M305 Bolt Failure

NaviDave said:
As an owner of a 2007 Norinco N305 project rifle, can new North-American made bolt assemblies be purchased anywhere in Canada?

The gas system needs two shims and the headspace has not yet been verified. Also, the front sight base was improperly forged (the sight tilts to the right).
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yes, LRB will sell to you directly, and you can buy the fulton armory bolt from brownells. However if you order from the states you are required to pay export fee so order all the parts you want for a project in one go. In Canada; Armtac is LRB's dealer, you pay more from them but skip the hassel for exporting from the states.

as for the headsspace, call your local WSS and ask if they still have there headspace gauges, I just became aware most of the stores still have a complete kit (go, no-go) for most popular calibers from when they consigned rifles I'm sure if they do they will let you use them. it won't give you a exact reading but it will give you a place to start without having to buy gauges or send a casing away.
 
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45ACPKING said:
I just shake my head reading this thread. There are some real winners kickin round this site I tell ya. Kinda makes a guy not want to post a thing.

But anyways.... OP... I would absolutely suspect your rifle kaboomed due to a defective reload. I won't speculate any further on that. Glad yer okay.

And the other fella panicking about his bolt... Nothing appears out of the norm.

If even half the drivel in this thread were true Hungry and I and a few other guys here that have shot a szhitload more than one or 2 of these commie m14's, one of us would surely be missing an eye, or left hand or testicle ect ect.

No chickin little, the sky is not falling LOL
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Are you not one of the self proclaimed Nork M14 experts on here?
This is the kind of message this thread is trying to address, if you really are the M14 expert, why not offer to take a look at the rifle to see what the root cause was? Why do you think it was ammo related right off the bat?
A full case of 4064 would not cause catestrophic pressure in .308 from my experiences, and if the case wasn't sized properly by chance-or some dirt etc got in there, and didn't allow the bolt to fully close, the rifle BY DESIGN IF IT IS IN SPEC should not have fired. This wasn't a slam fire, OP pulled the trigger.
Or are you one of the head in the sand experts that don't feel the firing pin bridge safety is an important safety function of this rifle?
 
What makes me an expert is hands on experience. I won't offer to look at the rifle because I'm no longer smithing.
However in the past 5 or so years, I've examined about a dozen "kaboomed" rifles.
Safety bridge/firing pin tang engagement failure, was ruled out on all.
One sprinngfield had front hammer hooks so short, it kaboomed on the second mag, from being new from the box. Factory ammo, so full warranty

All, I do mean all of the other kabooms I've inspected have been from guys who were using reloads. Of these, 3 were also springfield M1A's for whatever that is worth.

Only by inspecting that case along side the remains of the rifle can we really diagnose the issue.
Could it have been a safety bridge failure... Maybe but we'll never know. It's already kaboomed so damage to that area could and should be expected.

Anyhow, this conversation is boring me silly and I swore I wasn't gonna post much anymore.

** editted to correct myself. I just had a quick look at my logs.
2 out of 13 catastrophic failures where out of battery kabooms due to broken case neck stuck in chamber. Both cases , american eagle, 1 a springfield standard M1A, one a 2007 norinco.
1 slamfire and subsequent out of battery detonation concluded due to under spec front hammer hooks, springfield M1A loaded.
Remaining 10 were concluded to be high primer or similar reloaded ammo. Of these, 8 were norinco/polytechs, from pre 2005 to 2011 dated receivers.

Just for clarifications.
 
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45ACPKING said:
What makes me an expert is hands on experience. I won't offer to look at the rifle because I'm no longer smithing.
However in the past 5 or so years, I've examined about a dozen "kaboomed" rifles.
Safety bridge/firing pin tang engagement failure, was ruled out on all.
One sprinngfield had front hammer hooks so short, it kaboomed on the second mag, from being new from the box. Factory ammo, so full warranty

All, I do mean all of the other kabooms I've inspected have been from guys who were using reloads. Of these, 3 were also springfield M1A's for whatever that is worth.

Only by inspecting that case along side the remains of the rifle can we really diagnose the issue.
Could it have been a safety bridge failure... Maybe but we'll never know. It's already kaboomed so damage to that area could and should be expected.

