M14 recivers

I was thinking the same thing, maybe because the Chinese m14's are made on the old US military tooling. Springfield may have been forced to design there own way to make receivers, deciding on casting them to save $$$ on the cost of forged tooling. I'm no expert so please correct me if I am wrong.
 
Even stranger is that along with that cast receiver, that american made rifle is made up of parts that are manufactured in asia , not china, but asia just the same.
M1A's are nice, don't get me wrong, but this just goes to show what an incredible value we have in the rifles we are fortunate enough to buy.... For far less that 2000.00 :D
 
If cast receivers were blowing up left right and center then I'd say you had a point, but I'm willing to bet that there's been very few examples of cast M1A receivers failing simply because they were cast and not forged.
 
It has nothing to do with strength I'm talking simply about cost price of the gun for what you get. IMO the springfieild should be about 1,300 not 2000 plus bucks. And the parts are not even American made for 2000 plus dollars
 
Springfield rifles are assembled by Americans, probably unionized, and carry a premium based on the fact that they have the same name as a company that originally made M14 rifles.

Norinco rifles are assembled by forced labor, certainly not unionized, and carry no tradition or history in the original development of the M14 rifle.

That's the difference.

M1A rifles were originally made with USGI parts, I am lucky enough to own one that still has some USGI parts in it (TRW 1963 barrel and USGI stock). I also didn't pay $2000 for my M1A Standard as I got it almost 10 years ago.

Would I pay $2000 for one made yesterday? No.
 
It's all good. We don't need to argue the merits of one over the other.
They are all great rifles ;)
But we are fortunate enough to have options. I know many guys who have introduced themselves to the platform with chinese rifles and later moved on to the higher end springers, LRB's ect.
 
Springfield rifles are assembled by Americans, probably unionized, and carry a premium based on the fact that they have the same name as a company that originally made M14 rifles.

Norinco rifles are assembled by forced labor, certainly not unionized, and carry no tradition or history in the original development of the M14 rifle.

That's the difference.

M1A rifles were originally made with USGI parts, I am lucky enough to own one that still has some USGI parts in it (TRW 1963 barrel and USGI stock). I also didn't pay $2000 for my M1A Standard as I got it almost 10 years ago.

Would I pay $2000 for one made yesterday? No.

That's fine all I am saying is the ones made today are not made of American parts and just because its assembled by Americans don't mean it's worth the money.

The ford fusion is rated one of the best mid size cars in the market but its assembled in Mexico by non union labor
 
Check the price of an all american made smith enterprise rifle build. Way more than yer average springfield. Difference here is reputation, and in house manufacture of many of the parts.
smith enterprise has made both cast and forged receivers as well.
I do not know if every part SEI uses is american made, I've never really looked into it.
Since production of USGI contract parts ceased many years ago, north american manufacture of this rifle has been limitted to parts availlability. Enter asia ;) Wayne Machine is a major player in reproduction M14/M1A parts. From my understanding, their parts are very commonly used in "american made" rifles. Not that this is a bad thing..... How does everyone like their new "springfield armory" gas systems , flash hiders and rear sights .... Hhhmmmmmm :D
 
Check the price of an all american made smith enterprise rifle build. Way more than yer average springfield. Difference here is reputation, and in house manufacture of many of the parts.
smith enterprise has made both cast and forged receivers as well.
I do not know if every part SEI uses is american made, I've never really looked into it.
Since production of USGI contract parts ceased many years ago, north american manufacture of this rifle has been limitted to parts availlability. Enter asia ;) Wayne Machine is a major player in reproduction M14/M1A parts. From my understanding, their parts are very commonly used in "american made" rifles. Not that this is a bad thing..... How does everyone like their new "springfield armory" gas systems , flash hiders and rear sights .... Hhhmmmmmm :D

Very true. And the Springfield is a good gun not knocking the product just think its a bit over priced
 
Lots interesting "facts" in this thread.
Old US machinery being used? No. The US machinery went to Taiwan, where it was used to manufacture rifles. Anybody think that the Taiwanese then passed the machinery for production of weapons on to the People's Republic?
Springfield Armory receiver blanks are (were?) cast in Montreal, not finished there.
Forced labour being used to make M305s in China? Really? Are the Chinese components in the computer you are using made by forced labour?
M1As are more expensive because of the name? The Springfield assembling the rifles in the US has nothing to do with the Springfield Armory in MA, apart from the name. The price is bumped because of the name?
 
