I purchased a new Century R1A1 FAL a couple of weeks ago from Surplus City in Feasterville, PA. I purchased the rifle new, and have not shot it yet.
While doing an initial checkover of the gun last night, I removed the gas plug for the first time and discovered that the gas piston does not move freely through the hole in the front of the receiver. The piston binds in the receiver. When I removed the gas plug, the piston remained in the rifle instead of springing forward. To remove the piston, I had to push it forward, towards the muzzle, using a Lyman gunsmith's punch. I am unable to replace the gas plug with the piston in place, without jamming it back in and binding the piston in the receiver hole.
Based on some research, it looks like the barrel timing is slightly over- or under-torqued or the hole in the receiver through which the piston passes to contact the bolt carrier is off-center. I do not have the tools or expertise to fix the problem myself.
Will Century fix this problem under warranty? If so, please send me shipping instructions.
If Century pushed back I'll look into reaming the hole, but I'd rather have them fix it. Updates as I get 'em.
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2 comments:
Congrats, you now have an official FAL parts kit..... I mean a Century Arms rifle.
I've seen those rifles up at Surplus City, almost picked one up, but passed on them.
How right you are. :-\
I got the last one on the rack at SC. When I bought it, I figured there was a 50/50 chance it would need some work.
I have lucked out with Century guns in the past. I had a SAR-1 that I really should've kept. I did have to do some grinding on the sear to fix trigger slap, but it otherwise ran great right out of the box.
The other Century rifle I've had good luck with is my G3 clone, which you've shot.
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