Norinco M14/M305 Iron Sight Issues?

[Travis Bickle]

I have acquired a 2007 Norinco M305.
It shoots great and I can average about 4-5 inch groups with it from a bench at 100 meters. I read and memorized the official 2 page M14/M1 zeroing manual.
My problem/question is this; I did the windage zero. Tampered with it, got it right on line with a few shots at about 25 meters.
When I attempted to find my battle zero elevation for 100 meters I ended up around the 300 meters mark on the dial before I could even get my shots to hit the center of my target. Even 15 clicks up from bottom I was hitting the dirt in front of the target at 100 meters!
Figuring I was aiming wrong with the sights I gave it to my friend to eliminate the posibility of error on my end.
He fired a very similar group with the same elevation of about 300 meters on the knob.
I know Norinco isn't made by over-paid union workers and yes I know they aren't "as good" as one made by the 'Mericans, but has anyone else experienced this issue as well?
Can anyone shed light on what might be going on?

 

[chalkriver]

I copied this off here....Hungry wrote this ( He,s the man )

Quote :

Front sight blade too high? Are you zeroed at 100 yards/meters with more than 10 clicks from absolute bottom? Here is your fix! Real cheap, too!

Here's how to lower that klik count (learned from my NRA High Power shooting days) to a nice single digit value (like 8 or 9 kliks).

* Go to your range, benchrest, sandbag in your M14, grab your ammo, screwdriver, variety of files/rasps
* Use a bullseye target 100yards/meters from your bench (either center or 6 o'clock hold will work)
* shoot a group to confirm your 100m/yds zero then count the number of kliks to absolute bottom. * If your count to absolute bottom is double digits (like 11 or 12 or 15 or more), grab your file
* Start filing downwards (see the slope of the factory front sight blade?) and towards muzzle of flash suppressor
* Keep the file FLAT, keep the profile of the front sight blade square (from the rear sight, I mean)
* Give it about 5 to 10 strokes, if you brush the side protector wings of the front sight then Birchwood Casey Cold Blue Paste is your friend. Use Q-tips to apply.
* Shoot another group of 3 or 5 rounds
* Observe to see if you need to LOWER your rear sight aperture. The magic is working.
* Keep doing this until your klik count is about 8 or 9 kliks from absolute bottom. That's it!
* Final inspection, look through rear sight aperture, ensure edges are square, then COLD Blue the freshly filed metal surfaces.

IF YOU screw things up and go too low... front sights are not that expensive

 

[Mauser GDog]

Thank you Chalk River, I hadn't seen that anywhere and been wanting to fix mine, currently at 19 clicks above bottom.

 

[Travis Bickle]

Thank you Chalk River, I hadn't seen that anywhere and been wanting to fix mine, currently at 19 clicks above bottom.

lol That's about where I am. A little more actualy.
Good to know it's basicaly an easy fix.
Now where the hell did I leave my file
Thank you very much for the help guys.
Cheers.

 

[RememberTheSomme]

Yes seems the front sight is generically high on these rifles, making a good cheekweld hard to obtain with minimum clicks from bottom.
I'm filing mine next time out, I have suffered with the scope position on the stock long enough!

 

[Aniest]

Just as a total side note of something to check before you go nuts filing the front sight... When I was tinkering with the sights on my Norc I found the rear sight assembly to be loose: I could move it where ever it needed to be, think it was good, and two shots later find myself low. (I don't know why the rear moved up with recoil, but I'm not a Physicist.)

I disassembled the sight as per an Internet guide, cleaned it very well, and then tinkered with all of the assembly until it worked right. Then I marked the right locations, moved the knobs back, applied Bolt Locker and after resetting the knobs spawled the threads slightly. One of Hungry's curved syringes with grease was used after the bolt locker dried to lube it all up and prevent rust. Once I was sure I had no problems with random sight moving I got down to filing the front sight.

I did this some time ago and wish I remembered exactly what threads I bolt locked: you have to be exact and careful you don't 'freeze' the sight in place solid.