M14 replacement op rods on sale at dlask:

Lazerus2000

Lazerus2000

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Here in Canada, where decent quality one piece op rods are already included with the Chinese M14 rifles, not too many 14 shooters need a new op rod,
BUT,
I HAVE seen a few 14s at my M14 seminars that could benefit from a new op rod.

In my experience,
SOME of the Norinco/Polytech op rods are NOT heat treated properly, and are quite soft.
Also, some people keep insisting on shooting HEAVY bullets in their M14 rifles. So, on inspection, some Chinese op rods can be seen to be badly peened or beaten up inside the surfaces that cam the bolt roller in and out of engagement. AND/OR, they may be beaten up at the surface where the back of the op rod hits the front of the receiver, or at the front tip of the op rod, where the piston stops the forward travel.
OR,
If your op rod sometimes jumps out of the track when firing, you should be looking at getting a replacement op rod. Preferably one with an oversized tab, so you can hard fit it to your individual 14.

Check the bolt camming surfaces of your op rod, and if they are peened or worn badly, your M14's funtional reliability and safety [ bolt timing ] could be compromised by this wear.

Poor CANADIAN sales are probably why Dlask has dropped the price on these. In the US, where they can't get any cheap Chinese op rods, the situation is different. If you check the US M14 forums, you will see that many experienced M14 builders are of the opinion that these replacement RWB op rod are equivalent in quality to the good old one piece US GI TRW op rods. And even better, the tabs on these new op rods are oversized ... not worn down like on most well used GI op rods.

My sample DLASK op rod is of VERY good quality, and dimensionally correct, EXCEPT the tab that retains the op rod in the receiver track is purposely made OVERSIZED. This enlarged tab allows proper hand fitting to receivers that may vary in op rod track dimensions.

If you have a FORGED Chinese receiver, or a US GI receiver, these tabs should fit in a few minutes of filing and lapping. If you have a CAST receiver [ eg SPRINGFIELD ] YPMMV, and you may end up spending a few hours cleaning up the op rod track to get proper fit and function.

Remember,
with bolt and op rod installed, but with no spring,
when you tilt the action at about 30 degrees,
the op rod and bolt should lock and unlock SMOOTHLY under their own weight.

At this price, these op rods are a TERRIFIC bargain.
If you have any need for an M14 op rod, I would recommend you get some of these NOW, before they sell out.

NOW all we need are cheap US GI equivalent M14 BOLTS, and we would be in M14 heaven


Hope this review helps
LAZ 1
aka
Lazerus2000
 
we are retailing these same oprods which were purchased thru Dlask, our price is 199.00 plus shipping. Quantities are in limited supply :cool:
 
new internet abbrev?

Lazerus2000 said:
...


If you have a FORGED Chinese receiver, or a US GI receiver, these tabs should fit in a few minutes of filing and lapping. If you have a CAST receiver [ eg SPRINGFIELD ] YPMMV, and you may end up spending a few hours cleaning up the op rod track to get proper fit and function.

...

Lazerus2000
Click to expand...
Huh?
 
i'll check on the dlask price, i've just arrived back in town from hunting the past 2 weeks. If there's been a price adjustment at dlask...... that price will be honoured for our remaining inventory as well ;)
 
M14Doctor said:
i'll check on the dlask price, i've just arrived back in town from hunting the past 2 weeks. If there's been a price adjustment at dlask...... that price will be honoured for our remaining inventory as well ;)
Click to expand...

Oh well...so is life(for me)
 
the m14 is designed to use 150 to 174gr bullets. going over 174 exceeds the desgin limitations of the rifle. long and short.... no 180gr bullets or your #### might fall off :D
 
Lazerus2000 said:
If your op rod sometimes jumps out of the track when firing, you should be looking at getting a replacement op rod. Preferably one with an oversized tab, so you can hard fit it to your individual 14.

My sample DLASK op rod is of VERY good quality, and dimensionally correct, EXCEPT the tab that retains the op rod in the receiver track is purposely made OVERSIZED. This enlarged tab allows proper hand fitting to receivers that may vary in op rod track dimensions.

If you have a FORGED Chinese receiver, or a US GI receiver, these tabs should fit in a few minutes of filing and lapping.

Hope this review helps
LAZ 1
aka
Lazerus2000
Click to expand...


OK, this accountant now has a DLASK op rod and would like to "file and lap" the oversize tab, but isn't 100% sure how. :confused:

I can see how the original tab has been worn away, so I can try and approximate that carefully. I will take a little away at a time and then checking function as you described in your post.

A FINE file I suppose? What by definition is used for the LAPPING part?

Thanks for all your advice. :cheers:
 
OK,
fitting an M14 Op rod, 101: Class is now in session.

PREREQUISITES:
Before attempting any op rod tab /receiver track fitting,
It is essential that the barrel is indexed correctly,
AND
that the front tip of the op rod is properly aligned [ centered ] in the middle of the piston that comes out the back of the gas assembly. Op rod tip to gas assembly/piston MIS-alignment can be corrected by properly fitting and aligning the op rod guide to barrel. "Staking" the surface under the op rod guide [ an auto impacting center punch is ideal for this ] is used to raise the OD at the barrel surface under the op rod guide, and tighten the fit of the op rod guide to the barrel. Apply RED loctite, reinstall the roll pin, set the alignment of the op rod tip to gas assembly/piston correctly [ Mr. Big Rubber Mallet is your friend here ] and leave over night for the loctite to set before shooting or further work.

NOTE:
If the barrel is GROSSLY out of index, the procedure above will correct ONLY the gas assembly/op rod tip alignment. Any barrel mis-indexing will cause the op rod to be twisted at an angle in the receiver track, which will cause premature wear to the op rod tab. In extreme cases, this twisting can cause the op rod tabs to "torque" right out of otherwise properly fitted tracks.

