I picked up my M305 from moving target in 2009 I read reviews that praised the new 2009 m305 versions but now I see posts that contradict what I read when making my decisions to buy one of these rifles in the first place.

How many different runs of these rifles were made and can we sticky which runs have what problems? One bright side to this is learning that dicks don't fall off and waiting for the dirt to come out on a new product before buying is stellar advice. Getting caught up in the buy buy buy hype is not always a good idea and rushing to purchase things on impulse is right beside it on the list of things to avoid.

Thanks
 
I'm not certain that we can make sweeping generalizations short of separating lots of m14 production(s). All I know is that the 2007 series are great and so are the 2009 series and then I'm happy with my 2002/2003 series of (bought 4 of them) Norinco M14's. They are all good compared to the soft metal/bolt and large headspace versions from the 1990's. How can you tell them apart? They are hard to find, those older ones. Just buy one of the recent production ones from the past 8 years and you are good to go! That's all I've encountered in my last 20 M14 :eek: (yup, I've done that many of them) clinics across the country. :D

:cheers:

Barney
 
Thanks for the reply Barney! This is the post from another thread that made my hair stand up:

Craftsman 441 said:
I bought a new Norinco from Epps in early December. It's a 2009 Nork with the black polymer stock and bayonet lug. The one time I get to pick my serial number and I get a lemon. :facepalm:

Almost everything major needed replacing. The stripper clip guide is too wide, so it won't hold stripper clips; the oprod guide was loose and the groove in the barrel deeper, so the hole in the guided needed to be drilled bigger with a larger pin used; The oprod's fit to the receiver is just sloppy; Worst of all, the trigger and bolt had to be replaced because the sear wouldn't catch the hammer with the trigger depressed.

At least the barrel is indexed properly and it has a bayonet lug.

Anyone else find these problems in the batch, or am I the only lucky contestant?
Click to expand...

Cheers
 
Totally agree with Barney's comment. Regardless, most of us M14 (M1a, M305, whatever) owners have found that some common tweaks are necessary to achieve optimum and safe performance. Much of this work is done in the M14 workshops. Further, there is also lots of information freely shared in this forum postings and stickies. This is good - gives us all the "hands on" experience that we need. The M14 platform is perhaps not a good fit for folks who don't want to understand how the weapon works - and how to keep it working safely. Having said that, we would all hope if one of us happens to get a lemon with too many issues, the rifle can be returned for refund or exchange. There is one seller on this forum who provides and honours such a guarantee.
 
Shouldn't the rifle come with some sort of information regarding the need for this work to be done before being used? The bargain factor takes a bit of a hit once you factor the added attention these rifles require. Also, not everyone uses this forum or the internet for that matter and think that should be considered.
 
My opinion - for what it's worth - is the M14 is not for everyone. This is more complex platform than say, a bolt action rifle. Those who pick it up need to be prepared to invest time and effort to ensure you are comfortable with it. For me, the research and work is part of the enjoyment and responsibility of ownership. Same with buying, owning and using many things, such as chainsaws and power tools. Not sure what further information you might feel is needed, or who should distribute it. The internet and this forum certainly has volumes of material which might be helpful.
 
Couldn't agree more about the work and research being part of the enjoyment.

As for information, well... an informed consumer would look at the price they are paying for a Chinese built M14s in comparison to other versions of this rifle or similar platforms produced in North America/Europe and come to a reliable conclusion: you always get what you pay for.

If you care to invest time and understanding and a few USGI bits and pieces, you'll have a really fun and fairly reliable rifle.


francisco said:
My opinion - for what it's worth - is the M14 is not for everyone. This is more complex platform than say, a bolt action rifle. Those who pick it up need to be prepared to invest time and effort to ensure you are comfortable with it. For me, the research and work is part of the enjoyment and responsibility of ownership. Same with buying, owning and using many things, such as chainsaws and power tools. Not sure what further information you might feel is needed, or who should distribute it. The internet and this forum certainly has volumes of material which might be helpful.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the reply Barney! This is the post from another thread that made my hair stand up:
Click to expand...
I actually got to see the gun in question, I unfortueately had to point out to Craftsman441 that on closer examination, the flash hider appeared as if it had been hand cut with a dremel by someone half in the bag!
I have never seen another M14 like this. It really was just a lemon.
 
