I bought a polytech M-14 for 500 bucks. The gun is like new shoots great, nice and tight. So is it really true i bought a piece of crap?

For some reason I could not bring myself to buy a commie M1A.  Hope it works out for you.  

Don't listen to the fear mongers. I have had a Norinco M1A for eight years and never had a problem.
It shoots great and I have taken Elk with it.
I think Springfield couldn't stand the competition and spread all those rumours.

I have one of each of them, a Polytech M1A and Norinco M1A. I too have had no trouble with either one of them. Not a single jam or missfire. I also have 2EA Springfield M1A's. Same goes for them.

I'd still get that rifle checked out, despite what you hear.

I have heard the same as Troy.

Sounds like a pretty good price though.

I have a Polytech.  Headspace was excessive.  It would close on a field reject gauge.  I bought a brand new TRW M-14 parts kit from Orion 7 and stirpped the forged receiver and built a brand new rifle out of it.  Milspec forged receiver, USGI TRW parts.  All for just under $1000.  

Read the Fulton armory FAQ on them.  It is very accurate.  Many Chinese M-14s will headspace fine, and as long as that's the case, they work well.  It's just with the soft parts, the headspace can go outa whack quick.  I chose to rebuild once the gun became unsafe to shoot.  I am dubious of the various "re-heat treatments" that are available.  Fulton will do a great job, but their price is now something like $950 to put on GI parts, and even then some of the Chinese parts may be OK to use.  I wanted the strongest, closest to milspec rifle I could get, so I built it myself.  It was one of the easiest builds I've done on anything.  The receiver is top quality.

Ross  

As long as you have any M14 system you're way ahead. Good luck with it.

Remember that Shooting Times article a couple of years back where they shot 5000 rounds through both a Springfield M1A and a Polytech M14?

The poly took about 1300-1500 rounds before it stopped working.  The Springfield went the full 5000 rounds without much problem and then they put the Springfield parts into the chinese version and got a couple more hundred rounds out of it before it died permanently.

Any thought I had of buying a Polytech M14 died with that article.

BTW, I think the author was Dick Metcalfe, so buyer beware.

Merlin

I have a Poly Tech M-14, and have never ever had ANY problems with it.  I've put countless rounds through it, and it still checks out good.  I don't know about the dangerous bolt theory, but like I said, no problems with mine.

Why start with a gun that need sa 1000 bucks worth of work.Not all the recievers are safe either.I have personally seen one that would not lock up because of a stretched reciever.Not the bolt the reciever.