86250rrippin 16 Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 was just looking at them. wondered what kind of quality they were . supposed to be 200-600 meter weapons but they are century built. btw search will only allow 4 letters or more ......forum police i tried Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 btw search will only allow 4 letters or more ......forum police i tried Forum software you mean--no humans involved. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
86250rrippin 16 Posted March 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 any members with input on these guns ? kinda like the look of these ........have an ak-74, project ar going on now, may want to try one of these out after ar is finished Quote Link to post Share on other sites
incognito485 26 Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 was just looking at them. wondered what kind of quality they were . supposed to be 200-600 meter weapons but they are century built. btw search will only allow 4 letters or more ......forum police i tried A buddy of mine is an expert in firearms and the history of them as well. He said that century built fn fals are not fully in spec and are not milled. They can have problems with ejecting rounds and feed issues. Thats not to say that it wouldnt be good to go, but its not the quality of an earlier model that springfield armory imported over here years ago. They generally use various parts left over from different guns to make them nowadays. Hence the out of spec parts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YARP 300 Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Skip Century unless you've fired it yourself and have seen the results, century always seems to be a crap shoot on FALs..... I'm a self professed FAL addict, if you have questions throw'em down, I know there's more guys on here with them that could also answer your questions. FYI-if you just want to go pick one up ready to go with out doing a build or sending one off to a gunsmith then go with DSA. There pretty much king of the FAL game for large production. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nlacy 692 Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 I picked one up at a gun show a while back and had it for years. I really didn't like the rear site, but it fired fine and I ran some shitty ammo through it. I did have to replace the rat tail though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RED333 1,025 Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 was just looking at them. wondered what kind of quality they were . supposed to be 200-600 meter weapons but they are century built. btw search will only allow 4 letters or more ......forum police i tried I dont have a input on your question. but on the 4 letter search thing just add a "*" as in "FN**" and it will work, that is "shift 8 ". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Arik 565 Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 (edited) Is this new or old stock? The old ones, during the ban era, tend to be better. They were built on Imbel logo receivers using Brit and Aussie parts kits (some indian ones as well) As a general rule I stay away from most things "MADE BY" Century. AKs being an exception. Even then im a bit skeptical. Besides for the price they are going for you could add another couple hundred and get a good used stg58 or another metric fal Edited March 10, 2012 by Arik 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 Is this new or old stock? The old ones, during the ban era, tend to be better. They were built on Imbel logo receivers using Brit and Aussie parts kits (some indian ones as well) As a general rule I stay away from most things "MADE BY" Century. AKs being an exception. Even then im a bit skeptical. Besides for the price they are going for you could add another couple hundred and get a good used stg58 or another metric fal ^^^^^^^Excellent^^^^^^^^ I have 2 FAL's and love them both. SHTF, their the go to weapon. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 I tried fixing a Century built FAL recently. Best I can say is it functions. Centrury had GLUED the gas tube into the gasblock instead of pining it like it should have been. Come to find out..... there was a reason. The parts used to build it were worn out, and the system is a leaky bastard. Alot of the recievers (non-Imbel marked) have bad feed ramps that were machined to low. The one rifle I worked on had feed ramps that sat below the lip of the inserted mag. Slight feeding issues to say the least. You get what you pay for. In most cases. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
banshee 69 Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 If you want a FAL, check out DS Arms. I have one of their STG58 Austrian FAL Standard Rifles. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mullet Man 2,114 Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=276457198 MAN UP! