ive been looking at getting a norinco m305, the M14/M1A clone. Anyone know anything about em. How do they hold up, accuracy, availability of mags....all that stuff.

thanks much!!

BH

I vaguely remember a gun magazine doing a comparison of a chinese version (Norinco maybe?)vs. Springfield Armory version. This was a "fire until one fails and/or accuracy goes to h#ll." type of test. The chinese one failed sooner. Little parts started failing (springs, extractors, sights) and being replaced until the accuracy went south and then they kept firing the SA for the same number of rounds AGAIN and stopped the test as they saw 1) no percievable decline, 2) no reason to test to destruction a good working rifle.
This was a long time ago and it may have been some other than the Norinco. I don't know. I would think Springfield Armory would have re-prints of the test.

In chapter 6 of his book "The M14-Type Rifle," Joe Poyer compares the hardness of various parts of Chinese-made M1As to American-made M1As. According to Poyer, Springfield hammers and bolts measured 58 on the Rockwell scale, Chinese rifles only 44. Springfield receivers measured 50, Chinese only 44. Springfield barrels 33, Chinese only 29. He concludes by stating that the lifetime of a Chinese-made rifle will be, at most, a few thousand rounds. With this in mind, you are probably better off saving your money for a few more paydays till you can afford a Springfield. I can tell you from personal experience that it is money well spent. My Springfield is far more accurate than I can shoot it, and all my shooting buddies also enjoy shooting it.

rt

There have been several case splitting problems from too generous headspacing at our club. Rebarreling has helped this problem, but if you have to rebarrel, why not get a Springfield to start with