Century Arms International AK packages?

[RaceBannon]

Any good? I'm looking at the M4 stock variant one.

[CAMPYBOB]

the angry beavers and blind chimpanzees at century offer the american market good bang for the buck. it's, imo, the best bargain in the low-end ak game.

just make damn certain you have a rock solid return policy because they do crank out more than a few pieces of absolute ****.

[harmless]

If possible, handle prior to purchase.

[RaceBannon]

Thank you, I shall not get one there.

[CAMPYBOB]

heheh!

i own many century products, from mil-surp mausers to a g3 clone to their romanian kalashnikovs.

the assembly and rework quality of the kalashnikov clones, maadi, cugir and yugo, varies GREATLY.

the vast majority i rate as a "good deal". most of the production gives you what you paid for or more. i view century ak's as a good starting point. you'll learn a lot as you modify your rifle, improve or upgrade it...or just fixing up the rough edges century has become famous for.

but, like i said...they do kick out some total pieces of trash along the way. bent barrels. crooked sights. tight or loose magazine wells. poor headspace (dangerous!). etc.

it's really best to know your dealer and as harmless stated to be able to visually inspect the prospective piece carefully.

[powerkicker]

I have owned 6 CAI rifles. One SAR3 went back as it was key-holing at 25 yards. One R1A1 required a new fcg to get the trigger to reset.Three SAR's needed a new fcg to get rid of trigger slap. One SAR3 requires a rpk rear sight to get it zeroed. The five that eventually worked were worth the money.

[jefferson101]

It's pretty much "luck of the draw" with those things, that's a fact.

I've got a CAI manufactured FrankenFAL on a Century manufactured receiver. Three digit serial number, as a matter of fact.

It works. It always worked, more or less, but it had some issues.

If you don't mind jacking around with the rifle, and you aren't afraid of tearing it apart and messing with it, you can not only fix most all of them, but you can learn a lot. I know more about the FAL style rifles than I ever expected to learn, and I picked it all up just getting mine into fairly dependable operating condition.

But I don't mind that sort of thing. In fact, I enjoy it. And considering that I got the rifle for $409 OTD, I figure it was worth some messing with.



If you want something that'll work the first time and every time out of the box, Century rifles are probably not your thing. But if you have the time, tools, and patience, they can be almost always be a decent shooter, cheap.

And be it noted that AK's are a lot more forgiving, and more easily fixable, than FAL style rifles are.

For an entry level AK, if you aren't up to building your own, they are probably a fairly safe bet. As others have already noted, buy it from a reputable gun shop, look at it first, and make sure they will take it back if it won't feed from all 4 of the mags you get.



(One or two might be the mag. I've had AK mag issues. Usually springs, but that's another topic. But 4? That'd be the rifle.)