Thread: how to make norinco m305 bit more accurate than stock?

Shim the gas system so that the gas lock indexes at the 5 o'clock position and needs to be tapped to the 6 o'clock position

Knock out the roll pin fixing the op rod guide to the barrel, Get a nail punch and peen the surface of the barrel. The op rod guide should have to be tapped onto that section on the barrel when done. Replace the roll pin with a new, chunky one. The Chinese one will probably be broken.

Replace the stock op rod spring guide with a National Match type - about $40 on Brownells. I think I bought the Badger Ordnance one

You can glass bed the receiver if you can be bothered

Handload your ammo - for accuracy and safeties sake, measure your head space and set your die to bump the shoulder back 2 thou". Always full length size. Use no slower burning powder than IMR 4064. On of mine shot pretty much bang on MOA at 100yds after those mods, with Lapua brass, 43gr 2206H and a Hornady 150gr Interlock seated to mag length

Buy a quality scope mount to save yourself frustration

You will need to try a bunch of different mags - some of them will cause bad flyers on the first or last round, some will cause the rifle to shoot like shit full stop. It is to do with the way the front magazine catch, also the op rod guide, interacts with the magazine, thus effecting the harmonics of the whole rifle.

M1's can be extremely rewarding rifles to play around with - or extremely frustrating. For the latter, I would recommend just getting a .308 bolt gun, you can get Howa's real cheap sometimes, and they have an inexpensive and very good plastic DBM kit available.