M305 OP-ROD issue

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saskminer

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Somewhere between here and there
I just took this almost unused gun on trade and found the op-rod is slightly off center compared to the gas piston. Anyone know if this is repairable or even something to be concerned about?
The gas piston strikes the edge of the op-rod when cycled by hand. I haven't fired the gun yet - just inspecting the goods...

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normal, don't blame the seller.... most of them come that way right out of the box LOL. Doesn't automatically mean the barrel is not indexed.
Tonnes of info in the stickies and videos for making the necessary adjustments at home with simple tools.

Lot of folks grab these rifles without realizing that these rifles are not for folks who don't like to tinker with things.
 
45ACPKING said:
....

Lot of folks grab these rifles without realizing that these rifles are not for folks who don't like to tinker with things.
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LOL Gawd...For years I have said the same thing to guys wanting to jump off of a Honda and onto a Ural..... :)
 
saskminer said:
I'm pretty handy so no big deal. Sweat equity!
Nice rifle, it was from the 2011 Lever Arms batch. I'm gonna do a bunch of stuff to this one - it will be my fun gun.

Thanks for the info!
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Check barrel alignment.
If barrel alignment is off, you will need to wrench it over. See the stickies. It's easy.
Once your barrel is actually in line, check to see if your flash hider is wonky. They can be machined bad sometimes. If it is then knock it off the barrel and get a new NA made one off the EE for cheap. You can check just by looking at it face on from the muzzle or you can use the two rod method on the base of it and the rear of the receiver.
Once that is squared away, THEN you need to adjust the op rod guide if it's still off.
The stickies will guide you on that.
It's a very common problem. I think of all the M14's I've either owned, handled or friends who I've worked on for them, only one came out of the box with a perfectly in line barrel and gas system.
The M14 is literally the easiest rifle to work. It has about 70 parts TOTAL including roll pins etc. A monkey can work on these rifles.
 
Travis Bickle said:
The M14 is literally the easiest rifle to work. It has about 70 parts TOTAL including roll pins etc. A monkey can work on these rifles.
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LOLZ too funny , the mental picture of a shop full of monkeys building rifles haha with the QC they come in with one would wonder eh?
It's true though, these rifles aren't too difficult for average joe to work on and upgrade and there is over a decade of how to info all contained here. I still enjoy shooting mine , cleaning them, maintaining them and letting my friends shoot them.... which leads to building them one haha I always get dragged back into these rifles some way or another LOL
 
45ACPKING said:
LOLZ too funny , the mental picture of a shop full of monkeys building rifles haha with the QC they come in with one would wonder eh?
It's true though, these rifles aren't too difficult for average joe to work on and upgrade and there is over a decade of how to info all contained here. I still enjoy shooting mine , cleaning them, maintaining them and letting my friends shoot them.... which leads to building them one haha I always get dragged back into these rifles some way or another LOL
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Aye.
The attraction for me is the simplicity of the design.
I bedded my action on my only one I have now. That was a nail biter.
2 Weeks of prep and 40 minutes of nail biting tension but it was a success. This single action gave me the most accuracy gains. More than any of the other mods combined which I had done up to that point.
 
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Who is dimpling and who is knurling the surface under the oprod guide. I want to do mine. I can dimple it any time but knurling seems to be the safer and better option. Where does one even get a (decent) knurling tool? Keeping in mind it may only be used once (or whenever i buy an m305...on second thought it may be used lots actually haha) any recommendations for a reasonably priced one of decent quality (knurls metal and doesnt break immediatly... ive bought some crummy tools in my day, trying to save a buck as a young apprentice.)

Thanks!
 
OP, it looks like your barrel may be a bit out from TDC.... I would check that before you make any permanent alterations/repairs.

Also, check your FH and your gas cylinder keys (the bit that goes into the splines cut in the barrel), quite often they are also out of “perfect” true. Usually it’s just a matter of finding a FH that is out the same amount as the gas cylinder. Where the real troubles come up is when you have a gas cylinder that is 2-3* out and you’re trying to use an American made muzzle treatment that is just about bang-on for true....

As far as knurling goes;

I’ve tried 2 “sub $100” USD tools, both were lathe tools.
I find dimpling with a good punch and a 16oz hammer to be much quicker and just as effective when you glue it in place.

Another side-note about op-rod guides..... don’t glue/epoxy the guide in place if you haven’t indexed the barrel correctly.... generally, the guide is destroyed upon removal if it is epoxied in correctly....

John
 
C.308 said:
Who is dimpling and who is knurling the surface under the oprod guide. I want to do mine. I can dimple it any time but knurling seems to be the safer and better option. Where does one even get a (decent) knurling tool? Keeping in mind it may only be used once (or whenever i buy an m305...on second thought it may be used lots actually haha) any recommendations for a reasonably priced one of decent quality (knurls metal and doesnt break immediatly... ive bought some crummy tools in my day, trying to save a buck as a young apprentice.)

Thanks!
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I dimpled mine. It can be done with a good sharp center punch and a ball peen hammer. Assuming every man owns a hammer at least a center punch should run you like $8.
If you dimple it, dimple it good!
After I dimple the first time, it came loose. So I center punched it a lot more and deeper strikes the second time, hammered it back on hard then had my old Mat Tech buddy do a single tac weld at the top behind the guide just in case.
That way I can file the weld down and hammer her forward if I ever need to remove it.
My guide came loose the first time I dimpled it. No more of that Been solid for at least 3 years now! :rockOn:
 
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