My Norinco m305 experience

T

TrendyRendy

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
17   0   0
Location
calgary
Hey guys,

With this whole covid-19 happening, what better to do than to take my norinco out. My kind of social distancing.

I bought this rifle used from a fellow cgn'er. I don't know the date of mfg but the serial is 001200. Everything is pretty much stock except for a couple upgrades done by the previous owner and myself.
-match spring guide rod and possibly spring
-shimmed gas assembly
-upgraded trigger springs, breaks at around 5lbs
-sanded the top hand guard abit so no contact with stock
-added some plastic shims to achieve some stock tension

I mostly shoot american eagle 149 grain fmj through it when I go out as it's the cheapest to buy at cabelas, but since I have my reloading station why not make a batch for the m14.

Shooting the AE 149 FM groups would average 3 to 4 inch groups rarely I can get smaller. But testing my hand loads which are hornady 168 grain eld-m they shrunk down to 2 inch groups. See link for photo.
I'm no precision shooter and I do notice tiny movements so I'm sure with more practice I could potentially shrink those groups.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g1sZWCXfkmSr5zT-Zj2pWko3bG0QRyQN/view?usp=drivesdk

What I found weird was right after shooting those 2 inch groups of my handloads I shot 5 rounds of the AE 149 FM it it opened up to over 4 inches, is there that much of a diffence between the two?

Overall I'm happy with the results and the rifle itself with minor cheap upgrades done to it.

So for you m14 vets/gurus what more can I tinker with it to squeeze more accuracy into it? I love the platform and love tinkering with it.
 
I'm assuming your groups are using the iron sights and are shot at 100y/m? If so, than you're doing good. Average groups under those conditions would be around 3" for 5-shot groups. If you're doing 2" with handloads, that's really good. Factory semi-military rounds grouping at 4" is nothing unusual. I would use the cheap rounds for practicing standing/kneeling/sitting position shooting.
 
yup, reasonable expectations from an "accurate" M14 would be 5 round groups of 3" or under at 100 yards/meters
If all the basic tweaks are done then the next step would be load development to shrink the groups some more.
If desired results aren't improved with load development then it's time to look at a premium barrel if shrinking those groups is the goal.
 
Those results are pretty normal with a "tweaked/accurized" M14. Mine doesn't see much use these days as I spend most of my time with my bolt guns but funny enough, I'm taking it out this afternoon. It's a 2007, I think, that's had most of the tweaks done to it (at one of 45SACPKing's clinics years back) and then Barney (Tac Teacher) came by and taught me how to bed it into it's stock (one of the mod stocks that 45ACPKing used to build). I can't remember how it shot with factory AE 149gr but with my handloads with 168gr HPBTs (40.3gr benchmark, CCI 200s in Fed brass) and 155gr Amax (42.2gr Benchmark) it's very rarely over 1.5moa and more often than not well below.
 
168's are the best bullet for me as well. I can shoot factory ammo pretty decently as well, but not as well. Some off shore cheap ammo shoots just terrible. I find my gun is sensitive to heat, and after 10 shots without cooling there is a marketed loss of accuracy. I just cleaned a few years of copper out of the barrel, and when the range dries up I'll be back to testing to see whether it make any improvement.
 
The bulk 150gn loads most manufacturers sell are fine for steel plates and plinking. For best accuracy, these guns LOVe 168gn Sierra Match Kings in my experience. IMR or H4895 is what I had best luck with - all day, every day.
 
Is there a difference between the hornady eld-m and smk? If so I might just have to try some new reloads.
I still have some more tinkering to do like op rod guide alignment, bedding and whatever else I can learn from tonybens videos haha
 
TrendyRendy said:
Is there a difference between the hornady eld-m and smk? If so I might just have to try some new reloads.
I still have some more tinkering to do like op rod guide alignment, bedding and whatever else I can learn from tonybens videos haha
Click to expand...