Lots interesting "facts" in this thread.
Old US machinery being used? No. The US machinery went to Taiwan, where it was used to manufacture rifles. Anybody think that the Taiwanese then passed the machinery for production of weapons on to the People's Republic?
Springfield Armory receiver blanks are (were?) cast in Montreal, not finished there.
Forced labour being used to make M305s in China? Really? Are the Chinese components in the computer you are using made by forced labour?

M1As are more expensive because of the name? The Springfield assembling the rifles in the US has nothing to do with the Springfield Armory in MA, apart from the name. The price is bumped because of the name?

That is true. I just think if springfield is charging a priumium price for an "Amaerian made" rifle it should be made in America. and for $200.00 plus dollars it should have a forged reciver not cast. not saying that the cast reciver is no good. just dont see the price vs what you get to be justified. and yes I belive it is because of the name why the price is what it is. but names are not everything these days....
 
How is it that a 400 dollar norinco M14 can have a forged receiver but a 2000 Dollar Springfield has a cast receiver?

This. This simple question here started 2 pages of fighting about the eternal question of quality vs price. Classic BS, who fukin cares?!?!? like ACP KING said, it's super awesome that we have the CHOICE of buying an affordable m14 type rifle. If you join m14.com, you see how clearly jealous americans are that they dont have the choice, and how lucky we are to be able to buy a nice quality rifle with similar and sometimes better quality than its counterpart that costs 4 times as much. If someone sells a pre-ban norinco/polytech m305 in the states, people brag about how they found this absolute GEM of a rifle, even though they often pay twice as much as we do for it! SO LETS ALL JUST STFU and go out and shoot our rifles!!!!!!

RANT OVER
 
! SO LETS ALL JUST STFU and go out and shoot our rifles!!!!!!

Well said.............thats just what Im about to do.
Got my cheap ass 305 and a bag full of new loads, the suns shining, its the right side of freezing and I got my sunglasses on :)

Gotta be the most fun ya can have with yer clothes on :)
 
Fit and finish quality and cost of labor. One small example shown here is a M1A rear sight (borrowed from another thread). We are an extremely lucky bunch to have M14s at this price point! Part of the reason it was feasible to offer Blackfeather with one of its greatest features was because rifles were/are available in this price range. That is, it is feasible to run two M14 "uppers" or barrel/receiver groups from the same Blackfeather stock using two of our oprod guides. That means you can run 1 short rifle and 1 long rifle from the same stock without affecting optics zero when you swap them out AND enjoy the highest level of accuracy from your M14s. 1 stock, 2 completely different setups (real modularity with different height butt stock adapters, butt stocks and various scope mounts and high and low hand guards). If all we had were M1As, using a set of M1As in this way would cost $3500-$4000, not so feasible but I have customers in the States who are doing it. :eek:

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Yes wayne machine has been producing some good stuff. Good enough that springfield, LRB and others have put their parts to good use in many american made rifles. These sights are an example of that.
While I would rather have real G.I. quality such as M1 garand or BM59 italian sourced rear sights, or even better, real G.I. M14 sights.... The M1A repro sights are fantastic and a quality upgrade over their chinese counterparts.

When it comes to folks arguing over M1A's and M305's and LRB's ect ect ect .... It's kinda silly. It just shows though, the fervor and dedication so many shooters have for what has become a true north american rifle. They are all fantastic firearms, buy what pleases you and what you can afford.
The other side of this, and I'm sure Hungry get asked this too.
When I run clinics, so many M1A owners are unsure if they are "welcome" at the clinic or is it just for chinese guns? A sad scenario hehehehe ALL m14 type rifles deserve our respect :D and yes, all M14 types are welcome at my clinics hehehehe :rockOn:

As an aside... Wonder, will we ever see a Canadian M14 receiver.. Now that would be cool ;)
 
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