M14 must do mods?

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Iron Sighted

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OK guys what are the first easy(and hopefully cheaper)mods that should be done to a stock M14 after purchase? I'm planning to go to the next M14 clinic in the Vancouver area or the one at M14 Doctors place next year(maybe both, who knows?), but in the mean time I'm looking for a few things that I can do to improve my rifle when I get it. I think I may have heard someone mentioning to replace the stock Op-rod spring? What are the items you'd replace/improve in order of importance and best return on money invested? Thanks.
 
Iron Sighted said:
OK guys what are the first easy(and hopefully cheaper)mods that should be done to a stock M14 after purchase? I'm planning to go to the next M14 clinic in the Vancouver area or the one at M14 Doctors place next year(maybe both, who knows?), but in the mean time I'm looking for a few things that I can do to improve my rifle when I get it. I think I may have heard someone mentioning to replace the stock Op-rod spring? What are the items you'd replace/improve in order of importance and best return on money invested? Thanks.
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This is a common set of questions on here, but you can upgrade with these simple mods:

- op rod spring guide replacement with Rauch or Tartan Tactical product

- op rod spring replacement with USGI

- rear sight assembly replaced with USGI, Springfield Armory, or M1 Garand rear sight assembly (if you are sticking with iron sights, otherwise, get an ARMS #18 for optics mount)

- upgrade to USGI fiberglass stock or wood stock with bedding
 
If your oprod guide has any slop in it at all knock out the pin,slide it off, peen the surface on the barrel then put guide back on. It'll be solid after that. Costs nothing and is very simple to do.
 
I highly recommend going to the clinic. It is a wealth of information. Wait till after you go to figure out what mod’s you want to do.

I do recommend Tartan Tactical’s op rod, Rob knows what he is doing, and the nitrial hardening makes all the difference.

As far as unitizing, I did not go that route (yet), shimming seams to be more than enough to tighten things up. Again wait for the clinic, you should get shims there.

Other than that, just take the beast out and use it – get lots of trigger time. The more you shoot the more familiar you become with the quirks of the firearm, and don’t just shoot off the bench, spend time prone, kneeling, and standing, you may find the P.O.I. changes with each position.

Remember the adage: “Train like you fight, and fight like you train.”
 
brokenpine said:
I highly recommend going to the clinic. It is a wealth of information. Wait till after you go to figure out what mod’s you want to do.

I do recommend Tartan Tactical’s op rod, Rob knows what he is doing, and the nitrial hardening makes all the difference.

As far as unitizing, I did not go that route (yet), shimming seams to be more than enough to tighten things up. Again wait for the clinic, you should get shims there.

Other than that, just take the beast out and use it – get lots of trigger time. The more you shoot the more familiar you become with the quirks of the firearm, and don’t just shoot off the bench, spend time prone, kneeling, and standing, you may find the P.O.I. changes with each position.

Remember the adage: “Train like you fight, and fight like you train.”
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Yeah, good point, probably best to shoot it lots, get familiar with it and see if there is anything obvious that I'd like to change on it. I do fully intend to go to a clinic put on by either Hungry or M14 Doctor, but that could be a full year or more away unless something is planned sooner in the Vancouver/LML area. At this point I'm eagerly anticipating the day I first unpack it, learn to disassemble it, and clean it. I'll likely do the Op-rod mods and replace the rear sight, and then leave it alone until I get a chance to go to one of the clinics. Thanks guys for the quick replies.
 
Very first mod should be getting rid of that "balsa" wood stock........that is the easiest one to do........:D

My "must" do M14 list is as follows:

-clean all the packing grease off/out of rifle

-properly lube rifle and check for smooth function when racking the action. There should be no binding and the bolt lugs should fully lock.

-check gas cylinder play and barrel indexing. Every Nork M14 I have ever seen needed some work shimming the gas cylinder......3/4s of them needed the barrel re-indexed so that barrel sits square in the action.A mis-indexed/aligned barrel can cause the oprod to bind and not move smoothly.

