Century Romanian AES-10B, courtesy of ClassicArms.us

Status
Not open for further replies.
Classic Arms charged me eighteen dollars and some change on both of the last two rifles I ordered from them, shipping from North Carolina to extreme south Louisiana. The first took four days to arrive, the second arrived in two days.
Perhaps there is more to the $60 story...
(just a thought, I mean no disrespect)


Jeffrey
 
Classiarms charges more than they need initially and then they do a refund on that. Shipping has always been around $20 per rifle when I bought from them. They are a reputable website.
 
+1 on Classic Arms. I bought mine from them as well as several other purchases and never had a problem. Ben is a good man to do business with. Like they say, they are small but they try hard. I'll always see if Classic has want I want to buy when I'm shopping. His prices are good and service is excellent.
 
I prefer the carry handle and bipod with full drums.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. The carry handle and bi-pod is part of what this rifle has going for it. I just got my first drum and it seems to fit pretty good. Romanian 75 round version. I hope to give it a try this weekend.

I'm going to spring for some S&B ammo and see if this rifle will shoot any better with it.
 
Yeah, I suspect there's more to the $60 story than that. If the guy was in Alaska and ordered a couple cases of ammo (which have to be shipped seperately from the gun) or something, $60 would probably be about right.
 
I know it's beginning to be a "if you've seen one, you've seen them all" sort of thing, but I figured I post a pic of my new AES-10B cleaned up and with it's freshly refinished furniture:

(so just humor me)

ummS14.gif



Jeffrey
 
The ugly:

I wish someone had warned me about the cleaning kit compartment in the butt! I almost didn't get my thumb back! It took me 5 solid minutes to get my thumb out of there. I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital with an 11 pound rifle dangling from my hand. Not fun. Now I know exactly how a monkey feels when it tries to get a nut inside a box, and can't remove its hand! I wonder how many Soviet conscripts lost fingers, for this very reason?
Click to expand...

lmfao....i imagine the faces of the people as you walk into the ER with the rifle hanging from your hand hehehe... funny stuff bro, be careful next time
 
chrilledcheese,

You dirty...That is a beautiful RPK! I'm thinking I'm going to just buy a Yugo M72, then get a standard AK carbine later.

Originally posted by Prince Yamato:
Oh really? Because Century assembles ARs from Colt surplus parts now. :D
Click to expand...
Yep. It's only a matter of time before we start hearing of canted FSB's and sloppy magwells on an AR-15! :uhoh: :scrutiny:
 
Finally got to shoot mine today. Just got back from the range. My first 40 round mag full grouped about 3" at 25 yards with iron sights, high and to the left (though the height was probably because I was using a "navy" hold). Needed to move the rear sight about 1 and a half marks. I dunno if those are millimeters or what. I'll need to drift the front sight eventually.

After getting it sighted in and getting used to it, I managed to put 30 rounds in about a 2" or so pattern at 25 yards, and a pretty good number were clustered in the middle 1". Considering that I'm a terrible shot and was using Wolf ammo, that's not too bad. I bet the rifle could do better, with better ammo and a more skilled shooter. Shooting into a headwind didn't help either. After every shot, a bunch of powder gasses would come out the vents and blow into my face. My eyes were watering like crazy!
 
Just like RyanM, it has taken me a while to finally try out my AES-10B at the range, but it was worth the wait.
We ran about 150 rounds of Wolf and some old Chinese manufacture ammo through it yesterday using four different surplus steel mags (one 40, three 30 rounders) without ANY malfunctions of any kind. A quick drift of the front sight and I was getting 10 shot groups at 50 yards that were all in a box about 1-1/2 wide by 3-1/2 high.
I have no idea how accurate these types of rifles are supposed to be, but for a $400 Kalashnikov, I'm more than happy with the results.


Jeffrey
 
Got mine at the New Orleans gun show a week ago for $395 plus tax. Being able to hand-select for that price was well worth it, though the ones I saw were in fine shape all the same.

Mine's metamorphosing into a Tabuk clone.

Ash
 
Glad to see this thread come to the top. My AES-10B has been awesome and pretty unbeatable as far as value. As I pointed out in another thread, I measured the receiver thickness and it really is 1.5mm. This should put to rest the internet speculation that the receivers are the same 1.0mm thickness as the WASR rifles.
 
Went shooting today again. Fortunately, I shot the AES-10B before shooting my new Serbu Super Shorty. I don't think my right hand is going to be good for much for the next few days. Anyway, I confirmed my suspicions that the rifle is quite accurate, and I'm just a crap shot.

attachment.php


Here's my best group of the day. 25 yards, iron sights. 1 inch center to center, 5 shot group. Get rid of the flier, and it's 0.48". Put better ammo in the rifle and a better shooter behind it, and I have no doubt that it's capable of <1.5 MOA.

Very happy with this rifle.
 

