Henderson Certified Century Golani

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atblis

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Some of you may have seen this thread I started
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=588764

Note that I have a Henderson Certified version and it appears to be one of the later Caspian receivers.

I posted that never having owned a Century made gun (plenty they imported though). Well, I talked my dad into buying a Century Golani, and Century lived up to their trustworthy name (reference to Bluepress article).

Reader's Digest Version: Absolute garbage. Doesn't extract. Doesn't Feed. Hack fix on the stock. Parts kits are thrashed. Copious rust. Not sure what Henderson means by "certified".

First off, the parts kits they are building on are thrashed. The funny part is that they didn't even bother to remove the rust. They parked and then painted to cover stuff up. When you pull stuff apart, there's a ton of rust underneath (springs and pins are covered in it). They also have some rounds on them. The gas piston and bolt have been around the block.
Golani_6.JPG





The wobbly stock thing. They "fixed" it I guess. What seems odd to me is that it doesn't appear the be a wear issue. The stock and hinge as far as I can tell aren't meant to go together. They don't even come close to mating up.
Golani_2.JPG

Golani_3.JPG




Here's a pic of the Caspian receivers that everybody seems to think are better than ORF. Casting flaws? I noticed another spot with similar imperfections, but didn't get pictures of it.
Golani_4.JPG




I can't figure out what the heck is going on here. Somebody took an angle grinder to the flash suppressor?
Golani_5.JPG




So, I am thinking ehh, if it works...should be fun at the range.

Started out with failure to extracts. Extractor ripping off rims. So, come to find out that one of Century's favorite tricks is to park the chamber. Fine, a little 1000 grit on a stick with the old drill.

Okay, so the chamber polishing helped with the extraction. That only served to get it running long enough to find out that it doesn't feed. The bullet tips hits the barrel face. After a little reading on the net, come to find out this another favorite Century trick. Supposedly the bullet guide sits a little low in the receiver. Some have reported fixing by shimming it up a little higher. My suspicion is that the receiver is out of spec. The magazine is located incorrectly relative to the barrel.

So this whole thing has me wondering how the heck is Century still in business? I am amazed they haven't had a gun grenade in somebody's face and then get sued into oblivion. The manner in which the Golanis misfeed is just begging for a bullet setback and a kaboom.
 
Some more pictures for you guys just in case your weren't convinced it's a pile.

Golani2_1.JPG


Golani2_2.JPG


Golani2_3.JPG


Golani2_4.JPG


Golani2_5.JPG


Golani2_6.JPG


Golani2_7.JPG


Golani2_8.JPG





Oh no, what's this? Before it wouldn't even extract. Now... I think I need to polish the front of the chamber a bit more.


Golani_case_1.JPG



No problem.



Golani_case_2.JPG


Golani_case_3.JPG
 
Why would they grind on the flash suppressor? I know what grind marks are, and those are most certainly grind marks. Unfortunately, that is the least of your problems :(
 
Don't worry. That won't happen again (unless it's disgustingly cheap). Check out the link I provided at the beginning of the first post. You'll probably get a chuckle out of it.

You know I might actually have gotten a "decent" one. The barrel seems to be pretty straight in the receiver. Apparently some of them were so crooked there was nothing to be done, and I am not talking about sight cant. Century's fix on one guy's gun was to bend the barrel.
 
I would send that back pronto, Henderson should be ashamed of themselves for letting that one pass muster.
 
Too late. Drilled out the bullet guide rivet. Shimming the guide so it sits higher. Helps a little. I still don't like how the bullet hits the bottom of the barrel before entering the chamber. I've shimmed it as high as I can. If I go higher, the bolt hits it.

At this point I am convinced the receiver is out of spec and it isn't simply where the feed ramp is located. I suspect something's funny about how the bore is located relative to the magazine.
 
I bought a Century Golani from J&G Sales. I made the transaction in person. I was greatly impressed with the build quality of the rifle. I've since had the front handguard removed and replaced it with a rail system, and everything under there is clean. The gun's always run 100%, BUT you need to replace the stock metal mag. The stock ones have been rebuilt with AK springs which have the wrong tilt for a 5.56 round. The Tapco mags are around $14 and work great.
 
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So your going to complain when you can't get it returned?
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I wasn't planning on returning it. I'll consider it a lesson. Learn from other people's mistakes! Repeat after me, Do not buy anything made by Century, Do not buy anything made by Century, Do not buy anything made by Century. Henderson will also not be getting my business.

I kinda suspect I'll end up purchasing a receiver or two from CNC Warrior if the reviews look decent. They're supposed to do another run this fall. I'll use this as more or less a parts kit. If I am lucky, the barrels screws on and headspaces correctly. I really think the problem lies with the receiver and possibly the barrel.

I bought a Century Golani from J&G Sales. I made the transaction in person. I was greatly impressed with the build quality of the rifle. I've since had the front handguard removed and replaced it with a rail system, and everything under there is clean. The gun's always run 100%, BUT you need to replace the stock metal mag. The stock ones have been rebuilt with AK springs which have the wrong tilt for a 5.56 round. The Tapco mags are around $14 and work great.
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The rounds are running along the feed lips of the magazine. When they're part of the way out of the mag, the front is in contact with the feed ramp, and the back is in contact with with mag lip. Mine will actually feed most of the time, it just smashes the crap out of the rounds. I had noticeable bullet setback just from hand-cycling dummy rounds a couple times while testing the feeding (M193 bullets with a very healthy crimp).

