Okay M14 lovers and M14 wonderers....
I'm back from Ellwood Epps where they just took inventory of 50 Black Stocked M14's and 30 Camo stocked M14's... all by Polytech.
My impressions in no particular order:
* Ping Test was fzcken long and loud. Wow, for a factory gun in a plastic synthetic (molded) stock... some polyethylene derivative (not the mystery chu wood that we've gotten used to) that will stand the test of abuse. No having to replace the chu wood stock soaked in #####-loss mystery WHMIS non-approved oil. I'm impressed with the 2 rifle I got to play with at Epps!
* Trigger group... tough to remove (read: match rifle tension) and most re-assuring that the dimensions of the synthetic/plastic stock with steel liner will give you a solid platform conducive (sp?) to tighter groups. Most happy with the machining, very few machine marks. Kinda reminds me of the old school USGI M14 trigger housings. Super passing marks here. All the trigger group parts were well finished. WTF ?
I'm super stoked, I thought I was holding on to a USGI TG here. The serial number of the rifle is STAMPED on the housing, not electro-dremeled by the Zhinese Kommunist Grade 9 Shop Class students. I'm super impressed with the TG housing quality.
* Receiver quality, damn the Kommunists got this one right, super quality machining just like the Norc M14 series, well parkerized, smooth surface reminds me of the finely finished Sproingfield M1A receivers that are cast in La Belle Provence! Just a few circular machining marks in the op rod raceway, buy hey, that's to be expected. Yeah, that s2pid set screw on the right / starboard side of the receiver is STILL there, but this time only with ONE stake punch (not the Norinco ubiquitous THREE stake punches) I hate rebarreling Norcs when I have to STILL drill out that redundant screw, they often strip on their stubborn journey OUT of the receiver. Can't comment about the scope mounting geometry, but is sure looks great, just like my Norc M14 receivers. All good here! It seems to me that Polytech has stepped things up... Just my impression!
* Rear Sights - Ya fzcking HOOOOOoooo! The rear sights adjust that way they are supposed to. Felt like all my M1 Garand sights. No more SOFT as DOG Shzt pot metal (read: no heat treating) elevation and windage knobs. You won't have to go and replace your elevation and windage knobs like my 2003/2004 etc series of Norc M14's. The ZXhinese kommunists got this set of sights right! Well that's important IF you are shooting with iron sights. The reality is that most you out there in Kanada will likely scope your Kommunixt M14, and the shztty rear sights are a moot point. The sample boomstick on the shelf at Epps had super loud and positive kliks on both the Elevation knob and windage knob. I'm happy. So happy I told zxcvbn to buy TWO of them! So after playing with his elev and windage knobs, I was able to klik the windage knob the entire range across. Then I cranked it back to center. Wow... this is great. Yes, it works. It moves the way the cheap Norc M14 sights never behaved before! Mind you I had to tighten the windage knob as I moved the aperture/base to the left. A minor inconvenience when you are used to fantastic M1 Garand sights. I would use this Poly rear sight set for back up sights to your primary optic or even in casual competition. I would give the Poly sights a passing grade, but for serious competition (even in Vintage Rifle shoots) I would replace your elev and windage knobs with USGI or M1 Garand set... So please don't go rushing over to Ebay or Numrich Gun Parts and drop some serious money, YET! Make a decision regarding your iron sight needs and spend correctly/frugally. For those of you with Norc M14's you already know that the soft elevation pinion screw strips from the windage knob pinion almost immediately. Oh well, for $ 400; who gives a poop? I hope this allays your fears about the Poly M14's iron sights.
