DA Socom 18 bolt/receiver lug issue

Sorry to hear of the your troubles. Got my socom last week was real happy with it until this morning after I read about your findings with your socom.l started to get a sick sinking feeling . l kept on reading the pictures were a great help I eye balled them pretty good.Mulled things over then went and got my socom out I shone a light up the mag well like you did looked for gaps around the locking lugs the gaps looked even one side to the other really couldn't see any light between the lugs. The ejector looked similar to yours. There's a little play back and forward of the bolt.Did not try it with an empty shell yet " it's new un fired" will try it after a few shots.Sure the machining a little rough it's a norinco I say it was made to be shot not a beauty queen. Just the same a person should expect a rifle to function in a safe way and shoot true.At any price! If I may ask are you a where of a replacement charger handle or something of the sort I find its small and hard on the fingers.Does the weight of the charger handle afect the cycling. I was thinking of cutting off the ear and taping it for an alen bolt with a turned aluminum knob.Heaver or lighter by a couple grams?
 
I was thinking of cutting off the ear and taping it for an alen bolt with a turned aluminum knob.Heaver or lighter by a couple grams?

This is a "tuned" system. It has been designed to run as is. Any modifications might affect its performance.

EDIT ***

GREASE GUN PROPERLY FIRST

then....

My suggestion is to put a hundred or so rounds down range before any though of modification. These things have rough edges and once it has worn in it will operate better.

If it is BNIB then you have not greased it....again read as much on this platform as you can before you start drilling holes in the oprod.

OR have at her and ignore everything I have said
 
Yea I was on the fence for while. but I like the look of the Socom so I sprung for one. The greasing rather than oiling surprised me but not a big deal.

For new guys reading this thread read all the stickies, before you go out and shoot, or better yet before you buy so you know exactly what you are getting into. You can Id any issue's ahead of time, and ask questions if you think you have a problem.

It is really is a simple system, it is just made in the land of random quality control.
 
thank you much! I'm new to the 305 m14 . l am an (AK) guy! Yes I know sorry! Grease rollers and what else? I am not a high volume shooter' might change though! I understand it needs to be broken in. Planning on loading up mag's and doing some blasting. How many rounds 50/100? Be for site in? As for the mod's I was considereding to the charger handle I guess I will try and touch it up with a file.
 
Got a message today from Ryan at CanAm. They had a gander, and their opinion was that just the bolt was out of spec. They have replaced the bolt with another and it "appears both lugs make contact with the receiver." I sure hope so, but still worry that the receiver was out of spec (the angle of the receiver lug is what worries me). Will have to see how it all looks when it gets back.

Also, Ryan took the time to look the whole gun over and suggested a few other fixes to the usual issues with a norc (op rod guide loose, etc, all things I mentioned before). I'm pleased with CanAm's response and look forward to shooting it when it returns!
 
smeagol said:
Also, Ryan took the time to look the whole gun over and suggested a few other fixes to the usual issues with a norc (op rod guide loose, etc, all things I mentioned before). I'm pleased with CanAm's response and look forward to shooting it when it returns!
Click to expand...

Did CanAm actually fix these issues or simply suggested them? Now that would be good Customer Service.....
I hope it all works out for you.
 
smeagol said:
Got a message today from Ryan at CanAm. They had a gander, and their opinion was that just the bolt was out of spec. They have replaced the bolt with another and it "appears both lugs make contact with the receiver." I sure hope so, but still worry that the receiver was out of spec (the angle of the receiver lug is what worries me). Will have to see how it all looks when it gets back.

Also, Ryan took the time to look the whole gun over and suggested a few other fixes to the usual issues with a norc (op rod guide loose, etc, all things I mentioned before). I'm pleased with CanAm's response and look forward to shooting it when it returns!
Click to expand...

I hope they are right as well on receiver spec okay. With the funky Chinese finish machining on these critical parts who knows,.... there may just be a bolt made "out of spec" that match's an "out of spec" receiver lol.

All good as long as they bear evenly and the head space isn't into the next county. Merry Xmas to you and yours Smeagol.
 
Last update: Things didn't work out with the original, so they sent me a new Socom. No issues with the bolt this time.

As usual, Ryan and the other staff at Canam came through without any hassle. Big thanks to them for the great service!

