Federal Ordanance M 14

[Bronco45]

My gun trading partner called me on Friday and said he had traded into an M 14 rebuilt by an outfit called Federal Ordanance. It has a Fiberglass stock and appears to be an arsenel refurbish.

Anyone have any experience with this organization or the weapons they offer for sale?

I am limited to Springfield Armory weapons, when it come to this configuration.

 

[30Cal]

Fed Ord built cast commercial M14-clone receivers and used surplus parts for everything else. It's not a GI rifle. The only GI rifles were built by H&R, TRW, Winchester and Springfield Armory (not to be confused with the commercial firm Springfield Armory Inc that later bought the rights to the name and builds the M1A--another commercial clone of the USGI M14). Fed Ords run from decent to notoriously bad.

Ty

 

[critter]

I have one that I have had for a long time. I have had absolutely zero complaints whatsoever. 100% reliable, accurate, etc.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I've worked on one that was just plain terrible. The holes drilled for the rear sight were offset, so you couldn't adjust the sights as you normally would for windage. The gas tube assembly wasn't straight and had to be turned on a lathe so it could be unitized. The barrel was crap but since it was surplus, it may not be Fed Ord's fault (but it was for their failure to inspect prior to installing). Finally, the web of the receiver (or receiver bridge) was not properly casted.

 

[Bronco45]

Thanks for the input. I was afraid that might be the case. I used to purchase long arms for a Sheriffs Office and vaguely remember their flyers, but was about it.

I told my friend just to shoot it and see how it functioned to see if it was a weapon worth having. I didn't mention the info I have rec'd here.

We'll see how it goes.

 

[Pilgrim]

I scrapped a Fed Ord rifle after a safety check by Fulton Armory. The bolt lugs only engaged 50% on one lug, and 30% on the other lug. Clint McKee (Fulton Armory) couldn't guarantee the headspace would be within specs after the bolt set back enough to 100% engagement on both lugs.

Fulton Armory built me a nice rifle on a Springfield Armory receiver after salvaging the parts of the Fed Ord rifle.

Pilgrim

 

[esskay]

This is a fantastic resource on M1A/M14s:
Different's M14 book

Check out the M14 Rifle History and Development link.

 

[Man-O-War]

You can find a lot of information about these rifles in the M1A / M14 forum at http://battlerifles.ambackforum.com/. This question comes up frequently over there.

I had one of these rifles for about 12 or 13 years. It was one of the Fed Ord M14s that was assembled with Chinese parts. I never had a single malfunction with that rifle and it was at least as accurate as the M1A that I replaced it with. I still am not sure I should have sold it.

My advice would be to have the rifle checked out by a competent gunsmith WHO KNOWS M14S! If it were mine, I would send it to Smith Enterprise. If it checks out OK, shoot it and see how it functions. Some of those rifles are good even though most internet "experts" will dismiss them outright even though many of them have never even examined or shot one.

If I remember correctly, there are 2 kinds of Fed Ord rifles. 1 type was built using GI parts, the other type was built using surplus Chinese parts. The main problem with these Chinese parts rifles appears to be soft bolts that will set back over time and cause excessive headspace.

Some of them just have so many dimensional problems with the receivers that they cannot be made safe and this is what you want to find out from someone like Smith Enterprise. I hope your friend's rifle is not one of these.