jpIII
Member
I just wanted to relate my story about a Century Arms FAL.
After much trial and error I finally fixed all problems with the FAL, and it is running quite smoothly.
Here are my reccomendations. First clear the gun.... duh.
Piston Problems:
1) Clean THOROUGHLY!
2) If you have a 2 piece gas piston (they screw together, you have to look carefully), get RID of it PRONTO!
While both of my pieces individually were straight, when screwed together, they had a noticable cant. If you put it in a drill and spin it you can tell if it's crooked, it'll wobble.
Order a new piston from DSA (you may or may not have to order a us part), or mill your own.
3)place the new piston in the gas tube with out the spring. It should fall all the way through if the action of the gun is open. It should fall all the way through no matter how it is placed with respect to its axis. In otherwords if you put the piston in and spin it around in the gas tube, it shouldn't stick at any point.
If it does stick. You can take a dremel or other rotory grinder and LIGHTLY grind some of the surface off of the outer diameter of the piston.
Feeding Problems:
1) For reliable feeding, I usually test from an open action and only use the bolt release. Don't pull back on the handle and let it go. It gets more momentum that way, and you want to make sure it'll feed from just the magazine catch.
2)Using a dremel angle the faces where you see copper deposits from the rounds hitting.
If you're not sure how to pollish the feeding ramp, find someone who's done it before. It's not difficult, but it is easier to see in person. You don't want to go to far, as you risk making more bad problems for yourself. :banghead:
Ejection Problems:
1) if the FAL doesn't eject empty brass completely, first reread the piston problems. If your piston is freelly moving in and out and rotating in the gas tube, make sure your gas setting is completely closed (meaning on setting 1).
Also make sure you have a REAL tight grip on the gun and that it is firmly in your shoulder.
My last remaining problem was shooting the FAL from an off the shoulder position. I wasn't shooting at a target, as I was just testing the gun for cycling problems. I had the FAL down at my waist, and my arms were absorbing some of the recoil. It would eject the empty almost all of the way. I would usually get a stove pipe type jam.
When I held it firmly, or when I shouldered it I didn't have a single hiccup.
Hope this helps someone with their Century FAL. They can be a PITA, but I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out.
After much trial and error I finally fixed all problems with the FAL, and it is running quite smoothly.
Here are my reccomendations. First clear the gun.... duh.
Piston Problems:
1) Clean THOROUGHLY!
2) If you have a 2 piece gas piston (they screw together, you have to look carefully), get RID of it PRONTO!
While both of my pieces individually were straight, when screwed together, they had a noticable cant. If you put it in a drill and spin it you can tell if it's crooked, it'll wobble.
Order a new piston from DSA (you may or may not have to order a us part), or mill your own.
3)place the new piston in the gas tube with out the spring. It should fall all the way through if the action of the gun is open. It should fall all the way through no matter how it is placed with respect to its axis. In otherwords if you put the piston in and spin it around in the gas tube, it shouldn't stick at any point.
If it does stick. You can take a dremel or other rotory grinder and LIGHTLY grind some of the surface off of the outer diameter of the piston.
Feeding Problems:
1) For reliable feeding, I usually test from an open action and only use the bolt release. Don't pull back on the handle and let it go. It gets more momentum that way, and you want to make sure it'll feed from just the magazine catch.
2)Using a dremel angle the faces where you see copper deposits from the rounds hitting.
If you're not sure how to pollish the feeding ramp, find someone who's done it before. It's not difficult, but it is easier to see in person. You don't want to go to far, as you risk making more bad problems for yourself. :banghead:
Ejection Problems:
1) if the FAL doesn't eject empty brass completely, first reread the piston problems. If your piston is freelly moving in and out and rotating in the gas tube, make sure your gas setting is completely closed (meaning on setting 1).
Also make sure you have a REAL tight grip on the gun and that it is firmly in your shoulder.
My last remaining problem was shooting the FAL from an off the shoulder position. I wasn't shooting at a target, as I was just testing the gun for cycling problems. I had the FAL down at my waist, and my arms were absorbing some of the recoil. It would eject the empty almost all of the way. I would usually get a stove pipe type jam.
When I held it firmly, or when I shouldered it I didn't have a single hiccup.
Hope this helps someone with their Century FAL. They can be a PITA, but I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out.
