M14 Forum

Zandor

Hi all,

I am just getting into the M1A hobby and just got my first rifle. It is a supposedly new heal marked Norinco, made in from 1993. It still has cosmoline in the receiver, so it does seem to be new.

I took it apart and ran it through some of the tests from the Tony Ben video (Thanks for those videos Tony, they are a great intro).

My question is: Is the operating rod guide supposed to rock back and forth at all or be tight? Mine rocks a bit and I was wondering if the roll pin got busted. It does not move up and down the barrel (ie, no movement toward bore or muzzle), just rocks a bit left to right.

Thanks.

boomer1983

thats definitly not normal it should be snug with no wiggle. im guessing its the pin. id remove and inspect it and replace if needed

Gus Fisher

When you say "rock back and forth," how much play or movement are you refering to?

Zandor

The play is a rotational play like if you were going to spin it around the barrel. The play is maybe 1/4" on either side of center and then you can not go any farther. There is no play what so ever in the muzzle or bore direction. I tried to act like I was going to take it off, but it would not move in that direction.

Thanks.

Lazerus2000

Almost every Chinese M14 I've ever inspected had a loose op rod guide, and I've seen a LOT!!.

The Chinese use a proper .800" diam barrel OD,
but the op rod guides may have up to .806" ID .... SLOPPY!!!

In addition, the Chinese rifles use a metric ROLL PIN, equivalent in size to 9/64".

These roll pins may be too hard aka too brittle AND ACTUALLY BREAK into fragments inside the hole, or they may simply collapse in on themselves.

Simple solution, a SOLID 9/64" pin [ you can chop down a drill bit ] some RED loctite, and if there is too much slop between ID and OD, just peen the barrel lug with a self striking center punch to crater / raise / stipple the surface and create a tighter fit.

Then use your best friend, Mr Big Rubber mallet to fit the op rod on to the barreel properly, until the center of the op rod tip lines up with the center of the piston tail.

If you have a length of round pipe, with an ID slightly greater than .800", you can use this as a tool to push on the op rod guide STRAIGHT and EASY!!!

BTDT too many times to count,
no big deal to fix,
saves wear and tear on the op rod tab,
and once done you may notice an improvement in accuracy as well.

TTFN
LAZ 1
[;)