LAZ's updates to the M-14 FAQs
- Thread starter Lazerus2000
- Start date
Thanks Mr hungry man,
same goes for you.
Evaluation of NEW MARSTAR M-14S RIFLES – based on several that have recently showed up at The Wet Coast M-14 seminars.
The NEW batch [ NOV 2007 ] of NORC 14s from MARSTAR look VERY VERRRRRRY nice. Parkerising can vary considerably in color/texture, and MARSTAR’S new batch have a very attractive fine GREY finish, which looks almost like Grey Teflon. Nice fit and finish to the metal for sure, with the finish looking uniform over all the metal. Most of them also had very decent stocks, of fairly hard wood, with some nice color. Finish quality for metal and wood was significantly above most of the older batches.
Headspace on all of these was significantly tighter than the last time we checked a mixed batch of the older of 14s, which were of various ages, from various suppliers. Using the proper US GI 7.62 NATO GO GAGE, headspace ranged from .004" to .009" over 7.62 NATO GO. This is approximately equivalent to what you would find in a batch of used genuine US GI M-14 rifles.
Bolt fit was significantly better ... no glaringly obvious problems with the notorious LEFT lug engagement, although several of the brand new rifles could benefit from a wee bit of bolt lapping [ or just shoot the darn things ]. We also checked firing pin protrusion, and bolt to receiver timing, which is not very well understood by most 14 shooter up here in Canada. This is NOT rocket science, but neither is it intuitive. Every rifle had good safe bolt/firing pin/receiver timing, however one BRAND NEW receiver did show signs of a bit of polishing on the receiver camming surface.
All rifles passed the trigger mechanism safety test [ with trigger back, let op rod slam forward to see if hammer follows ]. Most had decent, if not good trigger weight, with the usual creep and grittiness. ONE hammer did have one of the hooks seriously deformed, so that only one side of the hammer was actually engaging the sear for the final let off. This one would benefit from a GI Hammer swap for sure.
MOST of these rifles were indexed properly, or at least "close enough for Govt work". Two out of the twelve were way out of index, and would require reindexing for maximum reliability, and to reduce the aggrevation of looking at a front sight that was off about 5 to 7 degrees. By the way, one of these was also the same new 14 that had the polished receiver firing pin camming surfaces, and also the hammer with the bad hook. I guess even the Chinese have Mondays ...
MOST of the 14s had nice tight gas assemblies. Only one had rotational slop, which was easily fixed by proper application of a spring actuated center punch to peen a bit at the back of the splines on the barrel. Several had LOTS of longditudinal slop, and even though there was a shim kit available, we made do by peening the barrel at the lug behind the hand guard.
In a couple of cases,
we removed the WELDED flashiders [ and wasn't THAT fun eh? ] and flipped the gas ring over. In case you didn't know this, the gas ring will ususally index differently depending which side you put to the inside. In both these cases, we went from VERRRY sloppy gas assembly fit, to perfectly tight, with no more than flipping the gas ring. As several of the peanut gallery commented, “You’d think they would try the gas ring both ways to see which way fit better …” but obviously they do not.
All in all, these rifles are still the best military rilfe bang for the buck, that there is currently available on the Canadian firearms market.
same goes for you.
Evaluation of NEW MARSTAR M-14S RIFLES – based on several that have recently showed up at The Wet Coast M-14 seminars.
The NEW batch [ NOV 2007 ] of NORC 14s from MARSTAR look VERY VERRRRRRY nice. Parkerising can vary considerably in color/texture, and MARSTAR’S new batch have a very attractive fine GREY finish, which looks almost like Grey Teflon. Nice fit and finish to the metal for sure, with the finish looking uniform over all the metal. Most of them also had very decent stocks, of fairly hard wood, with some nice color. Finish quality for metal and wood was significantly above most of the older batches.
Headspace on all of these was significantly tighter than the last time we checked a mixed batch of the older of 14s, which were of various ages, from various suppliers. Using the proper US GI 7.62 NATO GO GAGE, headspace ranged from .004" to .009" over 7.62 NATO GO. This is approximately equivalent to what you would find in a batch of used genuine US GI M-14 rifles.
Bolt fit was significantly better ... no glaringly obvious problems with the notorious LEFT lug engagement, although several of the brand new rifles could benefit from a wee bit of bolt lapping [ or just shoot the darn things ]. We also checked firing pin protrusion, and bolt to receiver timing, which is not very well understood by most 14 shooter up here in Canada. This is NOT rocket science, but neither is it intuitive. Every rifle had good safe bolt/firing pin/receiver timing, however one BRAND NEW receiver did show signs of a bit of polishing on the receiver camming surface.
All rifles passed the trigger mechanism safety test [ with trigger back, let op rod slam forward to see if hammer follows ]. Most had decent, if not good trigger weight, with the usual creep and grittiness. ONE hammer did have one of the hooks seriously deformed, so that only one side of the hammer was actually engaging the sear for the final let off. This one would benefit from a GI Hammer swap for sure.
MOST of these rifles were indexed properly, or at least "close enough for Govt work". Two out of the twelve were way out of index, and would require reindexing for maximum reliability, and to reduce the aggrevation of looking at a front sight that was off about 5 to 7 degrees. By the way, one of these was also the same new 14 that had the polished receiver firing pin camming surfaces, and also the hammer with the bad hook. I guess even the Chinese have Mondays ...
MOST of the 14s had nice tight gas assemblies. Only one had rotational slop, which was easily fixed by proper application of a spring actuated center punch to peen a bit at the back of the splines on the barrel. Several had LOTS of longditudinal slop, and even though there was a shim kit available, we made do by peening the barrel at the lug behind the hand guard.
In a couple of cases,
we removed the WELDED flashiders [ and wasn't THAT fun eh? ] and flipped the gas ring over. In case you didn't know this, the gas ring will ususally index differently depending which side you put to the inside. In both these cases, we went from VERRRY sloppy gas assembly fit, to perfectly tight, with no more than flipping the gas ring. As several of the peanut gallery commented, “You’d think they would try the gas ring both ways to see which way fit better …” but obviously they do not.
All in all, these rifles are still the best military rilfe bang for the buck, that there is currently available on the Canadian firearms market.