Anyhow, this conversation is boring me silly and I swore I wasn't gonna post much anymore.

** editted to correct myself. I just had a quick look at my logs.
2 out of 13 catastrophic failures where out of battery kabooms due to broken case neck stuck in chamber. Both cases , american eagle, 1 a springfield standard M1A, one a 2007 norinco.
1 slamfire and subsequent out of battery detonation concluded due to under spec front hammer hooks, springfield M1A loaded.
Remaining 8 were concluded to be high primer or similar reloaded ammo. Of these, 6 were norinco/polytechs, from pre 2005 to 2011 dated receivers.

Just for clarifications.
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Sheesh, you get a guy that's worked on a few thousand m14/m305/m1a rifles, and he's an instant (well, five years of daily work) expert. I'll have you know I have a buddy that built a shed, and rebuilt his alternator, and he has an entirely different theory. He figures this is how the chinese intend to go to war with us. Sell us a million crappy items, and maim us, or dishearten us until we just lie down and die. Very sneaky, a death of a miliion cuts kinda thing, plus they convinced us to pay for them! The joke is on them now though, now that the workers have some money, they want the crap they make, in their own homes, lol.
 
I'd be interested in seeing the face of the locking lugs as they would have engaged the receiver. It seems strange that only one lug sheared if it was locked up completely. Is there a picture of the brass? I'm voting for an out of battery discharge.
 
Well just fitted some of Hungrys shims into my Mao-14 gas system,..thanks again Barney,..and I'm off to the range to pound at her again, ....if nothing just for stress relief from all the bad people picking on my poor little 400 dollar bundle of joy.:(

Maybe today I will test faith and like the Gloster's surrounded on the Imjin by the Chinese knowing I'm not walking away from this one,..but nevertheless should I fall,...tell them he never disgraced his family,.his Regiment,.or his ChineseMao-14!!:D
 
speaking of stress relief, i was in the shop today fixing my CZ and brought my Norc305 along....

2013-05-11+12.18.16.jpg


the offending barrel removed (who needs a barrel vice when you can just weld a pipe to it?) chamber cut and unceramonously dumped in the scrap bin out back. good ridence...
 
Again, I still think there is something seriously wrong with the receiver bridge if these can fire out of battery. I'm not talking out of battery slam fires due to high primers, I'm talking about the bolt not being fully closed, trigger pulled, and round going off. The receiver bridge serves 2 functions, it stops the firing pin from following the bolt home when it first chambers a round to prevent slam fires, and it is suppose to block the firing pin from setting the round off until the bolt is fully closed. That's what the little cut out is for in the bridge. If its out of spec this wil allow out of battery firing. Those 2 kbooms 45acp said happened with case necks stuck in the chamber should not allow for out of battery firing when the next round got loaded. That isn't an ammo problem or a reloading problem. That a problem with the gun.
 
Unless somethings changed with the very recent imports this year, it has been my experience that there is no widespread issue with out of spec receiver bridges or firing pin tangs in the chinese rifles.
The safety bridge can do everything it's supposed to do but still , with a free floated firing pin and other variables.... Freak kabooms can happen. When they do, it's almost always , and I did say almost, a reloaded round. Don't take my word for it, these things happen in all versions of this platform and there loads of after kaboom data all over the internet.

Anyhow, beat the dead horse as we may, none of us is gonna get to the root of it from our keyboards.
With that, it's gettin on 3pm, I got a date with my tin boat and flyrods just over the hill out back. ;)
 
FWIW we were running one of these rifles on the range here, using only factory ammo and had a bolt come apart exactly like this one. Ammo at the time was American Eagle.
 
