Re: polytech m14/s any good?

52
durn limey musket! a charleville would be more appropriate. we imported them from france for the revolution, and then copied them.

and an 1816 hall rifle, and an 1855 paper-tape rifle, and and and. no, i think i'm done with the long guns, at least for now. a tavor, i'd consider a tavor :wall:
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

54
Marlene wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2019 3:50 pm Passed on a tape primer a couple months ago. I can’t get in to them.
probably took about 10 seconds into the first rain to convince uncle sam that paper tape capguns were less than ideal. maybe no worse than flint? no, definitely worse. flint will dry out eventually, paper tape turns to mush. i've never seen one up close, so yes, they're interesting. but still a dead end.
i suppose when the issue weapon shoots neutrons or something, all of this will be dead-end technology.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

55
ordered a forster headspace "field" gauge for 7.62 NATO (NOT .308) from brownells tonight. from my reading, all of the polytechs are chambered in 7.62, even though they're stamped .308.
also some springs for one of my pistols (little suckers like to jump away and hide in dark corners) from phoenix arms.
and because my normal range is getting punctilious about rules, a couple of LGC ccenterfire chamber flags. in fact, i ordered all four that we claim to have in stock.
so LGC needs to get another batch made up. i'll use 1, keep 1 for a spare, use the other 2 for recruiting swag.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

59
lurker wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 10:30 pm ordered a forster headspace "field" gauge for 7.62 NATO (NOT .308) from brownells tonight. from my reading, all of the polytechs are chambered in 7.62, even though they're stamped .308.
also some springs for one of my pistols (little suckers like to jump away and hide in dark corners) from phoenix arms.
and because my normal range is getting punctilious about rules, a couple of LGC ccenterfire chamber flags. in fact, i ordered all four that we claim to have in stock.
so LGC needs to get another batch made up. i'll use 1, keep 1 for a spare, use the other 2 for recruiting swag.
Field gauge is a great thing to have. When you get to field, it really doesn't much matter if its .308 or 7.62 because you're measuring the extremes. Still, that's the one I would have bought also.

Sounds like you're "all in" on your Polytech, cool! I think they're one of the best deals going (when you find them) for a 7.62 battle rifle. I'm not much of an M14 fan from a military standpoint. But I LOVE them as a civilian battle rifle because they're just off the charts cool!! And if you treat them right, you'll have a great rifle for a lifetime and probably never run into the issues the military had.

I'm a little envious...I would love to find a good deal on a Polytech in my neck of the woods. Sadly, I've depleted all my gun buying funds for a good long while. Went on a full on binge for 9 months and bought some cool rifles.
“I think there’s a right-wing conspiracy to promote the idea of a left-wing conspiracy”

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

60
i disbelieve. no pics, didn't happen ;)

the "field" gauge is the one that tells you not to shoot the rifle, so that's the one i need if it's to be safe. the internet tells me i'll need to check it periodically, so i figured i might as well just have one on hand.

this is easily as much of a fun learning experience as the AR15 was so long ago, without the "sproing" or the nagging suspicion that the cartridge might be inadequate for zombies. yes, the not-right bits are annoying, but they helped me to lean in and really focus.
i think the m14 was the culmination of the american iteration of the battle rifle, unfortunately for us and for it, the rest of the world had moved on to the assault rifle.
but for me, casual civilian shooter, it's a great rifle in so many ways, with vast potential for growth if i want to go there. i can go (relatively) cheap or i can go expensive, but there's plenty of room to learn. and while it seems everyone has an AK or AR i, yes I have an m14!
maybe one day i'll get bored with it. no time soon.
Last edited by lurker on Wed Sep 04, 2019 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

61
could have sworn i posted this. tracking # says my gauge is here in NC, just the other side of durham! i'm hoping for delivery tomorrow, after it goes right past me to charlotte today.
eta, 9pm: i was correct. it's now in charlotte, likely went right past, a mile away on i-85. still hoping they'll deliver tomorrow.
eta, 3pm fri: field gauge arrived. will update.
eta, 6pm fri: bolt no close, shoot safe to. :cool:
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

62
sorry, this story isn't done. put the rear sight on, much nicer than the WCE which came on the rifle. the serrations on the left (elevation) ear are rough. apparently never intended to function precisely. i notice that fulton armory sells a "fix" which glues on. maybe we'll try that, too.
so i took it to the range, and while the sight is stable now, the rifle is still not right. a usgi battle rifle that shoots sloppy groups under 50 yards is unacceptable. might as well be a smoothbore.
from reading at m14forum(credit where credit is due), one of the easy accuracy fixes is to shim the gas cylinder, which is a plausible solution for poor groups. they have a nice heavily illustrated thread on the process, and several vendors sell shim sets for 10 or 15 dollars. so i'll try that. i want this thing to live up to its potential, not ready to give up.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

