Asking for help and not trying to sell anything.

[RED]

I am rewriting my will. I own a Poly Tech M-1A I bought it at an auction in 2005 for $500. I shot it and found no problems. It was as accurate as any issue rifles but I kept hearing that Chinese built rifles had soft bolts and could blow up. I talked to my gunsmith and he turned me to a 100% Vietnam disabled USMC armorer. (He lost both legs under the knees).

With his help we got a Winchester bolt. He headspaced the bolt, and I managed to buy a Sadlak titanium scope Mount that is dated 2007. I also found a Tasco Super Sniper scope and two serialized rings.

I also purchased a Big Red birch stock and the rifle was glassed in to the stock.

This rifle has been sitting in a gun safe and hasn?t been fired since 2011.

Is this rifle anything special or a piece of Chinese junk?

[Allen]

People don't like to admit it but from all that I've read they're good guns less the soft bolts. There seems to be more about them that people don't know than do know. I remember when Smith used to criticize them and recommended that owners send their rifles to THEM to harden the bolts and the receivers. Years later it was found that the receivers are forged just like the GI makes and further heat treating was not needed.

I have a couple of them--I've never shot them. Visually the workmanship is as good as the American versions (not so on the Norinco's though) and again, what I read was that Winchester sold the tooling for the M14 to China after the U.S. contracts expired.

The first M1A versions made by Springfield Inc used many USGI parts. After the parts dried up they either made or resourced the parts. These newer parts are not marked as per manf and some suggest they are Polytech.

I've read where some owners have rebarreled them so I assume the threads are the same. Per some of the goofy U.S. gun laws, at one point Poly was tack welding fake flash hiders and flash hiders with no bayo lugs to the castle nuts so they couldn't be removed. Sometimes the welds can be ground away and the castle nut freed up, other times the weld goes into the knurling and looks bad. This was the case on one of mine. I bought a new GI castle nut but the threads on that end of the barrel were metric so I had to get one from a Polytech/Norinco make. Other than this I'm not aware of any other metric BS.

What I read about the soft bolts is they shoot well but eventually the locking lugs wear too much.

Importation of Chinese guns was outlawed back when clinton was in office. Ironically everything else coming from China was just fine "bring it on--put our people out of work". I forgot what I paid for mine but it was about double and a couple of years later than yours.

They continue to become less common and rise in value. At time of writing I see none on GB for sale.

[lyman]

they made a good gun and some did have soft bolts,

some also looked better than others, fit and finish wise,
and some had stocks that were made from that funky wood used on SKS rifles,


overall, once you get past the gunshow guru's, most spectacular gunsmiths, and all the other folks repeating the same wifes tails over and over, they are decent rifles,

have been told some were used to DMR or Match rifle builds, but never saw one,


I did buy and sell one maybe 6 months ago, paid $700 for it, and sold it for $1K, just like it came off the boat, no flash hider or lug, otherwise a standard rifle,


I've not looked lately on GBroker (completed auctions, not what people are asking) to see where they are now, price wise, but don't think they will ever be worth more than a similar model or style made by Springfield,


hopefully Nf1e will comment, he knows his way around a M14

[Major Tom]

BTW, the first M1A rifles were made in Devine, TX and were just like an original M14 minus the selector switch. I owned one of those and paid $200+ back in the 70;s. It came with 200 surplus military rounds and 2 magazines. Those rifles are very expensive now, wish I had kept it!

[nf1e]

Handled a ton of Poly and Norks over the years. They were good to go. Problem was some characters trying to make a buck on their " conversions" which didn't amount to a hill of beans. Made a good story and passed on be many.
I have one left in the herd that was set us as a NM with a SAKA/Lowell barrel and worked out well. Both Polytech and Norinco M14 receivers are as close to USGI as any you will find.

[BlitzKrieg]

Off azimuth but background info. At the time all the crying and moaning about Poly/Norinco M1A clones, the same emotionalism drumbeat of Norinco 1911a1 was going on full throttle. It did not take but a few months for enough of those 1911's to be bought and used before it was acknowledged they were made extremely well , many using them of IPSC and other custom competition pistols. They were made of Milled steel parts throughout just like in the 1930's at Colt.

In my life time, I've noticed Americans jump negatively on anything not Made In USA. I was one of those right up until I encountered my first AK47 and my Made In USA bubble exploded. Finding out the Chinese made AK47 was not a POS was disturbing reality for my brain housing group which along with my component other parts was located in South Viet Nam. also...their ammo seemed to work too well as well.