M14 Smith in Vancouver Area

Oldsmobiler is a knowledgeable m14 guy who can certainly build a nice rifle. I don't think he is a practicing smith. He was a big help at my last m14 clinic though :D

There are zero "m14 smiths" in western canada. Many shops in BC and alberta referred their M14 work to me. The only guy I'd send and M14 to other than myself? Maybe Casey at Tac Ord, but he's out east.
 
I have heard good things about Bits of Pieces out in Delta, but I have zero personal experience with them and haven't the slightest clue of they can or will work on M14s.
 
I aint no smith but do have the tools to do most work. I try to help where I can as well so if its an easy fix no problemo. If you want a barrel turned or a trigger job go see a proper gunsmith with the lathe and knowledge. Most of the time its easy stuff that anyone can do.

Ante
 
Expect your gun to be at bits of pieces for more than 3 months. He is SLOW......

Ante is awesome straight up no BS.
 
Nothin against the guy behind the bench but I absolutely don't recommend that B of P outfit in delta AT All "for m14 work especially"... Slow or not. I've had to repair many M14 type rifles that were "worked on" there.
If you NEED a smith for m14 work.... Casey at tac ord, doug at ellwood epps and for chopping/threading/crowning the chrome lined barrels(only), dlask.
That is it as far as actual smiths who know the rifle well enough to do quality work on go.
 
I believe I'm having excess headspace issues on a brand new M305 shorty - empties aren't ejecting, and manually ejecting feels like the case is jammed in the chamber. I even had a few Norinco 7.62 cases split at the neck. I shot with a bunch of different types of ammo, and the necks are all swelled up pretty good.

I bought some no-go and field gauges, so we'll see if the bolt closes on these guys after I disassemble the bolt.
 
SpicyRichter said:
I believe I'm having excess headspace issues on a brand new M305 shorty - empties aren't ejecting, and manually ejecting feels like the case is jammed in the chamber. I even had a few Norinco 7.62 cases split at the neck. I shot with a bunch of different types of ammo, and the necks are all swelled up pretty good.

I bought some no-go and field gauges, so we'll see if the bolt closes on these guys after I disassemble the bolt.
Click to expand...

Norc surplus cases splitting isn't diagnostic of anything, I'm running about 10% split cases through all 3 of my rifles and they have all checked out at safe headspace. Norc surplus is just meant to survive a single firing. I have one rifle that I pretty much need to stomp on the op rod handle to cycle if I have the gas turned off, yet cycles consistently when the gas is on. Perhaps it has a burr in the chamber. Please do check out your rifle (head space and chamber finish), but don't jump to a hasty conclusion.


Cheers,
-DF
 
Here's something else to chew on when it comes to norc ammo
It seems to me it's loaded a lil shy of .308 spec as far as how it fits a true .308 chamber.
Example
I have an LRBM25 here on the bench, I've installed a krieger 22" heavy pattern barrel and LRB bolt to a headspace of 1.630" . Which is .308 GO. Now with the bolt stripped I insert the following live rounds to ensure correct bolt closure.
Winnie FMJ white box the bolt closes with pressure on the case, lugs are snug. Federal vital shok .308, closes smooth no drag no wiggle... Same for fed power shock, rem match ,MFS and privi are a litlle snug but bolt does close, but I drop in the copper washed norc fmj and there is 2 thou wiggle room. So.... Would be interesting to know if those with actual .308 spec chambers (closer to 1.630") have the same 10% split neck syndrome.
 
I'm sure the chinese stuff is sized a bit under SAAMI spec to make sure it feeds in all rifles. The steel case isn't as forgiving as the brass stuff so you will see split necks in it. As long as it goes bang not BOOM you're good to go
 
My issue is that the rifle is not cycling. I checked to make sure the gas system is turned on, and, yes it is. To eject a spent shell I basically have to pogo on the charging handle.
I haven't stripped the rifle down to the gas system yet as I'm a little hesitant as the rifle is brand new, but I suppose I should. I will make that my next step after disassembling the bolt to check the headspace.

I did some measurements after noticing the split neck in the Norinco ammo and noticed that the necks are swollen with different types of ammo, here's what I came up with:

Hornady .308
Pre fire: 8.54mm neck
Post fire: 8.78mm neck

Hornady Superperformance .308
pre fire: 8.51mm
post fire: 8.76mm

Norinco copper wash surplus .308
pre fire: 8.51mm
post fire: 8.78mm

Do these values seem normal?
Anything I should be looking for to make this bastard cycle?
 
