Present value on a new 2007 Norinco m14

It's worth what you can get for it, I personally wouldn't pay much more than 600 bucks if I could examine it and it was in reasonable shape. It's still a Norinco and will likely need some work to be a great rifle
 
I'm not sure why that year has any sort of inherent value. I had one I bought new at that time, and it had all the same issues newer batches had... headspace off the charts, barrel not indexed, fit/finish was no better, worst chu wood stocks ever put on these rifles.
The 2014 batch with MIM bolts are worth $0 however.
 
Hitzy said:
I'm not sure why that year has any sort of inherent value.
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If my memory is working, there was a long dry spell of Chinese M14 supply up to 2007, I think it was 3-4 years since a batch had come in. In the interim the practice of putting the dates on the gun had appeared, so as much as they had been arriving in bursts from the late 80's up to the early 2000s, there was no easy way to know which batch yours belonged to. Some of those batches were quite good, some had distinct problems, but you had to look somewhere other than a date code for a clue as to the quality of any particular one.

Then comes the 2007 batch, and they were as good a batch as can be expected from China, and had the date code to clearly mark them. Then the 2009 batch, which was probably every bit as good, except this is when the shorties started appearing in number and those seem destined to have a few issues (normal for modifying a system away from its tried and tested configuration). After that there is a rumour quality goes down at a steady pace, until you get to the bolt breakage stories of today.

So the impression of the internet is that the older your date code, the better gun you have, and 2007 is the oldest date code, thus the reputation. Realistically a 2001-2003 gun is probably as good or better, but much harder to identify.
 
BattleRife said:
If my memory is working, there was a long dry spell of Chinese M14 supply up to 2007, I think it was 3-4 years since a batch had come in. In the interim the practice of putting the dates on the gun had appeared, so as much as they had been arriving in bursts from the late 80's up to the early 2000s, there was no easy way to know which batch yours belonged to. Some of those batches were quite good, some had distinct problems, but you had to look somewhere other than a date code for a clue as to the quality of any particular one.

Then comes the 2007 batch, and they were as good a batch as can be expected from China, and had the date code to clearly mark them. Then the 2009 batch, which was probably every bit as good, except this is when the shorties started appearing in number and those seem destined to have a few issues (normal for modifying a system away from its tried and tested configuration). After that there is a rumour quality goes down at a steady pace, until you get to the bolt breakage stories of today.

So the impression of the internet is that the older your date code, the better gun you have, and 2007 is the oldest date code, thus the reputation. Realistically a 2001-2003 gun is probably as good or better, but much harder to identify.
Click to expand...

I believe quality started falling off in 2011-2012, after 2014 it seems like it’s 50/50.

The shorties didn’t start till 2011-2012 (ish). I sometimes refer to them a “Shi**y’s” when I’m in inpolite company....

The “pre-2007” models had the same stamping on the LH side of the receiver as the ‘07s did, but AFAIK 2007 was the first ones to utilize a year.

I personally believe from about 1996-2011 was the “golden age” of Chinese built M-14 pattern rifles.

I also agree that the ‘07s are worth what people will pay for one, personally, I’ll pay a bit of a premium, maybe as high as $650 (shipping included) for one still in the sealed plastic in the box. I will, generally, never pay more than 15% under wholesale for a used rifle.

My $.02
John
 
Hitzy said:
I'm not sure why that year has any sort of inherent value. I had one I bought new at that time, and it had all the same issues newer batches had... headspace off the charts, barrel not indexed, fit/finish was no better, worst chu wood stocks ever put on these rifles.
The 2014 batch with MIM bolts are worth $0 however.
Click to expand...

No, they are worth the price of the parts, but not a safe rifle imho due to crappy dangerous bolt. The receiver is still a good one to build from as far as I have seen.
 
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