Should I buy a Norc M305?

S

Stripes

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Toronto Ontario
Hey gentlemen like the title states, should I buy an m305? I've got a little money saved up for a new toy and I've got my choices narrowed down and one of them is an M305. But after reading the sticky for M14/M1A/M305 inspection I'm a bit weary. It almost sounds like I'm guaranteed to have problems! That coupled with the fact my local store only has M305 Shorties in stock it so I'd likely end up ordering online and be unable to inspect the rifle in person before buying it. So I've got a few other questions

22" or 18.5" barrel? My heart says get the shorty but my brain says get the standard. I've also heard there are more issues with the shorties than the standard ones. Particularly with barrel indexing.

What should I feed it? I understand to stay away from wolf/tula ammo for it but are there any others to avoid? Will they take commercial .308 or do I need to stick to 7.62x51?
 
What are you planning on doing with the Rifle?

I own one and love it, super fun to shoot as a bench gun, to heavy to carry around for a day (if you planned on hunting with it) stick to 7.62X51 stay away from .308 (just from what i have read)

Barrel length once again depends what you are doing with the rifle. i personally have the 18.5
 
Bench rifle mostly, maybe one day if I feel like bothering my buddies that hunt I'll take it with me. Personally I'd rather the 18.5 as well but I'd be fine with the 22
 
no, unless you're competent with "tinkering"/ low level gunsmith work and Own a set of proper gauges (headspace) to ensure its safe to fire.
You have to accept your "rolling the dice" and will get a rifle that ranges from: "fine with a bit of tweaking" to "everything but the receiver is absolutely ####ed, and even the receiver is questionable" with no promise of warrenty or refund.
 
Fun rifle. I have two shorties myself one DA socom and Norinco. Head space and oprod guide are common. Few upgrades as you go. Same issues with the 22" as well. I love the short barrels but that's just me. Go buy a good user one off the EE that's been tuned. Cheaper!
 
The M305 is a lot of value in a gun, but in my opinion you must be comfortable with the idea of doing a bit of adjustment. If you are so mechanically declined that you aren't sure which end of the screwdriver to hold onto, you have no business owning a M305.

On the other hand I think LordEvilPepper overstates the challenges. There is no reason you have to own headspace gauges to own one of these rifles, and I have never, ever heard of Norinco receivers having issues. In fact they are usually considered the best civilian market receivers ever made. Rifles with significant problems can be returned under warrantee, you can expect to be dealing only with minor or moderate issues.
 
The only tinkering I did on mine was peening the barrel where the op rod guide sits. Other than that 350+ 2moa~ handloads have gone through without any modification or issues. I've had bigger issues with my Ruger gsr(which lordevilprepper managed to blowup on aswell as a m305 if I'm not mistaken?) and my Henry h001, any and all brands can and do have lemons, some more often than others. Personally I'd want to handle one first or wait until I could.
 
As a mechanic by trade I'm not scared of doing some tinkering, I actually enjoy it. I appreciate the honest feedback guys although I'm now more on the fence than ever! I'm stuck between m305, svt40 or m44/m38
 
One of my first rifles was norinco with all GI parts in a glass stock I picked up 25+ years ago. Feed that pig like there was no tomorrow! Not one issue with it ever! Sold it for $250 more then I paid, wish I still had it. Great rifle crap load of fun and still one of my favs! Go buy one, you will not regret it
 
jeepcjaholic said:
One of my first rifles was norinco with all GI parts in a glass stock I picked up 25+ years ago. Feed that pig like there was no tomorrow! Not one issue with it ever! Sold it for $250 more then I paid, wish I still had it. Great rifle crap load of fun and still one of my favs! Go buy one, you will not regret it
Click to expand...

It's posts like yours that are making me want to get one!

So any opinions on barrel length or is there really any difference in quality?
 
Had an 18.5", a 22" and got rid of both when I purchased my National Match M1a. I have been contemplating wading back into the Norc pool with another shorty. I could get 2MOA with my Shorty after doing all the tweaking on it. Take in Tactical Teacher clinic and you are SET! He will guide you in the ways of the M14 and you will have a great fun rifle when you are finished!
 
In the immortal words of Hungry aka Tactical Teacher Id say" dont buy one buy two "(had to Barney lol)
So in other words buy one of each most people dont regret that option
Ive had any wheres up to 8-9 at one time with any wheres from bone stock to super tweaked
now im down to 4 with various configurations
 
well I've been around m14s et al most of my adult life , and I currently have 4 of the 305 version plus 3 that awaiting new receivers- that's how much I shoot them- as far as elp goes, I've gotten to the point of paying as much attention to which way the wind is blowing = take a few minutes and read what tactical teacher/hungry/barney has to say as well as 45 acp king and m14 medic/not so rich guy don't have any of the 18.5s as I heard( not verified mind you) that they have problems and I like to hang pointy things off the end of the barrel- expensive to feed- not when you roll your own ( I got a Dillon way back in92 before I had to pay to feed the 14s-and I got a good recipe from zediker- it's on the net-- funny how may of Albertans have em
 
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