Accurized M14 Shorty Package Range Report

Rugerman

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I recently got a Polytech M305 from SFRC. I lucked out as they were sold out when I initially contacted them but then two buyers backed out and I was able to get another crack at them and acquired one of them. I sent it off to the M14 Doc before firing a shot. I arranged to have the Full Meal Deal as I wanted a shortened rifle and Tom has done accurizing on another M14 I have which was impressive. Well I got a call from him the other day and it was done. Picked it up and was off to the range after work today to try it out.
The worksmanship was excellent. The gun looks great, balances well and everything moves and fits nicely. Tom said I was lucky in that this particular Polytech was very tight to begin with with excellent tolerances- tighter than NATO specs in some areas. I really like the Dlask Nav-14 flash hider. The black stock gives it a nice appearance as well.
Trigger was smooth with no stacking or creep, very consistent pull. Tom installed a high front sight which worked out well for me when zeroing it.
It shot a number of loads ranging from 150 gr. fmj's to 168 gr. Bergers and Hornady AMax's along with some Federal 150 gr. SP's. All fed, fired and extracted without issue. The sights were set up so that it didn't take long to get it on target at 100 and 200 yds.
I was a little disappointed at first with my first groupings using handloaded 150 gr. fmj Winchesters. They were the first loads fired. They usually shoot well in a couple of different M305's I load for but not in this one initially. I am thinking I was just getting used to the gun as the groups tightened up the more I shot it. I found the shorter sight radius took a bit of getting used to. By the end of the session if felt better and I was really happy with the groups. The Federal factory 150 gr. SP's shot very well. Best group at the end of the day was with Hornady 155 gr. Amax bullets. I shot a four shot group at 100 yds that measured .890 inches center to center. See my note about the four shot group below with pic.

In summary the gun shoots as good as it looks. This will be the gun I will hunt with this fall. It is so easy to pack around, is relatively light, comes up quickly and recoil is not an issue. Thanks, Tom, nice job!

The grey and black look good!
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Dlask Nav-14 Flash Hider
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Short and fast handling

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Shorty Barrel: Might be some velocity loss but no accuracy loss on this gun. Also note the high front sight.
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Nice tight action.
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This was the best group of the day. I used Rel 15, 155 gr. AMax bullet and Federal Match primers; Hornady brass. I fired 5 rounds at 100 yds. The very first shot can be seen on the left side of the target. The next four shots were all together. I have absolutely no excuse for the first shot. I can't even say it was a called flyer. However, the height is obviously correct, I must have pulled it as I shot.
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Shorty Barrel: Might be some velocity loss but no accuracy loss on this gun. Also note the high front sight.
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:confused:
What type of front sight setup is this?
How did you put the front sight on top of the gas system?
Please do tell as the only front sight mod I have seen is from Bit's & Piece's gas lock but never on the gas assembely.
 
^^^^ well..... first we make up a base block of chromoly steel with a dovetail the same as the m14 sight dovetail and base but designed to be slightly higher as the closer you bring the front and rear sight together..... the higher the post must sit to correctly zero elevation wise.
then we take the gas cylinder and assemble it into the heat sink jig and bolt up the fixture that holds the front sight base block in position on the forward ring of the gas cylinder. Then, my good friend and master welder uses his TIG torch to expertly and permanently attach the front sight base block to the gas system. The welds are so smooth that little detailing is required, then a polish and then, while i'd rather be parkerizing, the area is blued up to a nice black that blends well with the parkerizing. I have a large parkerizing station being built at TonyG's but his work schedule and my moving 5 hours away has stalled that into a winter project :)

then on goes the original front sight and it's off to the range to dial it in. This is not a modification you can send your gas system in for. I only do this mod for folks booking accurized shorty work as it is a fairly intensive process.

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WoW b:
That's cool Doc. So this means that if I am blasting a few hundread rounds down range I can have my gas lock set 1 way & if I am just doing some cold bore shot's I can simply switch it back the other way & never worry about it loosing zero. Or is this just a pipe dream? Also how much is this service to be done?
 
Man, I'm still waiting for mine. Hope its ready soon, I'm going nuts seeing yours!!!! Nice job !! How long did you have to wait for yours ? Enjoy.
 
turn around times have been 6 to 8 weeks.... generally 8 weeks but i perform the same quality work on every rifle across my bench. Striving for exceptional results as seen above in Rugerman's rifle is my goal with all of them. Some rifles have taken much longer than my standard turn around times due to requiring the odd part to be replaced.... ie, rear sight parts, extractor detents as they can be very brittle and with the extra long chinese spring, are destroyed during bolt disassembly. In these cases parts are sourced from brownells where possible and the customer is not billed for the extra parts..... although a longer wait time may be endured.
as for my current work load, everything arriving may thru mid august, including stock orders, will be shipping over the last week of sept, 1st week of october...... and then i'm going hunting ;)
 
Hi Thomas, certainly wasnt complainig about it taking too long. I understand completely the delays and reasons behing them. I just cant wait to get my hands one mine... and play.
 
Great looking rifle Rugerman!
How much did that gunsmithing package from m14doc cost you? With the gas block rear sight and everything? What kind of money are you looking at for the "full meal deal" and what does it come with (seeing that I cant see the prices list and the "full meal deal" on m14doctor.com. Awesome looking rifle... What else are you thinking of putting on that rifle? Whats the next mod?

-ThinkThank
 
as for the full meal deal...... it was an all inclusive package deal i ran through the later 1/2 of 2010.
I am still working up the pricing for 2011
feel free to email me at m14doctor@hotmail.com and i'd be happy to give you a quote.
 
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