-Swap in a National Match oprod guide and USGI oprod spring. Easy and pretty cheap.

-I like to run a Smith Enterprises type gas lock front site.....the rear sight I leave on.......the only mod I do is drill the aperture larger and have "Ghost Ring" style open sights.

-Then I install A Smith DC Vortex Flash Suppressor and a over sized bolt release...........

-If the bolt headspaced is out too much, then I will swap in a USGI bolt......(preferably a nice TRW bolt.....;))

For the average guy, I would just worry about the stock, gas system, oprod guide & spring. These 4 things will tighten up your groups quite a bit.........
 
Skullboy said:
Very first mod should be getting rid of that "balsa" wood stock........that is the easiest one to do........:D

My "must" do M14 list is as follows:

-clean all the packing grease off/out of rifle

-properly lube rifle and check for smooth function when racking the action. There should be no binding and the bolt lugs should fully lock.

-check gas cylinder play and barrel indexing. Every Nork M14 I have ever seen needed some work shimming the gas cylinder......3/4s of them needed the barrel re-indexed so that barrel sits square in the action.A mis-indexed/aligned barrel can cause the oprod to bind and not move smoothly.

-Swap in a National Match oprod guide and USGI oprod spring. Easy and pretty cheap.

-I like to run a Smith Enterprises type gas lock front site.....the rear sight I leave on.......the only mod I do is drill the aperture larger and have "Ghost Ring" style open sights.

-Then I install A Smith DC Vortex Flash Suppressor and a over sized bolt release...........

-If the bolt headspaced is out too much, then I will swap in a USGI bolt......(preferably a nice TRW bolt.....;))

For the average guy, I would just worry about the stock, gas system, oprod guide & spring. These 4 things will tighten up your groups quite a bit.........
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Step #1 is taken care of already, I bought an M305 with the synthetic stock, though I don't know if these are held in much higher regard than the wood stock?? I will likely swap Op-rod guide and spring as it does sound easy to do and fairly cheap. I'll wait until I have the rifle in my hands and have fired it some to evaluate the stock sights, but I hear many people do replace them. I doubt I'd be able to index my barrel or shim the gas cylinder by myself, so that will have to wait until I hit one of the clinics I guess. Thanks for the advice. Nice M14's by the way Skullboy, I saw the pics you posted in the EBR thread, beautiful guns.
 
Hi, I'm new here, but I need some help. I recently laid away a Norinco M-14 at a local gun shop at the tune of $900.00 (U.S.) used, and I need to know what to look out for.
As I understand from reading reviews, the earlier modles had problems with the bolts. How do I know if the bolt is bad, or if it has already been changed?
 
gunho1951 said:
Hi, I'm new here, but I need some help. I recently laid away a Norinco M-14 at a local gun shop at the tune of $900.00 (U.S.) used, and I need to know what to look out for.
As I understand from reading reviews, the earlier modles had problems with the bolts. How do I know if the bolt is bad, or if it has already been changed?
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Check the headspace. If it accepts a Field gauge, there is a problem.
There are the stories about early versions having soft parts and developing significantly excess headspace during the firing of the first few hundred rounds.
The experience here with more recent rifles is different.
If a USGI bolt has been swapped in, it will have identification marks. If the bolt has been swapped, make sure the replacement bolt is properly fitted.

As far as "must do" mods are concerned I subscribe to the "Hungry" philosophy.

