M305/Norc M14 with Italian wood stock

[walleyed99]

Just as heads up if your looking, was in Frontier Firearms today and they had a couple in stock. Had a look at one, was a very very nice looking piece of lumber and on it. Sight was canted to the right slightly and with the quick look I had at it, appeared it may have been slightly under indexed. No biggie to fix up. I think he said the were selling for 740.... I think. If your wanting one, give them a call. They did not have them on the website as of yet..... Probably will not last long. I already have a shorty that has been to 2 clinics and is nice and tight, and a 22" that is just about finished up so I had to leave without it

 

[wayupnorth]

holy dina those are climbing up in price!

my 22" last year cost me $429 and you can get a boyd stock for $99 (??)
i think that is what my dad was saying last time i talked to him he had just ordered in a Boyd and it had arrived.
so all in (with shipping) your still around $550-$570.
thats a heck of a climb up to 7 and a half!
then they did say that there was gonna be a bump.

 

[dahs]

These stocks are apparently heads and tails above EVERYTHING. Like, do not belong on a Norc good. That's the price increase. Regular old Norcs are around $550 now.

 

[walleyed99]

I would have to agree wth the view of these stocks. It was BEAUTIFUL! I have handled the Boyds stocks before, and while they are nice they paled in comparison to the beautiful piece of wood that was on that M305 that I handled. I would love one for one of mine

 

[lycan]

Got one from SFRC and the fit and finish is superb. Especially the Italian walnut stock and hand guard. Barrel index and op rod guide are good out of the box.
The QC seens has been improved a lot. I would say this is the best Norinco M305 so far.

 

[Lost...again]

Awww cmon...........You gotta have a picture of it.
This is killing me.
Talking about QC I was looking at a shorty in Crappy tire yesterday and walked away wondering if it was my eyes or had the whole barrel been threaded, if its still there Im gonna take a picture. Had a nice trigger and indexing looked ok as did the sights front and rear. The receiver and bolt looked like theyd been spray painted high gloss black, and the bolt wasn't sitting right when closed. The trigger group was uber tight, I couldn't even budge it, and after hearing of pple snapping the trigger guard I decided not to try too hard or I'd end up having to buy the thing LOL.

But please somebody post a pic of this Italian stock .

 

[walleyed99]

The one I looked at was under indexed, and the sight was canted to the right. worse than my 2013 22'' from Marstar, but not by too much. Most likely an out of spec flashider would fix it, and maybe a degree or two correction on the barrel. otherwise was a beauty!!

 

[lycan]

Sorry for my crap phone picture and photo skills.





Completely stock gun with no mod straight from post office to range. 5 shots group @100yard with Norinco copper wash ammo. Iron sight.


I say it shoot better than I can.


Cheese


Kelvin

 

[Lost...again]

Oh my.........that is nice, and the handguard just looks perfect.
Looks like I need a wooden handguard too...dammmit.
Are you leaving it as is or are you going to try and bring out the grain some more ?
Thanks for posting.

 

[lycan]

Oh my.........that is nice, and the handguard just looks perfect.
Looks like I need a wooden handguard too...dammmit.
Are you leaving it as is or are you going to try and bring out the grain some more ?
Thanks for posting.

How can I bring out more grain? I have little to none knowledge about wood work.
Can anyone give me an idea how? How to protect the wood from cracking?


Cheese


Kelvin

 

[Dsiwy]

How can I bring out more grain? I have little to none knowledge about wood work.
Can anyone give me an idea how? How to protect the wood from cracking?


Cheese


Kelvin

hand rub thin coats of double boiled linseed oil into the stock, let dry and repeat. Do not let it pool or let shinny spots dry.

 

[lycan]

hand rub thin coats of double boiled linseed oil into the stock, let dry and repeat. Do not let it pool or let shinny spots dry.

Do I need to sand it down a little before the process?

Thanks.

 

[Dsiwy]

How is the stock length against the front band?

The previous M14S with plastic stock were way too long and were pushing too tight against the front band

 

[Dsiwy]

Do I need to sand it down a little before the process?

Thanks.

No but the process is long and as it dries you need to check on it and rub in any shinny spots before they dry. But the pay off is huge and you will have a water proof, strong and very good looking stock You can even use 1200gr water sandpaper with the linseed oil for your final coat to give is a smooth satin finish.

 

[Lorne125]

If you use boiled Linseed Oil, adding a tad bit of turpintine may help too. I've finished NOS wood before using the mixture and it turns out very well.

 

[One Lung Wonder]

Easy, Kelvin.

Take the gun apart and sand it down with progressively finer grit. Start 320 or there about. The finer you sand to, the better - I think I quit sanding at 600 grit. You are pretty much polishing the wood at this point. Clean all the sawdust off - then mixed boiled linseed oil with paint thinner 50/50. Wet a rag with the mixture and coat the stock's exterior surfaces with it - but keep it out of the innards where the stock contacts the metal. Let it stand for half an hour and then wipe it dry and let it sit at least 24 hours. Do the same thing about 5 or 6 times - and you are good to go. I did this 50 times to a prized family lever gun and it looked like a million bucks afterward.

