poly vs norinco m305

Go in and pick one up. If you can choose between a selection, that is the best way to buy one. I haven't seen too many on the shelves these days though, they are more and more popular now than ever before. Drop by the Reference Section on my web site as noted below. It gets more than 10,000 unique page views per month from all over Canada, the US and other countries. Lots of good info. there.
 
Looking at picking up an M305 in the near future and have read a few threads where members state that they have purchased a 2012 production run (Norinco m305).... are there ways of knowing if a particular rifle is as such? claims of these new production run rifles having generally better fit and finish has interested me to find out if this is true and worth watching for...

thx
 
SouthWest Guy said:
Really？ Factory 356 is located in my hometown. No wonder i love my M305 so much.
When i was a kid, I heard that there is a major state arsenal was founded in the suburban area of my hometown in late 1930s. A few of my relatives says they used to work for the "gun factory" in the town, back to 80's, assume that would be factory 356.
The name is been changed over to"SouthWest Equipment, Inc" as i remember. It is said the Type95 and Type97 rifles are developed by them.
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Huh. I didnt know there is a gun factory in my backyard?? Cool :cool:
 
Helipilot said:
Looking at picking up an M305 in the near future and have read a few threads where members state that they have purchased a 2012 production run (Norinco m305).... are there ways of knowing if a particular rifle is as such? claims of these new production run rifles having generally better fit and finish has interested me to find out if this is true and worth watching for...

thx
Click to expand...

This would all be false hehehe ;)
The date stamp is import year. Has nothing to do with manufacture date of the reciever.
Depending on importer, "quality" varies.
In the 2012 batch , receivers were found that have very undesireable characteristics that most folks just see as cosmetic.
Personally of the "dated" receivers, 2007 to current import (2012) , the 2007 and 2009 series are the more desireable receiver.
If I had my choice, and had to pick between 2007 to 2012 , regardless of barrel length. An 07 or 09 would be it, depending on headspace.
From where I sit, with all the rifles I've been fortunate enough to handle and build, I think china is getting to the bottom of the barrel with buildable parts/receivers.
Those new shorties, some of which have wierd recievers and out of spec oprods, are evidence of this.
We have seen "some" improvement in gas systems, rear sights and of course the change from chinese "mold" wood to the current plastic jobby was also an improvement.
As far as I am aware, China has not manufactured NEW m14 receivers in a couple decades at least.
 
I hate to say it, because it sounds depressing, but you kind of need a crappy m305 before you know how to pick a good one. You basically have to break it down completely in the store, and they may not like that too much, but you'll regret buying one that has a lot of the bad features commonly found on some of these guns.
 
SouthWest Guy said:
Really？ Factory 356 is located in my hometown. No wonder i love my M305 so much.
When i was a kid, I heard that there is a major state arsenal was founded in the suburban area of my hometown in late 1930s. A few of my relatives says they used to work for the "gun factory" in the town, back to 80's, assume that would be factory 356.
The name is been changed over to"SouthWest Equipment, Inc" as i remember. It is said the Type95 and Type97 rifles are developed by them.
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That is interesting. When did you come to Canada?
 
hahah the Camo poly you speak of is at Uncle Ed's????? i bought mine from that guy as well.. its a 09 stamped.. hes a really knowledgable and reasonable guy. tell him you will pay cash 480. he will do it. and then you got some extra cash for rounds.
 
Some receivers from the 2012 import batch have very distinct welding marks, and reshaping marks to the right side. While these receivers seem to function just fine, they would not hold the same value to an experience M14s owner or someone looking for one to do a build with. They are the only receivers from china that I won't build on, mainly for cosmetic reasons.
 
thanks for the info.

I just paid for a 22" polytech from Lever Arms (the rifle with 2 mags was $399 plus tax and shipping). Hope the receiver isn't one of the ones you describe
 
I went into Lever Arms yesterday and briefly checked out their display model M305. The guy said that they had had the rifles in for about a year, so I assume this would be the 2012 import batch. The one I saw looked nice, didn't see any obvious tooling mark, sights seemed straight/in-line with barrel. Only looked quickly though. Of course it was the display model so who knows about others they may be shipping. Think I'm going to buy one if it looks like its been manufactured properly.
 
So are you saying to wait a couple years to buy new ones or pick up a used rifle? I was going to buy a shorty and put it in an m14s-cqb but someone decided to stop selling them :rey2:

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I bought a 22inch version from Lever Arms last year. Have put about 250 + rounds through it with no issues. No visible blemishes either. Good people to deal with as well.



metallic_bc said:
I went into Lever Arms yesterday and briefly checked out their display model M305. The guy said that they had had the rifles in for about a year, so I assume this would be the 2012 import batch. The one I saw looked nice, didn't see any obvious tooling mark, sights seemed straight/in-line with barrel. Only looked quickly though. Of course it was the display model so who knows about others they may be shipping. Think I'm going to buy one if it looks like its been manufactured properly.
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the 22" barrel Polytech I just received from Lever Arms (for $399, including 2 mags!) looks way better than the 18.5" barrel Norinco that I received from CanadaAmmo in December.

The fit and finish on the Polytech appeared to be better than on the Norinco, and the barrel was near spot on to being properly indexed (it was off quite a bit on the Norinco).

The only issue with the Polytech so far (haven't fired it yet) is that the mag release seems a little tight. It's really hard to remove magazines from it. Contemplating shaving down a little metal on the top portion of the mag release.
 
I had the same problem Odd Shot with the mag release. Mine was due to the rivets put in. They were exactly flush, but angled slightly, so it prevented the mag release from depressing completely to release the mag. After putting the mag in and out the two parts have worn into each other and function fine. If I were you, file the mag rivet if that is the problem first instead of the mag release.

Are you happy with you barrel indexing? After looking at mine from all angles, I think I can conclude that it is fine.

The fit and finish on my Polytech (Lever Arms) is great. The guy said they were brought in last year.

Could you post comparison pictures of your Poly vs Norinco for reference for potential new buyers?
 
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