Should I buy a Chicom M14?

conmaesta

conmaesta

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I really want one and they are cheap...400 bucks or so...My question is how good are they...are they in their own class as reliable as an AK or SK?? You know what I mean...Reliability, easy to disassemble, clean reassemble and get it going without any BS...I've seen the posts and many people love em and I love the look but it seems like it's a heavy rifle, 9lbs or so...I dunno, I am seriously interested but I don't want to invest in 400 bucks for a pos. Just asking??? Because my SKS is really a fine rifle...So I'm wondering if the M14 is for me. Oh, and for what purpose, well, any number of reasons...Think about em.
As well, if it is that good a rifle is it worthwhile buying a Springfield at 2 grand or more?
 
I wouldn't say an M14 is reliable as an SKS right out of the box. You need to tune it a bit and be sure you don't fire the really heavy bullets. However, once you figure out exactly what your M14 likes, I'm sure it'll shoot just as well as an SKS in terms of function, and much better in terms of accuracy.

The M14 is indeed about 9 pounds, but so is an SKS. If you hung a bunch of tacticool junk off of your SKS, it may even weigh more than a stock M14.

Most people here will tell you that a Norinco M14 is a better choice than a Springfield M1A, and this probably true if the Springfield is a new manufacture one, as quality has gone down at the Springfield plant lately. I know a man who has an M1A made in 1983 and it's superior in pretty much every way to both Norinco M305's and new Springfields, but you can't count on finding an older one all the time.

For $400 bucks, the Norinco M305 is a good buy if you're willing to put a little bit of work into it.
 
Andurp said:
I wouldn't say an M14 is reliable as an SKS right out of the box. You need to tune it a bit and be sure you don't fire the really heavy bullets. However, once you figure out exactly what your M14 likes, I'm sure it'll shoot just as well as an SKS in terms of function, and much better in terms of accuracy.

The M14 is indeed about 9 pounds, but so is an SKS. If you hung a bunch of tacticool junk off of your SKS, it may even weigh more than a stock M14.

Most people here will tell you that a Norinco M14 is a better choice than a Springfield M1A, and this probably true if the Springfield is a new manufacture one, as quality has gone down at the Springfield plant lately. I know a man who has an M1A made in 1983 and it's superior in pretty much every way to both Norinco M305's and new Springfields, but you can't count on finding an older one all the time.

For $400 bucks, the Norinco M305 is a good buy if you're willing to put a little bit of work into it.
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I was looking at getting one myself.

What "tuning" is required before it becomes reliable?

There was a sticky in the battle rifle forum on the M305 reporting that there was a high risk of out of battery firing. That was a discussion from 2006. Has that issue totally gone away with the current production run of M305?
 
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The Baron said:
Yes. Buy a rifle and a carbine. :D They are great fun and, in my experience, very reliable. You can slowly upgrade bit and pieces and make them as good as a Springfield.
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Is the M305 shorty the carbine?
Are there non-restricted choices other than the Norinco?
 
If you can't personaly inspect it, I would not buy one.... I got burned with a mail order, blew up in my face.
There is so many possible issues with these rifles, many that can cost you double the purchase of the value to fix before you can fire. A bad bolts going to cost you $300 and a few weeks/months of wait time. bad barrel indexing/ head space could cost you a few hundred to fix.
These rifles are a crap shoot, but if you can personaly inspect it and go through the check list you can aviod some of the magor money trap duds.
 
you've kind ofanswered your own question - you WANT one , and they're cheap- well, in initial purchase price only- beleive mne, i have FOUR of them , i may get a couple more- three of those are usgi safe queens, and the other's an old norc from the 90's- the ones today are FAR SUPERIOR- as for the 9 pound business, maybe on the moon- try ELEVEN , closer to 12-14 when you add in a DECENT scope and mount
as for relaibility, it's just like anything else-MAINTAIN IT PROPERLY,and it'll serve you well,respecting bullet weights, etc
the FIRST thing to do is replace the REAR SIGHT with one from italy or a GARAND- unless your pinion doesn't fall down on firing- i don't believe on replacing what isn't broke
then get yourself to one of the clinics hungry sells or ship it to 45acp king/doctor/whatever he calls himself these days and get him to go over it- it IS WORTH that much
 
Yes, buy one. I recommend you deal with a company like CanadaAmmo that test-fires their rifles and will help you out if you do get a lemon. Shoot your M305 with mil-spec ammo and it should last very well.

You can spend a little money and make a Chinese M14 shoot as well as your SKS; the tuning tweaks are simple and the few parts you need [mainly a recoil spring guide] aren't expensive.

If you really regret your purchase, you can always flip the gun on EE...plenty of people are interested and there are no hassles in selling an NR rifle.
 
it doesn't need mil-spec ammo( whatever that is) and actually shoots BETTER using handloads- look up what glenn zediker has to say on M14 MATCH LOADS- i've been using his and the us army marksman specs since i got my first back in 1970- MOSTLY ZEDIKER- he has a rather extensive table with powders and results all the way to 1000 yards, and it's on the net
 
I've had no problem contacting CA for other things.

Maybe they didn't like you.

There is ammo out there to be avoided because of soft brass (American Eagle).

There are other issues out there if you do not maintain/inspect your rifle. You have to read up and know exactly what you have.

For instant.

You can NOT drop a round in the pipe and rack back and let fly. This bolt does not have a firing pin spring. Always load from the Mag
 
LordEvilPepper said:
my lemon was from canada ammo; bad indexing, uneven bolt lugs and exsesive head space that cased a case to blow out in my face.... they did not answer my email. I sold the rifle for parts.
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by the way thanks for the parts gun.she's rebarreled with a HRA barrel and another norinco bolt.she was badly overindexed.seems to shoot real well.
the headspace is about 18 thou over .308 according to my RCBS fired brass mic.it's about 10 thou. over go with a .308 go guage(10 thou. shim between
bolt and right lug with go guage in chamber)

i'm not a guru like some here but have done a few projects...
 
I've got four of these (five if you count my old TRW), and I've never had a problem with any of them. One was slightly under-indexed but that was an easy fix when I got around to it (just scoped it and shot it that way for quite awhile). I always run a couple of hundred rounds through my rifles before starting to tweak them. I've had zero issues with feed, extraction, case issues etc. These rifles work. I've seen alot of guys get these and start the mods and tweaks without even shooting them first. I like to see what they can do, then start the tweaks as much for my own fun/therapy as for making the rifles shoot better, because at the end of the day, out of the box they shoot pretty damned good for a battle rifle. As good as alot of the garands I've had and better than most of the FN's I've got.
 
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