CAI Marked M14

C

Canuck1977

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Okanagan
Found a few used M305's at the local shop. Picked up a CAI marked M14S. It was the best looking, great lug contact etc. Going to use it for an IDF build.

Action is blued, not park. Looks great. Marked M14 Sporter, Norinco China, C.A.I. ST ALB VT on the receiver heal.

Machining looks better than most recent imports.

Does anyone have more info on this action?

Thanks!!
 
Yes, very early..... the reciever should be fine.

That importer is the one who’s wares caused the whole “Chinese bolts are soft” Bru-ha-ha back in the ‘90s

John
 
m14medic.ca said:
Yes, very early..... the reciever should be fine.

That importer is the one who’s wares caused the whole “Chinese bolts are soft” Bru-ha-ha back in the ‘90s

John
Click to expand...

but that whole bull####e was started by clint mcfee of fulton amory and later debunked by ron smith of smith enterprises.... who actually tested the stuff he made claims about. One must look at the state of the civillian m14 marketplace and how the chinese m14 impacted or was going to impact US gun makers sales... Fulton being one of them at the time... one of "very" few.
As far as my knowledge goes it is the federal ordnance stuff that should be avoided but we don't really see that stuff up here.
Most early polytech rifles came into canada with a blued finished. It is also important to note that a whole bunch of these chinese manufactured rifles were assembled from early import parts kits by canadians before the internet got ahold of this rifle. I have seen odd receiver markings that have been applied by an outfit in canada my research shows. One of those outfits who has done engravings on these receivers over the years is Nick at Vulvan engineering. So one never knows sometimes when they find what they think might be a collectable import turns out to be a custom job done after import. I've seen some odd M14 rifles at gunshows over the years that's for sure.

Lee Emerson also know as "different" would be the guy to send pics to for a possible identity/history
 
SIR now Cabelas brought a bunch of these in the early 90,s. They were not assembled and had a solid flash hider as these were imported from the states . They were sold for $199.99 and mine had the parkerized finish but some were blues. I believe the last bit of stamping on the receiver is from Albany Vermont. I since put a match flash hider with bayonet lug on it and shot a lot of rounds through this rifle and it still is as accurate as my Colt HBAR with reloads. I had to get it assembled by a smith and cost me a whopping $40. I shoot 150gr hornady match ammo with 42gr 748 powder. This rifle is still tight.
 
The coolest early M14S I saw had the Norinco "Star Wars" crest on the left side where the scope base would normally be found.
 
BattleRife said:
My memory says there is something odd about the blued receiver M14 rifles... something like the scope mount slot missing from the left side of the receiver?
Click to expand...

Marstar brought those ones in. They also had other "features" that were questionable.
 
Thanks everyone for the info. It's stripped down to the action. Barrel is off. Easy enough. I would make a run at putting the barrel on myself, just don't know anyone with a barrel vice in the north Okanagan. Will probably send it out for the IDF barrel install and headspace check, adjustment.

Sounds like the a SIR import. Solid flash hider. Strangely somewhere along the line the end of the solid flash hider was threaded for a muzzle break or something..

When compared to my other m305 , and compared to other ones I've seen the machining is cleaner. The heal is round, not odd looking, etc. Bolt fits well, great lug contact etc. Hopefully it's a winner when assembled. Really like the blued action. Will look good when complete.
 
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Should add the scope slot is there. Read about that. Lee Emerson mentioned some early receivers had the horizontal slot, but not the vertical. That would've sucked big time.
 
Lee Emerson, aka Different, is the ultimate authority on all things M14/M1A/M305. His website has a lot of free stuff as well as books you have to pay for. There's a free download on a lot of Chinese M14S/M305 background info. Go here: h ttp://imageseek.com/m1a/ for the good stuff.
 
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