A current rifle with a synthetic stock? Take it out and shoot it, get a performance base line.
Then shim the gas system (cheap and easy), replace the op. spring guide (cheap and easy), tighten up the op. rod guide (cheap and easy), install M-1 sight parts if necessary, and if the irons are to be used, otherwise install a scope.
It would seem that improper barrel indexing has become less of a problem, but is certainly worth checking.
Then test it again, see what you have accomplished.
If you want to go further, there are all sorts of things that can be done. Some are not even mirror kommando dressup, although many are.
And remember to get out and go shooting.
Money is bettter spent on ammunition and range time than on bells, whistles and bobbleheaded dolls.
 
gunho1951 said:
Hi, I'm new here, but I need some help. I recently laid away a Norinco M-14 at a local gun shop at the tune of $900.00 (U.S.) used, and I need to know what to look out for.
As I understand from reading reviews, the earlier modles had problems with the bolts. How do I know if the bolt is bad, or if it has already been changed?
Click to expand...

:eek: $900!!! I sure hope it's not stock as you can order one new for less than half that price

EDIT Reading it again, I see you live in the US so that my not be too far off for one down there
 
must do mods......
while many shoot just fine with the stocks they come in..... in the long run replacing to something a lil sturdier than the "chu wood" is recommended for the accuracy seekers.
while i'm NOT a fan of the new plastic chinese stocks, they are an improvement. However, most need to be adjusted at the ferule end to do away with any forward gas band contact.

next up on my list is a complete check to ensure barrel is indexed correctly, then we check that the flash hider is correctly machined and true to the barrel splines. Then we check the same for the gas assembly. Oprod guide is then checked and locked in place with oprod in alignment with gas piston.
then it's checking the bolt lugs for even wear against the receiver..... then we check headspace. USGI bolts are used to tighten up headspace on match rifles..... as installing a usgi bolt properly will give you headspace in the true .308 range, meaning no more surplus nato or nato spec ammo.
then we look at the rear sights..... many if not most chinese sights are junk, although if yours seem to funtion correctly, leave em be.

simple upgrades...... replacing the stock springs with aftermarket..... such as a springfield M1A or Wolfe M1A spring upgrade pack(order from brownells). next would be replacing the stock oprod spring guide rod with a aftermarket NM version..... Tartan Tactical, Rauch Tactical or marstar(all in canada) or a sadlak nm guide rod (brownells)

for extras...... an extended bolt stop/release and extended mag release are very popular upgrades (again Brownells is your friend)

a decent trigger job by someone who knows what they are doing...... and it's off to the races.
 
gunho1951 said:
Hi, I'm new here, but I need some help. I recently laid away a Norinco M-14 at a local gun shop at the tune of $900.00 (U.S.) used, and I need to know what to look out for.
As I understand from reading reviews, the earlier modles had problems with the bolts. How do I know if the bolt is bad, or if it has already been changed?
Click to expand...

Plan on a USGI bolt conversion by SEI or WarBird and follow the rest of the advise that given in this thread.
 
You don't need to correct what's not wrong. There is great variability in these guns and the best thing to do is give it a thorough going over to see if it has any weak points. Not everyone has the same problems. That's where a Hungry Clinic, M14Doc or other experienced person comes in handy to give it the going over and assessment. Not all of them come with crap sights, misalignment barrels, loose oprod guides, etc. Surprisingly, some even shoot great with loose gas system parts. I had one that shot great, despite not having all the classic signs of a good shooter. The proof is in the results, and you have to shoot it to find out.
 
Could anyone here maybe post more in depth pictures of how the front band is unitized with both or either or the screw style type and the welding type approach ?

There is one picture in the FAQ but its hard for me to see where exactly the welds are suppose to go .

Also you mention upgrading all the springs . brownells has many different springs , do these ever vary in quality ? some list usgi spec but they all seem to be roughly the same price .
 
Kc.338Lp said:
Could anyone here maybe post more in depth pictures of how the front band is unitized with both or either or the screw style type and the welding type approach ?

There is one picture in the FAQ but its hard for me to see where exactly the welds are suppose to go .
Click to expand...

The welds are at 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and 6 o'clock................the 6 o'clock weld is at the bottom of the cylinder...........

welding is the easiest way to go..................the "glued & screwed" method is more difficult to do...............

still looking for the reference pics I have stashed away.........
 
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