Armscorp M14...Any Good?

[K. Funk]

I picked this gal up at auction. S/N has it at around 1989 mfg. Are they worth any more or less than an M1-A?

Tasco scope. I stuck on a Fulton Armory selector switch hole filler.

Thanks,

krf

 

[84SS]

I don't know that Armscorp made complete rifles. I bought a bare receiver for a build that Roland Beaver at Old Corps Weaponry did for me 20 plus years ago. He checked it over and said it was gtg. It became an m25 . I vaguely remember the shotgun news ads. They may have offered a barreled receiver. Definitely better than the federal ordnance receivers. I think there were some qc or dimension issues with some receivers they made. Been happy with mine. Maybe Art B has some better insight.

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

Check the rifle out, you may find it has all USGI parts. If they did manufacture complete rifles they only made the receiver themselves. Armscorp was a big player in the M1A world back when Springfield Armory was just getting untracked. I have never heard of issues with the receivers, you just need to check the build. There was a guy from MD who used to do all the shows in the SEPA area who was either from or was Armscorp. He had wooden boxes full of M14 parts covering multiple tables, I used to wonder who was humping the stuff in and out of his shop and the shows. His wife was Asian if I recall...maybe this rings a bell with someone here?

 

[Jarhead504]

Check the rifle out, you may find it has all USGI parts. If they did manufacture complete rifles they only made the receiver themselves. Armscorp was a big player in the M1A world back when Springfield Armory was just getting untracked. I have never heard of issues with the receivers, you just need to check the build. There was a guy from MD who used to do all the shows in the SEPA area who was either from or was Armscorp. He had wooden boxes full of M14 parts covering multiple tables, I used to wonder who was humping the stuff in and out of his shop and the shows. His wife was Asian if I recall...maybe this rings a bell with someone here?

The dude with all the M-14 parts and the Asian wife was Jack Freese, owner or co-owner of Armscorp back in the '80's and '90's. I met both of them more than once at different shows.

Jarhead

 

[Jarhead504]

IIRC, "THE" issue with EARLY Armscorp receivers was Improper Machining in the breech area whereby they would cut just a simple arc instead of a Helix ; an "arc" with a DECREASING RADIUS; the design of which TIGHTENS the bolt as it goes into battery; similar to a "cam", if you will allow me. The result was gunsmiths could not properly headspace, (IIRC) or even headspace the receiver at all. This was "supposedly" a problem with the VERY EARLY batch(es). At what serial number this problem no longer occurred should be verified be M-14 experts like HAWK or others over on the M-14 Forum an Batlle Rifles .comish.

The Armscorp I have is in the #3200 range or so and it does NOT have that problem. It was put together in 1990 with TRW parts and works very well, as far as I can tell.

Jarhead

 

[mpddoug162]

From back in the day when they would set up shop on commercial row at Camp Perry during the National matches.

 

[TenTea]

Assembled an all TRW on an Armscorp receiver in the late nineties and dropped it in a USGI synthetic stock assembly.
It was fantastic, broken in on the firing line at KCR, and kind of regret selling it.

 

[W.E.G.]

Make sure the elevation knob has complete, and consistent, engagement 360 degrees of rotation.

My nephew had an Armscorp receiver which was way off in that feature. The receiver was purchased as a new, un-built, receiver on commercial row at Camp Perry in mid-90’s. Flaw was not noticed until the receiver was built into a full rifle. Jack refused to make the matter right.

The Asian gal went to work for Fulton Armory on commercial row at Camp Perry after Jack’s death. I bought a set of Israeli FAL handguards from her at a hole in the wall gun show at a small VFW hall in Virginia. Cheerless personality. She does seem to know her ware’s.

 

[Jarhead504]

Make sure the elevation knob has complete, and consistent, engagement 360 degrees of rotation.

My nephew had an Armscorp receiver which was way off in that feature. The receiver was purchased as a new, un-built, receiver on commercial row at Camp Perry in mid-90’s. Flaw was not noticed until the receiver was built into a full rifle. Jack refused to make the matter right.

The Asian gal went to work for Fulton Armory on commercial row at Camp Perry after Jack’s death. I bought a set of Israeli FAL handguards from her at a hole in the wall gun show at a small VFW hall in Virginia. Cheerless personality. She does seem to know her ware’s.

That is ANOTHER problem with the infamous Armscoro "machining". The area for the rear sight assembly MAY NOT be machined "square", making it (nearly) impossible to properly install a rear sight assembly WITHOUT getting this area properly machined. ANOTHER freebee from the incorrect machining is UNEQUAL LENGTH of the legs that hold the trigger housing and seat into the stock. These ALSO have to be properly machined to be able to assemble the receiver into a safe, functioning, reliable and hopefully "accurate" M-14 clone. There are more problems but I digress for fear of causing more stress among my M-14 Cult brethren.

When I stumbled into the lust for M-14 clones back in the '70's, I had the heaven-sent fortune of knowing a Master Machinist who also was a Master Gunsmith. Without him, my M-14 clones would be in someone else's possession, most likely as paper weights or with the firing pin and extractors removed, the front ends painted orange and letting the kids play with them. Or, maybe as lamp stands.

Getting the early M-14 receivers made into safe, reliable, functioning and accurate rifles required experience, talent, tools, abundant spare parts and patience on the gunsmith's part and money, patience, energy, money, time and money on the future M-14 clone owner's part. This was before our grander times of LRB , SMITH ENTERPRISES, FULTON and GWLA (spelling?) receivers. I've read BULA and the guys from Cleveland ( 7.62 ARMS?) that were pre-BULA (that later moved to Florida??) had receivers that gave the assemblers headaches. Then there was the danger of getting into trouble with the gummit with the USGI receivers that were cut in half and then later welded back together. Even now, if you have a quality receiver, you still need expertise in hand-fitting and spare parts to get ALL the rifle to function correctly as a whole.

There are plenty reasons why the AR-10 Coven has a vast following that emerged at record rate, especially when compared to the M-14 Cult. I tell yall, I've paid my dues mistakenly falling in love with the M-14. I give up on FALs, and now, these AR-10's are pushing their luck. I'm ready to sell them all, like Gun Plumber did, and just get a SCAR-17S. To me, that is one of the smartest moves I have read on FALFILES.

Jarhead

 

[kar66]

I bought a Armscorps receiver from Sarco in the 90s. A gunsmith friend of mine and I assembled it with all US GI parts it went together with out any problems. At the time there were no other receivers on the market and my ffl kept wanting to cancel the order because it took several months to get it. Another friend bought one of the Chinese M14 and just used the receiver and US GI parts to build his