Strange M305 failure to feed issue.

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NS1983

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Hi everybody, been having a weird failure to feed issue with my Norinco M305. I had been thinking it was the magazines but tonight decided to take some closeup photos with dummy rounds of what is happening and now I'm not sure. The symptom is that there is a failure to feed about 1/5 of the time on the first round before any firing has begun, load the mag and rack the gun and the first round jams between the bolt and the chamber. While firing after the first round it seems to happen every once in a while but very rarely, and I think it is the same right hand rounds doing it. If there is only one round in the magazine it does not seem to happen. Looking at the photos the round seems to be catching on the extractor, and one time last fall it even caused the extractor to pop out of the bolt at the range though at the time I didn't realise that is where the rounds were catching.

Has anyone had this happen? Any ideas on a solution?

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Are you pulling the the op rod entirely to the rear, and letting it move forward on it's own steam, and not 'riding it' at all? Could be a converted mag issue, or maybe the recoil spring. I've got a vintage mid 80's Springfield Armory M1A, never had a problem with it all all.
 
Does your rifle pass the tilt test ? Remove the op rod spring and guide then tilt the muzzle upwards then down again and see if the op rod is binding anywhere .
 
1feral1 said:
Are you pulling the the op rod entirely to the rear, and letting it move forward on it's own steam, and not 'riding it' at all? Could be a converted mag issue, or maybe the recoil spring. I've got a vintage mid 80's Springfield Armory M1A, never had a problem with it all all.
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Have been making sure I pull it all the way back and let it go, at the range the other day I would place the round back in and it would take several tries before it would load, if you give the charging handle a good smack it will load. The gun has a S&J recoil spring and M14.ca guide rod however it does the same thing with the stock Norinco spring as well. Happens with two separate unmodified Norinco 5/20 mags. Only have fired Norinco 7.62, haven't tried other ammo yet.

chalkriver said:
Does your rifle pass the tilt test ? Remove the op rod spring and guide then tilt the muzzle upwards then down again and see if the op rod is binding anywhere .
Click to expand...

Yes, passes the tilt test perfectly.
 
NS1983 said:
Have been making sure I pull it all the way back and let it go, at the range the other day I would place the round back in and it would take several tries before it would load, if you give the charging handle a good smack it will load. The gun has a S&J recoil spring and M14.ca guide rod however it does the same thing with the stock Norinco spring as well. Happens with two separate unmodified Norinco 5/20 mags. Only have fired Norinco 7.62, haven't tried other ammo yet.



Yes, passes the tilt test perfectly.
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I would tend to say it's a mag issue of some kind, whether that's magwell probs, or maybe with a trigger mech not properly seated, or difficult to insert/remove? The mag just might not be seating as it should. with the fewer rds in the mag, the better, seems that something ain't right ref the magazine.
 
Try loading with 4 rounds in the mag. Maybe that spring put too much pressure on the 2nd round and creates frictions on the bolt, slowing it down and creating this issue. It could be the mag lip too as suggested above.
 
peacemaker56 said:
Have you tried different ammo? my 305 hates that norinco stuff. works fine with everything else
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Along with a different brand of mag that is something I HAVE to try. Canadian Tire here sells brass NATO surplus 7.62, that's what I will try next.

Dake21 said:
Try loading with 4 rounds in the mag. Maybe that spring put too much pressure on the 2nd round and creates frictions on the bolt, slowing it down and creating this issue. It could be the mag lip too as suggested above.
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4 rounds works without issues, but will sometimes catch again on the next round getting caught on the extractor again. Though this happens with less frequency.
 
NS1983 said:
Along with a different brand of mag that is something I HAVE to try. Canadian Tire here sells brass NATO surplus 7.62, that's what I will try next.



4 rounds works without issues, but will sometimes catch again on the next round getting caught on the extractor again. Though this happens with less frequency.
Click to expand...

My norinco mags are the most reliable I have, but since you want the elander you might as well buy them.
 
i had the same problem when i first got my m305, mine came with $h!tty mags.. their mags are a shoot and miss, some good some bad.. i tried a different mag and worked perfect, eventually i took the norc mag apart and gave it a good polish specially where the spring and follower have in contact with the mag and did some adjustments on the mag lip.. and by the way don't forget to put a new rivet/pin back there.. i gave the action some lube, i suggest grease, after that my rifle worked flawlessly..
 
Lots of contrary advice being given out here. See if you can find another M305 owner in your area to
go to the range with and swap magazines, see if you can eliminate a variable.
Personally, I've never had any problems with my dozen or so Norinco mags, and I've never had to
detail any of them. Here's a few I could fit in the pic. BTW, Magwedge's rock!
View attachment 56219
 
It looks to be a new rifle ???
From the scratches on the round I would say you have burs / sharp / snags in the lips of the mags

Does it pass the tilt test
 
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