I need your help... M14S problem

pcarpentier

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Gatineau, QC
Good afternoon ladies :D
I’ve got a little problem here… until I receive Hungry’s fabulous M14 clinic DVD, I will ask you guys if you have a solution or had any experience with this type of problem. After an “intensive” cleanup of my new Norinco (Lots and lots of that cosmoline $%^&b grease).
I tried for the first time my M14S yesterday (26)… These are the end results…

1- Holy cow… How much pulling on the Op rod handle do we need to load a round? :eek:
Now now wait a minute… I know what’s coming up…The bolt roller, lug tracks, nose of hammer, op rod, recoil spring… all have been greased or oiled but not the piston it is dry and clean as my bank account.
Hey I’m in shape but loading this baby I’ll eventually need an “Arnold” arm.

2- Ok next thing every time I fired (Winchester 308 150gr), the empty cartridge didn’t eject properly… it jammed the head on the outer rim of the chamber. :cool:
Yep… I checked.. the spindle valve is not on the grenade lunch settings.
Now last night I cleaned it again… just in case I missed out some cosmoline in some places… nope…. Baby is clean. After cleaning, I decide to replace the Op Rod spring guide with the new stainless steel guide I got from Mastar…

Ok lets cut the story short… is it normal that it needs that much pulling on the Op rod to load a round, why is it not completing it’s cycle (eject and reload) and why is it not ejecting properly?
Is the problem coming from the hammer being to hard to pull back that the Op rod brings back the bolt to soon with it’s empty cartridge still in place?

What is the solution? :(
I’d like to go back this coming weekend and shoot a real semi automatic… :50cal:
Think the new Ops rod guide will do the trick or did I miss out something?

Thank you for your patience :D
 
When you go to load the rifle, pull back on the op rod quickly.....the bolt needs to #### the hammer and if you do it slowly it can feel very difficult. Alternatively, put the safety on once it's cocked and see how much easier it is to cycle the action.
The gas valve plug can work itself loose, causing malfunctions. Also, make sure the gas cylinder is lined up with the gas port in the barrel. A small wire can be used to check this through the vent in the bottom of the cylinder.
I hope you cleaned the inside of the gas cylinder before firing.....and leave the inside and the piston dry....no grease or oil, or that can cause malfunctions as well.
 
One thing I caught on a couple 'rinco's I wrenched on, was if the barrel is out of index slightly, the op-rod will bind on both the op-rod guide and the receiver cut. Thought I'd throw that little bit of info out there....
 
Check the barrel near the receiver for any grinding marks from the op rod guide.
Check alignment of the op rod guide and the piston. Clean the chamber.
Check the headspace. Check indexing.

My guess it is the op rod guide alignment, the guide on the barrel is probably
misaligned. You will probably need a new pin if you remove the old one.

Remove the spring guide and let the op rod slide by moving rifle under angle.
does it move without too much friction?

Grease it, try factory, 150 gr ammo.
 
Thank you guys for your help,
To answer all of your questions, yes my piston and the cylinder were /are totally cleaned out of grease or oil. I tested the vent in the piston cylinder and also the vent on the piston if they were properly aligned (tested OK) plus no grease was clogging up the vents.

As I had mentioned after shooting and cleaning, I replaced the original Op rod guide with the beefier Mastar guide… hopefully that should help.
As for if the barrel is slightly out of index ? …. Sorry guys I wouldn’t know, I guess I will have to wait for my Hungry DVD to arrive and see what that means. :confused:

Thanks again.
 
Aim the rifle. Does it look as if the front sight is off at an angle? Is the front sight mounted off to one side of the dovetail? With the barrelled action out of the stock, does the gas piston more or less line up with the operating rod? Is one edge of the handguard jammed hard against the stock while the other side doesn't come anywhere near close? These could suggest an indexing problem.
Does the action cycle more easily when the hammer is cocked? Does the action cycle easily when the trigger mechanism is removed from the barrelled action?
 
To correct indexing, the setscrew on the right side of the reeiver ring must be removed, the barrel and receiver clamped up in a barrel vice and action wrench, and receiver turned until indexing is correct.
On another thread there is a very good photo of a pair of straightedges, one on the flat behind the rear sight, the other on the front sight base. You can easily see that the straight edges are 5-6 degrees from being parallel.
It is not hard to correct, but it does require the tools, and a cetain amount of force.
But unless your barrel is 'way out of index, your cycling problem is probably unrelated to indexing.
 
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