M-305 or CZ-958

Yeah...I definitely wouldn't have gone to the trouble to replace everything but the receiver if I ended up with a lemon...

when all you get is lemons that leave a sour taste in your mouth, but people keep telling you to buy them they are great... eventually you either A) give up and stop buying them or B) make margaritas... (you dilute the lemon down to almost nothing and drown it out with alcohol) so that you're happy with it.

I tried option B)
then moved onto A)


company would not take it back once fired.... and norinco has no warrenty...
after the first range trip I was in the gun almost $1000..... so when it crapped out on the second trip I figured I would go all the way.

buddy who has it now likes it... go figure eh? its pretty much a USGI/lrb gun now.

with Ruger I have tried to make some pretty strong "margaritas" but in the end the lemon just came through for me...
this one was into ruger twice, got a new barrel, new bolt, new triger parts, new main spring, had a couple pieces added that apparently were missing from factory....
It was in good working when I parted with it, but jesus I took a massive loss on it.

XynOxfHp9ZBY9qM-ZGF3ykY5NFR1xoY-ntAaCocfq0kHmq5vDKT67j4IJn4qqMWfIsopQz9em8yHOvLe1SIw3sOie4qAGyoEqgi1G0rAFRgyg2lvKyPivfAVxi98QnQxYKj57yUIcZ-JdXQxOlQkoJrVWPKsirotZnpzBuM5rsfHDlxeBLPjful5OgLO7BZC5ctBo9N8A2bWytTjM_5I5QFaObhmKAUKOlozspFA0kCtXI8FP17qdrujtwLEg1O96getj7Z9oRMDFpxb6q98qjlRebeZwtIux-v8awJDQ-InsTCXx5KFLnCejeRHgx9rELH7-TCCPKD78QUIkWb7U0FU_F7cFNRtGhylVcAzYWE2p9Y6cr3wxyc4OGoh2fm1bnJ_L5wGkRNA_qwVnFF4kZ2sJhRPklTcyGnKXGV0gFsTNHMqeMiXsrUE81HCxgBUsv1VKH-SfCa0rxQBWe0dxR_MZ91hK4DaVTN3LYqPnuVUbx4_tYEObqTnKbIWEgUqy0ivcpElhJqN7TmHEHMwaPKVYbpq8_TOqYkg7ycEpC5P_tfX_CPBpu1ixl6bU0vHCmgl=w1715-h955-no




I saw it come back up for sale, and I was tempted to buy it back... but then I remembered the struggle it gave me.
 
Last edited:
That's pretty brutal customer service on behalf of the retailer. I'm very, very surprised they wouldn't exchange it if there was that much fvcked up out-of-spec components. Who was it?
 
That's pretty brutal customer service on behalf of the retailer. I'm very, very surprised they wouldn't exchange it if there was that much fvcked up out-of-spec components. Who was it?

meh I'm not mad at the company I bought it from... they are very upfront about their zero return "as is" policy regarding milsurp and norincos. they make sure you know about it before you go to the till...
not like some that give absolutely no warning except a "no refunds or exchange" printed on the receipt that you don't see till after you've paid.

i checked out the rifle before I bought it... head space was good, everything worked passed a tilt test. It wasn't till I started shooting it I found out how many issues it realy had. I should have picked up on the bent op rod, but because the guide was loose it wasn't binding in the store. soon as I peened it and locked it in place the gun wouldn't cycle anymore without force and it didn't line up with the gas piston very well.
The indexing I had no idea how bad it was till after I put a aftermarket front sight mount on that wasn't manufactured crooked... and I had to have the blade at the far end of the rails hanging off a bit to get it on target.
 
To me personally why spend $1000 on cz's when sks is pretty much the same thing. Slap it into tapco stock, hical at mag adapter and off you go. Same group sizes, same ammo and a hell of a lot cheaper.
 
Eeeh I've had both SKS's and Vz58's, and I'll take a Vz58 regardless of cost. It's just..better.
Even with all the stuff you can slap onto an SKS, the Vz58 just feels more comfortable from the get go.

Now, between an Vz58 and M14, well that's personal taste because they're both very different. I'd take both overall.
 
Well I have a vz58 in 5.56 aswell as a cz858 in 7.62x39 also a sks with a tapco etc..the Cz and Vz ( diff category really as its a 5.56) will out shoot the sks I got a M305 last week and it seems pretty nice but cheapest ammo I find for soft points is 13$ pr box of 20 or 1000fmj's for 400$. I been thinking about a A180B...I know it didn't help at all but, what you can afford to save for what you want...that made it even easier didn't it.SKS is super fun to shoot and chep but not really a tackdriver IMO the cz is pretty darn good esp with a nice muzzle break.Yep I'd get one of each then grab a ar10t and ar15 guns can you really have to many?
 
I've been around for quite a while now and it seems to me that either evil lord pepper has a penchant for purchasing lemons, some absolutely TERRIBLE bad luck, or NOTHING on this earth suits him- I just got 3 m305s from marstar with ZERO issues- I won't buy a 958 or ANYTHING on the 7.62x39 cartridge as NOTHING I hunt/shoot is suited to that cartridge- however, I should also mention I reload 308 for other rifles and I don't need another bullet diameter to confuse things- remember- the Russian 7/62x39 is a 311 diameter- and its for all intents and purposes, a poor 30/30- so its a question of ethics- I wouldn't hunt most critters with a 30/30 either
 
Quite the rant. The x39 works well on yotes out to 150 yards.

but what's the point- nobody I know eats yote , and unless you're protecting livestock, you're killing for the sake of killing- I don't do wolves for the same reason- and my 308 does that at 250
 
Quite the rant. The x39 works well on yotes out to 150 yards.

I would argue x39 got enough pizzaz out to 400m on yotes....lot of people take black bear and deer with it as well.

I wonder were T star is that he can't shoot anything with X39... Alaska? were are yetis at? tibet?


lots of guns suit me, put some of the more popular cheap ons like M305s have given me nothing but grief and ended up not being cheap in the end.
 
i'm about 4oo miles south of you- but like I said, it's a matter of ethics ie I CHOOSE not to
 
your ethics are different than mine- if I recall you also found problems with a loadmaster that I have no issues with, or any lee product
 
your ethics are different than mine- if I recall you also found problems with a loadmaster that I have no issues with, or any lee product

try doing a few thousand military .308 cases... the link arms will snap.
the lee scale is finicky as ####
the perfect poor or what ever they call the powder thrower will throw +- 2 full grains of ball/flake

no issues with my redding equipment... at all. Reloading went from being a frustrating necessity to being an enjoyable time killer.
 
I've been around for quite a while now and it seems to me that either evil lord pepper has a penchant for purchasing lemons, some absolutely TERRIBLE bad luck, or NOTHING on this earth suits him- I just got 3 m305s from marstar with ZERO issues- I won't buy a 958 or ANYTHING on the 7.62x39 cartridge as NOTHING I hunt/shoot is suited to that cartridge- however, I should also mention I reload 308 for other rifles and I don't need another bullet diameter to confuse things- remember- the Russian 7/62x39 is a 311 diameter- and its for all intents and purposes, a poor 30/30- so its a question of ethics- I wouldn't hunt most critters with a 30/30 either

The x39 is even less than a 30-30 look up the Ft-lbs difference. The new bullets give them a ballistic edge over the x39 also.
 
Back
Top Bottom