Top 10 mods to "improve" an M14 / M305

I shoot both various 7.62 nato fmj ammo and 308 hunting ammo, and the 308 hunting ammo is far superior. I stick to the 150 grain 308 and no problems so far, and much better accuracy. A good starting point is Federal blue box 150 grain. Hopefully you can find it for around a buck a shot. Save the brass.

I've shot IVI, some overseas nato ammo and some purple boxed corrosive primer 7.62 and it produces groups at least twice the size of what I get with even the cheap 308 hunting ammo.

I have to get out and buy some Sierra 168 grain match bullets and 4895 powder and give that a try. I have a whole pile of prepped brass, ready to fill ( the easy part of reloading).

From what I read .308 Win (hunting ammo) is not interchangeable with 7.62 NATO in that dimensionally the case is the same but it has different pressures and the .308 Win bullet is seated differently (due to different throat dimensions). As a result the increased pressure of the .308 Win causes some sort of bolt shortening in the Norc M14?? Just what I read.

If someone that knows what they are talking about can tell me that regular .308 Win is safe in the Norc then I'll be very happy to use it.
 
This has been gone over many times and I would be concerned about it. Yes, you are correct that 7.62 + 308 have different pressures but unless your going to be shooting a couple of thousand rounds it not a worry. Save your brass and start to reload it but only neck size your once fired brass as it will be already shaped to your chamber.
 
Neck sizing is not generally recommended for semi autos due to the auto loading, its just a bit of a tight fit really.

This has been gone over many times and I would be concerned about it. Yes, you are correct that 7.62 + 308 have different pressures but unless your going to be shooting a couple of thousand rounds it not a worry. Save your brass and start to reload it but only neck size your once fired brass as it will be already shaped to your chamber.
 
1. Have the trigger group tuned or learn to tune it.
2. Peen the barrel boss with a machinist's punch to secure your oprod guide from ever moving again and realign op rod guide tip to piston tail
3. Use shims to tighten your gas cylinder (sold in sets of three typically 0.005", 0.10" and .015") (sometimes just flipping your GC lock works wonders for timing).
4. Replace the oprod spring guide
5. Replace the oprod spring
6. Buy any stock other than what came with the Norinco/Polytech rifle
7. Clean it properly. Then use this guide to lubricate.
8. Get as many original US GI parts as possible
9. Install a new bolt
10. Weld your combat boots as shown below :)

sot.jpg


Image above borrowed from M14 EBR: A Continuing Evolution.
Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane).

Hope that helps! Cheers, Frank

Best part about this list is the first 7 items or proceedures cost you very little money.

Say $5 for shims, $40 for spring guide $10 for spring and $100-200 for walnut or glass stock.
#8 & #9 cost more, but you could pick away at those items for many years. #10 sounds like you need to contact a professional combat cobbler. :D
 
Here's a vid of a friend on youtube. You can get an idea of what these mods can do because he has a list of things done to his rifle in the vid description. When he first bought his rifle it was getting 4-6 inch groups at 100m right out of the box with MFS ammo. I'm going to guess that its around a 2 inch group at 100m
[youtube]Z7WxM5Be3Wo[/youtube]
 
I bought a rinco and did some upgrades and shortened the barrel, etc ... I still don't shoot it ... I just don't like how it feels or performs. I have a Springfield M1A I love and shoot all the time with no dislikes. I'm currently going to have 3 x LRB receiver/usgi/etc parts rifles built ... I'm hoping I like'em! ;)

Otokiak
Rankin Inlet, NU
CANADA

p.s. my rinco collects dust in the gun case.
 
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