The new rifle has some of the usual small issues:
-not bearing evenly on the lugs, but nothing serious
-the op rod guide is a little loosey goosey
-I'm sure the barrel is just slightly over indexed (therefore the front sight is pushed all the way to the right from factory, but out of the box, sight bottomed out, she is dead nuts on at 20-25 yards)
-The op rod is finnicky and will stick in the notch if you pull up at all while pulling back (operator error I suppose)
-The bolt catch doesn't do the best of jobs holding the action open, the slightest of bumps and it slams forward

All in all though it looks great and shoots well. Headspace from fired brass looks to be around 1.639 or so.

Onward and upward!
 
Yessir, that is good news

all the new bugs aren't so bad, those can be smoothed out with some tlc

glad canam came through ... i've never had a problem with them
 
smeagol said:
Last update: Things didn't work out with the original, so they sent me a new Socom. No issues with the bolt this time.

As usual, Ryan and the other staff at Canam came through without any hassle. Big thanks to them for the great service!

The new rifle has some of the usual small issues:
-not bearing evenly on the lugs, but nothing serious
-the op rod guide is a little loosey goosey
-I'm sure the barrel is just slightly over indexed (therefore the front sight is pushed all the way to the right from factory, but out of the box, sight bottomed out, she is dead nuts on at 20-25 yards)
-The op rod is finnicky and will stick in the notch if you pull up at all while pulling back (operator error I suppose)
-The bolt catch doesn't do the best of jobs holding the action open, the slightest of bumps and it slams forward

All in all though it looks great and shoots well. Headspace from fired brass looks to be around 1.639 or so.

Onward and upward!
Click to expand...

You are right, some of those little tiny bugs can be sorted out with some tweaking. THat's where I come in!

* finnicky op rod? Pull it straight back. It's designed to be disassembled when pulled UP and OUTwards. :D
* Loose op rod guide? That's normal for Norcs. If you get a tight one, buy a lottery ticket. EVERY USGI M14 I've owned (lost count) had loose EVERYTHING... how do you think I got good at tightening them into very, very decent shooters?
* Now do your rear sights actually work repeatably? The SOCOM rifles seem to have decently working rear sights
* Bolt catch not catching 100%? Upgrade to a Smith Enterprises Tac Bolt catch/release. I have them here for $65 mailed to ya
* Slightly out of index barrel? Once you scope it, the index issue disappears. Or you can send me the barreled action for re-indexing

We got yer back! :D

Cheers and keep helping them noobs out there! :rockOn:

Barney
 
TacticalTeacher said:
You are right, some of those little tiny bugs can be sorted out with some tweaking. THat's where I come in!

* finnicky op rod? Pull it straight back. It's designed to be disassembled when pulled UP and OUTwards. :D
* Loose op rod guide? That's normal for Norcs. If you get a tight one, buy a lottery ticket. EVERY USGI M14 I've owned (lost count) had loose EVERYTHING... how do you think I got good at tightening them into very, very decent shooters?
* Now do your rear sights actually work repeatably? The SOCOM rifles seem to have decently working rear sights
* Bolt catch not catching 100%? Upgrade to a Smith Enterprises Tac Bolt catch/release. I have them here for $65 mailed to ya
* Slightly out of index barrel? Once you scope it, the index issue disappears. Or you can send me the barreled action for re-indexing

We got yer back! :D

Cheers and keep helping them noobs out there! :rockOn:

Barney
Click to expand...


Thanks Barney, I've learned so much from you and the other Norc Sensei on the forums here. We'd be proppa fook'd without you guys. Wish I still lived in Ottawa, I'd get to a clinic and harass the crap out of you for knowledge, but no joy. I might in the future look to send it out to you for re-indexing, but for now it seems a very minor issue. The sights seem tight, at least for the 50 rounds I put through it in the dang blizzard the other day. I think I will eventually be putting an optic on it anyway, but I'll see how it plays out. In the process of installing a new bolt release as well (you had me puckered with your post about that, but the new Socoms have a solid pin that slides right out, smooth like butta!) but have an issue with the replacement that should be sorted soon.

Chad
 
Chad I'm glad you got the Socom sorted out. The op rod guide is a simple fix, and hungry will index it for you if you just ship the barreled action I believe. Is the bolt catch not getting deployed properly because of the magazine and not the stop itself? If you had older reliable mag's to try, you would know for sure. My new AR doesn't like to catch properly on Gen3 Pmags. They changed their geometry slightly from Gen2 to offset some rifle types and they are not reliable having the follower push the stop in front of the bolt. I may have to get a new, longer stop to accommodate them.
 
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