If they shoot well for you (and don't you mind the added cost), I'd stick with the ELD-M over the 168 HPBT or SMK as the ELD-M is (ballistically) a much better bullet, especially if you start pushing it further out. I shoot the Hornady 168gr BTHP (which is very similar to Sierra's 168 Match King) mostly because they shoot respectably tight in my rifle and they're cheaper than the ELD-Ms.
 
AE 149 FM sold in Canada is M80 ball ammo. This is meant for machine guns. Some ammo may come with marks on it from being stored on belts.
US marksmen use M118 ammo in their MK14 EBRs - which I can't find in Canada. This ammo should give you better results.
 
Hello there,

I have a few questions and I hope that you can provide some guidance for almost everybody I talk to have nothing good to say about the Norinco M305! I simply want a rifle, not a Carbine! A rifle that is simple to maintain, goes bang each time I pull the trigger, put down a sizable animal if my family is in danger. The 4" group you talked about is at 100 yard? That is good enough for me. I have no intention to make any modification on the rifle, basically shoot out of the box. With all that I had just mentioned would the Norinco M305 fit the bill? Also any reliability issues? I am in love with the Springfield rifle, but I can't afford spending 2 months rent on a toy! So let me know what you think. I will appreciate your feed back! Thanks again.
 
Disco Bob said:
Hello there,

I have a few questions and I hope that you can provide some guidance for almost everybody I talk to have nothing good to say about the Norinco M305! I simply want a rifle, not a Carbine! A rifle that is simple to maintain, goes bang each time I pull the trigger, put down a sizable animal if my family is in danger. The 4" group you talked about is at 100 yard? That is good enough for me. I have no intention to make any modification on the rifle, basically shoot out of the box. With all that I had just mentioned would the Norinco M305 fit the bill? Also any reliability issues? I am in love with the Springfield rifle, but I can't afford spending 2 months rent on a toy! So let me know what you think. I will appreciate your feed back! Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I love the platform.

Is it simple to maintain? Yes and no. As with any semi automatic theres moving parts that need cleaning and greasing and the gas system needs cleaning from time to time. But disassembling the m305 is pretty simple.

It's been reliable to me, nothing to complain about

The 4 inch group is at 100 yards yes and that's with cheap ammo. Better quality ammo will shrink the group.

From my understanding the m305 put a sour taste to alot of people because of the recent ones that have the MIM bolt. Just do your research and find one that doesnt have the bolt.

For a $500 rifle (What I paid used) it's perfect and goes bang. Yes the fit and finish is not as nice as a soringfield but I dont care. And if you ever want to make it more accurate there little cheap mods you can do to do so
 
Hey Trendy; What is a "MIM" bolt, and how does one distinguish it from a desirable one? I bought my 305 about 3 years ago, new and presumably unfired. Having some time on my hands now, I took it out of the safe to check the fit of some spare mags, and familiarize myself with it. When I racked and released the bolt, the op-rod latch let go of the op-rod and spring, which ended up in the magazine well! Have you heard of anyone else experiencing such an issue? The latch fitment is quite loose, I can bet it's gonna be an ongoing problem.
 
paradan2 said:
Hey Trendy; What is a "MIM" bolt, and how does one distinguish it from a desirable one? I bought my 305 about 3 years ago, new and presumably unfired. Having some time on my hands now, I took it out of the safe to check the fit of some spare mags, and familiarize myself with it. When I racked and released the bolt, the op-rod latch let go of the op-rod and spring, which ended up in the magazine well! Have you heard of anyone else experiencing such an issue? The latch fitment is quite loose, I can bet it's gonna be an ongoing problem.
Click to expand...

In depth thread on the MIM bolt.

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1684429

But the short story: Metal Injected Molded (MIM) really cheap but not as solid as a 'real' forged bolt.
 
Thanks for that. it would seem I have some research to do on this rifle, including nomenclature. Did find a thread referencing the issue with the "op-rod latch".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom