Now I know why some people avoid Century

[Babarsac]

From what I've read on some other boards the Century FAL's can be fixed rather easily, and for $600 it's a cheap way to get into a FAL. Even though it's Century for that price it's tempting.

 

[Coal Dragger]

I am far too impatient for that kind of thing. When I buy a firearm I want it to work, and work perfectly. Of course I am also willing to pay $$$ for firearms that work too.

 

[Nuclear]

I briefly owned a Century L1A1. It functioned well, but it had no flash hider (courtesy AWB?), a "Planet of the Apes" style thumbhole stock and a cheap paint job that chipped/peeled/flaked off. I sold it for about what it cost me, so no skin off my nose.

 

[Coal Dragger]

Planet of the Apes stock and "paint" job courtesy of the drunken Orangutans!

 

[Quentin]

I'm 4 out of 4 buying good Centurys. I do look them over though. Sure, there have been little things to fix but no complaints especially when you consider the price.

 

[ol' scratch]

Century Arms sucks. Plain and simple. I see their name on something and I walk away.

 

[Ignition Override]

The many dozens of specific descriptions of complaints a year ago about CETMEs ("G-3s") convinced me to instead acquire a "S.G." M-1 Garand from the CMP.

Without a doubt it's the best gun decision I ever made.
The CMP must be at the opposite end of the quality spectrum.

Apparently Century has little competition for imported kit assemblies?

 

[nalioth]

Apparently Century has little competition for imported kit assemblies?

Depends on the kit being assembled.

Most jobbers won't touch a G3 type build, because it is more man-hour intensive than an AK build (this is why Century grinds up its G3 type builds - to save time and money).

Plenty of folks building AKs from kits, but Century produces them at such volume, those jobbers' products aren't very visible by comparison, it seems.

 

[wideym]

I also see the hit or miss quality of Century guns. I had a Century FAL, briefly thank goodness, that was an absoulute POS, yet the Century AK 74 built on the NODAK reciever turned out to be a awesome gun except for the cheap plastic furniture I replaced with a Kvar set.

I'm still waiting to see one of their C93 and Uzis locally. I, like others I won't buy a Century unseen.

 

[AuthorityDenied]

The CAI WASR-3 was the worst firearm i have ever owned. Constant FTF and FTE issues. I sold it after 2 weeks.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Well I didn't think that they were supposed to be impossible to put back onto the gun. It was tough to take it off, but it was impossible to put back on, even with a rubber mallet...

 

[armoredman]

CETME and WASR 10. CETME was complete junk, WASR required rebuild on the front sight and Red Star trigger group to run right. Both a re looooong gone, replaced with Czech Small Arms vz-58.

 

[rugerdude]

A buddy and I both have Century WASR's and they are fine apart from the fact that the engraving on the receiver looks like it was done by a small child.

Centurys can be good deals, but never EVER buy without seeing it in person.

It is really strange how some can be fine and others crap.

 

[Ignition Override]

wideym:

Your comment about the C 93 reminded me how interesting it might be to own such a rifle, but at the lower price range won't take a chance unless tested in person, and would otherwise never even consider a semi-auto assembled by Century.

The C 93 seems similar or almost identical to what so many military and police forces now use around the world.

The HK ** in 5.56 appears to supplement or replace AKs etc, based on a recent wide variety of news clips from all over the world, i.e. Pakistan, Mexico, in the 80's slung on Polizei in Frankfurt Airport (FRA) etc.

 

[alemonkey]

Virtually ever WASR I've ever looked at has had a canted front sight. I just can't believe it's that hard to get them straight. I guess the monkeys must get crosseyed when they're drunk.

 

[Storm]

I guess the monkeys must get crosseyed when they're drunk.

Yes, and they must be Romanian.

 

[nalioth]

Canted sights are an aesthetics issue until you can't zero the rifle.

They're Kalashnikovs, people, not Purdeys.

 

[CHEVELLE427]

My Century CETME has been one of the good ones...accurate and reliable

NO complaints about mine either.

only thing about mine is it does not like any REMINGTON AMMO none of it.

all my reloads work fine and accurate for what I'm capable of doing.

6in @ 200yd im ok with it.

 

[leadcounsel]

What about Century VZ58s and UC9 Uzi?

 

[Storm]

Canted sights are an aesthetics issue until you can't zero the rifle.

They're Kalashnikovs, people, not Purdeys.

Amen to that!

My buddy was trying to remove the welded nut on the end of the WASR barrel and ended up bending the barrel, and quite a bit. We took the WASR to the smith who tried to straighten it as best he could, but when you looked down the barrel it looked kind of cork-screwed. He had never shot the rifle before and the smith having declared the rifle safe to shoot, and having no idea where the rifle would hit, he shot it. The point of aim was just a tad to the right and she grouped as well as an AK could. An adjustment of the front sight took care of that. It's a blunt instrument.

I shot my WASR GP10/63 last week to test some Hungarian twenty round mags. The sight is slightly canted, the mag wobbles from side-to-side like crazy, and the finish is downright butt ugly. The rifle never misses a beat and is accurate as any other AK. It does what it is supposed to do. Okay, that wobbly mag can be attributed to Century, but a wobbly mag is the norm and in no way affects function, at least with my rifle. It's an AK. Century had little to do with it.

My CETME Sporter has been flawless. I did have an R1A1 with a unibrow that functioned flawlessly until the triggger disconnected. I fixed the trigger and traded it away and replaced it with an Entreprise L1A1. I have no doubt that the R1A1 would have been fine.

You really have to distinguish between what CAI actually does with a weapon (build, modify, or just distribute) and what they do not do. Much of the criticism is justified. Some of it is not.

 

[wriggly]

I also handled one of their Golani's (whatever it's called), and while the gun's finish and fit were mostly excellent, the dust cover was damn near impossible to put on after taking it off... improper sizes.

A big plus one on that. About 6 months back, I was just about to purchase a Golani from a local gun shop. It had passed muster, and I was ready to do the paperwork, and I tried to put the cover back on, and no matter how hard I tried or the guys behind the counter, we could not do it. The gunsmith had to beat on it with a mallet, so I passed.

 

[midtennpawnstar]

All Century guns are tested by their crack QC team.

Hahahahaahah

 

[stevereno1]

I recently traded my old century wasr 10 towards my new m4. I really like the simplicity of the AK platform, but Century has found a way to screw up even that simple, reliable design. I'll never get sucked into a century arms weapon again.

 

[thebaldguy]

I've had good luck. I always give firearms a good inspection before purchase. I have passed on the super giant mag well and canted sight models.

 

[surfinUSA]

My Century Fal is supposed to be the worst of the worst. Its built by century using a hesse FAL-H receiver.

What can I say, I've owned the gun for 10 years and never had a problem. If I knew then what I know now, I might have pissed away alot more money for a DSA that I didn't need.

Not that there is anything wrong with the DSA, but in reality the STG58 is nothing more than a better finished parts gun. The SA 58 on the other hand is all new and I would like to pick up an 18 inch congo version of that rifle.