Why are M305's so great?

bdft

bdft

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I just saw my first M305 today in the local gun shop. What a piece of ####! Is there something about these guns that I am missing? It made the SKS beside it look good. Cheap stamped parts, spotty parkerizing, exposed grinding marks, pinholed castings and it looked like they inletted the trigger group with a blunt screwdriver. Are some shipments better than others? Maybe this is just from a bad batch. Dealer wants 700.00 for this one. It might be worth Marstar's price but I can buy a nice rifle for 700.00. I've never handled a real USGI M-14 either. Maybe they're a little rough too. They are battle rifles, after all. What's the deal?
 
Hmmm, really the cool thing about the M305 is that it's a battle proven design in a major calibre, and is a gas operated, mag fed service rifle. Lot's of guys would love to own and hunt with an FN, or just head off hiking with one, this has never been possible. The M305 allows you to head into the bush with a real deal battle rifle, that has enough power to deal with whatever might occur. I would agree that $700 is more than I would pay but for the $400-$500 they normally sell for they're an excellent deal.On the other hand, if they were available in the US for $650 they would sell millions of them, the only competition is the Springfield Inc M1A, which has some real issues with dimensions and costs about $1100 US for the equivalent model to the M305. They are like the Norc M1911 pistol in that you can use them for what they are, or spend all of the money you've saved (and more) customizing it. The m305 can be made into a US GI clone, an M21 clone, a SOCCOM clone, etc.
 
I'm not knocking the design at all, just the quality control. And the price. Oh, and ian_in_vic, there once was a time in Canada, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, that you could walk around with an FN, or an M16 or even God forbid, an AK47. We had a lot of fun doing it too. :D
 
The stamped parts on a M305 are also stamped on a M-14. Which parts were pinholed castings? Usually the park. is pretty even. Metal surface preparation prior to finishing is generally adequate. The genuine chu wood stocks are widely criticised, although they are a useful handle if one does not desire to change it.
Many Norinco firearms have QC problems. The ones most often reported on M305s are: barrel indexing issues, rear sights that are unreliable, headspace generous by SAAMI .308 standards.
I have worked on M305s, and on real M-14s. The real ones are nicer. The M305s are available, generally work OK as is, and can be improved dramatically with a bit of tweaking.
 
for 700 bucks he's probably seen that thing lever had -i think it's been 700 ever since i was a boy- 40 odd years
 
Seems pretty obvious to me that this guy was looking at something "other" than what I have in the fun-safe...

Cheers
Jay
 
I paid $ 699.00 at Milarm back in 2002 without a single regret. :) Even the reciever ALONE is worth $ 700 USD. Everything else hanging on the reciever is gravy.

Yeah, the rear sights suck... most of you are gonna scope this rifle anyways. The fix is merely a set of USGI M1 Garand sights for under $ 100 for those of you who are serious about shooting iron sights.

The CHU wood is a piece of shzt, but there is a simple fix for this problem. Headspace ? The average is 10 thou that I've been measuring for CGNutters since 2002. That is SMALL :evil: compared to the real USGI M14's I used to compete with. They ranged from 14 thou to 23 thou. No joking. :)

Cheers,
Barney
 
Further comment about headspace. Gauges often come in 3 sizes: Go, No Go and Field. Military spec. gauges may differ from SAAMI or CIP. A No Go gauge is most useful when a barrel is being fitted. A used firearm in sound working condition may well accept a No Go gauge, and this does not mean that there is a problem. If a rifle accepts a Field gauge, it would be worth investigating the situation.
 
BDFT; As you know we deal all over the world in surplus and new firearms.

We are prepared to offer you employment as a firearms examiner.... Up till now we have had to resort to antiquated methods of quality control, fluxing, x ray, etc....

But to be able have you on site with your gift of x ray vision would be a great time saver to us....

Please contact us ASAP so we can discuss this further.... Don't worry no krytonite on site....

John
 
johnone said:
BDFT; As you know we deal all over the world in surplus and new firearms.

We are prepared to offer you employment as a firearms examiner.... Up till now we have had to resort to antiquated methods of quality control, fluxing, x ray, etc....

But to be able have you on site with your gift of x ray vision would be a great time saver to us....

Please contact us ASAP so we can discuss this further.... Don't worry no krytonite on site....

John
Click to expand...
John, is this humor I sense from you? You ARE finally coming around :D :D :D
 
i think i have one of the original blued ones. It's quite nice really. i also have a springfield armory M1A. The reason for the M1A is so i can travel to the States with it. Otherwise save your money and get a Norc.

i think the one you've seen is a example of poor Q.C. but it is not the norm.
 
;) Don't forget you guys, the receiver is forged and they have a chrome lined barrel. I took all of mine out of the safe today and could find no grinding marks and the park looks great.

As far as the inletting for the trigger group goes, doesn't really matter. You don't see it and it has nothing to do with how the barreled action mates to the stock. The hooks on the trigger group lock into the lug on the receiver. All that being said, the chinese stock is crap although they can be made to look kinda pretty.

Most serious owners move up to a USGI synthetic or a Boyds or any number of different stocks anyway so the point is rather moot.

These rifles are great shooters out of the box after zeroing. They offer a platform for customizing. And, as Hungry and Ian said, for what we pay for them up here, many US shooters would give their left nut for a chance to own one at the same price.

BTW. $700.00 is too much.:D

X man I was writing this as you posted
 
I think I might have kicked over a holy grail or something. :D Its just that I have read so much about them and how great they are on this forum and when I finally saw one up close I was more than a little disappointed. Johnone, I am far too busy using my xray vision for more important things but thanks for the offer. :D
 
I've only seen five so far. Three belonging to a friend of mine, one with a gent I don't know, and my personal M14.

None of em sounded anything like that.

Yah the stock sucks. Hey so does my SKS stock I don't care and sometimes you find good walnut stocks from Boyd on sale because they had an overrun or theres some tiny little blemish on it for $50.

I hunt with my guns. They get some scratches. No loss of sleep there.

Yah some of the parts might have tooling marks on the inside. Again, no one can see em, they work just fine, this is my caring face :rockOn:

Yah the rear sights can let go on ya but I am gonna make do and see how they go. Zero her 3" high at 100 and just let it be and see what happens.

Other than that man I've never seen anything like that one you described...maybe they just let a lemon slip through.

Ain't like I've ever seen defective rifles come from Winchester or Remington or Montana Rifleman actions with oblong chambers or...

Keep lookin an you will find that nice one for $499 but look fast!
 
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