* Bolt slop - Action forward, push on the rear 'cutout' scallop behind the surface of the bolt close to the chamber (do this rfn <right now> with your M14, if you have one) lugs. Notice the bolt will have a 10 thousandths (10 thou) of an inch of slop back and forth. This is not a warranty issue.. it's designed that way since Jean Cantius Garand intended for bolts to be interchangeable in the field, especially when you ammo is cold, wet, tired, angry, corroded, hungry and far from home. So the bolt slop is NORMAL and yer #### WILL NOT fall off Don't go running back to the gun shop complaining of excessive headspace! We've had concerns from dealers about this issue... I guess not every fudd out there reads my drivel 
Like you dudes are LOL
* Bolt quality - fantastic (first impression) quality machining. Wow, almost USGI smoothness and BLACK parkerizing. I'm super pumped about the bolt quality. STAMPED serial number under the bolt surface(s). Nice Kommunists! Most nice looking stamps too... not the electropenciled Engrish found on my Norinco M14 bolt. Gotta love www.engrish.com for some laughs! Now today, I dropped my TRW USGI M14 bolt into one of zxcvbn's Poly M14's and it was tight. The right lug almost closed and left a 1/16" gap of daylight. I found this to be super tight.
* Op rod... I coulda sworn this unit felt like a TRW unit. I am so happy with this unit. No tool marks, smooth surfaces, no sharp edges after forging and between finishing stages. Super quality all around this op rod. I ain't no metallurgist so, just leave that issue out, all I know is that the Kommunists have really stepped up their forging and welding. As I ran my hands over the op rod, I coulda sworn this unit is USGI, it's like deja vu for me all over again when we had hoards of USGI M14's in Canada for $ 400.
* Gas cylinder - Forging marks are fantastic. Everything (I could swear) looked and felt like USGI quality, they got this unit right. Dark parkerizing, super 'sticktion' feel for the piston travelling up and down with the barrel pointing to the ceiling. When we were pulling and pushing on the piston shaft, we could hear all the suction sounds coming from the weep/bleed hole on the bottom of the gas cylinder. Knurling on the 3/8" drive gas plug is perfect, flawless and well knurled/finished. No rough surfaces or raw edges like my Norinco M1911 NP29 9mm single stack pistol. Spindle valve had lots of play, almost as much as a USGI gas cylinder. This time however, unlike the Norc M14 spindle valves, I could easily turn the spindle valve with light pressure from a flat bladed screw driver. This is an improvement over the Norc spindle valves. You Norc owners... go and try moving your spindle valve so that the slot is parallel or aligned with the barrel. You have just shut off the gas flow to the gas cylinder/piston assembly. Now you can launch rifle grenades just like in "Call of Duty" or "Day of Defeat" games.
* Flash suppressor - FZCK IT's STILL welded the fzck on ! Deja vu! They Polytech shop teachers dropped the ball on this one. Looks like they collaborated with the shop class teachers at the Nork M14 factory during the lone pee break in 12 hour shift. No bayonet lug so I cannot practice my PPCLI 'Single Command' Trooping of the Colors Fix Bayonet drill (since I can no longer access a 12.x FNC1A1. Front sights all look level and straight. I could guess that they finally solved their questionable indexing quality. Maybe they burned my DVD sets behind my back and sold them on the black market to the shop class at Polytech.... Back to the flash suppressor. Yes, they are reamed nice and large for NM profiled flash suppressors with an interior diameter of 0.406" (that was the NM spec with a # 7 tapered pin reamer). The tines show no cracks from the factory. Most solid. Great tuning fork PING! I just noticed that my Poly M14 has open tines (slots) along the bottom. Now I can really kick up the dust when shooting from the prone in Iraq (yeah, I'm too ugly to deploy) or the 'Stan'. Still pings while I was degreasing it.
* Did I mention super loud and long PING test? Damn that was good, and it ain't glass bedded into the plastic stock YET! I would buy one of them JUST for that bright PING. Those of you who have attended my clinics will know this PING test. Those of you who don't, I'm working on 8 clinics this coming winter 'cause I ain't going overseas to a hot and sandy place. I'm too ugly they told me. Anyways, while I was doing the 30 degree test, the barreled receiver went PING...I was super excited!
