I have been looking at M14s, and have wanted one for a long time. At a gun show i saw several Norinco and Polytech rifles. Are these any good, they are about half of the $1500 + that springfield wants. Any ideas.
I hear many different opinions on how bad or good a Norinco or PolyTech rifle is. In my opinion it comes down to name and re-sale value. Here in VA the ChiCom rifles virtually have no re-sale value. No-one here wants to pay more than $400 - $500 for one. If you buy yours and it works and you never sell it then the only thing that you have to worry about is warranty. Who willl provide the lifetime warrranty on a ChiCom rifle?
Some of the Chi-Com rifles are said to have soft bolts . Keep a close watch on head space . Wyr God Bless
willys - If you do decide on a ChiCom M14, keep in mind that not all is lost, as the USGI parts are interchangeable, with the exceptions as follows: The Gas cylinder assembly, and the components of the rear sight. The difference is that the ChiCom's used metric threads. The barrel threads are the same as USGI. If you were to put on a USGI or aftermarket barrel and USGI, or N/M rear sight, then everything in the ChiCom M14 would be interchangeable with the USGI parts. As far as soft bolts, get an M14 armorer (gunsmith) to install a USGI bolt (still $42.00, for a complete USGI bolt from the CMP), and you would not have to worry about a soft bolt. By the way a complete trigger group is only $35.00 also from the CMP. If you decide to get the Springfield Armory M1A new from Springfield Armory, by all means get all of the "Tools" and most of the other extras (magazines, etc.) that you can afford, within a short period of time after they ship you your M14 rifle. Most of these things will be needed eventually, and the price is a lot more later.
willys - SORRY!!! I should have stated, "The barrel threads in the receiver are the same as USGI." The barrel threads for the Gas cylinder are metric.
Or you can just buy it and shoot as is after doing a quick headspace check. Most of these are fine out of the box and need no work. Buy a headspace gage and check yourself just for the peice of mind. My cousins has nearly 1000rnds through his with no malfunctions or headspace change.
my polytech is in spec for 7.62 nato and has about 250 rounds through it at my hands and who knows how many at the hands of the previous owner. Bear in mind that the .308 field reject gauge is 2 thousanths shorter than a 7.62 nato no-go gauge.The 7.62 nato field reject gauge is 7 1/2 thousanths longer than a .308 reject. Alot of the rumors about bad headspace with the chinese guns may stem from the fact that people are checking theirs with .308 gauges.The Chinese M14/s are built to nato spec with correspondingly longer chambers,not saami specs per the .308.Use the right gauge and you likely won't be disapointed! If you want a nato gauge,you're going to have it custom made by Forster or clymer,as no-one stocks these gauges seemingly. Also,if your gun fails .308 field but is in spec for 7.62 like my gun, shoot only 7.62 nato stamped ammo and not .308 winchester.The .308 may create 10,000 CUP more than the nato round and have thinner brass besides.These two factors combined with a long nato chamber may allow enough of the case to be unsupported to cause a rupture of the case. Best regards.....
I bought a norinco m14 here in canada for $600. Canadian about 350. U.S brand new in the box. I have put about 800rnds throught it with NO problems. the only things I replaced were the stock with a us gi one and I need to replace the rear sight its garbage the headspace is fine
I bought a Norinco M-14 and overpayed for it a bit. Later I learned how problamatic they can sometimes be and talked to some local gun dealers. I guess it is worth even less then the blue book value by several hundred dollars in their eyes. I took it to a gunsmith and he stamped the receipt as "unsafe" to fire for several flaws in it, and that is without even a rockwell test being done to it. So if you buy one, be very careful and do your homework first.....with field guages and all. I also suggest you go through a respectable local gun dealer rather then a gun show.
Some of the Chi-Com rifles have soft bolts . If you can buy one for about $ 400 & have Fulton Armory , with USGI parts , you will have a fine rifle , but not a cheap one . Cheaper than SA , Inc. ? Toss-up . Wyr God Bless
I have owened a number of M14 and M1As I currenly have a norinco that I shoot alot, it is a good rifle I had to do a lot of work on it before it would shoot as well as my other rifles. For the money its a good rifle.
You are going to want to heat treat it and headspace it before anything. After taht, you should be good to go.
My first M14 type rifle was a Springfield Scout. The next 7 purchased are all Polytech/Norinco. I will replace my Springfield receiver with a Norinco within the next few months and sell it off. I will have nothing but ChiCom M14s by the summer of 2007. The average price for a ChiCom in my area is $775.00 and the price is going up. HTH ~
ALMOST ALL of the "bad" things you hear about the chicoms are false rumors spread by ignorant people - OR by those who do conversion work (or their friends) trying to get you for $700 - $900 worth of unneeded work! The ONLY chicom M1A type rifles that had any problems were the first one brought in, Many, Many years ago. These were all metric. The later ones are all US spec except for the parts previously mentioned. There is NO reason to think about heat treating any of the chiocom receivers! There is also no reason to be worried about "soft bolts' as these are also about non existant. Shoot the rifle and watch your empties about every 100 rds to check the primers. Any head space problem that "MIGHT" appear will be noticed there before it gets bad enuf to cause problems. Some one earlier commented about "life time warrenty" and who will take care of the rifle if there is a problem. With the chicoms you don't need a warrenty because they will - right out of the box with NO mods - last longer than the much balleyedhooed springfields, which do need such a warrenty because people keep having problems with them! There has NEVER been a reported major failure of a chicom in the 5+ years I've been on these boards! I have however read of multiple problems with every single US made receiver M1A type rifle. Guess thats why so many pronounce the chicoms to be junk. I know of a class 3 dealer with a couple of chicom M14 select fire rifles and he has over 30,000 rds thru them and has never had any problems. I also know of several guys with the semi chicoms with over 10,000 rds and NO problems. Will your lifetime guarentee springfield do better????? I personally own both a semi M14/S and select fire M14 chicoms and have never had any problems. Got both new and have done nothing but shoot them, and shoot them, and shoot them. Sarge
i agree with sarge, i have owned a norinco m-14 for years. i've used it for hunting with a gg and g mount. it shot groups comparable to my h and r rifle about 1.5" @100yds. there were problems with the first batch that came over about 10 years ago. i have not heard of problems since then. true, the rear sights are a little loose. the scope mount required some shimming at the rear. the only other problem i found was the flash hider needed to be staightened as it was cast and not perfectly aligned.as for warranty in canada the dealers have a one year warranty.the guns go for about $400.00 in canada. i highly reccomend them. some guys i shoot with say the recievers and bolts are supperior to springfields being fully forged and use those components to build tack drivers. rich
+1 I agree with Sarge. I have both a Polytech and a Springfield. I would recomend buying the poly as well. The only thing I really dont like is the clunky stock. But if you replace it with a US stock you really cant tell the difference between the two. Unless you look close. I would like to glass bed it as well. Buy it, shoot it, they are a good rifle.
