Finally Got My CanAm Shorty M305!

J

JoeOnePack

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Well, its official folks. I got my rifle in one business day early! My brother tried to surprise me today while I was playing Battlefield 3. It came in late. Sometime after 4pm. He opened the package and layed the m1a against the wall beside me without me noticing. Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised.

I immediately field stripped the rifle. I used Simple Green Max Degreaser diluted 1:1 to remove the packing grease from the rifle. I ordered some grease from Brownells, so will grease her all up next week.

I know that there are a few common problems with the M305, so I took a few pictures not only for people to compare, but you you lovely people to help diagnose and possible problems I may have with my rifle.

The rear sight actually seems pretty good, although I really have nothing to compare it to. the elevation knob is pretty positive clicking. The windage I am not sure about. It's a little hard to turn and seems that it turns about 90 degrees or more before reaching a certain notch.

The front sight post if canted a little bit forward. Not a huge deal.

One thing I realized. I NEED SPECIALIZED TOOLS. I am working with the crappiest tools its sickening. What tools do I need for this beast? I cant get the handguard retaining clip off. Need that damned tool!

Here are the pictures... Anything wrong that you can see? What should I check?

EDIT ** I CANT INSTALL THE TRIGGER GROUP!!! It slides in nicely, but doesn't sit flush. What am I doing wrong?










 
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Im sure youtube can answer most of those questions faster than CGN. You really shouldn't need any tools to take apart an M14 unless you are removing the sights or flash hider
 
Welcome to the M14 fraternity. There are many of us. First of all, go to the top and read ALL of the stickies. Therein lie your answers.

Plan to attend an M14 clinic run by Hungry. All the necessary "one off" tools will be there.

Rear sight: same as mine. Disassemble, grease 'er up, reassemble, should be gtg.

Looks like you definitely need an op rod spring guide to replace the one you have.

Take your time, read a lot, don't be in a hurry to bang off a few rounds yet...you've got all winter to study up...lol:D

Google is also your friend. There are many YouTube sites that show you the ins and outs...like your trigger group problem (hint:some brute force is sometimes required), but, did you #### the gun before you pulled the group?

Keep at it, much enjoyment will result from mastering this platform!

BTW, where is the Shambles?
 
Thanks for all the input guys.

I have a few upgrades on the way as well as the NEA Magazine release and NEA Spring Guide.

If you don't #### the rifle, the trigger group shouldn't come out right? The last two pictures show my trigger problem.

The trigger guard seems like it doesn't want to close unless it feels like I'm going to break it.
 
JoeOnePack said:
Thanks for all the input guys.

I have a few upgrades on the way as well as the NEA Magazine release and NEA Spring Guide.

If you don't #### the rifle, the trigger group shouldn't come out right? The last two pictures show my trigger problem.

The trigger guard seems like it doesn't want to close unless it feels like I'm going to break it.
Click to expand...

If you're trying to close it with the trigger group sticking that far out of the rifle, no wonder it feels like you're going to break it.

Get it seated fully before you try to latch it.
 
Rule 303 said:
Welcome to the M14 fraternity. There are many of us. First of all, go to the top and read ALL of the stickies. Therein lie your answers.

Plan to attend an M14 clinic run by Hungry. All the necessary "one off" tools will be there.

Rear sight: same as mine. Disassemble, grease 'er up, reassemble, should be gtg.

Looks like you definitely need an op rod spring guide to replace the one you have.

Take your time, read a lot, don't be in a hurry to bang off a few rounds yet...you've got all winter to study up...lol:D

Google is also your friend. There are many YouTube sites that show you the ins and outs...like your trigger group problem (hint:some brute force is sometimes required), but, did you #### the gun before you pulled the group?

Keep at it, much enjoyment will result from mastering this platform!

BTW, where is the Shambles?
Click to expand...


^what he said...
 
If you want to remove the hand gaurd, you can first remove the gas plug and gas cylinder lock then slide the gass assembly off . Then slide the hand gaurd off ! to reinstall just do the reverse =)
 
In the stock there is a "slot" that the trigger group slides into, if it's not lined up it won't go down all the way. Sorry for the bad description.
 
On the off chance you haven't figured it out yet, I snapped a couple pics of my shorty since I had it handy. Now I'm also a novice when it comes to these rifles so we can merrily skip down the learning curve together.

Excuse the quality, iPhone 4G still isn't a replacement for a real camera.

Image One
img01061l.jpg


Image Two
img01091.jpg


Inside of the guts with the trigger unit removed. The slot is being pointed out poorly by my knife in the second pic.


Image Three
img01071.jpg


Which leads us neatly to the next image of the trigger unit. The male end to the slot for lack of a better term is the straight bit just back of the left bottom of the unit.

Image Four
img01101.jpg


Once you've mated the two and they look like they do in image four, you can lock the guard back in place and you should be good to go. You might need to lever the guard in with a short pry of some sort. Just apply some outwards leverage while pushing down and it'll pop it.
 
I got the trigger group back in this afternoon. The receiver wasn't seated all the way down in the stock and the trigger group had to be pushed in with some force. It was a real pain to get it out the first time.

Also, the safety seems to be a little smoother after I worked it for a while.

The chrome lining in the chamber and bore are really shiny. I love the looks of it. :D

Next thing is buying a pin punch and roll punch set so I can get the Stripper Clip Guide and magazine release off. Anyone know of a good place to buy these punch sets? I was going to hit up Bass Pro Shops tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help guys!
 
JoeOnePack said:
Next thing is buying a pin punch and roll punch set so I can get the Stripper Clip Guide and magazine release off. Anyone know of a good place to buy these punch sets? I was going to hit up Bass Pro Shops tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help guys!
Click to expand...

If you are handy enough, a nail in right size will do it - just get rid of its tip. Or you can go to CT.
 
No need for the pliers for the rear clip. I use tie wire wrapped though the holes on each side of the clip,with 2 pairs of pliers,1 on each side of the clip to pull the tie wire and it gently expands the clip enough to allow it to be removed from the barrel.

You can also lock 1 side of the tie wire in a vise and use pliers on the other side.
This also works on the Garand rear clips which are the same.
 
Well, I just got the NEA Magazine Release, but I am having problems with this thing now too... The spring is so stiff that I can't push the release far enough down to align the holes.

What to do? :D
 
Tycho2501 said:
On the off chance you haven't figured it out yet, I snapped a couple pics of my shorty since I had it handy. Now I'm also a novice when it comes to these rifles so we can merrily skip down the learning curve together.

Excuse the quality, iPhone 4G still isn't a replacement for a real camera.

Image One
img01061l.jpg


Image Two
img01091.jpg


Inside of the guts with the trigger unit removed. The slot is being pointed out poorly by my knife in the second pic.


Image Three
img01071.jpg


Which leads us neatly to the next image of the trigger unit. The male end to the slot for lack of a better term is the straight bit just back of the left bottom of the unit.

Image Four
img01101.jpg


Once you've mated the two and they look like they do in image four, you can lock the guard back in place and you should be good to go. You might need to lever the guard in with a short pry of some sort. Just apply some outwards leverage while pushing down and it'll pop it.
Click to expand...


The barn door is open... I know it's a new gun, but at least keep your pants done up for the pics :D
 
No one has said it, so I'm mentioning it now.

Always do a function test after re-assembling one of these rifles. Takes approx 15 seconds and it may save you some embarassement or from hurting someone.
 
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