* Stock liner and stock hardware... No worries , all smooth surfaces, fantastic parkerizing. Hey! No TREMCLAD on the buttplates Sounds like the Norinco M4's with all that Krylon/Tremlad from Ukrainian Tire. I like all the hardware, stock liner is smooth to the touch. Nice contour along the plastic stock surfaces. Hey, it fits well enough! Did you expect a Perazzi? Especially for $ 529 before taxes?? Okay the aluminum plate with the trap door is painted with a glossy Tremclad, but the flip up steel plate is a dark charcoal. I pulled off both slotted screws and discovered that the top screw is a WOOD screw into the plastic. It sure was tight. The bottom buttplate screw had a fine pitch just like the Norc M14 versions. Interestingly enough the buttstock has a large plastic cavity and the 2 storage tubes are suspended in that large cavity by the 2 buttstock (upper and lower) screws. Remove that double tube (for the cleaning kit stuff, chamber brush and oiler bottle which are included) and re-assemble your buttplate assembly and you will now have a humoungus cavity for storage, kinda reminds me of my Remington M700 SPS tupperware stocks on my .223 SPS groundhog gitter. Some people may warm up to this large storage area. I do have to mention that the buttplate assembly to plastic stock fit was tight as heck, the molding people dialed the dimensions right, very close fit, very snug. I like it.
* Plastic stock- contour of the stock kinda reminds me of a USGI glass stock with 10 layers of fiberglass cloth around it. Just a little fatter than USGI glass stocks and hardwood versions also. Just a little skinnier than the Mystery oiled Chu Wood (yer #### will fall off) stocks from the Norinco batches. Pistol grip is small (great for my med sized fingers) and super for mitts or gloves, I prefer that; some of you large handed dudes might not like this. When I shouldered the stock, I had impression that it was half an inch 0.5" shorter than my USGI glass stock, but that's just my first impression, then I thought that some of you with winter hunting gear on (or tac vests , body armor, plate carriers) will appreciate this characteristic. But I quite like THIS black plastic (not fiberglass) stock. Feels super cheap, but trust me, when I whack someone over the noggin with this, it ain't gonna break! It does have a couple of sharp edges, but that is easily remedied by a fine file/emery cloth/ sharpening stone/ river stone/brick or sandpaper. The edges are along the upper left and right side, just beneath that tight fitting handguard which I happen to love. No handguard rattle anywhere.
* Overall parkerizing finish: I am super impressed overall...so much so... zxcvbn and I ordered one for MOI! It's a dark charcoal most reminiscent of the TRW family of M14 rifles. Bordering on black the Poly M14 park job is truly fantastic. They really did a great job with the parkerizing all over. No mottled spots, which usually indicates uneven heat treating because the metal reacts to the Phosphoric Acid etching very differently especially with sketchy heat treating process.
* Barrel: I just realized that my newly degreased Poly M14 (done here at the shacks in Connaught Ranges) has a barrel that needs a re-indexing job (2 minutes in my basement workshop), I thought that the Poly Technicians got this one right... nope, still got the same Norc M14 re-indexing situation (not necessarily a problem if you are gonna put a scope on the M14). Come and visit me and I'll re-index your M14 if you are losing sleep over this ever so minor fault.... Oh yes, I forgot to mention that this barrel is chrome lined! Yahooo...
* Shooting the Poly :
Got out yesterday, Sunday. Wow did this barrel ever PING while firing the .308 rounds. My God! I have not heard ringing like this since attending a Camp Perry, Ohio National Match and listening to the firing line during the 300 yard rapid fire stages. Imagine a hundred ping'ing M14/M1A's all glass bedded in McMillan stocks!
Headspaced the brass : 6, 6 , 8, 10, 9 thou. Wow, this is a relatively tight chamber for a chinese M14. Most of the Norc M14's mic'ed to about 10 thou or more. Remember, I'll mic your brass for free. I only need 3 fired cases. PM me for instructions on how to get the brass to me...
Iron sights klik over and back every time. Life is good. No need to replace any parts. Still using the flat op rod spring guide.
* Stock swapping:
I tried to swap stocks with the USGI glass stock on my Norc M14. The Poly M14 drops straight in. Then I tried the Norinco M14 in the black plastic Poly M14 stock... a little tight on the front receiver mortises and the receiver would not budge any further. Some grinding of the stock liner would be necessary. Okay, so now we know. Norc M14's in Bell Poly M14 plastic stocks are a NO-GO!
I'll keep adding more as I unfold my Poly M14 over the next few days!
