Has your M305 ever failed? Are there necessary upgrades to make it function flawless?

Skippy

CGN frequent flyer
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First of all, the word "flawlessly" wouldn't fit in the title box ;)

I'm sure this has been asked here before, but I dont usually read this particular forum. I know a lot of people are wary of Norinco, being Chinese and all, and I'm positive that a lot of those naysayers have never handled a Norinco rifle, let alone their M305.

I'm wondering if any of you guys have had problems with your M305.
Do they generally function flawlessly out of the box?
Are there any necessary upgrades required to make it function flawlessly?
Has yours ever broke down?
Has yours ever exploded in your face?
Is the fear of the M305, as I suspect, generally just hearsay negativity about a rifle "made in China"?
 
All the bad reviews I read are back when the Americans could buy them... the posts are also very old.

Any recent post (last couple years) have all been positive - the general consensus is to BUY BUY BUY! They are the M14S now :D

:D I've got one... it's solid.
 
Never experienced any breakdowns with any of my M14's from Norinco-Stinko. I did experience binding in my gas cylinder assembly when the screws backed out of the front band. Yes, this was an incomplete accurizing job that left the Sproingfield factory. I just had it welded. The Geneseo, Illinois factory (back in 1987) told me to get stuffed and suck it up after I mailed photos of their accurizing job.

That began my quest to tweak M14's on my own.... :rolleyes: The rest is history.

Peace be to journey,
Barney
 
i'm in the same boat, and my norc is over 18 years old- it's one of the very first ones in country with the ground off lug on the receiver- as long as you feed it adequate loads(factory or factory equivlient) , you won't see a problem with the majority -the only problems i 've ever had were when i shot under 150 grain slugs or dropped the powder charge to 42 grains of 748- ideal was around 43-44 but not 45, as the primers started to back out
 
No problems with my newest Norinco M14S. Just clean it thoroughly first, and lubricate lightly. I have a scoped one as well, and the odd time (rarely) a spent cartridge gets caught under the scope mount and jams the bolt, but that's nothing to do with it being a Norinco, any M14 could do that. Also, keep an eye on the gas system plug and make sure it doesn't loosen up. When I first got mine, I wasn't tightening it enough and it could back off and cause failures. Once again, nothing to do with it being a Norinco.
 
I have a Springfield M1A and a Norinco M305 ... the M305 shoots just fine with no mods ... ;)

Otokiak
Rankin Inlet, NU
CANADA
 
Chinese roll pins suck!

The roll pin fell out of the gas valve while at the range after about 350 rounds. I found the parts on the ground, re-installed them and squished the ends a bit with a buddys Leatherman. After another 200 or so rounds, the roll pin through the oprod guide became loose, allowing the oprod to move around and rub on the stock. I took it apart, tightened it by staking the barrel, and glued it with green sleeve-retaining Loctite. I wish I could find a source for quality, properly sized rollpins for my spare Norc.

That said, I still love to shoot them and wouldn't hesitate to buy one.
 
Ah yessss,
Chinese roll pins ...
I've seen several Op Rod Guide roll pins break, and I just discovered a broken roll pin in the trigger housing, the pin that hjolds the magazine release in place.

The roll pins can be very brittle ... I'll be stopping by Canuckistan Tire for some "automotive grade" replacements [ probably made in good ol' China too, but vecause they are for cars instead of guns, maybe nopt so hard and brittle ]
laz
 
Thanks for the input guys.
Sounds like the general consensus is A-OK.

The price definatly beats the hell out any other 7.62NATO black rifle I'm aware of. You can get 6 of 'em for the prospected price of SIG's future 7.62 offering, and the M14 is obviously a tried and true design.

With the money you'd save over a SA M14, you can definatly afford some spare rollpins to keep in the buttstock cavity.
 
Mine only ever hiccupped on me once and it was MY own fault. Missed cosmo when I cleaned it.

Rifle itself worked fine, it was just the coolest bolt action I ever saw for a few minutes until I hit it with boiling water and dishsoap.
 
I forget to mention that I trimmed some wood from the stock. The op rod was striking the wood at its forward most position. Gun still operated fine, but a situation that needed attention. Wouldn't want the bolt to not close fully because of it.
 
i find that one out of every 5 shots, usually the second shot in the mag, doesnt go boom. I lock and load the first round, it shoots, but the second shot doesnt seem to go, so i have to #### it again. Maybe its not feeding from the mag properly?
 
two things you got to ck - mag seated properly?- and if the gas system working- the mag has to click at the back after being rotated in from the front- and you should be able to hear the piston "rattle" up and down when you shake the rifle with the bolt back- the other "trick" is to make sure the rounds are properly seated at the back of the mag- the old tap the back thing- but i have yet to find a 5 rounder that feeds flawlessly- the 20 round mags or their 5/20 offspring( pardon the pun) have far fewer problems
 
i find that one out of every 5 shots, usually the second shot in the mag, doesnt go boom. I lock and load the first round, it shoots, but the second shot doesnt seem to go, so i have to #### it again. Maybe its not feeding from the mag properly?

sounds more like the round isn't chambering properly, and the extra whump coming from the bolt is seating the round- not feeding from the mag would be a hangup on the feed into the chamber- maybe not enough gas or misaligned piston?
are you using factory or reloads?
 
sounds more like the round isn't chambering properly, and the extra whump coming from the bolt is seating the round- not feeding from the mag would be a hangup on the feed into the chamber- maybe not enough gas or misaligned piston?
are you using factory or reloads?

south african surplus.
 
This thread got me going...I have never had a failure to feed, eject, extract, or plain function -ever - with my 'Rinco. :dancingbanana:
 
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