WOW...So M305's seem to suck out of the box.

It seems like 75% of them are just great, right out of the box. Of course, 25% failure rate is greater than Russian roullette odds, and I won't point a revolver loaded with only one round at my head, either.

I've had / shot three Norcs (1911, M305, and SKS), and they have all been jam-o-matics. Allegedly I have just been unlucky. I won't be buying another one. YMMV
 
All 3 of mine worked perfectly out of the box. I just love them because they are such a great tinkering platform too. Some need a little tweaking here and there but they still shoot coming right out of the box. I have found with the rear sights, if they are a little rough, or not adjusting up and down properly, taking a little triangle file and deepening and smoothing the grooves a little then greasing them up has fixed the problems for me. My one that I only use iron sights on had this done to it three years ago and the sight is still working just like the one on my old TRW M14.
 
Hopefully the OP is seeing the pattern here.
Of the 5% (or less) that don't work perfectly out of the box almost all are fixed with some simple tweaking and very few have real issues.
Both mine work very well.
The Norc ammo has been giving me some short strokes, one dud round.
 
rugbydave said:
Just outta curiousity, did you not adjust the rear sight before you filed the front post? I know that when I first got mine, I had to be way over the 100m(8 click) setting but I worked my way up on the rear sight and once I was where I wanted it to be, I started filing my front post down so that 100m zero would be 8 clikcs up from bottomed out.
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Yeah, I did. It was hitting the dirt at 50 yds. With the rear at 0. Now it's only a couple inches low and since the rear sight is either too stiff or loose (can't ever get it just right) I'm going to replace that next anyway. Long story short; I'm not going to mess with the front post any more until I replace the rear. Funny you mentioned 8 clicks. That's where mine is. It used to be 15 LOL.

To the OP. Don't be discouraged by all this. For the price. A Norinco M1A / M-14 clone can't be beat. Even after all the tweaks and fixes they are still cheaper than a Springfield and you do have a good chance of getting a good one out of the box.
 
I have had one of the Norinco M305's in the past and am sorry I sold it. Have had two Norinco Trench Guns, and have a current 1911 Commander size 45 not my first either, shoots as good as my original series 70 with the match barrel, and am now with the Shorty from Can. Ammo which sports a cheek Pc. Arms #18 mount a Spring Field rear sight and a Trijicon 1.5-4power scope with the trijicon red tipped florecent post. I am currently waiting for replacement screws as the ones in my mount were stripped and the seller is kind enought to be sending me replacements. This will be my new Ranch Rifle. Will sight it in once I recieve the new screws and post a report on its functioning and accuracy. I don't listen to the jabber about these arms because I have had duds from big name factory arms as well.
J.
 
JimboJones said:
To the OP. Don't be discouraged by all this. For the price. A Norinco M1A / M-14 clone can't be beat. Even after all the tweaks and fixes they are still cheaper than a Springfield and you do have a good chance of getting a good one out of the box.
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Thats the reason i bought mine, the price!! you can make minor changes to make it a fun range gun that shoots pretty well, or you and throw alot in and still be under the springfield but have way more upgrades.
 
nelly said:
It seems like 75% of them are just great, right out of the box. Of course, 25% failure rate is greater than Russian roullette odds, and I won't point a revolver loaded with only one round at my head, either.

I've had / shot three Norcs (1911, M305, and SKS), and they have all been jam-o-matics. Allegedly I have just been unlucky. I won't be buying another one. YMMV
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I don't know about a 25% failure rate, but it's certainly true that a lot of Chinese products have poor quality control and a high failure rate. In the case of Norinco guns, my theory is that the people building them are _not_ shooters, except perhaps with military experience [how could they be, in China?] and really have no clear idea of what a quality gun should be like. My shorty is _good_. My Norc .45 pistol needed some work, but with less than $500 invested in total I ended up with a very good shooter [still needs better sights].

If you are willing to try one of these guns, have the knowledge to reject an obvious dud [personally, I wouldn't accept wrongly indexed barrels or totally crap sights] and are willing to put a few bucks and a few hours into the gun to smooth off the rough edges...you've still got a heck of a deal. What other military-style 7.62x51 semi-auto can you find at anything like the price?

Of course there's always a nice Russian SKS...:stirthepot2:
 
Mine works out of the box, isn't a sub-MOA gun for sure, but I'm a tinkerer so it will be close eventually.

Buy from one of the importing dealers and exchange will be dealt with if you're not happy, from what I've seen on here.
 