Have you pulled some chambered rounds out to see what you're gun is doing to them?

It's not off by much. At this point I am convinced they put the bore axis just a little too high. Both the bolt and feed ramp appear to be the original IMI parts. Unless you grind the bottom feed extension down on the bolt, you can't move the feed ramp up enough. The magazine is sitting more or less flush to the bottom of the bolt guide rails in the receiver.

You're are right about the surplus mags. The surplus mags are a gamble. I bought a bunch of the steel 35s from Midwayusa. Most of them looked okay. I had one that fit nice and tight in the receiver and had very little wobble so I selected it to use. Well, it was tighter because it had been ever so slightly squished into a parallelogram shape. The round off the right side feeds into the right side of the receiver. I'll give a Tapco mag a try. Perhaps the geometry is different.
 
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The problem is that the bolt just runs over the round if the wrong spring is installed.

Actually, on looking at it, I'm almost certain that's not a real Century rifle. The gas piston is wrong, and the fit and finish are light-years away from mine. Mine could pass for a completely new rifle. The flash hider is wrong, too. It looks very close, but the real one has a single solid ring at the rear, not 2 poorly-machined rings. In picture 3, the protrusion between the stock and the mounting block is also wrong. It's oversized. The trigger group is also wrong. Mine used a new Tapco G2 trigger group.

Here's my Century Golani:

GolaniSmall.gif

Everything about this gun is pristine and looks brand new. The only thing I can tell that's seen any use is the stock.
 
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It's a Galil gas piston. In the picture, I was trying to show the erosion.

The flash suppressor I cannot figure out. It looks to be a real Galil one, just that somebody took a grinder to it. Why??? I couldn't tell you.

Pretty sure it's a Century gun. Receiver says Century Arms...
 
If I were to guess, I think the rifle you have is a fake. Too many things don't add up. The flash hider and other components have casting marks that indicate inferior production to both genuine Israeli and US-made reproductions. It looks like a mold was taken from real Galil parts and a poor copy made. Some of the parts are legit. Others aren't.
 
Actually, on looking at it, I'm almost certain that's not a real Century rifle. The gas piston is wrong, and the fit and finish are light-years away from mine. Mine could pass for a completely new rifle. The flash hider is wrong, too. It looks very close, but the real one has a single solid ring at the rear, not 2 poorly-machined rings. In picture 3, the protrusion between the stock and the mounting block is also wrong. It's oversized. The trigger group is also wrong. Mine used a new Tapco G2 trigger group.
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What are you talking about? I didn't provide any pictures of the trigger group.

Trust me, it's a real Century gun.
 
I thought that spring may have been from the trigger group. But yeah. The rifle still seems suspect to me. It's a parts gun, made out of completely junk parts. There's nothing on that rifle that is on par with the equivalent parts on my gun. I really, REALLY don't think Century assembled this. Someone may have taken a Century reject receiver and built a gun on it, but I really doubt it's an actual Century build.
 
One additional thing: you may try getting a new Tapco magazine. Most of the surplus magazines are worn out and, even if they look good, may not feed properly. If the feed lips are bent inwards, this may even cause both the feeding and extraction issues. And if an AK-47 spring is installed instead of a 5.56 spring, the rear of the shell will be improperly supported, resulting in the bolt simply running over the round without stripping it. This could also possibly cause extraction problems if the tip of the bullet catches the retracting bolt.
 
. I really, REALLY don't think Century assembled this. Someone may have taken a Century reject receiver and built a gun on it, but I really doubt it's an actual Century build.
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You must not be familiar with Century's long and illustrious history. They didn't just randomly come by the moniker "The Drunken Monkeys". They earned it. And yes, I was aware of all this prior to this Golani thing. I was hoping I'd beat the odds, but...

FAL
Cetme
C93
Tantal
Golani

etc.

What else am I forgetting?

Trust me, it is a Century gun.
 
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and the fit and finish are light-years away from mine.
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Ditto. Your Golani bears no resemblence to mine in terms of build quality, fit and finish to mine as well as many others that I have seen in person or in photos on the Internet. It's not even close. Regardless of your work on the rifle I would still be having a serious conversation with Henderson. They have some "splaining" to do.
 
I'd definitely send that rifle back. It may be old stock, then. The currently-produced Golani rifles are spectacular, like mine. They've improved dramatically, and there's very, very few surplus parts actually in them. The finish is very durable, not just paint, and they use heavy milled receivers, not bent or cast. It's just a nice rifle all around, and I literally cannot find one flaw with the construction.
 
Nope, serial number indicates it's newer.

The later Centuries are in fact built on a cast receiver. Critical surfaces and the exterior are machined, so most people don't realize it.

I am leaning towards having my dad send it back. Need to bug Henderson.
 
Well I looked on Henderson's website, just to see if they've had problems with people selling fake rifle's under their name but I didn't see anything.

If it's truly one of their rifles, I would contact them and ask how it slipped through. Mistakes are made, no matter how large or small, but if they are a stand up company they should fix it as that is horrific OP.

Good luck
 
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