Gaspipe
January 30, 2001, 10:52
I have had a few request for this, so here goes. I got mine from AIM a few weeks ago for under $600.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1494288&a=11279936&p=39573339
Nice wood foregrip/handguard and butt, I believe it is poplar. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1494288&a=11279936&p=39573330
Satin black coating over the receiver/sheetmetal. Black plastic handgrip. Parked magazine, bolt, bolt carrier and buttstock ferrule thingy. Overall, it is generally pleasant to look at. Some of the welds on the receiver/sheetmetal are a little goofy, but someone at least took time to try to dress them out. The receiver is cast and stamped CENTURY and is rumored to be stainless, cast from an ex-Special Weapons mold. Overall, mine appears to be pretty good. The rear sight is this goofy, rotating thing with an open battle site, then three peeps (2,3,4 - in hundreds of yards/meters I suppose). Mine had some lateral slop in it, so I used some shims to stabilize it. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1494288&a=11279936&p=39573332
My magazine fit is sloppy and it rattles around. A little strategic application of truck bed liner cured that. Also, my rifle was pretty filthy when I got it, particularly the cocking tube area which was packed in grease, and of course, the chamber had some nitro powder fouling. I am guessing someone returned it and I got it. Also, the muzzle brake appears to have been pinned and welded, but it'd hard to tell because of the coating on the barrel/receiver.
At the Range: This rifle is heavy, but very pointable. It has very, very little recoil, which surprised me due to all the tales of horror I heard about HK91/G3 clones. It is amazingly easy to keep on target when in shoot as fast as ya can mode. As a matter of fact, it 'feels' a lot like my Norinco AK. The POI was about 4" left at 100 yards, which I compensated for with the eccentric design of the front site. It hits dead on at 100 yards and is surprisingly accurate - hitting a 3"x8" steel strip hung vertically round after round.
My IAI M444 will not reliably fire certain milsurp ammo. I put these into the CETME and it ate 'em up. As a matter of fact, it did not jam or misfire once in over 200 rounds of various ammo.
The rifle is very easy to takedown. There are two spring pins just ahead of the butt on the lower receiver. I use a small nylon mallet to drive these out (mine are still pretty stiff) and the whole rifle falls apart. The butt will retain the recoil spring, the bolt and carrier slide right out the back of the receiver and the trigger pack drops out as a unit with the pistol grip. It's not quite as quick as the FAL, but not bad. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that it is a PITA to clean the area around the chamber and the cocking tube.
The trigger pull is like getting dragged down a gravel road on your face. Long, and gritty. I think I can do something about it.
Overall, it isn't, IMO, as refined a weapon as the FAL, and there are certainly far, far less parts available. Mags are expensive (~$30) and not plentiful. Fit and finish is decent, but not like what you'd expect from an FAL. Spend $3-4k for an HK91 and you'll get that fit & finish.
So, for $550 (or thereabouts I think), it gets two thumbs up because it looks OK, works perfect (except for the wiggly mag - which causes no misfeeds, BTW, and the cheesy rear site) and didn't need any real tweaking. Maybe I just got a good one? I'll park it right next to my Norinco AK.
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Gaspipe.....
User of an auto-loading, gas operated battle rifle.
[This message has been edited by Gaspipe (edited January 30, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Gaspipe (edited January 30, 2001).]
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1494288&a=11279936&p=39573339
Nice wood foregrip/handguard and butt, I believe it is poplar. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1494288&a=11279936&p=39573330
Satin black coating over the receiver/sheetmetal. Black plastic handgrip. Parked magazine, bolt, bolt carrier and buttstock ferrule thingy. Overall, it is generally pleasant to look at. Some of the welds on the receiver/sheetmetal are a little goofy, but someone at least took time to try to dress them out. The receiver is cast and stamped CENTURY and is rumored to be stainless, cast from an ex-Special Weapons mold. Overall, mine appears to be pretty good. The rear sight is this goofy, rotating thing with an open battle site, then three peeps (2,3,4 - in hundreds of yards/meters I suppose). Mine had some lateral slop in it, so I used some shims to stabilize it. http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1494288&a=11279936&p=39573332
My magazine fit is sloppy and it rattles around. A little strategic application of truck bed liner cured that. Also, my rifle was pretty filthy when I got it, particularly the cocking tube area which was packed in grease, and of course, the chamber had some nitro powder fouling. I am guessing someone returned it and I got it. Also, the muzzle brake appears to have been pinned and welded, but it'd hard to tell because of the coating on the barrel/receiver.
At the Range: This rifle is heavy, but very pointable. It has very, very little recoil, which surprised me due to all the tales of horror I heard about HK91/G3 clones. It is amazingly easy to keep on target when in shoot as fast as ya can mode. As a matter of fact, it 'feels' a lot like my Norinco AK. The POI was about 4" left at 100 yards, which I compensated for with the eccentric design of the front site. It hits dead on at 100 yards and is surprisingly accurate - hitting a 3"x8" steel strip hung vertically round after round.
My IAI M444 will not reliably fire certain milsurp ammo. I put these into the CETME and it ate 'em up. As a matter of fact, it did not jam or misfire once in over 200 rounds of various ammo.
The rifle is very easy to takedown. There are two spring pins just ahead of the butt on the lower receiver. I use a small nylon mallet to drive these out (mine are still pretty stiff) and the whole rifle falls apart. The butt will retain the recoil spring, the bolt and carrier slide right out the back of the receiver and the trigger pack drops out as a unit with the pistol grip. It's not quite as quick as the FAL, but not bad. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that it is a PITA to clean the area around the chamber and the cocking tube.
The trigger pull is like getting dragged down a gravel road on your face. Long, and gritty. I think I can do something about it.
Overall, it isn't, IMO, as refined a weapon as the FAL, and there are certainly far, far less parts available. Mags are expensive (~$30) and not plentiful. Fit and finish is decent, but not like what you'd expect from an FAL. Spend $3-4k for an HK91 and you'll get that fit & finish.
So, for $550 (or thereabouts I think), it gets two thumbs up because it looks OK, works perfect (except for the wiggly mag - which causes no misfeeds, BTW, and the cheesy rear site) and didn't need any real tweaking. Maybe I just got a good one? I'll park it right next to my Norinco AK.
------------------
Gaspipe.....
User of an auto-loading, gas operated battle rifle.
[This message has been edited by Gaspipe (edited January 30, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Gaspipe (edited January 30, 2001).]