M14 must do mods?

From what I have read over the years, the Chinese M14s imported into
Canada have better bolts than those imported into the US many years ago.

Can anyone confirm this?
 
From what I have read over the years, the Chinese M14s imported into
Canada have better bolts than those imported into the US many years ago.

Can anyone confirm this?

Yes the bolts are better..............there was a member here who had a few Chinese bolts tested for hardness along with some USGI bolts a few years back........................the Chinese bolts tested in the acceptable hradness range, but just slightly under the USGI bolts...............I can't remember the Rockwell numbers he had..................
 
Can anyone tell me the time differance between Edmonton, and the U.S. (PA) I have been trying to contact Moving Targets, but only get answering machine, and no reply
 
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.

What do you mean by "no more surplus nato or nato spec ammo"? If you have USGI bolt with match chamber dimensions you can't shoot Nato ball ammo?
 
It depends if it's .308 match (which is RIGHT at SAAMI GO) or NATO match (which is right at 7.62 NATO GO).

If the latter, no problem. If the former, I would be VERY careful shooting standard NATO ammo in the rifle and check every shot to make sure the bolt fully rotated closed on the ammo.
 
From what I have read over the years, the Chinese M14s imported into
Canada have better bolts than those imported into the US many years ago.

Can anyone confirm this?

Yes there is/was a big difference in bolt hardness from the early Norinco 1997-1998 vintage M14’s sold in Canada and the USA. Based on my observations then, the Century Arms International (Original Canadian Distributor) vintage bolts were very soft. The early bolts could easily be filed with a metal file and the more recent (approximately 2003 and later vintage Norinco M14 bolts) can not. The more recent bolts seem to be much closer to milspec according to some surface hardness tests done here in Canada a few years ago by a CGN member.

But lets be honest, the true quality of a Norinco M14 bolt can not be determined solely by a surface hardness test, as the quality of a bolt goes deep into the bolts core and not just the surface. So yes, although, not as tough as a USGI bolt IMO, but based on those original hardness tests done a few years ago, some of the more recent Norinco bolts imported into Canada are adequate for most owners purposes, but certainly do not equal or supersede the quality of a genuine USGI bolt.
 
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.........

Well was hoping to do the later that way its not visible from the outside of the rifle and i get the true military style unitizing which fits my build plans . Would you be willing to do the later method at one of your clinics ?
 
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