Are there any unusual gouges or scratches on your case body? If you have surface imperfections in your chamber the brass might be conforming to them and that could cause hard extractions. Does the action pass the tilt test and otherwise function smoothly with nothing in the chamber?
 
SpicyRichter said:
My issue is that the rifle is not cycling. I checked to make sure the gas system is turned on, and, yes it is. To eject a spent shell I basically have to pogo on the charging handle.
I haven't stripped the rifle down to the gas system yet as I'm a little hesitant as the rifle is brand new, but I suppose I should. I will make that my next step after disassembling the bolt to check the headspace.

I did some measurements after noticing the split neck in the Norinco ammo and noticed that the necks are swollen with different types of ammo, here's what I came up with:

Hornady .308
Pre fire: 8.54mm neck
Post fire: 8.78mm neck

Hornady Superperformance .308
pre fire: 8.51mm
post fire: 8.76mm

Norinco copper wash surplus .308
pre fire: 8.51mm
post fire: 8.78mm

Do these values seem normal?
Anything I should be looking for to make this bastard cycle?
Click to expand...

I would take your gas system apart for sure. Any amount of fluid in there could effectively turn that gas piston into a hydraulic shock absorber, not allowing a full range of motion and causing it to short cycle. Those Chinese high school shop students REALLY like to oil these suckers up good before they box em and ship em.
 
don't shoot it again till you get to the bottom of this
take it out of the stock
remove the oprod, spring and spring guide rod
point the barrel straight up and ensure the piston is dropping down from the cylinder ... and can be freely pushed back in to drop again.
then with a 1/16th" drill bit or similar object, gently slide it in the hole on the underneath side of the cylinder.... with the piston protruding. see if the drill rod will pass clear into the barrel.

if those two things check out
then verify the piston is not compacted with grease/cosmo (do this anyways)
the piston is hollow almost it's whole length

unless you have a headspace exceeding 1.640" with .308 commercial brass....... yer probably fine. luckily "most" Chinese chambers in recent years haven't been coming in that generous.
these rifles are hard on brass but headspace myths are widely exaggerated, and misunderstood. our own stickies here have erroneous info in them that has been posted for years LOL (see the headspace myths sticky ;) , the first line tells us that .308 go is 1.634" which is in truth .308 no go. funny no one caught or fixed that in all this time as it sure is confusing the people who pm me.

here's how it appears in the sticky >>>
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Headspacing Concerns with the Marstar sourced Norinco M14's.


Added by Hungry, authored by Lazarus2000 (thanks a bunch Laz...)

Head space on an M-14 is NOT rocket science ...

. 308 Win GO is nominally 1.6340”. .308 Win NO GO is .005" over .308 GO. AND, 7.62 NATO GO is .0055” over .308 GO. So, if you believe in SAMMI specs, the 7.62 NATO GO gauge is already .0005” OVER .308 Win NO GO
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

I wouldn't suspect headspace just yet however.
anyhow, I would meticulously clean your bolt and gas system parts with break free and let them dry, blow out your bolt with compressed air if you have it. us NO oil or grease in gas system or bolt parts.
visually inspect your extractor for chips, missing surfaces., reassemble and grease the rifle as it should be and try again after doing the safety checks.
 
Last edited:
So I tore her apart tonight. First up, headspace. Here's the stripped bolt closed with no gauge:
IMG_4919.jpg


Here it is with a .308 NOGO gauge (1.634), bolt closes completely:
IMG_4922.jpg


Here it is with a .308 field gauge (1.638), bolt almost closes, not quite though:
IMG_4926.jpg


So what this looks like to me is the headspace is sitting at about 1.634-1.636, which as you state above is probably just fine.

From there I stripped the thing down to nothing. The gas piston wasn't jammed or anything, just a little mucky, and I was able to pass a 1/16" rod through the gas port into the barrel.

Next question- how smooth should the bolt cycle? I noticed it'll occasionally get a little hung up on the lugs when I cycle the action slowly.

So what should I try next? Clean it up good, lube, reassemble, and try shooting again?

On an unrelated note, did Norinco stop welding castle nuts on the flash hider?
IMG_4930.jpg
 
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