Century Arms AK-74 sporter?

[NolaMan61]

I'm usually an AK expert. But this Sporter has me stumped. I can't find any good reviews, other than Century's Tantel.

Anybody know about their reliability? What are their specifics?

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

So... As a self-proclaimed AK Expert...

You're interested in a Century Arms product?

Interesting...

-J-

 

[shooter521]

The Century M74 Sporters were built on a US-made (some Elk River, some NoDak Spud) receiver with a US-made non-chrome-lined barrel, TAPCO fire-control group, chintzy Century polymer furniture and Bulgarian small parts. They are among the better regarded Century products, but did have some isolated issues with keyholing early on.

 

[Beowulf]

Don't buy one.

I bought one and found that on my brand new rifle, the chamber was so corroded that the bolt couldn't close on the rounds. Sent it in for repair and they replace the barrel. When it came back, the sights weren't set right making it a bit uncomfortable for me to shoot.

Finally, I just gave up trying to get it perfect and sold it (at a loss given its history). I then bought an Arsenal SGL31-61 and don't plan on ever looking back.

You might get lucky and get a decent gun out of it (my buddy has one and his seems to be fine), but it's that inconsistency from CAI that really makes it tough to purchase their products.

If the cost of an Arsenal is too high to do in one chunk, buy one of the Saiga 5.45x39 and slowly do the conversion yourself over time. In the end it will be a bit cheaper than the Arsenal, but obviously that's assuming your time spent in it has a low value... or you aren't lazy like I am.

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

So... As a self-proclaimed AK Expert...

You're interested in a Century Arms product?

Interesting...

-J-

That right there is funny.

 

[__Doc_]

So... As a self-proclaimed AK Expert...

You're interested in a Century Arms product?

Interesting...

-J-

lold
well played

 

[NolaMan61]

So... As a self-proclaimed AK Expert...

You're interested in a Century Arms product?

Interesting...

-J-

I could understand a statement like this if I was asking about a Hi-Point, but Century is not bad. I don't know where you get that.

Century's early work was crappy. But these days, I think they've really got their stuff together. I own 2 Century AKM's, and neither of them have ever given me any guff. All the part numbers match, and there is no corrosion at all. This Sporter is just something I've never seen before. Hence the question.

 

[tradertator]

I could understand a statement like this if I was asking about a Hi-Point, but Century is not bad. I don't know where you get that.

Wow

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

I could understand a statement like this if I was asking about a Hi-Point, but Century is not bad. I don't know where you get that.

Century's early work was crappy. But these days, I think they've really got their stuff together. I own 2 Century AKM's, and neither of them have ever given me any guff. All the part numbers match, and there is no corrosion at all. This Sporter is just something I've never seen before. Hence the question.

Century is the highpoint of AKs. Sure they go bang and shoot pretty straight but the quality is not up to the higher priced guns, although you wouldnt expect it to be.

 

[NolaMan61]

Century is the highpoint of AKs. Sure they go bang and shoot pretty straight but the quality is not up to the higher priced guns, although you wouldnt expect it to be.

It's hit or miss. My Century AK works better than most Arsenals. Believe it or not. I wouldn't at all compare Hi-Point to Century.

 

[tradertator]

At least Hi-Point fixes their **** when they **** up. Century pumps out rifles with canted sights, barrels in the wrong caliber, junk receivers, etc..., and won't fix it outside of a year of when it was manufactured. Centurys has worked hard for it's **** poor reputation.

 

[Mr.JAG]

amen!

 

[davedolli]

I'm usually an AK expert. But this Sporter has me stumped. I can't find any good reviews, other than Century's Tantel.

Anybody know about their reliability? What are their specifics?

Everyone is giving you good info, maybe you should rethink your thoughts on Century Arms


Dave

 

[Laughing Snake]

The M74 Sporter I bought a year ago was $400 shipped with 4 mags but has a canted sight. Since I've had it it's ran great with one casing getting stuck in the chamber which wasn't an issue to fix. For the price I can't really complain about the sight and heeded the warnings about not expecting perfection from Century Arms.

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

It's hit or miss. My Century AK works better than most Arsenals. Believe it or not. I wouldn't at all compare Hi-Point to Century.

How could you possibly validate that statement? You had sevaral arsenals fail on you?

Either way century guns work, just like hi-points, but the overall quality is not up to par with the better guns.

Trigger slap, canted sights, canted gas blocks, shoddy warranty policy, etc. Most any ak works but you do get what you pay for.

 

[windellmc]

I have never heard of any Arsenal AKs keyholing like many of the Century Tantals did. I have heard of major malfunction issues with Century built Galils, C93s, FALs, and Cetmes.

 

[tradertator]

The keyhole issue was due to CAI using readily available .224" bore barrel blanks (22 cal), rather than the .214" bore a 545 requires .

 

[mammynun]

If you have to ask that question when dealing with Century you should either pass or do some more research. It appears to me that the OP is doing "more research."

I have a a Century/Bulgy 74 built on an Elk River that's been just fine... I would like to have a chrome lined Saiga/Arsenal, but I was able to inspect the rifle before I bought it; no problems noted and the the price was too good to pass up. I was concerned about keyholing but as Shooter mentioned, the later M74's have a pretty good rep. I probably wouldn't buy any Century via mail order at any price

 

[NolaMan61]

Everyone is giving you good info, maybe you should rethink your thoughts on Century Arms


Dave

The problem is... I'm getting information from some saying that it's good. And some saying that it's bad.

How could you possibly validate that statement? You had sevaral arsenals fail on you?

Either way century guns work, just like hi-points, but the overall quality is not up to par with the better guns.

Trigger slap, canted sights, canted gas blocks, shoddy warranty policy, etc. Most any ak works but you do get what you pay for.

How can I validate that? Because I own several CAI AKM's. I don't have any of those issues. Sights are straight, magazine wobble is minimal, no canting on the gas blocks, never needed the warranty so I can't say anything about that, and there is no trigger slap with mine (Tapco G2's).

CAI has ****ty quality early on, as many people know. But these days, it seems they have most of their ducks in a row. Atleast on the guns I've purchased and fired. I rather disagree with the "You get what you pay for" thing... CAI AK's aren't necessarily cheap by any means... I would label then as 'affordable'... but not cheap. Arsenal AK's usually run around the $800 mark. Which I think is quite frankly ridiculous. I could buy a Saiga and convert it for about $650 or less and have the same thing as an Arsenal. Alot of those AK's that claim to be "top of the line" tend to be the same parts that some of the more 'affordable' AK's are made from. Give or take the chrome barrel.

My question is specifically about the AK-74 'Sporter' from CAI. I would like to hear from people who own or have used one, or atleast know alot about them, more than hearing the same things about century's past screw up's, over and over again. No offense. The "century sucks no matter what" thing is just getting redundant.

 

[NolaMan61]

If you have to ask that question when dealing with Century you should either pass or do some more research. It appears to me that the OP is doing "more research."

I have a a Century/Bulgy 74 built on an Elk River that's been just fine... I would like to have a chrome lined Saiga/Arsenal, but I was able to inspect the rifle before I bought it; no problems noted and the the price was too good to pass up. I was concerned about keyholing but as Shooter mentioned, the later M74's have a pretty good rep. I probably wouldn't buy any Century via mail order at any price

Thanks for the info. I hear ya. I would much rather inspect the rifle. But my issue is that, I've driven to every gun shop in central Indiana just about, and none of them have or can even order ANY Ak-74's. So I'm sort of backed into a corner of buying online. One of the issues with the keyholing was that CAI used the wrong sized bore early on, but as far as I know, thats been fixed for a long time. Thanks again.