A couple shop notes - this is only worthwhile with a really nice piece of wood. If you don't have good wood you can't expect a presentation grade stock afterward. That one in Lycan's pic might be a good candidate for this treatment. The 'mystery wood' that is on stock Norc's isn't fit to beat your dog with. This finish will bring out the iridescent waves and whorls you find in walnut and maple and give you a finish fit for a Stradivarius - but it is not especially durable. You will be cursing a blue streak if your gun falls over in deer camp or get clunked or banged at the range! (I personally have been forced to accept such dings and scrapesas honorable battle scars that add character to the stock if properly seen to).

Give it a go - if it doesn't work to your satisfaction sand it off and try something else!

 

[lycan]

Easy, Kelvin.

Take the gun apart and sand it down with progressively finer grit. Start 320 or there about. The finer you sand to, the better - I think I quit sanding at 600 grit. You are pretty much polishing the wood at this point. Clean all the sawdust off - then mixed boiled linseed oil with paint thinner 50/50. Wet a rag with the mixture and coat the stock's exterior surfaces with it - but keep it out of the innards where the stock contacts the metal. Let it stand for half an hour and then wipe it dry and let it sit at least 24 hours. Do the same thing about 5 or 6 times - and you are good to go. I did this 50 times to a prized family lever gun and it looked like a million bucks afterward.

A couple shop notes - this is only worthwhile with a really nice piece of wood. If you don't have good wood you can't expect a presentation grade stock afterward. That one in Lycan's pic might be a good candidate for this treatment. The 'mystery wood' that is on stock Norc's isn't fit to beat your dog with. This finish will bring out the iridescent waves and whorls you find in walnut and maple and give you a finish fit for a Stradivarius - but it is not especially durable. You will be cursing a blue streak if your gun falls over in deer camp or get clunked or banged at the range! (I personally have been forced to accept such dings and scrapesas honorable battle scars that add character to the stock if properly seen to).

Give it a go - if it doesn't work to your satisfaction sand it off and try something else!

Appreciate the detail. Will give it a try over the weekend.

I purchased two Italian Walnut stock Norinco because of the wood is amazing. I will swap this stock to my other two Springfield loaded. The two Springfield loaded is gonna be a birthday present for my two kids. Daddy is going to shooting the Norc's with Springfield stock(Boyd's).

 

[Smitsauce]

Appreciate the detail. Will give it a try over the weekend.

I purchased two Italian Walnut stock Norinco because of the wood is amazing. I will swap this stock to my other two Springfield loaded. The two Springfield loaded is gonna be a birthday present for my two kids. Daddy is going to shooting the Norc's with Springfield stock(Boyd's).

We'll have to have a "Wood Off!" I am doing up mine this weekend as well. These should come up absolutely beautiful with some sanding/oiling. I remember when I did up my 22" barreled Norc with a new, very plain, boyd's walnut stock how amazing it made it. The stain on the boyd's ones seems to cover up a lot of the grain in the wood and almost covers it like paint! I am thinking that the stain on these looks exactly that way too, but because there is such nice wood grain to start, it still shows through that heavy stain anyway. I'm thinking it will come out so nice that I won't want to take it out of the house after some sanding!

One thing I will have to address, that I noticed, on my stock is that the "U" channel at the front of the stock is a bit under sized and actually rubs on the gas cylinder when you put the stock on the rifle. I will fix that and give it some room with a dowel and sandpaper. The front flash hider was typically spot welded on and it took some effort to get it off. I have a new USGI one and front sight to replace that one now. The flash hider was typically not made very well and canted the front sight to the right.

The barrel indexing looks to be good using the "drill bit in the gas hole on the barrel and looking through the receiver legs trick"! The rear sight actually seems to be good to go as well! My first one was completely buggered!

The Op Rod guide on the barrel was centered properly and peened tight which is also a good improvement over my first one.

The flash hider was not tightening up with the gas lock properly and I could hand tighten it past 7 O clock even with reversing the gas lock. I have shims that I will use for my new flash hider if needed and will try to get it to snug up at about 4 O clock and really tight at 6.

I will also put a new USGI sized OP Rod spring on it and an upgraded spring guide and will see how it shoots.

This is my first shorty and it REALLY seems shorter than my 22" one! It is amazing how much 3.5" makes! I would also like to slightly shorten it further, one day by, getting a SEI Navy brake.


Ian

 

[Dsiwy]

Damn you guys I just bought one today

WOW! what an improvement over the older norks.


The Good;
-The sights are indexed nicely
-The stock is looks fantastic
-The gas lock gets tight around to 4 O'clock postion and need to be tighten with a wrench
-Headspace passes the NATO field gauge
-rear sight works

The bad
-The stock needs to be relieved around the piston housing, which easy a easy job
-op rod is not inline with with the piston "like most norks"
-Flash hider still tac welded on
-the front sling swivel is bolted on with out washers and should been revited with washers to prevent the stock from cracking

Much better stock fit then those awful Chinese plastic stocks

Sights are almost bang on! they must of fired the cross eyed Chinese barrel installer

Had to dremal away some wood to allow the stock not to touch the gas piston housing, I am going to clean it up later

 

[Smitsauce]

Another weird thing I noticed on mine was that the Norc front sight post is actually a lot taller than the sight ears! My replacement USGI one is normal with the sight post about 2/3rds to 3/4's the height of the sight ears so the ears actually protect the post.

No idea about head space on mine yet. I will have to send some fired brass to Hungry for measurement. I put an almost new M14 TRW bolt on my 22" one and got it down to a very nice, tight 1.632" from the initial 1.638". Hopefully this will not be too huge! At least I still have my other bolt to try it out as well to see which give the better fit.

Ian