are all century guns junk?

[badkarma3370]

my golani sporter is a great rifle. century arms stuff is a crap shoot according to this forum. my local gun store had an hk mp5 clone made by century. is this going to give me problems? or was it just the golani/galil line that was having probs?

also, on a totally side note, what do you guys think of the hk91 clone by cetme?

 

[Timberwolf]

I would be wary of any mp-5 clones, especially from Century. I once had one of those Bobcat mp-5 pistols that had bad extraction problems. I sent it back once,(about 80 bucks, mandatory second day air) got it back, still didn't work, sent the bolt head back about 3 times, the trigger pack once, finally got the bolt head back with a black colored extractor, and it started to work. However, all this frustration took the fun out of it, and I traded it off. My Cetme works great, other people get bad ones. Other peoples WASR .22s work great, mine's a piece of crap. I believe the crap shoot is not limited to only the Golani, and Century Arms are not the only ones that build junk.

 

[Ed24601]

As Timberwolf said, it's a real crap shoot. Some are good, some suk. Sent a Golani back twice, they never got it right. It's getting a makeover now from Tenngalil. Would I buy something else from Century? Nope.:buttkick

 

[Bu2]

I wouldn't go so far as to say everything they produce or sell is junk- it is just on the lower spectrum of quality control with an infamous reputation for not doing things right. They do make products that fill a gap in the firearms industry. By that I mean certain firearms are put out at a more affordable price and people are able to get into things they wouldn't otherwise be able to. I think you have to approach their builds with research and an understanding of what they most likely did wrong, and what it will require to fix it.

With all that said I don't know that I would trust them to build anything more complicated than an AK style action. There is too much attention to detail in roller locked systems like HK stuff and with Century using worn out and abused parts its just not a good combination. I think buyer beware most certainly applies to Century products.

 

[Ric_Knight]

My Golani is a good example. Not perfect, but good. It feeds reliably from plastic mags, is accurate and has positive ejection. I like the gun and enjoy shooting it, but I caution anyone who asks for advice to shoot the gun before they buy.

I am staying away from Century projects in the future.

 

[31dirty]

I don't know that I would trust them to build anything more complicated than an AK style action.

Dead on imo.

 

[dawg180]

Not all Century guns are junk, the problem is not all century guns are GTG, at least not on a scale that is considered acceptable to most the rest of the gun industry. There is a small but very real chance that it may not work out of the box, which is a helluva disappointment when you just dropped some hard earned cash on a gun.

 

[gunner30]

When did Century make an MP 5 clone????

 

[jal777]

When did Century make an MP 5 clone????

+1

 

[TrippHammer]

Century International quit manufacturing their own weapons a few years back.
All of there stuff today is subcontracted.

Some of it is very nicely done.
I can tell you that the UZI's Century has built by Global Machine and Tool are some of the best built UZI receivers currently available in the market.
They rival anything I've seen from McKay lately and are vertually identical to the original IMI Model A.

Century's track record on AK's has been some what disappointing. They have contracted out over 20 different manufactures in the last 5 years alone.
Most go to the lowest bidder, but I've seen some nice examples done early on by the guys at Wiselite Arms. To my knowledge Wiselite hasn't done an AK for Century in over a year & a half.

My advice is to stay away from Golani's period. Why take a chance & pay $700 for a weapon known to be a problematic design?
Then turn around and pay a qualified Galil manufacture an additional $450 to fix it if the thing doesn't run right?

Century's track record at fixing Golani issues is well documented.

 

[nfafan]

You may be thinking of Century's C93 - their HK93 clone.

These rifles started out as Malaysian Army HK33's, cut-up for kits and Century has at least 2, maybe 3, builders slapping them together with RCM barrels and who-knows FCG and trigger housings for 922.

- Parked recvr, S/N on top, crap welds, straight parts - Allied Armamament
- Painted recvr, S/N on top, good welds, crooked parts - Confederated Arms
- A 3rd build has been seen with the S/N on side of magwell??

Mine's an Allied and has all matching original bolt-group, straight sights, good cosmetics, and a rear sight that rotates freely.

But shiite welds. As has been stated; Century contracts to the lowest bidder.

Allied apparently rationed their weld-rods: a lot of us had/have C93s that started out with OUSTANDING bolt gap - and within the first couple hundred rds - the bolt-gap was down to the rebuild-the-gun level because the trunnions were not properly welded into the folded recvr.

Thus; advise you eyeball the gun or buy from a source that takes returns.

The usual C93-noob experience reported is throw-it-down-the-driveway-jams-and-FTEs for the 1st 100 rds, then it settles in and becomes a hoot to shoot.

A keeper considering its an HK kit that I never would have been able to build at home.

 

[DrGolani]

My Golani is quite fine. Not one single problem attributed to CAI.
I also have some surplus pistols I got from them, both quite fine also (PA-93 & GKK40).

I guess I got lucky.

