Done, and done!
Canada Post was extremely fast... Ontario on Thursday and picked up in BC today!
I just tore down the rifle to inspect the parts, and everything looks great. An initial inspection shows that the bolt and oprod are electropenciled with the same serial number as the receiver --- the faint serial is the only identifying mark on them, so I'm assuming they are the originals. Can the serial number be used to tell the year of manufacture? This rifle has a serial number of the for 003###. EDIT: I did some searching and the numbers under the stock (3 7 19 1 10) probably indicated a July 1993 manufacturing date.
The only markings on the receiver are on the left side and say "M14 308 / CJA SFLD MICH / NORINCO MADE IN CHINA" followed by the serial number. The markings are pretty faint. The heel has no markings whatsoever --- is this the way they came, or has the receiver been scrubbed and refinished? That would explain the difference in colour of some of the parts (e.g., the oprod). EDIT: more searching indicates that they were produced without heel markings.
The flashider is a four prong affair with the ends of the prongs pointed and slanted towards the bore axis. I'll get a closeup picture, and hopefully someone can help me identify it.
The stock is in good condition (minus the drab camo). The rubber buttplate is homemade, and I suspect the stock has been cut back to remove the standard buttplate inletting (I have to measure to verify). The length of pull feels a tad short, so I'll probably look at putting a thicker pad on it.
The rifle came with 4 5/20 mags and 2 5 round mags, as well as a sling, cleaning kit, and a couple of stripper clips. Interesting, the nylon pouch containing the cleaning kit is marked "Lady Mac Corset Co."
Now for the real surprise... I believe it has a National Match rear sight. The windage and elevation knobs are marked WCE and the aperature is rotatable with a "520" marked in front of a small v-notch. The elevation rack is marked NM. This is my first Norinco M14 -- did they ship with an NM-knockoff sight?
I'm going to get it cleaned up and relubed and will take some photographs in the next while.
This sure feels like a sweet rifle!
Wow...you scored BIGTIME. If your rifle was for sale in the USA, I dare say it would probably sell for something like $3000us...
On the aperture, I'm guessing you are correct about the rear being a National Match. The "520" would mean the actual aperture size, because there are actually different sizes available for that "arm". The V notch, AFAIK indicates the rotating position of the aperture. Now, I'm no expert, but from what I've learned, the NM rear aperture is actually ever so slightly offset from dead center, vertically. With the V notch, that's it's "standard position" for general use and zeroing. But...once you learn the rifle, if you need to split the difference between "elevation clicks", you can do so by rotating the aperture hood away from the V, and that gives you a new position roughly halfways (I think) between the two clicks' elevation.
Now... I have that on my rifle, but I'm too new to actually use the rotating feature, and I may not be explaining this perfectly accurately, and I don't forsee myself ever actually using the feature either. IMO its really meant for Camp Perry competitors to be able to shoot Garands and M1A's at 1000 yards...where such an additional adjustment could mean the difference between a "good" score, and an outright win. You'd never see the difference at 500 yards/meters, and it'd be useless feature for hunting, but I really like the national match rear because it's got the more precise smaller apperture, and it's got the small circular hood to cut down on sun glare, makes the circle sharper/clearer.
The extra magazines ALONE make this a seriously screaming deal, never minding all the other modifications! The 5/20's seem to be going for $35 to $50 in Canada at the moment, so that's $140-200 right there, not including sales tax either, or shipping.
USGI stock is typically worth $125 and up.
Springfield armory Scout/Squad mount, I think $125 is a decent price.
So to pay $50 LESS than a new unmodified Norc...
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