TacticalTeacher
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Georgian Bay, ON
Maritimer brought over an M305 from Marstar of 2013 vintage, I wanted to share some observations with all of you M14 lovers. It was quite a surprise. 
The Receiver:
It took me a while to get used to the sandblasted finish. Usually it's just a bunch of chatter or machine marks reminiscent of a WWII Winchester M1 Garand. My exisiting 2012 Shortie has lots of chatter marks but this M305 22" from Marstar was really well bead blasted. Yeah, they still staked in that s2pid set screw on the receiver ring's right side or starboard for you navy dudes.
The rear sights:
OMG, they work. You can tighten them from both the windage pinion knob and also the elevation pinion knob. Now, I don't know how long that will last, the metalwork, I mean. One never knows what to expect from the high school shop class heat treating experiments. If you get one of these Marstar 305's, you won't have to replace the rear sight knobs. I think you could actually get by moose hunting or back up iron sights with the factory units.
I certainly (it's just the anal old iron sight competitor in me) would not take them into a serious NRA high power competition or a Service Rifle match like DCRA's NSCC, for that more serious work, then I will take the M1Garand rear sight renditions.
The Gas Cylinder Assembly:
Wow, we could not get over how smooth the finish / casting was. In the days before, the M14's gas cylinders had all kinds of goofy forging/casting marks/lines etc to remind you that this rifle was a high school summative or semester ending project.
I was impressed. We found the gas cylinder lock timed at 7 o'clock as it came from the factory. We did the 180 degree flip trick and then all the world worked for us. Green light. I told Maritimer to buy a lottery ticket tonight.
I had to look twice since I thought at first this casting looked like a USGI unit that was smooth. Very nice. Okay, the rear of the piston did not exactly have the "flat" of the piston to the barrel. It looked like it was 5 degrees rotated out of sync, but that effect won't affect the piston operation.
Bolt:
I cannot believe how smooth the beadblasting was. The lugs were square instead of appearing that the bolt had a fight with a dremel tool and LOST! Wow, too bad Maritimer was looking at the bench the entire time, I woulda swiped that baby. ha ha ha ha ha
Op Rod guide:
It had the teeniest bit of slack, no kidding. Just oh so slightly out of tension so we knocked the pin out and guess what? Deja Vu with the early Norc (2003/2005 vintage) thin-walled pins that shattered when you punch them out. Maritimer had the fun of peening the barrel with a center punch and then we re-inserted a new 1/8" x 3/4" pin in place. Now it's tight as a banker's heart during a recession.
Flash suppressor:
2 hits and it was off. The spot welding was very insignificant. Musta been a long weekend and student's wanna leave right away. It actually pings like crazy , especially for a factory flash suppressor. It had a bayonet lug, so right away, this 22" had cool factor.
Trigger Housing and Trigger Group
This sure was a smooth experience. It's reminiscent of the USGI Groups from years ago. Not sure how the heat treating will hold up, but it sure looks and feels like a USGI TG. Wow , what a surprise.
Indexing:
Maritimer warned me that his concern was that the sight was like Harper and leaning to the right. No sweat, I responded because 99% of the Norc's I've whacked the FS units off and replaced with an M1A or USGI FS indicated (with my aerospace grade stainless steel unobtanium parallels) that the barrels' indexing was BANG ON! Maritimer witness this fact as I chucked up the parallels to his rear sight area and then my M1A FS unit. The indexing was perfect he decided! And this is what I've been finding about many Norc rifles. The Zhinese Kommunizt Politbureau workers cannot cut a flash suppressor right and the sights are either lefty like Mulcair or righty like Ronald Reagan.
Maritmer's 2013 indexing was good to go. He was relieved. Well, metaphorically, I mean.
Conclusion:
This is one sure smoother rifle than that older M14 rifles from 10 years ago. I'm super impressed. I'm hoping to free up some money and grab one of these. Well, all I can say is :
Don't get ONE!