 

[madman201]

I hate to say it, but mine has gone back to the gunsmiths again for failure to eject the case (fires 3 or 4 rounds then jams)... the last time they replaced the ejector now they are looking at my mags but I don’t think that’s the problem.

If its not reliable then its not worth having.

 

[cuate]

I picked up an AK47 a short while back, a Romanian made WASR-10/63 which shoots great, is accurate and has the mount for a scope mount on the l/h side. It says : Imported by CAI. The only criticism I can come up with is that the thread protector on the end of the barrel in front of the sight is welded on and not removable. This may be another idiotic rule of the BATF...I couldn't say.

 

[JohnnyReb]

You may be thinking of Century's C93 - their HK93 clone.

Allied apparently rationed their weld-rods: a lot of us had/have C93s that started out with OUSTANDING bolt gap - and within the first couple hundred rds - the bolt-gap was down to the rebuild-the-gun level because the trunnions were not properly welded into the folded recvr.

nfafan,

all of you comments seemed spot on except this one. I thought the head space issue is caused by a bad fit between barrel, trunnion, and barrel pin. if the barrel and trunnion aren't moving in relation to each other the bolt gap cant change, I don't think it has anything to do the the receiver welds per say.

 

[Tom5390]

The Century clones can be a crap shoot. But then again you are getting a lower tier gun for a reason. Century brings clones to the masses. You save money in the fit and finish and sometimes (a lot of times) tweaking area. I see them as a pre-built kit gun...you finish it and that's what you paid for. As long as you know that going in you can end up with some pretty nice clones for the money in the end.

I'll mention my own experiences with my last 2 Century clones since they are the topic:

C93- When I bought it I ordered some +4 rollers right off the bat knowing that the BG was going to settle. After some settling the first 200+ rounds and adding the +4's the BG has held a steady .011 from 300-500 rounds. Should be good to go now. I refinished it and added a clipped and pinned PG. I've never had hick-up out of it. Great HK clone now, especially for what I have in it.

Golani- I knew I'd most probably be doing some work going into it as well. Jamomatic at first. Jacked up the feed ramp, did some polishing here and there, replaced the extractor and spring with a brand new set for $35 and it now runs 100%. I refinished it as well, added some wood and again for what of have into this pre-built kit gun I can't complain. But then again I knew what I was getting into and don't mind doing the finishing.

 

[hagar]

Just shot my GAL Golani today, was going to try the new Tapco magazine but could not find it. Used a brand new Orlite mag, fits tight, but worked fine, No jams shooting junky reloads. Except for Wolf ripping off the rims, this rifle has not jammed on me at all in close to 500 rounds, all kinds of mags. And the Wolf rips rims off in my 223 Fal, C93 and others. The C93 has been just as reliable, and is incredibly accurate, it will shoot with my NM AR at 200 yards.

 

[galilgunner]

I have purchased a couple of century guns (early 1990's L1A1 and mid 2006 yugo AK) over the years and had good luck with both. I have had no malfunctions of any kind with either one. However the important thing to note is that, I picked each one of them out personally from about 20 other guns. I was able to cull a bunch of guns to get the ones I wanted. Some of the others ranged from just ok to pretty bad.

With Century I would only buy in person or just figure into my plans a trip to a competent gunsmith to get it 100%. If you plan on having to work out some bugs then you can be pleasantly surprised if your cheap investment works out of the box like mine have.

 

[GMAN56]

MY Golani is the best CAI prod I've bought.L1a1 sporter junk sar1 trigger pinhole and hammer became egg shaped.G3 I had to work on it to get to shoot.Oh wasr2 is great.CAI is a crap shoot on quaility.Take your chances you might get lucky.forgot to add my golani is a orf rec milled no problems 2000 rds!

 

[nfafan]

nfafan,

all of you comments seemed spot on except this one. I thought the head space issue is caused by a bad fit between barrel, trunnion, and barrel pin. if the barrel and trunnion aren't moving in relation to each other the bolt gap cant change, I don't think it has anything to do the the receiver welds per say.

It's hard to describe w/out the needed pics, but on mine (and of pics of others of that have been posted on the web) the welds that hold the edges of the trunnion to the "inner rails" are incomplete. They appear to be only spot-welded as opposed to being fully welded.
These "rails" are visible on the exterior of the gun as the channels running along the sides of the rcvr. The same channels that the retractable stock slides in.

The tack-welds are at what should be the closed end of the "rail channel" at the front of the recvr towards the muzzle. These are not fully formed - you can literally peek through the open corners and see the edge of the trunnion inside the recvr. Thus, the trunnion is/was free just enough to "flex" a bit and so lose some bolt gap.

As I think of this - it would be interesting to see what the gap measures with a charged, chambered round (with the safety on of course) as opposed to a cleaned, empty chamber.

Regardless, I have a pair of +2 rollers and +4 rollers on order. I hope I can get my gap up with the +2's alone. I view the +4's as a last resort before ultimately sending the rifle to a swamped HK-smith to have the barrel re-pinned, welds corrected, and refinished.