Barney
I'm back from Ellwood Epps where they just took inventory of 50 Black Stocked M14's and 30 Camo stocked M14's... all by Polytech.
My impressions in no particular order:
* Ping Test was fzcken long and loud. Wow, for a factory gun in a plastic synthetic (molded) stock... some polyethylene derivative (not the mystery chu wood that we've gotten used to) that will stand the test of abuse. No having to replace the chu wood stock soaked in #####-loss mystery WHMIS non-approved oil. I'm impressed with the 2 rifle I got to play with at Epps!
* Trigger group... tough to remove (read: match rifle tension) and most re-assuring that the dimensions of the synthetic/plastic stock with steel liner will give you a solid platform conducive (sp?) to tighter groups. Most happy with the machining, very few machine marks. Kinda reminds me of the old school USGI M14 trigger housings. Super passing marks here. All the trigger group parts were well finished. WTF ?
I'm super stoked, I thought I was holding on to a USGI TG here. The serial number of the rifle is STAMPED on the housing, not electro-dremeled by the Zhinese Kommunist Grade 9 Shop Class students. I'm super impressed with the TG housing quality.* Receiver quality, damn the Kommunists got this one right, super quality machining just like the Norc M14 series, well parkerized, smooth surface reminds me of the finely finished Sproingfield M1A receivers that are cast in La Belle Provence!
Just a few circular machining marks in the op rod raceway, buy hey, that's to be expected. Yeah, that s2pid set screw on the right / starboard side of the receiver is STILL there, but this time only with ONE stake punch (not the Norinco ubiquitous THREE stake punches) I hate rebarreling Norcs when I have to STILL drill out that redundant screw, they often strip on their stubborn journey OUT of the receiver. Can't comment about the scope mounting geometry, but is sure looks great, just like my Norc M14 receivers. All good here! It seems to me that Polytech has stepped things up... Just my impression!* Rear Sights - Ya fzcking HOOOOOoooo! The rear sights adjust that way they are supposed to. Felt like all my M1 Garand sights. No more SOFT as DOG Shzt pot metal (read: no heat treating) elevation and windage knobs. You won't have to go and replace your elevation and windage knobs like my 2003/2004 etc series of Norc M14's. The ZXhinese kommunists got this set of sights right! Well that's important IF you are shooting with iron sights. The reality is that most you out there in Kanada will likely scope your Kommunixt M14, and the shztty rear sights are a moot point. The sample boomstick on the shelf at Epps had super loud and positive kliks on both the Elevation knob and windage knob. I'm happy. So happy I told zxcvbn to buy TWO of them!
So after playing with his elev and windage knobs, I was able to klik the windage knob the entire range across. Then I cranked it back to center. Wow... this is great. Yes, it works. It moves the way the cheap Norc M14 sights never behaved before! Mind you I had to tighten the windage knob as I moved the aperture/base to the left. A minor inconvenience when you are used to fantastic M1 Garand sights. I would use this Poly rear sight set for back up sights to your primary optic or even in casual competition. I would give the Poly sights a passing grade, but for serious competition (even in Vintage Rifle shoots) I would replace your elev and windage knobs with USGI or M1 Garand set... So please don't go rushing over to Ebay or Numrich Gun Parts and drop some serious money, YET! Make a decision regarding your iron sight needs and spend correctly/frugally. For those of you with Norc M14's you already know that the soft elevation pinion screw strips from the windage knob pinion almost immediately. Oh well, for $ 400; who gives a poop? I hope this allays your fears about the Poly M14's iron sights.* Bolt slop - Action forward, push on the rear 'cutout' scallop behind the surface of the bolt close to the chamber (do this rfn <right now> with your M14, if you have one) lugs. Notice the bolt will have a 10 thousandths (10 thou) of an inch of slop back and forth. This is not a
warranty issue.. it's designed that way since Jean Cantius Garand intended for bolts to be interchangeable in the field, especially when you ammo is cold, wet, tired, angry, corroded, hungry and far from home. So the bolt slop is NORMAL and yer #### WILL NOT fall off Don't go running back to the gun shop complaining of excessive headspace! We've had concerns from dealers about this issue... I guess not every fudd out there reads my drivel Like you dudes are LOL * Bolt quality - fantastic (first impression) quality machining. Wow, almost USGI smoothness and BLACK parkerizing. I'm super pumped about the bolt quality. STAMPED serial number under the bolt surface(s). Nice Kommunists! Most nice looking stamps too... not the electropenciled Engrish found on my Norinco M14 bolt. Gotta love www.engrish.com for some laughs! Now today, I dropped my TRW USGI M14 bolt into one of zxcvbn's Poly M14's and it was tight. The right lug almost closed and left a 1/16" gap of daylight. I found this to be super tight.