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ruffian72 548 Posted March 11, 2012 Report Share Posted March 11, 2012 If it's an Imbel reciever Fal, function should be ok. Hesse, hit or miss. (Head Space issue/locking shear/go-no go tolerances). As previous mention, thumb hole ealy run versions were best Century quality wise. Most were never issued matching parts kits mated to Imbel recievers. Near end of run inch and metrics were mixed parts, even some countries took different quality in their builds. And then there is the Israel version. Stopped doing custom builds myself, approx 8 years ago, when my quality kits got scarce. Israel heavy barrel with reworked wood is a beautiful and highly accurate weapon. Enjoy shooting a DSA short gas, highly custom spec. tac version. We have a member that has a custom marine version for salt air duty. Hope he chimes in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ghost44 7 Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 I have two FALs and hope to build another this year. By far the ones DSA make are the best, and Imbels are great too. one of mine is an Imbel the other a Springfeild which might as well be an Imbel since I believe they were made in the same place. My next I will build on a DSA type 1 receiver with no handle cut. I have a friend is happy to buy cheap stuff. he picked up several FALs when they were under 400 bucks one one Imbel one Century. the Century he had was so far out of specs that the only way t it was fixable was replacing the receiver. the headspacing was way off and actually blew out the mag. He was lucky and that was the only damage to him or the rest of his gun. Overall Century's are kinda hit and miss. I love these guns too very well designed powerful and now with DSA's improvements fully modernized. I just wish .308 would get cheaper again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 (edited) I have bought 2 cai FALs through the years. My first was an R1A1 (STG) with a non-imbel receiver and it has been flawless for me (luck of the draw). My second was an L1A1 and it was a jam-omatic. I didn't even fool with it. Just sold it as quick as I could. But the DSA SA58 is a different beast altogether. Real American craftsmanship. I'd rather have an SA58 than a Springfield M1A. Not saying it's better than the M1A. Just a personal preference. The DSA STG58 Standard rifles are parts kit builds, but absolutely top quality. Just not 100% American-made like the SA58. Edited April 7, 2012 by XD45 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jpanzer 1,265 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 DSA STG58 here. 21" barrel and a damn fine shooter.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
preparehandbook 326 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 A relative who fought in several African conflicts ranted about original FALs of all descriptions and degree of abuse working well past their "life span" In general it is a stout platform. I love buying other peoples problem century guns and fixing them. For $200 I picked up a cetme that wouldn't fire twice in a row, I put valve grinding compound into the receiver and racking it manually a few hundred times while watching TV, then gave the action a good going through, swapped the rollers, and sold it for $500. I have seen "useless" century guns that just had a bad magazine. If you feel confident about fixing glitches, buy a cheap century and make it run right, not that much different than sorting out an S12 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) Anybody else remember these ads from Soldier of Fortune Magazine in the late 70s? I almost always think of this ad when I pick up my FAL. Just some kind of connection in my brain between the ad and the rifle. Edited April 8, 2012 by XD45 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nycGUNguy 61 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Century R1A1 that has been great for the last few years. Great guns but getting more expensive to shoot... Good to go out to 150yds with 9pwr scope in the black. If I can see it, i can hit out to that range... Hope this helps. nyclu3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bohound 281 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Anybody else remember these ads from Soldier of Fortune Magazine in the late 70s? I almost always think of this ad when I pick up my FAL. Just some kind of connection in my brain between the ad and the rifle. LOVE that ad... We have that one on the wall in our tac room (out of SOF magazine, of course) where the SA-58 and L1A1 hang on the peg board. We ALSO have this: I'm SURE folks that know anything about the Rhodesian war will recognize it... Pamwe Chete! Thanks for the memories. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 (edited) I just nabbed an Ergo G3-style Grip for my FAL. I have never liked the stock grip. The angle is all wrong. I had to do a little fitting to get it on because the insert was too thick for the nut to go on. And now that it's on, I'm not totally in love with the looks of it. The curvy shape and rubber texture don't seem to match the rifle. But it really is "ergo". Fits my hand like a glove. The angle is perfect. So overall I'm happy. Soon I'll cut the barrel to 18" and add a nice optic. Edited April 27, 2012 by XD45 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
preparehandbook 326 Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Anybody else remember these ads from Soldier of Fortune Magazine in the late 70s? I almost always think of this ad when I pick up my FAL. Just some kind of connection in my brain between the ad and the rifle. LOVE that ad... We have that one on the wall in our tac room (out of SOF magazine, of course) where the SA-58 and L1A1 hang on the peg board. We ALSO have this: I'm SURE folks that know anything about the Rhodesian war will recognize it... Pamwe Chete! Thanks for the memories. My father in law answered those ads and went to rhodesia. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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