Cheap is fine, dangerous is not. We all had to start somewhere and many of us, myself included, have purchased Century products in the past. I've owned 6 or 7 Century rifles in the past of various flavors and calibers.

Disregarding the negative experiences that other people have had is a recipe for disappointment. If it costs the same to buy a Century rifle and a kit build from a reputable shop, get the shop built one every single time. "Oh the century warranty" yes well there's a reason for that. One of my rifles was subject to a recall. I could barely shoot it because it ripped Federal brass in half when it wouldn't stovepipe. It was frustrating.

Ultimately it's up to the buyer to decide if it's worth the money to buy them. If they like them, that's fantastic! It just gets a little tiresome when new folks bust in here going "OMG THEY'RE THE BEST EVER" and ignore everything else to the contrary. Hopefully the rifle performs well for them and doesn't break horribly.

I bought Century because they were cheap and sold them to get something else that was smoother, more accurate, or better built. YMMV , not valid in all states, see store for details.

 

Cheap is fine, dangerous is not. We all had to start somewhere and many of us, myself included, have purchased Century products in the past. I've owned 6 or 7 Century rifles in the past of various flavors and calibers.

Disregarding the negative experiences that other people have had is a recipe for disappointment. If it costs the same to buy a Century rifle and a kit build from a reputable shop, get the shop built one every single time. "Oh the century warranty" yes well there's a reason for that. One of my rifles was subject to a recall. I could barely shoot it because it ripped Federal brass in half when it wouldn't stovepipe. It was frustrating.

Ultimately it's up to the buyer to decide if it's worth the money to buy them. If they like them, that's fantastic! It just gets a little tiresome when new folks bust in here going "OMG THEY'RE THE BEST EVER" and ignore everything else to the contrary. Hopefully the rifle performs well for them and doesn't break horribly.

I bought Century because they were cheap and sold them to get something else that was smoother, more accurate, or better built. YMMV , not valid in all states, see store for details.

Void where prohibited.

 

part of this complete breakfast

 

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

Order in the next 10 minutes and we'll double your order for free! Just pay a separate handling fee.

 

No idea if the original poster is still around but this was an entertaining thread.

As someone that actually owns and USES one I can say it's decent. My bolt looks new and it's probably because of the s7. PSA AK I got to handle at my lgs. It did seem smooth to cock however have you seen a PSA bolt after 2-3 k rounds? The one robski tested looked beat to hell. Tail was deformed badly imho though robski said it looked ok. I did not tear it down I have no desire that bolt said it all.

Also no side rail like the VSKA. The VSKA dummy rivets that seem to be where the rail would be mounted are not the same size as an aftermarket rail I bought from Amazon.

i recently put the hogue ghillie green furniture on and that gave me a hand guard rail to mount a red dot. Honestly both furniture looks good to me. The original is tight minimalist and very slick looking. The hogue adds weight but offers better grip and a rail option. The hand gaurd was the standard Chinese/Russian akm. So I assume any Chinese/Russian furniture fits.

its not a real AK some say. They are full of it. It's very real. it looks different the sight block is also the gas block. That is the look of an AK pistol baby! The trooper is small compact and looks good to me. Everyone has seen a standard full size AK the wood furniture separate gas block and cleaning rod that you will never use that gets in the way. Awesome. One AK that looks exactly like all others how boring. One can say if it's not a Russian saiga then it's not a real AK too. Polish, wasr, Chinese they all are not real aks because they are not Russian. One COULD say that.

i can't speak to internal parts compatibility I won't worry about it from what I see as long as the rear bolt mating surface and the receiver stay in shape the rifle should be fine.

i will invest in a field gauge at some point. Damn expensive stupid metal thing should cost 10 bucks not 50. Till then if it blows up no prob it's an AK baby! The thing will blow dust cover will scare me and I will be fine. Like an AR that blows well literally up and splits in 2. It's like these things were designed that if they did blow up they would not harm the shooter. Go figure.

 

And another one...

Ain't she pretty?

 

 

That bolt looks real bad what did they used to use lead for the bolt material? However, even with that shotty bolt and barrel he is still grouping, the AK still goes bang and head space is ok. That was then this is now. They have apparently gotten better.... Here is the VSKA.

 

Dang, this thread ran free 😂 honestly I had never put too much thought into buying any Century Arms build outside of an imported WASR. I did however order a Lee Armory AK a couple days ago. Looking forward to it.

