Century Arms

[YankeeFlyr]

OK, what's the real skinny on Century?

My understanding is that it's hit or miss to get a good gun, receiver wise...still true? I see a lot of WASR-10s around and they seem to be from them.

My only hands-on experience was with an HK-91 clone at an outdoor range in PA several years ago. The rifle was problematic, to say the least.

Any recent experiences? I might have to have me an AK, and I'm not paying big bucks for a "premier" manufacturer; I just want a good, functional unit.

 

[JohnnyK]

go to your LGS and put your hands on it and see if it'll pass your muster... I own 2 CAI products.... a wasr that is ok for a first AK and a Golani that I use for 3-gun competition and is my favorite out of all my rifles...

 

[cyclopsshooter]

The new AKs from Century are A-OK

 

[Auto426]

Century puts together what is probably the most popular AK 47 clone out there on the market, the WASR 10. These are Romanian AK clones that they convert here in the U.S.

Quality isn't Century's most important concern, and many of the that they work on are poorly put together. Common problems with the WASR series AK's are canted front sights and gas blocks, poor finishes on the metal and wood, and poorly cut magazine wells (some are very tight, others extremely loose). They do typically function well, and they are as accurate as your average AK.

I've held a few examples at local gunshows, and I believe that they aren't worth the current prices they are bringing, which is close to (and in some cases over) $500 now. The mag wells looked like they were cut with chisels, and there was no attempt made to refinish the bare metal that was showing from where they opened it up. The wood wasn't even sanded smooth and it lacked any type of decent finish. The parkerizied finishes were rough and uneven.

If I were to go buy an AK right now, which I want to do but am limited by funds, I would purchase a Waffen Werks Bulgarian AK 74 from Atlantic Firearms. If I really wanted a 7.62x39 AK, I'd probably bite the bullet and go for an Arsenal SGL-21.

 

[rocinante]

There are a gazillion threads and soon there will be posts on this thread that all century products come directly from Satan's workshop. I have 2 vz2008, yugo 24/47, fn49 and all have been good rifles. Do your research on the particular rifle you are looking at.

 

[Redlg155]

Angry Beavers with dremels. You can find a good rifle, just don't buy sight unseen. I've owned 2 AKs that worked flawless. The only modification that I had to do was to open the magwell a tiny bit on one. Canted gas blocks can be also a "cosmetic" problem.

 

[TurtlePhish]

I have a Century AK-74 built on a NoDak Spud and it's flawless.

Century has had lots of problems in the past, though.

 

[foghornl]

Century seems to be much better trhan they were, particualrly during the "prime time" of the CETME rifles.

Avoid a Century M1 Garand forgery like you would dodge The Plague. "Run away Forrest, Run Away"

The Century Ak-xx are fairly good. A couple of Shooting Budds have them, and they work like any other brand AK

 

[YankeeFlyr]

Arsenal

Aren't Arsenal receivers refurbed, though?

I want a NEW receiver, US made or otherwise...for what Arsenal charges for a non-precision-manufactured gun, it better be all brand new, delivered to my door on a red carpet by Jennifer Aniston (naked).

It's an AK, not a Sako or PSG-1, for God's sake. I want a new one, but I know they don't cost a lot to produce. I'm not much for getting ripped off.

 

[Auto426]

No, Arsenal's aren't refurbed, they are remanufactured.

For the SGL series of rifles, they take brand new Saiga rifles and convert them back to their full military configuration (minus the full auto capability). Saiga's themselves are commercial sporterized variants of the Ak-74M and AK-100 series rifles. They are made by Izhmash, which is the same government owned arsenal that builds all the AK's for the Russian military. Arsenal uses all new U.S. made parts for the conversions, nothing surplus. I believe the SLR series of rifles are basically the same thing, except the base rifles used for the conversions originate in Bulgaria.

If you take a look through Atlantic Firearms website, you will see that the days of the $350 beater AK are long gone. With most examples going for $600-$700, and being built from surplus parts kits, an Arsenal with all new parts and top quality construction for $850 isn't as crazy as it sounds. Even if you were to take a box stock Saiga and try to convert it yourself, to bring it up to the standards of an Arsenal you would end up spending almost the same amount.

 

[YankeeFlyr]

Remanufactured means many things to many people, depending on the industry and specs...bottom line the receivers are used, no?

 

[Auto426]

Remanufactured means many things to many people, depending on the industry and specs...bottom line the receivers are used, no?

No, they aren't. As I said in my last post:

they take brand new Saiga rifles and convert them back to their full military configuration (minus the full auto capability)

Brand new Saiga's don't have used receivers.

 

[loveluck456]

Good luck!

 

[pat701]

Parts guns, they can be hit or miss on function.

 

[armoredman]

Century contracts out for builds, from what I've been told, so sometimes they get it right. I had a WASR-10 that needed a new trigger pack and the front sight reset to work correctly, and then was unable to hit a man sized target at 100 yards, and I am reasonably confident it wasn't me. Sold. Had a Century CETME, biggest hunk of junk I ever had in my life, quit working after one full magazine. Sold at a loss. Had another WASR-10, years and years prior to the other two, worked fine. Now the vz-2008 builds must be done by somebody good, (the AK is an easy build, so I am told, so almost anyone can do one - the vz-58 is a difficult build, requiring someone with some good know how to do it. ), and many people with the Century vz-2008s seem to be happy with one.
I won't buy another Century made product, with the possible exception of a vz-2008 someday, to compare it with my CzechpointUSA SA vz-58.

 

[TrickyDick]

best bet is to hand pick the rifle you want. I've had good luck with Century, 1 PSL-54C and 2 Yugo M70AB2's

 

[ifit]

yankeeflyr, if you buy the newly imported romy type ak variants built at the cugir factory you should be gtg. on the right side of the reciever should say this. i have 4 cugir built type ak variants with abosolutely no problems at all, its sad that its gettin harder to find them below $500. wonder if this will be it, for the fact have not heard any importation of cugir..PSL/draco/mini draco/RPK aes10b/1063

 

[rbernard]

I had a AK74 with a Nodak Spud receiver from century and had no problems with it. My friend however got the exact same rifle at the same time as me and the front pins in his receiver became dangerously loose after about 800-1000 rounds. His attempts to get any support from century have been awful since its been 2 years since he bought it and they say they will not cover anything.

 

[ByAnyMeans]

I have shot lots of AK's, sure not as many as some here so take my opinion for what you paid for it.


I have a converted Russian Saiga and CAI WASR 10/63. The WASR was purchased in early 2010 and had no issues with mag wobble or canted anything. I have heard the 10/63 is made from Romanian military surplus as opposed to the opened up single stack the WASR 10 is. I do not know if this is true or makes a difference.

They both have several thousand rounds through them without any functioning issues. I am only able to shoot them to two hundred yards but they are both as accurate as the other. I have only had them a few years but it does not seem one has an edge on long term functioning over the other. The Russian does have nicer fit and finish to begin with but the Romanian was in original AK configuration straight from the box.

If I had to do it again and was only going for one AK I would take the Russian for no other reason than to say I have a Russian AK. If I was going to have two or more than a Romainian would be in my safe.

The hour it takes to convert the Saiga (basic conversion) is the same amount of time it takes to strip and redo the Romanian wood and smooth out and re-coat the metal.