Century horror stories...let's hear em'

K

kristop64089

New member
I'm just curious as to ACTUAL user issues with Century Arms. Tell me what gun/s and what issue/s ?

The reason I ask is, I have had at least 7 guns imported/made be C.A.I., and NONE have been a problem. In fact they all have been the textbook definition of PERFECT! 2 happen to be the purported "nightmares" 1, a CETME, that had perfect specs, and 2, an R1a1 FAL, that is almost(if not completely) built from British parts. Both are gorgeous, and well built.(as well as ALL of my AK's)

My thought is most of this "trash talk" has its basis in truth, and the rest is perpetuated by internet lore. I know of Noone personally) that has had Century issues. I know problems exist, but I am looking for the extent of actual problems, from this one forum. IF i turn up dry here, I will ask on other forums, I'm just seeing if this rumor holds water.
 
I had a Century "R1A1" sporter.
Essentially a kit built metric with a South African lower & Imbel non-GL reciever.
There were2 problems with it.
First was a frosty patch about 1/3 way down the barrel. (It shot fine, but would grab patches like cats calws.) So I replaced the barrel with a new chrome-lined Imbel.

The second was the infamous Century 2-piece gas piston:barf:
It decided to turn into a corkscrew in the middle of a range day.:eek: After some dismantling needed to get the bloody thing out it was replaced with a TAPCO one & now runs fine.

If you have a Century with a 2-piece gas piston I'd swap it now, before this hapens to you. If it's a one-piece shoot it & have fun.
 
Century AK. Trigger would not reset. Swapped for a new Century that runs great. (Shop had to try 2 more new AKs before finding one that functioned fine, the one that I have).
 
My Century WASR came with a nonfunctioning, rusted, dented mag and the ugliest wood I have ever seen on a rifle (looked like an unfinished rough-sawn fencepost). The mag got chucked, the handguard got a few dozen rubdowns with BLO, the buttstock got replaced, and now it's a decent rifle that doesn't hurt your eyes when you look at it.

It works.
 
I own a CAI L1A1 SLR and the barrel was pretty much shot out when I got it (ordered it sight unseen) so accuracy is so-so and that sucker jams up periodically so you have to "kick start it" by placing the rifle butt on the ground and push the charging handle down with your foot to clear it. I was taught this trick by an ex-Rhodesian soldier who said this was a common problem with this model.
 
1. A century imported Arcus that would not relase the magazine. (returned for refund)

2. Saw ( but did not buy) a GP-1975 ( Century US made Wasr Clone!) that had a cut barrel, but ZERO crown. Guess they figure AK's are inaccurate anyways!

3. Ohio Rapid Fire + Century teamed up to make the "Golani" sporters. Many have soft recievers that strech...goodby headspace. The one I saw at a local shop had very worn out Israeli internal bolt head...way too expensive as well.

Just a sampling.
 
i have a mosin nagant m-44 hungarian,made in 1953.. all numbers matched,stock was in excellent shape,is a very nice representative of the hungarian models.. very nice Century import
 
Century CETME, Century Yugo

Probably the worst example of a firearm I ever owned. The sights could not be regulated.

Sent it back. They returned it. Said it was fixed.

Sights could not be regulated. Sent it back.

They returned it. Said it was fixed.

Sent it back. Asked for refund. Finally received money back, but nothing for the wasted shipping.

Century Yugo M70. Shot very well. Gas block horribly pitted, I'm surprised it held enough gas to cycle the action. Just couldn't get that gas block clean. Sold it.
 
I have one of the older century CETME's. It is a combination of the magwell being out of spec and the mag catch being installed too low. The magazine is able to tilt back and forth a good bit in the magwell which leads to the bolt not stripping the next round off a good bit. Basically I've relegated it to safe queen duty because anything I tried wouldn't fix it.
 
I would like to add that:
- I believe I am an exception to the norm. I have only bought one of my CAI new, so it's very possible, previous owners have had issues, but worked out the bugs.
- I don't doubt any of the issues exist, I am just on a Fact finding mission. Trying to weed out the "mee too's" from actual issues.
 
Lets see...how many guns do I have from CAI?
AK's, SKS's, a FAL, a CETME. Wait the many Mil Surplus are also from CAI. I have found they take a little smithing and clean up. I have learned a lot about how to's by getting CAI inexpensive firearms.
Thank god they exist.
 
"kick start it" by placing the rifle butt on the ground and push the charging handle down with your foot to clear it.
Click to expand...
That's not unique to Century builds, it's all FALs specially if you mis-set the gas regulation. It's called a "POGO" btw.
A MUCH safer way is to grab the charging handle firmly, pull back (it won't move), & while maintaining tension on the handle bang the stock sharply down. The jolt will jerk the jammed case free without putting your body in front of the muzzle.
 
Had a SAR-1 w/o problems

Had a RPK with a bur in the barrel, shot fine but I couldn't get a patch through it.

Got another SAR-1 w/o problems (has some of the nicest wood I've seen on a AK)

Mauser K98 Russian capture gun. No complaints.

Horror stories? I bolt out of bed at night in a cold sweat thinking about how I could have bought a car load of those SAR-1s for $300 a piece back in the day and sold them for $600+ now.
 
1. A century imported Arcus that would not relase the magazine. (returned for refund)
Click to expand...

I had an Arcus-94. It gave me issues at first with Mec-Gar 13 rounders until I loosened the grip screw just a little bit, then it worked great from there on out.
 
Does anyone here know if the angry beavers at Century have finally started making Tantals with the properly sized barrels?Quite a few got out with badly oversized bores,amking the usually accurate 5.45 a keyholing disaster.:confused:
I am interested ,since they have allegedly replaced the problem children in the factory with higher functioning ,drunken monkeys;and if the price is right.....:rolleyes:
 
Sar-3

SAR-3 5.56 bakelite mag will not work.Metal 10 round mag works fine.Gas block was tilted to the right , sight was tilted to the left.Would not cycle when I first got the gun,had to polish the hammer and bolt contact area.It's almost shootable after 3 years of fighting with It .Now I'm trying locate 30 mags with no luck in sight.I'm thinking about buying a polish ak-74 folder.
 
i bought a WASR-10 for $330 after taxes 18 months ago and it runs fine. the mag it came with was useless tough, so it now decorates my Bearded Dragons' terrarium.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top