Just wondering, I have a chance to pick one up for fairly cheap. If they are any descent I can use the norinco for plinking and abusing and save the wear on my winchester built M1A.

Thanks guys
P.S., are the stocks interchangeable?

Polytech/Norinco is an excellent rifle,forged receiver,forged one-piece op rod,excellent chrome lined barrel etc.But it does have some issues,some minor some not.Minor issues include,gas lock thread is not the same as G.I.,Gas system not chrome lined,short connector lock pin and rear sights are a crap shoot.Some are fine some are not.The only major issue is that headspace tends to be long and some bolts are soft which can become dangerous.Most people err on the side of caution and have a G.I. bolt fitted.I would the check headspace,if it's ok then record it and recheck every couple of hundred rounds or if there are signs of excessive headspace.When/if it becomes unacceptable then have a G.I. bolt fitted.Any M14/M1a stock will be fine BUT,the connector lock pin on the poly is shorter than G.I..You can either glue in a popsicle stick or some bedding material to keep it captive in case it walks out or replace it with a G.I. pin.The G.I. pin is both longer and about .005 thicker  . Out of curiosity,just how is it you have a Winchester M14? A pre-86 NFA?

Winchester built M1A? I don't think so as Winchester only built M14's. As far as the Norinco goes, if it's a good price, go for it. They have forged receivers and good barrels. Bolt may be crap though.

AIRBORNE!

What MadBodhi said. Excellent summary.

How good IS the price on the thing? I ususally tell people that if they need a USGI bolt conversion, figger another $300 in the cost. Not all the Chinese M14s need this done, just the vast majority of them. You might get lucky.

Well, My Winchester "M1A" that I have at he family farm in New Brunswick was an M-14 brought in from isreal, they were about $250 canadian in the early 80's when Dad bought it. She's pristine and needless to say I don't want to shoot her if I don't have to, hence the polytech/norinco I'm thi9nking of buying. I'm thinking of picking her up for $350 canadian.

Quoted: Well, My Winchester "M1A" that I have at he family farm in New Brunswick was an M-14 brought in from isreal, they were about $250 canadian in the early 80's when Dad bought it. She's pristine and needless to say I don't want to shoot her if I don't have to, hence the polytech/norinco I'm thi9nking of buying. I'm thinking of picking her up for $350 canadian.

So is it an NFA M14 or one of the Springfield Armory Inc. receivers built up with former Israeli issue parts? Either way, sounds like an awesome rifle. Want to double your money either way? If it's NFA registered, I'll give you 20X your money back.

AIRBORNE!

His Winchester M14 is in New Brunswick, Canada.  

I have one and love it.  It has all USGI parts now.

Max

Rabid, if the Norinco M14 you want to buy is one of the new ones being sold by Marstar in Canada, it should be a good rifle. Supposedly the bolt/headspace problems were solved on those and they are good to go out of the box. They are a SCREAMING deal--get two at least while you still can!

OOPS, just noticed you're in ME, USA. If you're in US, no way to legally bring it into the country. If you're a visiting Canadian, go home and buy the thing.

If the gun you want is in the US and is NOT one of the new Marstar ones, $350 is still a great price for it. Add the GI bolt conversion and a couple surplus GI stocks and you've still got a screamin' deal there.

Max, any details on fit/finish and the parts installation particulars? thanks.

P.S. that's why I love having dual citizenship. My winchester is an actual M14, with the firecontrol parts removed and the bolt machined so that it can't trip the auto sear if there was one installed, came that way from the distributor.
E.T.ADAMMIT! MArstar is all sold out now but they are supposed to get more in stock, I'll have to wait for awhile. As much as it pains me to have a chinese copy I  surprisingly want one awful bad!

Lee Emerson wrote a book about M14s that details real well how to find good Chicom M14s.

You can easily find good Chicoms in the hands of people that don;t know what they have sometimes.

You DO have to know what to look for, and his book is the best way to learn about this. He goes by the handle "Different", and will ship a copy to you cheap.

I've bought several using his info and have never been disappointed.

Good luck..

Quoted: Lee Emerson wrote a book about M14s that details real well how to find good Chicom M14s. You can easily find good Chicoms in the hands of people that don;t know what they have sometimes. You DO have to know what to look for, and his book is the best way to learn about this. He goes by the handle "Different", and will ship a copy to you cheap. I've bought several using his info and have never been disappointed. Good luck..

Great Book!
Great information!

I've applied this information to my MOUT rifle that's currently being built on a Norinco receiver.