The days of good quality inexpensive forged M14 receivers are officially over :( :(

In terms or raw safety, I'm much more concerned over the mim bolts. They remind me of the m@rstar Tippo 2 guns.

Of course, everyone could just go get their forged m305 receiver heels engraved to another maker. Lol.

I don't have any m305's... They all say Winchester on them kinda thing.
 
It would be interesting to know if the rate of sales on these Chicom rifles is decreasing and or if any retailers or distributors have quit them. Mind you, that the 7.62x39 variants would sell at all suggests the market is not at all rational for these things. Given the pics I've seen on this and other threads, I wouldn't touch any of the current rifles. Not worth the price and or the risk.
 
Fwiw, in the last couple months I've stripped 2 recent production guns for their receivers. One was a 2013, I showed pics in another thread where I'm re-machining the heel to USGI spec and will have it engraved. That receiver is as in-spec as any pre-2007 receiver ever was - I've built many m14's on the older receivers and they were no better that the 2013.

I also stripped a 2014 for a lightweight build for a buddy. It had a mim bolt, which we replaced with an IDF bolt anyhow, but the receiver itself was also very good.

The 2013 receiver had a 1994 lot number in the lower half, and the 2014 was a 1993 receiver.

Buy any 2014 or earlier forged receiver m305 with confidence imho. Just be prepared to replace any mim bolt you might run across.

Guys who build.more than I do have found the odd lemon very rarely, usually in the form of a crooked rear sight pocket, but on the balance the 1990's-made receivers are excellent.
 
Fwiw, lots of other parts are now mim on the guns aside from the the bolt. I noticed mim sight parts, front and rear, mim mag catch and likely other bits.
 
Here's a pic of the rifle I spoke of earlier in this thread.

You can easily identify a mim bolt by just looking in the magwell of a fully assembled rifle.

92DzBWzh.jpg
 
Wow that is sad. To be honest my advice to a newb that wants an m305 now is don't get one.... There is too much stuff to know and too many chances to get something that sucks. To people like Claven2 that know the platform well parts are salvageable, but to a newbie it is just trouble...
 
The old norinco and polytech m14 type rifles have stood the test
of time. There were a lot imported , so all the issues have been sorted
out. The American bolts, surplus and New manufactured solve an
old issue. One of the new guns should be sent for testing of the type
of steel used etc, like the old ones were. In the early days we didn't know how good these rifles really were. Now we know because a lot
of people took a second look and made them better. Canadian g unsmiths have made various parts for them.
 
can14 said:
The old norinco and polytech m14 type rifles have stood the test
of time. There were a lot imported , so all the issues have been sorted
out. The American bolts, surplus and New manufactured solve an
old issue. One of the new guns should be sent for testing of the type
of steel used etc, like the old ones were. In the early days we didn't know how good these rifles really were. Now we know because a lot
of people took a second look and made them better. Canadian g unsmiths have made various parts for them.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I have not seen a FORGED norinco bolt on any M305 rifle made after 2005 or so that was unsafe. All of them were geometrically correct and would have functioned fine. Virtually all of them gauged at Field or just under, which is fine for milspec 7.62x51, though not great for full length resized reloads.

I usually replace the bolt in most M305 rifles I build for MYSELF, but not because the forged chinese bolts are bad - they are ok - but I prefer tighter headspace for accuracy and for ease of reloading.

The MIM bolts though... absolutely not something I would accept in a rifle I own. It would get replaced with a GI bolt.

There are lots of stories of early 1990's era US import M14's with incorrect bolt geometry. I have little experience with these guns, but almost all the published complaints trace back to Smith Enterprises, who made a handsome living at "reworking" Norinco M14's and installing unissued GI bolts back in the day. I can't say I've seen much evidence of even those early forged bolt failing - it's kinda like gunshow lore.
 
Those new receivers look horrible.
Ruger mini 14s are investment cast and are perfectly fine. It's a shame that no one else cares enough to try a little harder without charging a fortune for it.
 
Claven2 said:
As I said before, the Chinese could produce nicer receivers, and have. They are building to the importer's price point.

The way it works is a Canadian company - let's call them North Sylva - asks the Chinese to supply a M14S rifle. Jianshe (or other arms plant) opens their catalogue - probably on a chinese made apple tablet - and says their standard offering costs (pick a value). A conversation ensues:

NS: "gee, that is more than last time".
Jianshe: "ok, what price point make you go happy sunshine?"
NS: "as cheap as last time, or ideally even cheaper".
Jianshe: "We make super-fantastic rifle, new MIM technology go cheaper"
NS: "We are all about cheaper. Give us the cheapest rifle you can that still uses the same receiver. We know we can't cheap out on the receiver and still sell these things."
Jianshe: "ok big boss man. We make super fantastic M14 with MIM, maybe some 3d Printer mechanic too".

Phone hangs up.

Jianshe: "Stupid capitalist dog. How he not know rifle break after 250 bullet hose?"
Click to expand...

That deserves to be reposted here lol
 
Even the 1911's that use to be all forged are full of MIM guts, this started several years ago... I got one of those "Chromium" units and it was a bag of ####. Sold it fast.
I still don't trust Chinese MIM and Casting (or any aluminum from there). Maybe someday they will get it right, but that day is a long way off.
 
I bought a new 308 M14 shorty a couple weeks ago... am in the process of rebuilding / tuning it now. Receiver is forged, bolt is MIM. Other than that - tight tolerances everywhere / build quality certainly exceeds the price point.
 
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