Shooting Centre said:
FWIW we were running one of these rifles on the range here, using only factory ammo and had a bolt come apart exactly like this one. Ammo at the time was American Eagle.
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Thanks for telling us . So it is not related to using reloaded ammunition , So much for that theory Thomas of reloaded ammunition the cause . A lot of people use reloaded ammunition as a scapegoat for catastrophic failures on firearms ! Why because it is easy to blame a person for the failure rather than admitting that it could be the rifle that is at fault and not the shooter . Every time we hear about a rifle that goes Ka Boom and the owner says he was shooting his reloaded ammunition in it we all blame the shooter for poor quality reloads. I have meet a lot of shooters both hobby and competitive that reload and I will say this all of them are very careful and extremely cautious when they reload ammunition they are well aware of the perils in reloading this is not amateur hour at the Karoke bar .In the past there have been discussions on this forum about the certain reloading techniques for the M14 and neck sizing is not one I would follow with this rifle I am not alone in this opinion Skullboy and Hungry share my views and concerns as well .
IMO the most likely culprit is improper heat treating on the bolt .
 
LordEvilPepper said:
speaking of stress relief, i was in the shop today fixing my CZ and brought my Norc305 along....

2013-05-11+12.18.16.jpg


the offending barrel removed (who needs a barrel vice when you can just weld a pipe to it?) chamber cut and unceramonously dumped in the scrap bin out back. good ridence...
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Evil.... these Rifles and you are just bad Karma. :agree:

Good luck with the "Last Battle Rifle"(you like that one don't you;)) you ever bought once your wife found the invoice and strangled you.!!:p:p
 
LOL this thread is getting silly
AE blows up cuz they use szhitty brass for it. ' A loading flaw'
Just like a guy reloading that unknowingly uses a bad piece of brass.
In any kaboom with reloads... Of course the first thing a guy should do is suspect the ammo and rule that out first.
In my opinion a guy shouldn't even reload for these rifles if he does not know how to verify safe operation of safety bridge and firing pin protrusion.

Anyhow, yes, let's hear what the real pros like hungry and skullboy have to say LOL.
I'm out ;)
 
Little surprised by 45ACPKING's tone and not too veiled insult at the other side of the argument (of which I'm part). Also surprised you'd vote the Springfield so low on quality / experienced as many catastrophic failures, this thread now suggests the M14 design as a whole is a piece of crap and nobody can build em right I'm afraid. We all need something else perhaps now.

My personal experience, nutshelled is I have had problems with Norinco, and have not with the two other brands. Making my career on my eyesight and dexterity it's not worth trying to save $1500 to me, and I believe that concern is accurate. That's the experiences I'll buy on, even before political considerations and supporting the home team. And as a casual contributor / reader of this forum and not a diehard, also surprised by the dig / rivalry sentiments against Hungry and Skullboy (when both are undoubtably on your side).
 
RememberTheSomme said:
Evil.... these Rifles and you are just bad Karma. :agree:

Good luck with the "Last Battle Rifle"(you like that one don't you;)) you ever bought once your wife found the invoice and strangled you.!!:p:p
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haha.... I can't afford a wife, well not if I want to keep playing with toys. after taking that barrel off and heaving it into the scrap bin I felt a lot better, ####ing bane of my exsistance these things. I did have a WTF moment when I was looking at the receiver adfterwards.... since when did Norinco start helicoiling in the barrels?... and why would you need to on a forged receiver? I know LRB doesn't. Have they always been this way or is this new?
 
Ya, I suppose my tone is a litlle azzholish hehehe but that's me ;)
My tone is caused by the seeing the usual norinco haters only put their two cents in when threads like this pop up. It leads to fear mongering based on "some guy on the internets opinion from his keyboard"
The OP obviosly shot the rifle numerous times prior to the incident. I guess I'd wanna know right off the bat... How many rounds on the rifle.
If you are thru the first box of ammo in the rifle.... You can almost rule out a safety bridge issue and "possibly" a soft bolt issue, a few hundred rounds in, the possibilty that a soft or brittle bolt causing the issue should have showed itself by now. So this leads me to look at ammunition first.
I am certainly not making this about one rifle "brand" or another.
And my original comments, and those after, being regarded as "experienced" in the platform, I figured I'd try and offer some advice.
No surprise this gets turned into a "defend springfield" thread.
And my hungry and skullboy comment wasn't made as a dig against them. That is nothing but your perception of what you are reading. I have nothing but respect for both skully and hungry, big time.
Whatever guys, you all figure it out.
 
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