You dudes who called it an "Tinkerer's Gun" nailed it perfectly. It truly lends itself to tinkering. Mind you... so does any of the AR15 platform and it's variants! All good fun, but the AR is still restricted and will / can never be a truck gun for that reason.... unless the PConservatives are reading this thread and trying to tweak their next election platform. ;)

Once you get that rifle sweet spotted, then you are good to go! That's where our advice comes in handy! :)

For the newbies here... back in 2009; I was invited by a Law Enforcement Agency (which will remain 'un-named') ;) to deliver a clinic to their armorers. These master craftsmen not only had their skills dialed, their comfort level soared even higher after I finished with them in the morning! They showed me pages and pages (in binders) of their targets shot with the :eek: CHU wood stocked Norc M14's. All these groups were sub MOA with Fed Gold Medal Match ammo! :) How awesome is that?

So... yeah, can they shoot? Well YEAH, even more so with a little bit of tweaking, and that's where and why I do the M14 clinics for you tinkerers; that's so that yer dicks don't fall off!

Besides, truck guns (Can-Ammo Shortys) are always fun! :evil:

Heeeeere kitty, kitty, kitty! :D

:cheers:
Barney
 
Yeah Barney, would love to attend a clinic by you or one of the other knowledgable guys preferable in NS, but might be willing to travel to AB to visit my sister and take one in then. I also wanna know to go about making my M305 look as nice as that one on the last page. Is that bluing or paint, and I guess a lotta polishing of the metal to even it out mines pretty rough looking. Hmmm might be a project for the future. I love my rifle shot perfectly out of the box, gonna put a scope, bipod and cheek riser n it next fall for deer season, should be a good time.
 
Claven2 said:
95%+ of them are functional when new. If not, that's why the vendors offer warranty.

The tweaks people do are to improve their accuracy or to accept accessories they want to run.

One thing to caution you on though, if you want to run optics and you want the optics to run well, expect to spend almost as much as the rifle costs for a proper mount and rings.
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This is a valid point that gets missed by most new buyers of these rifles, who want the optics route.

I only wanted aperture the way it was built to be fired, so the Garand sight upgrade for 90 dollars, was worth very penny. The original Norc rear worked as good as the Garand ,though it would probaly wear faster with repeated use.
I changd out the complete sight because the aperture was slightly of center,.... guess it was one of the 36,000 that got drilled that night the QC guy was off sick, and the guy setting up the index just came back from break after smoking a big gagger:onCrack:.

They will run great right out of the box after cleaning, this I can attest!:)
 
It has always been my opinion that anybody buying a Norinco M14 needed to be prepared to fix small issues. They are great value, but they are not for people who don't know how to turn a screwdriver.
 
I saw a Norc shorty yesterday that a fellow at the range bought at Can-Am with 1000 rounds of Norc ammo.

I got to look at the rifle...talk about tight bolt! That thing was as tight as my USGI and shot great!

I tinkered with mine, didn't HAVE to, just did because I could.
 
Paden Full said:
Greetings,

Was seriously looking at getting an M305 shorty for myself and my brother-in-law, but after reading the posts on here I don't seem so excited anymore. I am not interested in having to tear apart my rife to make it work. From all the posts it seems like a lot of work to get these rifles working correctly.

If I am wrong let me know. I am always willing to be edumacated LOL. Now, I am not afraid to take firearms apart. I have stripped and put together every firearm I have owned, but I just want something to work out of the box. Is that so much to ask for something I am paying my hard earned money for? Let me know how these things work with NO tinkering as I am not really all that interested in doing it.

Thanks,


Matt
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0 issues for me and very little cleaning right out of the box!
 
50calshooter said:
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Some folks expect luxury quality at wal-mart prices; No complaints from this guy about Norc quality. I think it's way better than what you pay for. Tiny children and their tiny hands, while versatile and able to get into the tightest of spaces, are not always the most attentive workers. You didn't pay for a Springfield, be grateful little Wang Chung didn't turn out one as bad as them.
 
Thanks for all the help and opinions gentleman. I have decided against the M305 and went with a tarted up CZ858. Cheaper ammo, less hassle and more what I was looking for anyway.


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Matt
 
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Paden Full said:
Thanks for all the help and opinions gentleman. I have decided against the M305 and went with a tarted up CZ858. Cheaper ammo, less hassle and more what I was looking for anyway.


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Matt
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Can't go wrong with that one! I never had a problem with mine and I love it but there many others who have had problems right out of the box!
 
all sounds awesome! just got my stamped 332e back from cfo today,and am mailing my p.a.l off to new brunswick in minutes. next rifle is a sweet little m305 shorty! love the carbine length,and 7.62 performance. it ain't an fn,but it's allowed...can't wait to order it.
 
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