Century C39V2 my thoughts and repairs

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  • FNHman

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    Sort of a review/fix post.

    I decided to go ahead and fix up my Century C39V2 the other night. These rifles get a lot of bad reviews from the cast carrier and bolt that Century used in these rifles and also from the incorrect guide rods on some of them as well. My rifle was not showing any carrier or bolt wear but I went ahead and swapped the cast carrier and bolt over to milled parts as this would be needed sooner or later anyway. I picked up the carrier and guide rod from another forum member a while back and have been holding onto it for awhile for this project. This rifle only has a few hundred rounds through it and by the looks could have went on for years to come as is and currently the head space was fine. I did preform multiple head space checks with some different milled bolts and found that the 3 $25 surplus milled yugo bolts I purchased all checked perfect. This was a nice surprise and kept me from having to remove the barrel pin re adjust head space and then ream and reinstall an oversize barrel pin. The 2 $40 polish milled bolts I checked head space on were too tight and I'll keep them for some of my parts kits I'll be building down the road. I also pulled 2 AKM bolts for some other AK's I have and they too checked out ok, so I dont know if I got super lucky or all these bolts hold better tolerances than people give them credit for. I also replaced the recoil guide rod assembly as the Century one was incorrect "too tall" and caused either carrier to raise up out of the rail when all the way back. I still have to reshape the hammer bump so it doesnt damage the rear of the milled carrier as reported by some uses that have done the swap on youtube. The USA trigger group has a reported rockwell harness thats higher than the milled carrier. It's been recommended that you can slightly change the shape of the hammer bump so when the carrier cocks the hammer back it does it at a smoother contact angle and eliminates any deformation or wear marks.

    Another thing to watch out for is that the safety selector that on this particular rifle "and some other AK's so be careful" is the type that when the hammer is cocked and the top cover is off the rifle and you lift up the selector all the way straight up it will release the hammer and fire if a live round is chambered so I will be notching the internal part of the selector to prevent this from happening.

    If your on the fence about these C39V2's and can get one for a great price as people are getting rid of them for cheap and your handy in the AK repair field I'd recommend you pick one up as these are nice rifles when fixed up but its not cheap to do.

    If you do have one of these rifles its been recommended that you check your head space every 300 rds or so if your continuing to run the questionable cast parts. If I've left anything out feel free to chime in or bash......

    Disclaimer, you should never preform any modifications to any gun. Pay a real gun smith.

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    wildrider666

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    Thanks for the honest update, I admire your ability to do some necessary repairs. As you suggest, other's may find this bargain and pursue it.

    Century has put out a lot of crappy AKs, most with what many would chalk up to quality control but now its getting dangerous. Warranty repair is just as much hit or miss as the production line. People need to stop buying "NEW CRAP" regardless of how cheap it is initially. There's a lot of info on the Net, so no need to go further here.

    Let me preface this part with: I wouldn't consider buying any home brew Franken-AR/AK and it doesn't matter what parts they used. I just can't see that its a bargain to buy such a overtly flawed firearm. Lets say for the gun and parts totaled $200, thats cheap but what do you end up with? If somebody is really good with AKs: they still end up with a repaired AK of poor quality, questionable reliability/service life. Is there a value increase for "home repaired" AKs? I think most would be thinking buyer beware. It could still be a fun gun but might not be what they want to depend on if SHTF. IMHO
     

    FNHman

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    Poor quality.

    I watched a review on youtube were one user got his Century rifle back from century repair and unboxed it and the rear site elevation selector was installed upside down. Amazing what Century puts out the door.

    What really gets me is that Century continues to make these rifles with the same parts. They market a milled receiver, walnut wood, and tough nitrided finish to get your money and if you look back at all the first release magazine and internet reviews they all praised this rifle like in was the greatest thing to hit the American market. What they didnt mention was that they cheaped out and brought cast junk to the internals thinking no one would notice. It seems that is becoming the American way and its sickening. I see it in too many products and I have gotten completely use to just about everything I buy being a throw away product or something I have to modify to make work correctly.

    Reminds me of the knock off Beowulf upper I bought from Radical firearms many years ago..... that was a pain to get to run correctly, not worth the time and effort I put into that but sure is fun to shoot.
     

    tros6t

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    It's pretty. I kind of figure AK's just work, even if they're aren't put together the greatest? I shoot skeet and started reloading. This is important, especially when using the so called sub-gauges. Some of the guys make a huge deal out of reloading. I've been doing it about a year now. If the powder load is a little low, it shoots a little slower. If it's a little high, it's faster. When shooting semi's, they like the hotter ones. Over and unders don't care. I don't shot real hot loads, but I know some that do. Modern firearms are designed to take much more pressure than most shells will create. I'm sure this isn't the case for rifle and pistols.
    One guy shoots what sounds like magnum loads in his Beretta DT10 and it hasn't bothered it any. I say all that to say this, and will probably get some hate mail, but most AK's just work. I'm sure milled trunnions are better than cast but I've seen people shoot thousands of rounds through AK's with a cast trunnion with no issues. But if you prefer your AK to be perfect, then go for it!-:) It's still a free country, at least for now!-:)
     

    wildrider666

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    AKs ARE suppose to fire thousands of rounds without major issues: fact, legend or myth?. The problem is all AKs are not created equal in regard to reliability (a byproduct of quality). This one failed Bolt/chamber No-Go at 3K rds. A second C392V has the same issues (3.5K rds). Inspection (@Link) starts @ 18.00 min. Back in 2017, a Century Rep said "ONLY 900" of 30K produced (to date) had been returned to the Factory. I remember great quality imported AKs under $400. U.S. Mfg builds seem to have a price point to quaility/reliability equivalency or its a roll of the dice what functionality you get from the factory in the lower price range. IMNEHO

    http://www.akoperatorsunionlocal4774.com/2018/01/c39v2-ak-ticking-time-bomb/
     

    FrommerStop

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    AKs ARE suppose to fire thousands of rounds without major issues: fact, legend or myth?. The problem is all AKs are not created equal in regard to reliability (a byproduct of quality). This one failed Bolt/chamber No-Go at 3K rds. A second C392V has the same issues (3.5K rds). Inspection (@Link) starts @ 18.00 min. Back in 2017, a Century Rep said "ONLY 900" of 30K produced (to date) had been returned to the Factory. I remember great quality imported AKs under $400. U.S. Mfg builds seem to have a price point to quaility/reliability equivalency or its a roll of the dice what functionality you get from the factory in the lower price range. IMNEHO

    http://www.akoperatorsunionlocal4774.com/2018/01/c39v2-ak-ticking-time-bomb/
    A properly made AK will fire thousands of rounds. If the metallurgy is not there it will not fire that many. even a cheapo Romanian WASR will typically go through 1,000s of rounds. You want a factory that was set up according to Russian military spec to be making your AKs. Makes sense to stock up with an extra extractor since these can go as well as firing pin.
     
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