Soft barrel threads on Norc M14's?

Ideally, the barrel should be absolutely true, the flats on the receiver and on the front sight base being absolutely parallel. It the front sight is not at 90 degrees to the receiver flat behind the rear sight, the eye will notice it. Also, with the rear sight centred, the front sight will noticably off to one side, when the rifle is zeroed for windage. I suspect that most shooters would notice + or - a degree or two deviation. At the OSA M-14 clinic we indexed one barrel that was badly off index, to the point that the front sight was way over on its base. The barrel was several degrees off, and it was very obvious when aiming the rifle.
Some folks use steel parallels on the receiver flat and front sight base when the barrel is being indexed. I prefer to use a machinst's level, set it on one flat, when the level is on the other flat with the bubble in the same position, I assume that the barrel is indexed.
I do not know why rifles are allowed to leave the factory with the barrels improperly indexed. With the systems available at the factory level, the barrels should be dead true.
Incidentally, Winchester 94 barrels are properly timed so that they will index correctly, as are No.4 barrels.
 
well i don't know what to think my freind and i both bought norinco hae purchased a m14 and i bought a ar15. first day at the range first bullet in his m14 had the threads on the barrell fail (they exploded) no one was hurt but the barrell landed about 20 feet from him he had the stock in hand and a good veiw of the 308. caseing still chambered. this was a brand new gun. i would suggest if you get a norinco of any kind make a full inspection with a gun smith before you use it. my self my ar 15 is working awsome no jams no miss fire and no exploding gun parts after 200 rounds.
 
On my last norc, the barrel was under-tightened. I ditched the screw and tightened the barrel to index. Worked out perfect with just the right tension.

Not all M305's are created equal, however. The receivers are literally the best part of these guns and were made alot longer ago, to different quality standards than the cheap parts being hung off them to meet the $399 price point in my opinion. I tend to favor replacement of many bits with USGI parts as overall quality os improved.

The chicom op rods are also very good as are some parts like the gas system and trigger group. The barrels are iffy, some being great, others not so good.
 
Laz2000 is right. Sometimes with the kommunists, the QC is spotty and sometimes the Quality control is great. Hey for $ 500 with shipping and taxes in, you have to tweak things a bit. I wish it was all 100% when the rifle comes to your door, I've had to tweak quite a few Norc M14's in the past.
 
Indexing a barrel properly is only a 2 minute job. 3 weeks to return it back to you, half an hour to setup on my vise properly, 10 minutes to clean up. :D

Just the 2 minutes for my son to jump up and down on the receiver wrench. No kidding. I do the eyeballing with the parallels clamped on the front sight base and rear sight flats. :evil:

That's why sometimes, I have come to believe that these M14's were assembled in some high school tech class/shop. LOL :rolleyes:
 
If the barrel is indexed to the LEFT, it's over-tightened. To repair it properly would require either peening the barrel shoulder or shimming the action face. Headspace will need to be checked to make sure any change is negligible. Still not a HUGE job though.
 
IIRC, the shank's thread pitch is 10TPI. So, one degree rotation, disregarding crush, would result in about three ten thousandths change; ten degrees would be about three thou. Screwing the barrel in or out will change headspace, although with the generous tolerances often found in these rifles, the change may not be significant. Still, indexing the barrel is often part of an overall rework, so any change is certainly a factor.
As far as the QC issue is concerned, if indexing is out, it is usually apparent when the rifle is held up and aimed. It is easily seen, and there is no reason for a rifle to be shipped in this condition. The fact that rifles with badly indexed barrels often have the front sights shifted to compensate suggests that the poor indexing was noted during assembly, and whoever was putting these rifles together simply did not care. Much of the tweaking that needs to be done is to correct situations that should have been tended to during factory assembly.
 
Argh!

I didn't even realize I had an indexing problem until I read this thread.

I always wondered why my front-sight blade came with the post bent over to the left... any why my handguard keeps unlatching on the left-hand side because it is too tight to the stock, and loose on the right... and why my rear sight is still way out to the left just to centre the groups.... and why it took me 20 rounds just to hit paper my first time out....

F**K!

This is a bad time for an expensive repair. First I buy my books for school, then my heater core goes on my car, tuition is due, and now this.

How much does a gun-smith charge for this kind of repair? Can anyone help me out?

Does Epps do warranty work on Chinese rifles? (hahaha....right)
 
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Ok, Hungry's next M14 clinic is coming up soon, and he has seen my do-it-yourself M-14 receiver wrench { POCKING BIG SOLID STEEL WRENCH of right size to fit over the square parts of the receiver, WITH two strips of aluminum padding = Pop Can to prevent marring } plus the barrel wrench I made out of 2 1" sections of aluminum = Old Shotgun reloading bars. This, bolted to a sturdy bench, with the help of a 4 ' pipe cheater bar on the wrench handle, has been the perfect tool set to remove and replace and reindex dozens of M-14 receivers, Norc, SA, and genuine USGI.

Usually takes just a few minutes.

But last week we met our match with a NEW Norc that needed reindexing [ too tight = sight tilted to left ].

First of all, the hardest part of the job, with the Norcs, is getting that tiny wittle lock scwew out. If you chuck a screwdriver bit into the mill, and clamp the receiver TIGHT, sometimes you can get that screw to actually unscrew.
Sometimes .. but not often.
Then you can start drilling ... my Hi speed center drill discombobulated iteself on the screw ... which is unusual. Then 1, 2, 3, 4 Hi Speed and TN coated drill bits went bye bye . Then a 1/8" end mill, on very slooowww also bit the biascuit.
OK, I resorted to my carbide lathe centering tool, which eventually got through that itsy bitsy wittle scwew.

Sheesh!!

Then on to the actual unscrewing of the barrel ... which, even with a 4" cheater bar, was not going well. For the first time, i actually bent the 2" steel channel, and saw some rotatrion within the aluminam barrel vice blocks.

Sheeesh!!!

Then over to the lathe, to force the edge of the barrel shoulder back down, which was the only part of the job that went easily.

OK,
this one was exceptional ... but I didn't know the chinese had the technology to make screws that were as hard as carbide, and then torque them down into an M-14 so tight.
LAZ 1
 
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