 

think about it this way:
scenario 1: the gun might be OK so your money will be well spend.
scenario 2: gun is not OK and not safe to shoot nor possible to repair. your money will be lost forever and gun is a useless very expensive paperweight.
scenario 3. gun is not OK but can be repaired, i.e. re-headspacing/swapping the barrel, swapping bolt and/or carrier, modifying receiver, etc. This is extra expense just for parts alone even if you do all work yourself and don't need to pay a smith. will it still be worth it when you adjust discounted price for those expenses and and the headache, that potentially can last for months?

are you willing to take a gamble with your cash on something made by Century?
i wouldn't.

if you are just looking for a decent shooter AK and don't care milled vs stamped, then PSA makes a wonderful rifle for a reasonable asking price.
why take risk with a company very well known for shitty quality and terrible customer service? are bargain price really that good?

Yea bc PSA never had quality issues ? Haha

 

My VSKA is my only AK. I bought it knowing nothing about Century Arms. Pretty much everyone I told what I bought gave me a horrible story about CA. All of them never owned a CA firearm. Hmm. The way I see it is any company that makes anything can make a lemon.

Let me just say I have shot about 1K rounds and the thing is a beast. I have had zero issues. It also has a FULL lifetime warranty.

PS: Rob Ski from AK Operations Union gave the VSKA excellent grades.

 

My VSKA is my only AK. I bought it knowing nothing about Century Arms. Pretty much everyone I told what I bought gave me a horrible story about CA. All of them never owned a CA firearm. Hmm. The way I see it is any company that makes anything can make a lemon.

Let me just say I have shot about 1K rounds and the thing is a beast. I have had zero issues. It also has a FULL lifetime warranty.

PS: Rob Ski from AK Operations Union gave the VSKA excellent grades.

-Low post count, check.
-Alleged 1k or more round count, check.
-You don't own nor have handled my lemon, check.
-Mention of crappy warranty, check.
-Bonus claim to legitimacy with a reference to a youtube influencer (although misspelled), check.

We are all friends here. If you are new to AKs, old to AKs or looking to purchase. Do yourself a favor and avoid the bottom tier AK lookalike rifles made in house by century.

Non spec, nonstandard, non interchangeable parts is not how you want to start enjoying the fun that is AK world. Search here at The Forum, search over at the Files, do some goggle searching. These century threads should serve as a warning and at least as buyer beware.

Until or if ever century can get it right, why waste your safety, time and money?

 

So I'm generally curious about opinions on the VSKA. Educated opinions based on real world experience with the rifle, not opinions based on the horror that was the RAS47. I only ask because I actually saw one in stock at one of our local stores for what seemed a cheap price given the current climate. I'm wondering if it would be worth it as plink gun.

CENTURY is not a bargain. I had to fix my young cousins rifle out of the box. He bought it and didn't send it back when it failed to feed constantly. 2 rounds go bang 3 don't so shit. Those losers who build this garbage trimmed the mag release too short while trying to mag the magazine fit. Just laziness and stupidity at that place. It doesn't take much longer to build it correctly than it does to push out a bunch of junk. Same motions with less give a shit because I can't see it from my house. Be smart and go buy a real AK and btw the new psa models are far superior to CAI weapons. Sorry...getting off my soap box. Good luck and spend you hard earned money wisely

 

Century Imported = Good
Century Made= Bad

In most cases.

Flashback Time... LMAO

 

Century Imported = Good
Century Made= Bad

In most cases.

Flashback Time... LMAO

This image should be a sticky on the front page forum banner!

 

Get it & drive one of these:

(Yugo)

 

Get it & drive one of these:

(Yugo)

View attachment 328245

Zastava's guns are far better than their cars were.

 

I looked at a VSKA at one of my LGS yesterday. I was not impressed and it looked generic. Plastic US Palm pistol grip and mag. The wood was dark red and the finish on the wood made it look like plastic.

I told the employees there that it is junk. One employee asked me why I thought it was junk and he looked online at sites that were saying it is a good gun. I asked him if any of those sites mentioned anything about the trunnions, rivets, or heat treating. Of course none of them did. He did find one site that mentioned headspacing. I told him to look at The AK Forum.net because a lot of people on there know about AKs. He told me it is a forum. I also told him to check AK Files. He read one place online that someone said the VSKA is better than the original AK. I said if Kalashnikov was still alive he would completely disagree with that.

 

Most of my local shops are pretty good. It seems like a bit of sales and bs is common at any gun shop, it is what it is.

No matter the product, it's on the customer to do research. I've looked over and handled a few century in house AK builds at my local usually overpriced tactical gun shop, Impact guns. A lot of their rifles are right on the shelf, available for the customer to handle without talking to a salesperson. I like this option as it gives you time to really look a firearm over.

Nothing about century builds appealed to me compared to competitor's offerings. For reasons mentioned throughout this and other threads century builds will continue to not be an option for me.

Just because the guy behind the counter is open carrying, has an operator beard and is willing to talk your ear off does not make him a weapon expert or indicate he even knows what he is talking about. Sometimes it's fun to nod and joke about it with friends later. Mostly, realizing the guy behind the counter does not know what he does not know is just tiresome.

