Century Arms FAL on Imbel receiver

O

Oleg Volk

Staff Alumnus
I looked at one locally and wonder if it is worth getting. OTOH, it seems to be intact and made of decent parts. OTOH, I do not know what to look for and I hear MUCH about Century guns being near-worthless.

1)Get it or look for another maker?
2)How much trouble would it be to restore bolt hold-open?

------------------
Oleg "peacemonger" Volk

http://dd-b.net/RKBA
 
I bought one of the Century STG-58s back in December and am very happy with it. It seems decently constructed, shoots fine, and was a good deal.

If I didn't live in California, I think I'd now buy an STG-58 parts kit, an Imbel receiver, and some US parts, and build one myself (or maybe have a gunsmith do it). I think this would probably cost a little more (or a lot more, depending on how carefully you shop and who you have build it). I'd probably cut the barrel to 16".

But that would be in addition to my Century rifle. I don't regret buying it at all. I am interested to hear about restoring the bolt hold-open capability. I think Century cuts of the pin that does this (I don't know why). I've been meaning to look into this. But its not a big deal to me.

Doug
 
I had a local gun smith install the bolt hold-open in mine. Cost me less than $30.

The older CAI kits are British L1A1 kits assmelbed on a post-ban style on an Imbel metric receiver. These parts kits were designed for desert use and therefore were not set up to hold the bolt open (this keeps out sand). Also, the bolt has sand cuts which allow the bolt to wrok some sand and grit out of the innards and into the grooves, thus making the gun more reliable in combat situations.

I have found mine to be accurate and easy to shoot,although it is my hope to dro a US parts kit into mine and get it back to pre-ban configuration. CAI picked the ugliest thumbhole stock known to man for their rifles.
 
The Imbel-based Century FALs are mostly good. The quality of the parts on them can vary.. make sure the one you're looking at is acceptible. I'm happy with mine, for the price I paid (high at $780, but it was an impulse purchase).

You won't be able to get Century Intl Arms to admit which parts are US-made, except that "the rifle was shipped in a legal configuration." Keep this in mind if you will be using imported mags (about $10 each).

The rifle might come with documentation which says it's only legal with the included mag --
however, if it doesn't, and you can't tell the origin of the parts in the mag, then things are kind of up in the air.

To avoid this conundrum, just replace an additional two imported parts on "the list" (see http://www.fnfal.com for "the list") with their US-made counterparts. There are several easy ones to choose from: handguards, gas piston, pistol grip. You can get all of these from DSA.

-z
 
You can buy a new bolt hold open device for around $15, depending. DSA has them for $25.

ds45.gif


It's simply a matter of unscrewing and removing the magazine release pivot pin/hold open retainer, dropping the old one out, and slipping the new one in it's place.

You could also try replacing the ground-off pin in the hold open device with another.

I've heard on the falfiles board that Century ground off the pins so that the rifle will function using their US-made followers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top