* Op rod... I coulda sworn this unit felt like a TRW unit. I am so happy with this unit. No tool marks, smooth surfaces, no sharp edges after forging and between finishing stages. Super quality all around this op rod. I ain't no metallurgist so, just leave that issue out, all I know is that the Kommunists have really stepped up their forging and welding. As I ran my hands over the op rod, I coulda sworn this unit is USGI, it's like deja vu for me all over again when we had hoards of USGI M14's in Canada for $ 400.
* Gas cylinder - Forging marks are fantastic. Everything (I could swear) looked and felt like USGI quality, they got this unit right. Dark parkerizing, super 'sticktion' feel for the piston travelling up and down with the barrel pointing to the ceiling. When we were pulling and pushing on the piston shaft, we could hear all the suction sounds coming from the weep/bleed hole on the bottom of the gas cylinder. Knurling on the 3/8" drive gas plug is perfect, flawless and well knurled/finished. No rough surfaces or raw edges like my Norinco M1911 NP29 9mm single stack pistol. Spindle valve had lots of play, almost as much as a USGI gas cylinder. This time however, unlike the Norc M14 spindle valves, I could easily turn the spindle valve with light pressure from a flat bladed screw driver. This is an improvement over the Norc spindle valves. You Norc owners... go and try moving your spindle valve so that the slot is parallel or aligned with the barrel. You have just shut off the gas flow to the gas cylinder/piston assembly. Now you can launch rifle grenades just like in "Call of Duty" or "Day of Defeat" games.
* Flash suppressor - FZCK
IT's STILL welded the fzck on ! Deja vu! They Polytech shop teachers dropped the ball on this one. Looks like they collaborated with the shop class teachers at the Nork M14 factory during the lone pee break in 12 hour shift. No bayonet lug so I cannot practice my PPCLI 'Single Command' Trooping of the Colors Fix Bayonet drill (since I can no longer access a 12.x FNC1A1. Front sights all look level and straight. I could guess that they finally solved their questionable indexing quality. Maybe they burned my DVD sets behind my back and sold them on the black market to the shop class at Polytech.... Back to the flash suppressor. Yes, they are reamed nice and large for NM profiled flash suppressors with an interior diameter of 0.406" (that was the NM spec with a # 7 tapered pin reamer). The tines show no cracks from the factory. Most solid. Great tuning fork PING! I just noticed that my Poly M14 has open tines (slots) along the bottom. Now I can really kick up the dust when shooting from the prone in Iraq (yeah, I'm too ugly to deploy) or the 'Stan'. Still pings while I was degreasing it.* Did I mention super loud and long PING test? Damn that was good, and it ain't glass bedded into the plastic stock YET! I would buy one of them JUST for that bright PING. Those of you who have attended my clinics will know this PING test. Those of you who don't, I'm working on 8 clinics this coming winter 'cause I ain't going overseas to a hot and sandy place. I'm too ugly they told me. Anyways, while I was doing the 30 degree test, the barreled receiver went PING...I was super excited!