 

I think with my LGS it was a case of them not knowing Century built is junk. Not that they were trying to BS anyone. I think they just never heard someone say Century built is junk and they wanted to know why.

 

Haha

one post and banned

 

VSKA new is $800 and as I mentioned in another thread you can get a blem PSA fgf3 for $599.99. What are you waiting for? Vska has failed every YouTuber (not that I trust everything on YouTube) so far and everyone I know who bought one turned around and sold theirs. I found a wasr 10 local (metro detroit) in great condition for $600 as well. I believe I seen a new wasr 10 with polymer furniture for $845 on gun broker too.

 

Century builds GARBAGE if you buy it you are asking for trouble. Their imports are terrible and their American guns are insulting. Their marketing is borderline criminal. Their garbage has been legendary for decades and they keep getting people to buy their crap like Kimber does. Why would any one risk buying from them. Dont forget they use "tool steel because its just as good as forged."

 

Century builds their crap on price point, other importers build their guns to a standard and they cost what it costs to make them right. Century gets caught every few years building with cast parts and they act all surprised when they get caught. Hence their stupid "Tool steel" trunnions that their marketing department is pushing as just as good. BS they use it because it is CHEAP vs doing it right with forged parts. They are the High points of the AK world and the fan boys are amazing the excuses they fall for.You get what you pay for. People can either save ip for good quality gear or buy the cheap crap that will literally blow up in their face.

 

Hence their stupid "Tool steel" trunnions that their marketing department is pushing as just as good. BS they use it because it is CHEAP vs doing it right with forged parts.

Forging is good, but not necessary to produce a reliable firearm. The original Russian specs for the AKM call out Сталь 40Х for the trunnion, which is basically the same as AISI 4140/5140. There are no manufacturing notes or material specifications for "forged" steel. If the heat treatment is done right, that's all that's required. Century's shitty guns were the catalyst for this entire forged trunnion debate, which is a general misunderstanding by the public, as well as CAI not being honest with their customers that they couldn't get the heat treatment right, or worse, weren't even using an appropriate steel to begin with. Their whole "tool steel" thing is something that I find borderline criminal because it uses a flashy term that the average Joe is just familiar enough with to sound tough and rugged, but not informed enough to understand the properties of tool steel and what makes it great for cutting, but absolutely terrible for pressure retention.

 

I’m curious, has anyone have first hand experience or know anyone with the VSKA (S7 tool steel) trunnions failing? I know their previous cast trunnions failed but have not seen or found any failures (tool steel) trunnions on the net. I know military arms had the loose pin in barrel but besides that I haven’t found anything. As mentioned before Rob, VSO, OreGear and mr gunsngear took it to 5000 rounds and the AK guy with mr gunsngear did an extra 1000 totaling 6000 rounds.

 

We have seen 2 fail at our gun range. Hardening was improperly done and allowed the locking lugs to wear out of spec after about 1000 to 1500 rounds casuing head spacing issues. Again century has a very long history of cutting corners to save money. Why anyone buys their stuff is beyond me. Also their bs comments about operating pressures at this years shot show and other nonsense, it tells me it is all just marketing bullshit as usual from them. Why do people even consider them after all of their scams over the years. It makes me shake my head. You get what you pay for in a AK.

Their sales people are lying snakes who make up numbers to sell them to clueless people as the guy does below. Please watch the video yourself. Why are people surprised. He Clearly has no idea what he is talking about. "17000 psi , 5x as strong, Brass eats trunnions ." These are the stupid manufacturers guys want to buy AKs from? I Wish you luck. I would take a risk with a PSA over century any day. Century doesnt exists as a option for me or anyone else I talk to about buying AKs.

If their guns are sheering lugs off like he claims at less than half normal operating pressures wtf is wrong with their rifles. Friends dont let friends buy century

 

Try our new rusty pipe rifles with extra monkey butter! Brass will break your rifle in half, and steel will fuse with the barrel after a single round, especially if it has LACQUER!

Swords will fuckin' cut you wide open!

 

I would think Trip Fisk could do a few episodes of "Cautionary tales of the pos century built AK lookalike rifle". Don't buy one, not even for "decorative purposes". It will blow your fuckin' face off,

Those cautionary sword videos are great, I think they are up to four now.

 

Three Ds

 

Personally after all Centry arms has done I would only consider buying guns they import

 

My advice to new ak buyers is to forget about american ak's except possibly Kusa. Pretty much all imports are gtg except pioneer arms. At this point in time, for current imports the zastava and wbp rifles are best for value imo. Wasr's are a just a bit overpriced at msrp and arsenals, while really nice, are even more so. I think the fb radom guns are the best stamped guns but hard to get ahold of, and the galil ace is a hell of a damn good gucci "almost ak".