SO,
To repeat,
BEFORE starting the fitting of the op rod track and tab,
Make sure the barrel is indexed correctly,
AND,
That the front tip of the op rod is centered on the gas piston.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tools required:
RED felt pen [ Fine tipped Permanent marker type]
BIG rubber mallet [ most important tool ... cause you may be able to force that new oversized op rod tab into the track in the receiver, but then, how ya gonna get that sucker out of there again??]
Small Fine files [ cheap ones with handles soft enough to bend at an angle ]
Wet and dry sandpaper [ start at about 100 and go finer ]
Resizing lubricant [ works great for getting over sized tight fitting op rods to move along in the track without "spalling" aka transferring metal off the track and the tab in big chunks due to too tight fit and excessive friction]
CLP [ lubricant for AFTER the resizing lube part has been done, and to thin the valve grinding compound at the end ]
valve grinding compound

4" or 6" bench vise, WITH ALUMINUM ANGLE IRON JAW PADS.
You would not believe how many Bubba Fashionistas "checker" the lower part of their M14 receivers with the imprints of 6" RECORD vise jaws forcefully squeezed in. And some have even squeezed the receiver hard enough to "tighten up" the trigger assembly fit to the point Mr Big Rubber Mallet is needed to force the trigger assembly legs back in to the slot in the receiver.
DONTDODAT!!!
And,
if you don't want to "Custom Checker" the receiver,
USE THE ALUMINUM VISE JAW PADS.

All you need the vice for is to do keep the receiver steady while you work on the op rod track in the receiver, and later, as you pound the WELL LUBRICATED op rod back and forth, to scrape off the red pen markings, which tell you where the high spots in the track are.
NOTICE THE COMPLETE ABSENCE OF A DREMEL OR ANY OTHER GRINDERS INCLUDING THAT BENCH MOUNTED 3/4 HP BALVAR, YOU ARE JUST ITCHING TO TRY OUT???

Cleaning Materials:
Brake cleaner, WD 40, cloth patches, wire brushes, Q tips, etc.

PROCEDURES:
STEP 1.] Carefully clean the op rod tab and the receiver, especially the op rod track. Use Q tips, cleaning patches, fine screwdrivers, small wire brushes, followed by a good wash with WD 40, then brake cleaner to degrease. You want the tab and the track to be clean enough that you can use the red felt permanent marker to create witness marks that will show the high spots, where metal meets metal.

2.] Carefully inspect your old op rod tab, and the receiver track. Shiny spots in the parkerising indicate where the fit is tightest. If your op rod tab is worn at a visible angle, suspect barrel or op rod guide misindexing. If you see rough spots, major deep machining marks, hills and valleys, or humps and bumps in the receiver track, then you probably are working on a CAST Springfield M1A receiver, not on a FORGED US GI or Chinese M14 clone receiver. These imperfections in the op rod track are what need to be smoothed out for best performance.

3.] At this point, some so called gunsmiters [ BUBBAs EVERY ONE ] will simply slather on the valve grinding compound, force the op rod tab into the track, and beat on the op rod handle, back and forth, until some semblance of op rod movement is achieved.
Consider however that the op rod tab is tiny, the track is long, and that lapping will remove metal indiscriminately from BOTH surfaces at once. So BUBBA may eventually achieve the semblance of a nicely fitted op rod tab/track interface, but he has unnecessarily removed metal from the tiny, all important op rod tab … and there may still be lots of high and low spots left in the track, so fit is not consistent throughout the travel.

Of course, you have the patience, good sense, and skills to NOTDODAT!!
Instead, you will use teensy tiny bent files, with strips of varying grits of wet and dry sandpaper taped on, and your red felt pen, to mark and carefully smooth out any high spots in the track, working meticulously and patiently.
This work cleaning up and smoothing out the rough spots in the track should happen BEFORE you start working on the op rod tab.

4.] Once the track looks and feels nice and smooth inside, at the side, and at the hard to reach inside bottom edge, you start fitting the op rod tab to the track. CAREFULLY file the top edge and the inside flat of the op rod tab, until you can just force the tab to start into the track at the rear disassembly notch. Remove the op rod, slather resizing lube on the track and the tab, and start introducing the op rod handle to its new friend, MR BIG Rubber Mallet. Forcefully motivate the op rod forwards and backwards, stopping every time it gets REALLY stuck, to remove the op rod, clean off all the reloading lube, carefully file [ or abrade with the wet and dry sandpaper ] the shiny spots primarily on the track [ and secondarily on the tab ]… just a teensy bit at a time.
You are trying to fit the track to the tab, with the maximum amount of tab material left at the end of the job.

5.] Once the op rod can move all the way back and forth, with firm but gentle persuasion from MR Mallet, remove the op rod, add a DAB of valve grinding compound, thinned out with CLP and , as we say in the computer world, “ REPEAT UNTIL DONE”.

6.] Once the op rod moves smoothly througout the entire travel, remove the op rod, meticulously clean the op rod tab and track of any and all valve grinding compound, and relube with CLP. When the op rod, with bolt installed, but no op rod spring spring, slides smoothly under its own weight, without catches or sticky spots, when the receiver is at about a 45 degree angle, you have achieve proper op rod tab/track fit.

If not, go back to step 6],
And
“ REPEAT UNTIL DONE”.

OR,
You could simply pay the experienced M14 gunsmiter of your choice to do it for you,
But remember,
Not all gunsmiters are experienced M14 gunsmiters.
And if you see a BIG jar of valve grinding compound as the main tool of choice for fitting M14 op rods [ or Colt pistol slides for that matter ], then you are probably in the wrong shop.
hope this helps
[;{)
LAZ 1
 
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