Attachments

  • RPK target.jpg
    RPK target.jpg
    32.1 KB · Views: 378
My new AES-10B from Classic Arms

I'm new to the board/group-here is my AES story

I picked up my AES10-B Thursday (2 days ago), which I had ordered from Classic Arms. They shipped very quickly-however my transfer FFL didn't call when it came in. I took the rifle to the range yesterday. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly:

First the bad:
-The rifle had unfinished furniture. It was sanded smoother than an AES-10B I saw at the gun show in St. Louis last weekend(and mine was $130 cheaper). I think it would clean up quite nice with very little work(I'm a woodworker).
-My rifle was filled with metal shavings too. It looked like that it wasn't cleaned after the mag hole/well was milled out. I cleaned it out and greased the bolt.
-I noticed the bolt was sliding against the receiver cover-I called Classic and they said shoot it a while and see how it loosens up.
-the trigger slap hurts-the disconnector looks like it was cut down like on the web site http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/slapfix.htm
Now the ugly:
-I could only get 1 bullet in the 40 round (new) magazine. The front of the mag looked like it was too short. The 30 round mag was fine
-When I went to chamber a round(I wasn't letting the bolt fly, so full force wasn't applied), the bolt didn't close all the way-it was a half inch shy of closing. I ejected that round and tried another-it stuck. The kid at the range came by and I asked for a rubber hammer-he said bump the bolt on the wood table which worked. I tried again letting the bolt fly and I finally loaded a round-after firing a few rounds things seemed to work OK. A couple of times when I first chambered a round in later sessions, I could tell the bolt was back a quarter inch and pushed it forward and then had no problems when the rifled cycled itself after firing. Anyone know what's happening here?
-HERE IS THE REAL UGLY: when I got home and started cleaning the rifle-I noticed the bolt carrier had a half inch long crack where the gas piston screws in. I will be calling Classic Monday-may even fax them now.
The GOOD:
In my first session at the range, my first group at 25 yards was about 2 inches across. The second set was an inch and a half across. And the third group was just barely bigger than a quarter. At 50 yards the groups were about 3 to 4 inches across

OVERALL: I will have to wait and see how the cracked bolt carrier is resolved for a final opinion. I want the rifle-I think it has great potential. I think with practice and a new pair of prescription glasses, I could have a very accurate rifle. I've shot AK's(well WASR10, I have two) and an SKS rifle numerous times, but I never put together a near quarter sized group right out of the box.

Any thoughts on my cracked bold carrier? Will Classic send me to Century? I noticed that right after I purchased my AES, Classic took them off their website-might have been the last one.
Grady
 
I got one from classicarms too. Actually, I got 2, the first one had a floppy mag well and canted FSB. Classicarms sent me a UPS tag to return it to them. When they got it back they offered to refund me or send me a new one. I decided to spin the wheel again.

I got a local shop to parkerize it and replace the PKM bipod with a RPK bipod. I refinished the wood with tung oil.

It's a solid shooter, I get a pretty regular 4MOA groups with it with either Golden Tiger or Yugo M67 ball. No malfunctions and Hungarian 30 round mags and Russian 40 rounds mags fit excellently now.

All in all, I'm glad I got it. BSW

IMG_1280.jpg

IMG_1281.jpg

IMG_1289.jpg

IMG_1286.jpg

IMG_1287.jpg
 
-When I went to chamber a round(I wasn't letting the bolt fly, so full force wasn't applied), the bolt didn't close all the way-it was a half inch shy of closing. I ejected that round and tried another-it stuck. The kid at the range came by and I asked for a rubber hammer-he said bump the bolt on the wood table which worked. I tried again letting the bolt fly and I finally loaded a round-after firing a few rounds things seemed to work OK. A couple of times when I first chambered a round in later sessions, I could tell the bolt was back a quarter inch and pushed it forward and then had no problems when the rifled cycled itself after firing. Anyone know what's happening here?
Click to expand...

The AK platform uses a "push feed" as opposed to a "controlled feed" (sometimes called a Mauser feed). The round pops out of the magazine, is pushed forward to the chamber by the bolt, then the extractor snaps over the rim of the cartridge. With a controlled feed, the round slides up out of the magazine and immediately slips under the extractor, from below. Most autopistols use a controlled feed.

The resistance at the end is the extractor running into the back of the cartridge. AKs aren't designed to be babied. Pull the bolt back the whole way, and release as sharply as you can.

The cracked bolt carrier sucks, though, but I bet Classicarms will make it right.

Also, Brian, where'd you get an actual RPK bipod? I've been scouring the internet for one.
 
cracked bolt carrier udate

I called Classic. The offered several options(possible repair/replacement/refund)-and another option being calling Century. They gave me the name of a contact person at Century. Century sent UPS out with a pre-addressed return label so I could return the rifle for replacement/repair.

At this point I can't complain about either Classic or Century.
Grady
 
If you don't me asking, what finish did you use for this? This as close to the look I'm aiming for with my WASR as I've seen yet. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Tung oil with steel wool between coats. 5 or 6 coats if I remember right. BSW
 
I wish someone had warned me about the cleaning kit compartment in the butt! I almost didn't get my thumb back! It took me 5 solid minutes to get my thumb out of there.
Click to expand...



Sounds painful; don't ever stick your thumb in your butt.:evil:
 
So I was looking at one of these, inside and out, and the gas tube on the one I saw was badly corroded, with rust in many areas and flaking paint. It also looked like there was some crystalline stuff inside it, which might have been salt (from corrosive ammo?). The rest of the gun and parts looked basically new, and the barrel looked pretty clean. Has anyone else seen this? I'm speculating that maybe the Cugir factory test-fires the guns and uses corrosive ammo when doing so? Or are these made up from aged parts kits despite at least one company describing them as new/like-new condition?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
  • Locked
Which fore-ends for RPK (AES-10B)?
Replies
4
Views
540
Ash
A
C
  • Locked
AES-10b
Replies
0
Views
503
coondawg47
C
S
  • Locked
Just measured my AES-10B receiver thickness . . .
Replies
0
Views
307
Shear_stress
S
B
  • Locked
Refinished AES-10B (RPK clone)
Replies
2
Views
365
Jeremy2171
Jeremy2171
B
  • Locked
Century Arms AK Questions
Replies
12
Views
939
Sarge111
S
Back
Top