Hungry Calgary M14 Clinic 24-25 July 2010 Debrief here!

Hungry, Thank-you for an entertaining and informative day. If you own an M14 this clinic is a must. I was a little concerned being the only one without a rifle, but I still learned a ton. Big thx to El Torro who graciously slid one of his rifles my was so that I had the opportunity to learn hands on and keep up with Hungry.......Now.....gotta get my hands on a m14 :D
 
Thanks again Barney for a clinic that also touched the "more advanced" part of fiddling with the M14. I lapped a bolt and learned how to bed the beast.

Taylor-Made: You're welcome, but I should thank you.... my trigger is butter-smooth and I didn't have to watch a hockey game in off-season just to lap the hooks. :p Hope you'll get your rifle soon.
 
Wow!, What a great time and Mega-heap learning

Barney,

I wish to express a sincere thank you for taking the time and patience to deal with newbies like me. Your instruction and "matter of fact" approach to truly needed accessories versus items to go on a "could use, but would not matter anyway" list was refreshing. I learned that the M14 platform is one one sweet platform and really basic in operation and function.

Thanks to the networking and your experience, I now know that my Poly M14 is a very reliable and well built rifle. Yup, I did go out and buy that lotto ticket!

Thanks again.:D
 
Big thanks to Hungry and TSE!
Lots of fun and tons of useful info! .... and i finally got my USGI flash suppressor reamed! ;)

What a great bunch of gunnutz to meet! :D

s>
 
Thanks Hungry

It was a very worthwhile way to spend a Sunday. I really enjoyed the class and feel everyone who owns an M14, M305, M1A should attend. I will utilize a lot of what I learned going forward. It was also good to have some of the myths surrounding these rifles dismissed.

Greg
 
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Glad as heck all of you enjoyed it. I loved being at TSE and in Calgary. Gotta hit the road for SK and MB today.

I'm still reeling over the great treatment we had over at TSE, what a bunch of super community builders. Could not stick around for the BBQ and burgers since I had to pick up my hunting buddy at YYC Airport.

Cheers,
Barney :evil:
 
Hungary and all,

Thanks for all the great info. The clinic was worth every penny.
I learned lots from you & everyone else.
I have to admit, I had more money than brains when shelling out for the Springfield - an impulse buy at the time. I now feel less reluctant modifying this rifle.

I took out the freshly shimmed rifle yesterday and put 150 rounds through it. It shot better than ever.

While shooting an old batch of culled-out “suspect” hand-loads I confirmed the source of my occasional problem with extraction. The lee .308 crimp die is the source of my high pressure spikes / failure to extract. I highly recommend to everyone to avoid, or be very careful, when using these crimp dies. I found that the lee die, when used as instructed by lee, actually compressed the bullet from .308” OD to +/-.302” OD.

Furthermore, I found the source of my iron sight problem Saturday night – the right-hand “wing” of the sight was bent in slightly (?!?!?) thus the ramp and windage dial was binding. I managed to straighten it out with a brass punch and hammer.
I have to say that while beating on the rear site, and cringing, I wished I had bought an M305, as pounding on a Norinco is not as nearly as worrying as pounding on an over priced rifle of similar quality.

PS: My #### is still fully attached, even after going through all of the above.
 
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Second That to the Shimming

Just an update. At the clinic, I shimmed my rifle - so now it was time to test it.

I used Remy bulk and Winchester (both 150 grain pills) ammo and benchrest at 100 yards. Now my eyeballs are not what they used to be so the target through the sights was a little fuzzy, but I tried my best to aim as consistently as possible.

Lo and behold, she was shooting approximately 1.00" MOA (excluding the odd flyer) with the Remy ammo and about the same with the Winchester. I was impressed because the addition of the shim really improved the accuracy of the rifle. I then went to the 200 yard range and shot at a 10" gong using a hunting stance (sitting - supported with sling, no benchrest). 15 out of 15.:D

While they were not tight little groups, the bottom line is that for my ability, my M14 shoots very well indeed.

Now have to find some time to shoot my reloads and see how they shoot.

Without attending the clinic, I would not have been able to do this as the rifle was shooting between 1.5" (best grouping on a calm day, reloads) to 2" (average).

Thanks again Hungry!:)
 
sobo4303 said:
Just an update. At the clinic, I shimmed my rifle - so now it was time to test it.

I used Remy bulk and Winchester (both 150 grain pills) ammo and benchrest at 100 yards. Now my eyeballs are not what they used to be so the target through the sights was a little fuzzy, but I tried my best to aim as consistently as possible.

Lo and behold, she was shooting approximately 1.00" MOA (excluding the odd flyer) with the Remy ammo and about the same with the Winchester. I was impressed because the addition of the shim really improved the accuracy of the rifle. I then went to the 200 yard range and shot at a 10" gong using a hunting stance (sitting - supported with sling, no benchrest). 15 out of 15.:D

While they were not tight little groups, the bottom line is that for my ability, my M14 shoots very well indeed.

Now have to find some time to shoot my reloads and see how they shoot.

Without attending the clinic, I would not have been able to do this as the rifle was shooting between 1.5" (best grouping on a calm day, reloads) to 2" (average).

Thanks again Hungry!:)
Click to expand...

I also managed to take the flashhider off and put gas cylinder shims on my Poly M305 yesterday. Before attending the clinic my rifle was shooting 1.5" to 2" MOA (reloaded) now I need to bring it the range to test it. I will report the results soon. :)
 
Looking forward to hearing about the smaller groups after the clinic(s). Home now! Been a long week after having done 3 clinics in 7 days and then driving home after the Wpg clinic on Sat. It's all good. Nothing like sleeping in yer own bed. Gotta unload all my M14 tool boxes tomorrow. :D

Cheers all!

Barney
 
Who Knew!?! - Update From The Range

:eek:

As discussed, I tried my shimmed M14 with my loads at the range today. I modified my front sight (trimmed and lowered the front blade) and used the benchrest @ 100 yards, no wind.

My loads were new Win brass, 200 CCI primers, 45.3 gr Win 748 powder (+/- 2,750 FPS) and Sierra 150 spitzers.

Well the damn thing shot very nice. depending on time taken between shots to concentrate on target, Shot 8 4-shot groups at B.F targets (so I could see them). On average, my calculated (radius method) groups were averaged to 0.90 MOA. :eek: That's right...0.90"...with my modified sights and old eyeballs!

I even had one shoot in the same hole...just widened it about 2 mm.!! It was the flukiest shot I had ever made...period...and that was with my M14!! :eek:

Bottom line is: When Hungry is offering a clinic in your area....attend it. I'm a believer! :ar15: w:h:
 
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