* Stock liner and stock hardware... No worries , all smooth surfaces, fantastic parkerizing. Hey! No TREMCLAD on the buttplates
Sounds like the Norinco M4's with all that Krylon/Tremlad from Ukrainian Tire. I like all the hardware, stock liner is smooth to the touch. Nice contour along the plastic stock surfaces. Hey, it fits well enough! Did you expect a Perazzi? Especially for $ 529 before taxes?? Okay the aluminum plate with the trap door is painted with a glossy Tremclad, but the flip up steel plate is a dark charcoal. I pulled off both slotted screws and discovered that the top screw is a WOOD screw into the plastic. It sure was tight. The bottom buttplate screw had a fine pitch just like the Norc M14 versions. Interestingly enough the buttstock has a large plastic cavity and the 2 storage tubes are suspended in that large cavity by the 2 buttstock (upper and lower) screws. Remove that double tube (for the cleaning kit stuff, chamber brush and oiler bottle which are included) and re-assemble your buttplate assembly and you will now have a humoungus cavity for storage, kinda reminds me of my Remington M700 SPS tupperware stocks on my .223 SPS groundhog gitter. Some people may warm up to this large storage area. I do have to mention that the buttplate assembly to plastic stock fit was tight as heck, the molding people dialed the dimensions right, very close fit, very snug. I like it.* Plastic stock- contour of the stock kinda reminds me of a USGI glass stock with 10 layers of fiberglass cloth around it. Just a little fatter than USGI glass stocks and hardwood versions also. Just a little skinnier than the Mystery oiled Chu Wood (yer #### will fall off) stocks from the Norinco batches. Pistol grip is small (great for my med sized fingers) and super for mitts or gloves, I prefer that; some of you large handed dudes might not like this. When I shouldered the stock, I had impression that it was half an inch 0.5" shorter than my USGI glass stock, but that's just my first impression, then I thought that some of you with winter hunting gear on (or tac vests , body armor, plate carriers) will appreciate this characteristic. But I quite like THIS black plastic (not fiberglass) stock. Feels super cheap, but trust me, when I whack someone over the noggin with this, it ain't gonna break!
It does have a couple of sharp edges, but that is easily remedied by a fine file/emery cloth/ sharpening stone/ river stone/brick or sandpaper. The edges are along the upper left and right side, just beneath that tight fitting handguard which I happen to love. No handguard rattle anywhere.* Overall parkerizing finish: I am super impressed overall...so much so... zxcvbn and I ordered one for MOI! It's a dark charcoal most reminiscent of the TRW family of M14 rifles. Bordering on black the Poly M14 park job is truly fantastic. They really did a great job with the parkerizing all over. No mottled spots, which usually indicates uneven heat treating because the metal reacts to the Phosphoric Acid etching very differently especially with sketchy heat treating process.
* Barrel: I just realized that my newly degreased Poly M14 (done here at the shacks in Connaught Ranges) has a barrel that needs a re-indexing job (2 minutes in my basement workshop), I thought that the Poly Technicians got this one right... nope, still got the same Norc M14 re-indexing situation (not necessarily a problem if you are gonna put a scope on the M14). Come and visit me and I'll re-index your M14 if you are losing sleep over this ever so minor fault.... Oh yes, I forgot to mention that this barrel is chrome lined!
Yahooo...* Shooting the Poly :
Got out yesterday, Sunday. Wow did this barrel ever PING while firing the .308 rounds. My God! I have not heard ringing like this since attending a Camp Perry, Ohio National Match and listening to the firing line during the 300 yard rapid fire stages. Imagine a hundred ping'ing M14/M1A's all glass bedded in McMillan stocks!
Headspaced the brass : 6, 6 , 8, 10, 9 thou. Wow, this is a relatively tight chamber for a chinese M14. Most of the Norc M14's mic'ed to about 10 thou or more. Remember, I'll mic your brass for free. I only need 3 fired cases. PM me for instructions on how to get the brass to me...
Iron sights klik over and back every time. Life is good. No need to replace any parts. Still using the flat op rod spring guide.
* Stock swapping:
I tried to swap stocks with the USGI glass stock on my Norc M14. The Poly M14 drops straight in. Then I tried the Norinco M14 in the black plastic Poly M14 stock... a little tight on the front receiver mortises and the receiver would not budge any further. Some grinding of the stock liner would be necessary. Okay, so now we know. Norc M14's in Bell Poly M14 plastic stocks are a NO-GO!
I'll keep adding more as I unfold my Poly M14 over the next few days!
Barney
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