Norinco M305 18.5 vs 22

My 18.5 has been fairly good, canted flash hider but other than that the bolt rides flush on lock up, the indexing is bang on and the magazine locks up tight. Ive seen more problems with the socom18 than the shorty
 
Its seems like a roll of the dice when it comes to these rifles. You should be prepared to tweak them some or have someone do it for you (like yours truly).
That said...I have a m305 18.5" that was given the once over by the Man(Barney) himself before I received it. No complaints with mine!
 
I had a few, what I consider minor issues. I decided to invest in a new bolt and now I have a match chamber.

Most but not all shoot rifht out of the box with little or no issues. you can upgrade as much or as little as you want.
 
I like the 'issued' look... So, I have a 2007 Marstar M14 with a Sparrowhawk dummy selector & USGI fiberglass stock with Garand sights & match oprod guide rod. Other stuff I know I've forgot, chuckle!

The Shorty is tempting though, VERY TEMPTING! And... They are...

GREAT GUNS!

Cheers
Jay
 
Buying a norinco m305 is a gamble, right now there is a much better chance you will be satisfied with a 22" model than an 18" because of quality control issues. The 2013 m305s were good as well as the 2007's i hear.
 
I did allot of research on this subject. I've found the long barrel to have more pros then cons compared to the shortys. Longer sight radius was a biggie for me as I love my irons. Almost zero flash at night(this can be argued). Less noise(very true), no velocity loss blah blah blah. On top of that the system was originally designed with a 22 inch barrel. Besides, when I held the standard M14 it didnt feel that long at all. It was nice and balanced, felt good on the shoulder. Aimed well, wasn't as heavy as my old C9 or C6! lol. I for one find it looks better. One member on the M14 forum wrote ''why tie a race horse to the barn'', when talking about velocity loss. Thought that was pretty funny, and true. Anywho the M14 forum was helpful. This forum to offcourse. But that goes to say everyone is different. Remember its a 308 battlerifle made for battlefield conditions whether it be long range or up close. Changing it and making it more compact limits the abilities it was designed for. Sometimes looks supercede function and design maybe. That being said I will eventually get a shorty or socom for novelty and fun. I am no expert, just throwin in my two cents. merry xmas!
 
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Well I think beaner pretty much said how I feel about it, I have heard that the shortys feel pretty awesome to handle too tho. But I just got my first m305 last week, I bought it from can am its the 22" version, and I must say I think I got one of the nicer stock m 305 that's I have seen, the one I got is pretty good quality
 
Beaner1976 said:
I did allot of research on this subject. I've found the long barrel to have more pros then cons compared to the shortys. Longer sight radius was a biggie for me as I love my irons. Almost zero flash at night(this can be argued). Less noise(very true), no velocity loss blah blah blah. On top of that the system was originally designed with a 22 inch barrel. Besides, when I held the standard M14 it didnt feel that long at all. It was nice and balanced, felt good on the shoulder. Aimed well, wasn't as heavy as my old C9 or C6! lol. I for one find it looks better. One member on the M14 forum wrote ''why tie a race horse to the barn'', when talking about velocity loss. Thought that was pretty funny, and true. Anywho the M14 forum was helpful. This forum to offcourse. But that goes to say everyone is different. Remember its a 308 battlerifle made for battlefield conditions whether it be long range or up close. Changing it and making it more compact limits the abilities it was designed for. Sometimes looks supercede function and design maybe. That being said I will eventually get a shorty or socom for novelty and fun. I am no expert, just throwin in my two cents. merry xmas!
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Good post Beaner, we also forget about the striking radius with the bayonet attached as well, was a consideration at the time these were made, comparing to the overall of it's bayonet fitted predecessor the M-1 Garand. Remember why the Pattern 1907 bayonet was so long for the Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield, the No1MkIII? They wanted as soldier to have the same reach and stand off capability as the previous generation of rifle which had a much longer barrel than the SMLE, but with a corresponding shorter bayonet.

The 22" barrreled M-14 is well balanced for sure and of course like me, you like the extra sight radius on the full size for aperture sight shooting.
 
My 18.5" shorty has been 100% reliable after 500-600 rounds. The only issue was the front sight was canted but I scoped it anyways so no big deal. The bolt lugs sit flush, headspace is where it should be, and barrel indexing is bang on. Took it to a hungry clinic and she's a fine tuned machine. These things can really impress with a little bit of tlc.
 
Hi Guys,

I'm looking for somebody who can work on my m305 shorty in GTA area or nearby. I'm having problems with my spring guide. I noticed that it moves sideways after firing a couple of rounds. I discovered the movement while I was cleaning the rifle after coming from the range. Hope somebody can recommend me a good and honest gun smith!

Thanks

Ron
 
ronald1203 said:
Hi Guys,

I'm looking for somebody who can work on my m305 shorty in GTA area or nearby. I'm having problems with my spring guide. I noticed that it moves sideways after firing a couple of rounds. I discovered the movement while I was cleaning the rifle after coming from the range. Hope somebody can recommend me a good and honest gun smith!

Thanks

Ron
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It's not clear exactly what the issue is - the spring guide should be fixed to the receiver by the sliding pin thingy at the rear, and encased in the spring at the forward end, so I don't understand what is moving sideways. Are you saying that the op rod guide is loose?

If so, this is easy to fix (do a search on peening an op rod) and should not need the services of a smith. If you are uncomfortable taking your rifle apart and tweaking, catch the next Hungry/ Tactical Teacher M14 clinic. That said, if you really want to use a smith, you can try Casey at Tacord.com.
 
Thanks for the response :) You are right, it's the op rod guide that is loose not the spring guide. Still learning. I will try what you said to re pin it first. I will let you know the outcome.

Thanks

Ron
 
Im not a fan of stippling or knurling my barrels so I shimmed my oprod guide with a piece of steel feeler gauge and hit the sides and pin hole with loctite. Hasnt moved yet. cheers
 
I had one of mine chopped and I have no snow scoop/Flash suppressor on the muzzle.
I put it into a Sage chassis/retractable stock it makes for a nice compact hunting package and looks better with out a ugly muzzle break or Flash suppressor
It's a bit heavy but manageable I like it
 
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