Opinions on Federal Ordnance M14

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8 ball

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Hello all. I am in a bit of a quandary. I have a Norinco M14 shorty that I have been doing up as a keeper. Nothing too fancy, Springfield walnut stock, Springfield rear sight, Smith Enterprise Vortex, and I have a Dlask gas block front sight ordered for it. All well and good until a Federal Ordnance M14 landed in my lap for a reasonable price. Now the decision making starts! Should I just finish the Norinco and sell the Fed, or swap my parts over to the non Chinese gun and get the barrel cut on it and sell the Nork? What would YOU do in my shoes? What is the Federal Ordnance worth should I decide to sell it? I don't know much about the Federal Ordnance M14 as I am more of an AR-15 geek. How do they compare to the Norinco, Springfield, Etc.? Anything you can tell me about them is a help! Thoughts and opinions appreciated!
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Springfield closed up shop in 1968, so it would be a good find if it was made by them. I don't know if the M14's on active service are made by the company that bought the name or what. If it says Springfield Armory, Inc. it's the new guys.
 
lyman54 said:
Springfield closed up shop in 1968, so it would be a good find if it was made by them. I don't know if the M14's on active service are made by the company that bought the name or what. If it says Springfield Armory, Inc. it's the new guys.
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I am not understanding your reply. I never said anything about Springfield at all.:confused: Am I missing something?
I am looking for opinions on a Federal Ordnance M14.
 
I can't find it but there was a poster on CGN a year or so ago who had had a Fed Ord receiver blow up on him. As I recall he got injured.
I searched it on the net and wasn't able to find much but the story is out there that the receivers were cast and not the best. Some said, hey, if it hasn't blown up yet then you must have one of the good ones...

Meanwhile, we have the Norinco M14 receivers, which have an excellent, precise forged receiver. People have tested the hardness and the dimensions and I've read opinions that they are as good as a TRW receiver. The rest of the rifle is so-so in various ways but the receivers are top notch. (except for the part that says Made in China)

However, the Fed Ord one says Made in USA, which normally would be a huge deal for me.

Your decision.
 
8 ball said:
Hello all. I am in a bit of a quandary. I have a Norinco M14 shorty that I have been doing up as a keeper. Nothing too fancy, Springfield walnut stock, Springfield rear sight, Smith Enterprise Vortex, and I have a Dlask gas block front sight ordered for it. All well and good until a Federal Ordnance M14 landed in my lap for a reasonable price. Now the decision making starts! Should I just finish the Norinco and sell the Fed, or swap my parts over to the non Chinese gun and get the barrel cut on it and sell the Nork? What would YOU do in my shoes? What is the Federal Ordnance worth should I decide to sell it? I don't know much about the Federal Ordnance M14 as I am more of an AR-15 geek. How do they compare to the Norinco, Springfield, Etc.? Anything you can tell me about them is a help! Thoughts and opinions appreciated!
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hey did you have that norc barrel turned to accept the vortex flash hider?? or is it metric?
thanks
 
You should first check to see if any of the parts on your Federal Ordnance rifle are USGI. Bolt, oprod, trigger group (and some small parts), barrel will all have manufacturer markings.

The Fed Ord receiver is not going to be "better" than your Norinco. So you would not be upgrading by keeping the Fed reciever over the Norinco.

Check the parts for USGI maker codes, markings, etc. then post the findings here.



Edit to add: you have a nice USGI birch stock there, which IMHO I would ditch the Boyd's and go with the USGI birch. The pistol grip even looks like it could be a big red, just comparing the size in the pictures. Extra bonus for you.
 
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djankle said:
You should first check to see if any of the parts on your Federal Ordnance rifle are USGI. Bolt, oprod, trigger group (and parts), barrel will all have manufacturer markings.

The Fed Ord receiver is not going to be "better" than your Norinco. So you would not be upgrading by keeping the Fed reciever over the Norinco.

Check the parts for USGI maker codes, markings, etc. then post the findings here.



Edit to add: you have a nice USGI birch stock there, which IMHO I would ditch the Boyd's and go with the USGI birch. The pistol grip even looks like it could be a big red, just comparing the size in the pictures. Extra bonus for you.
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Pulled the stock off and I don't see anything at all for markings on the barrel or bolt or op rod. I am assuming it would be a 2 or 3 digit letter stamp?

Edited to add: ser # is C-03XX. Would seem like a Canadian assembled gun with a Federal Ordnance receiver and Chinese parts.
 
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If you do a quick google search you should be able to find tons of pictures of USGI parts and what the markings look like for comparison.

Sounds like you have a bunch of foreign parts there which means it is probably not more desirable over a Norinco.
 
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Some Federal Ordnance rifles were built with USGI parts ( early ones) and some of the later builds were built with Chinese parts.
The USGI early built rifles are more highley prized in the US over the later built Chinese parts guns.
Mine is one of the Early built USGI parts rifles and it is just fine 5,### serial number range. The machine work on the outside of the receiver is somewhat crude , but that is more me being picky.
Good luck with your rifle. I would get some ammo and take it to the range and see how it shoots before I had to deceide one way or the other.
 
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