Get TWO of them!
Cheers and keep helping the noobs around this forum...
Cheers,
Barney
The Receiver:
It took me a while to get used to the sandblasted finish. Usually it's just a bunch of chatter or machine marks reminiscent of a WWII Winchester M1 Garand. My exisiting 2012 Shortie has lots of chatter marks but this M305 22" from Marstar was really well bead blasted. Yeah, they still staked in that s2pid set screw on the receiver ring's right side or starboard for you navy dudes.
The rear sights:
OMG, they work. You can tighten them from both the windage pinion knob and also the elevation pinion knob. Now, I don't know how long that will last, the metalwork, I mean. One never knows what to expect from the high school shop class heat treating experiments. If you get one of these Marstar 305's, you won't have to replace the rear sight knobs. I think you could actually get by moose hunting or back up iron sights with the factory units.
I certainly (it's just the anal old iron sight competitor in me) would not take them into a serious NRA high power competition or a Service Rifle match like DCRA's NSCC, for that more serious work, then I will take the M1Garand rear sight renditions.
The Gas Cylinder Assembly:
Wow, we could not get over how smooth the finish / casting was. In the days before, the M14's gas cylinders had all kinds of goofy forging/casting marks/lines etc to remind you that this rifle was a high school summative or semester ending project.
I was impressed. We found the gas cylinder lock timed at 7 o'clock as it came from the factory. We did the 180 degree flip trick and then all the world worked for us. Green light. I told Maritimer to buy a lottery ticket tonight.
I had to look twice since I thought at first this casting looked like a USGI unit that was smooth. Very nice. Okay, the rear of the piston did not exactly have the "flat" of the piston to the barrel. It looked like it was 5 degrees rotated out of sync, but that effect won't affect the piston operation.
Bolt:
I cannot believe how smooth the beadblasting was. The lugs were square instead of appearing that the bolt had a fight with a dremel tool and LOST!
Wow, too bad Maritimer was looking at the bench the entire time, I woulda swiped that baby. ha ha ha ha haOp Rod guide:
It had the teeniest bit of slack, no kidding. Just oh so slightly out of tension so we knocked the pin out and guess what? Deja Vu with the early Norc (2003/2005 vintage) thin-walled pins that shattered when you punch them out. Maritimer had the fun of peening the barrel with a center punch and then we re-inserted a new 1/8" x 3/4" pin in place. Now it's tight as a banker's heart during a recession.
Flash suppressor:
2 hits and it was off. The spot welding was very insignificant. Musta been a long weekend and student's wanna leave right away. It actually pings like crazy , especially for a factory flash suppressor. It had a bayonet lug, so right away, this 22" had cool factor.
Trigger Housing and Trigger Group
This sure was a smooth experience. It's reminiscent of the USGI Groups from years ago. Not sure how the heat treating will hold up, but it sure looks and feels like a USGI TG. Wow , what a surprise.
Indexing:
Maritimer warned me that his concern was that the sight was like Harper and leaning to the right. No sweat, I responded because 99% of the Norc's I've whacked the FS units off and replaced with an M1A or USGI FS indicated (with my aerospace grade stainless steel unobtanium parallels) that the barrels' indexing was BANG ON! Maritimer witness this fact as I chucked up the parallels to his rear sight area and then my M1A FS unit. The indexing was perfect he decided!
And this is what I've been finding about many Norc rifles. The Zhinese Kommunizt Politbureau workers cannot cut a flash suppressor right and the sights are either lefty like Mulcair or righty like Ronald Reagan.Maritmer's 2013 indexing was good to go. He was relieved. Well, metaphorically, I mean.
Conclusion:
This is one sure smoother rifle than that older M14 rifles from 10 years ago. I'm super impressed. I'm hoping to free up some money and grab one of these. Well, all I can say is :
Don't get ONE!
Get TWO of them!
Cheers and keep helping the noobs around this forum...
Cheers,
Barney
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