63
yes, there's a bit of flop in the gas cylinder relative to the barrel. kind of hard to believe that tiny bit of flop accounts for the amount of inconsistency i'm seeing, but i need to start somewhere, and this fix is cheap or free.

the easiest thing to do is to flip the gas cylinder lock over front-to-aft and see if it fits better turned around. as i got poly, the lock snugs up hand-tight about 8 oclock, 5:00 is recommended, so no bueno.

so, ok, first i gotta get the faux flash-hider off. there's a castellated nut built into it which threads onto the end of the barrel, and special pliers to get it turning. no budge. turns out, there's also a tiny little set screw just below the front of the sight, hex bit, metric but 1/16th works in poly's case, then by alternately turning the nut and tapping the sight base, off comes the sight/hider. now i can get the gas cylinder lock, gas cylinder and front barrel band/ferrule off. start with the lock, flip it, locks up (hand tight) at 6:30, still no good. on to plan b, shims.

while i've got the (faux) flash hider off i'm wondering, apart from the legal complexities (i believe she's fall 93, pre-import ban, correct me if i'm wrong) if there's any actual benefit to replacing the faux hider with an actual flash hider, and maybe a bayonet lug into the bargain for historical correctness? as long as i use the old castellated nut, any old USGI hider should fit.

meanwhile, i'll order up some shims.
LUGO1624.JPG
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

64
i'm seeing some talk about the relative merits of stoner vs garand gas systems. allegedly the stoner direct impingement system has fewer heavy off-center reciprocating parts to upset the barrel harmonics than the garand system, hence inherently more accurate despite the dirt that accumulates on the bolt. whether the garand system was just an interim step we had to go thru to get to the stoner system and is now obsolete i don't know, but it's an interesting argument, likely only relevant to the few who shoot loooong range.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

65
in hopes of firming up and smoothing out the gas system, i've ordered new op rod spring, op rod spring guide and gas cylinder shims from treeline enterprises of colorado. $67.35 shipping included. https://treelinem14.com/main.sc
if this doesn't improve the consistency of the rifle, i'll have to delve deeper, but i'm running low on moving parts to be suspicious of. we're going to skip the flash hider for now.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

66
package has SHIPPED! thank you very much. wait, what's this? why is it coming from sanfran? oh. LGC chamber flags. good. ok, thank you very much. now then, where are my m14 parts from treeline in colorado?
see? i can be patient when i want to be. i just usually don't want to.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

68
that's a great price. by the time i get this thing squared away i'll have more than that in it. i'm close to that now. i don't mind (much) because i'll know way more about the m14 platform than someone who just buys one, but i'd like to get past the point where i'm fixing it and move on to the learning to shoot tiny little groups part. if you see them again at that price, by all means scoop one up.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

70
put the shims, spring and guide rod in, put the whole thing back together. the new spring is about 1/2 inch longer than the old one. if i pick the rifle up and shake it, it's much quieter, less of a rattletrap. this may bode well for accuracy going forward, now i just need a range trip. NC chapter has one scheduled for two weeks from today, not sure i want to wait that long. the "got M14?" sticker went in the trash. meh.

note to self: apexgunparts has stripped bolts, very reasonably priced.

and... viewtopic.php?f=6&t=54574
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

71
figured i'd update.
on the last range trip i tried to sight the rifle in at 25 yards with the iron sights properly centered, and was somewhat successful, the windage seems right. the elevation, not so much, ended up with an inch-wide 4" vertical string.
figuring it was my unfamiliarity with the new rear sight, i put the scope on, foolishly expecting to be able to mount and dismount the scope with little or no adjustment. but i couldn't get it on paper at all at 50 yds. tired and frustrated with the hunting-season crowd and the resulting wait to place and check targets, i resolved to try again after the season end, dec 31.
i have put an actual slotted flashhider with bayonet lug on the rifle. i presently have just over $1100 in the rifle and cooters, arguably should have hunted up one of the $1100 M1As i hear about now and then. but then it's forged, chromed, w-w stock, new rear sight, flashhider, blah blahblah.

it's a learning experience, it's fine, it'll be fine, a little painful thus far but i'm not ready to give up. next range trip is scheduled for 2 weeks. likely have the place to myself unless some other LGCers show up.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

73
i don't believe there's anything inherently wrong with polytechs except maybe the rear sight. i think this one was abused by the previous owner, and my poor attempt at crowning the muzzle probably didn't help. i don't like to sell poorly functioning tools, so i'll keep working at it, and when i finally get it right, i'll have a good rifle and won't want to sell it then, either. so i guess i'm gonna keep it and work on it and shoot it. at this point there are a couple of pluses to this particular rifle - gi stock, new rear sight, shimmed gas cylinder, flashhider w/lug, etc.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], Google [Bot] and 3 guests