Federal ordinance M14

[Brother in Arms]

Allright everyone now I know the terrible reputation that the federal ordinance (fed ord) semi-automatic M14 have. But I want to here the experiences good and bad that people have with them. I know some of the earlier ones where pretty good. But I need to know more. I have the chance to buy one that is a safe queen with all USGI parts. In anycase I need more info no one seems to know anything about them other than they supposedly suck.

Any info would be appreciated. The Rifle in question has a low serial number 4 digits.

Brother in Arms

 

[Pilgrim]

If you can send it off before buying for a tech inspection by someone who knows what they are doing, it will be money well spent.

Pilgrim

 

[Gator]

Well it all depends on the price. With M14 parts kits going for close to, and over $1000, it might be a good buy just for the USGI parts.

 

[Oldtimer]

HMM! Pardon me for being suspicious, but....how do you know that it has "all G.I. parts"? Unless the present owner did all of the swaps, he MAY have been duped into thinking that they're all G.I.

Since that M-14 has been a "safe queen", the question is....why? Something wrong with it?

I used to go to the Fed Ord retail sales store (South El Monte, CA) quite often, and I know how "under-handed" they were! Once, when I was able to go into their "back room", I overheard a conversation between one of their "master" gunsmiths and a front-end clerk. There was a customer who was there to pick up an M-14 that needed some work done on it, and that customer wanted to know if they had test-fired it after the repairs. The gunsmith told the clerk that it hadn't been test-fired, but that it was "okay". Then, the gunsmith reached into a bucket that had .308 brass in it, picked out three shiny casings and handed them to the clerk and said, "Here, show these to him and tell him that we test-fired it!" The clerk did exactly THAT!

Out of the dozen or so Fed Ord M-14SA's that I've looked at, only one of them looked decent. The others had VERY shoddy looking receivers, and looked like pot metal! Terrible machining, often not up to specs, and questionable heat-treating! I'm sure that a FEW of their M-14's were okay, but I'd rather not put my money on something that is extremely questionable.

Fed Ord was supposedly sitting on top of a mountain of lawsuits when they sold out to Briklee, who also went out of business due to liability lawsuits!

 

[Brother in Arms]

WOW
oldtimer that is negligent and outright irresponsable! Totally unacceptable behaivor from a gunsmith.
As far as its parts the seller let me completley dissasemble the rifle and the parts all have G.I factory codes on them.
I may buy it and scrap the reciever. But $1000 is alot of money for me so Ill probably get a springfield.

Thanks
Brother in Arms

 

[Gator]

The seller is asking $1000 for it?

PASS!!!

 

[nbkky71]

I'd have to rate FedOrd's quality on par with the Chinese M14 clones: some are good, some are bad, most need some kind of work done to them to improve reliability.

My first M14-clone was a FedOrd that never ran quite right. I sold it (rather quickly) at a gun show and bought a Springfield M1A instead.

If this rifle truly has all USGI parts, have the seller give you all the markings and drawing numbers on the bolt, barrel, op-rod and trigger group. You can then verify if the parts are truly USGI.

 

[hso]

I picked one up for $750 from a fella. Other than the ate up barrel it's a fine looking weapon with GI parts (I had it stripped and rebuilt with a new barrel).

 

[critter]

I have a Fed Ord-all parts are USGI (other than the receiver). The receiver is not as slick looking as some, but the gun has never burped at all! Clean it, lube it and it WORKS. Accuracy is better than my old eyes can hold it with iron sights even though it is most likely not a target arm. That is not why I got it.

I like mine and will keep it.