i've got one of the very early norcs- it's fired thousands of rounds without any headspace problems whatsoever- however, there are some signs you can tell if it's an early one
1 ) it's blued- a rich deep blue, not parked
2 ) the wedge where the scope mount goes is ground off at an angle
3) the takedown notch is in the middle of the rail - just like on the real m14
4) pull it apart and you should see the seconday hammer hooks on the hammer- these were left on when they converted it back to semo-auto only- basically all they did was remove the rear lug,and the selector and the connecting rod- if you look close, you can see where those went- along with the bayonet lug
5- it MAY be marked on the heel of the receiver , not on the side-
as each "generation" came off, changes were made- parking, elimination of the hammer lugs, the grind was removed, -etc
 
t-star said:
i've got one of the very early norcs- it's fired thousands of rounds without any headspace problems whatsoever- however, there are some signs you can tell if it's an early one
1 ) it's blued- a rich deep blue, not parked
2 ) the wedge where the scope mount goes is ground off at an angle
...
Click to expand...

Yup, and the Norinco logo is on the left sidewall, looking every bit like the emblem from Star Trek. The one I saw was also in a very attractive USGI stock that had been varnished. It was a sporting rifle not a battle rifle.
 
punkrockboy said:
I actually got to see the gun in question, I unfortueately had to point out to Craftsman441 that on closer examination, the flash hider appeared as if it had been hand cut with a dremel by someone half in the bag!
I have never seen another M14 like this. It really was just a lemon.
Click to expand...

So this is an isolated case? I wonder how the ones coming in from Marstar are going to be as far as quality control when comparing to the 2009 without the bayonet lug.
 
the 2010 norcs biggest selling point, imo, is price.
That's really all we can say for now, until people get them in their hands.
 
I think ill hold out till the 2015's come out and people will claim there the best. and that the 2010 are pieces .but five years is along time without an m14 maybe ill just buy a 2010 and not pay attention to new batch best ever propaganda
 
98%Brent said:
Shouldn't the rifle come with some sort of information regarding the need for this work to be done before being used? The bargain factor takes a bit of a hit once you factor the added attention these rifles require. Also, not everyone uses this forum or the internet for that matter and think that should be considered.
Click to expand...

In fairness, not all the rifles out there are a POS just because they're Norincos. My 2007 M14s works just fine, bone-stock, with anything I throw at it. The one thing I did was bring a caliper to the range for my first test firing (because of what I'd seen on this forum) and measured a fired piece of brass to make sure I was GTG in terms of headspace.

I'd bet that the vast majority of owners who aren't on forums like these didn't even notice a problem with their new rifles - and those who did probably took them back to their local shop of worked something out with the original retailer (if online).

We're a picky bunch, us forum rats... not everyone out there notices that there's .003" too much headspace on their $450 copy of a $2,000 rifle and has a conniption fit about it. For many, as long as it goes 'bang' every time, they're content - and there's nothing wrong with that.

-M
 
98% BRENT;
WHEN HAVE WE NOT STOOD BEHIND WHAT WE SELL ??

Who brought down the M14 prices ? Who delivered even higher levels of quality ? Who instituted a no BS warranty policy ?

John
 
johnone said:
98% BRENT;
WHEN HAVE WE NOT STOOD BEHIND WHAT WE SELL ??

Who brought down the M14 prices ? Who delivered even higher levels of quality ? Who instituted a no BS warranty policy ?

John
Click to expand...

You're the man John and thanks for the great customer service and prices! This thread wasn't intended to be directed at you or Marstar and sorry if it looks that way.

Cheers
 
blupul said:
I think ill hold out till the 2015's come out and people will claim there the best. and that the 2010 are pieces .but five years is along time without an m14 maybe ill just buy a 2010 and not pay attention to new batch best ever propaganda
Click to expand...

By 2015 the Liberals will have got back in power and followed through with their policy of banning semiautos and confiscate them all.
Then we will have endless threads about which WAS the best year for Norinco/Polytechs not which IS the best year for them.:nest:

( Mine is a 2007 and so far so good.)
 
theDuck said:
By 2015 the Liberals will have got back in power and followed through with their policy of banning semiautos and confiscate them all.
Then we will have endless threads about which WAS the best year for Norinco/Polytechs not which IS the best year for them.:nest:

( Mine is a 2007 and so far so good.)
Click to expand...


Confiscate? That's highly unlikely. I'm assuming they would allow current owners to keep their semi's and grandfather the rights on down the bloodline. :D

Confiscation is for criminals, are we criminals for owning a legal rifle?
 
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