[thirtyoughtsixn]

Hey Guys, new to this place, not new to the forum world (I have my own twowheeljunkie) introductions out of the way, I am just posting to let you know about my recent Century Arms C93 experience.

I've owned a lot of firearms during my short 26 years and I stick to rifles mostly. After being frustrated by the chore of babying my "fragile" 5.45x39 AR15 I decided I wanted to go with the HK93 or clone to have a solid plinker that was mostly steel. I planned on picking up a receiver and having "ghilliebear" mentioned here put it together on a hk33 parts kit but the cost and turnaround was an unknown variable and I was kinda antsy so I purchased this from a dealer local to me at a gunshow, I mean it was just begging me to take it. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have done the ghilliebear build, oh well you live, you learn.

That day I purchased it I took it out to shoot after a thorough cleaning and checking on the bolt gap which is at .010". Well I was putting 55gr wolf through her and 55gr PMC .223 and it was failing to eject. I tried some M855 steel core 62gr and she was doing great. Im going to try and figure out whats going on here and get her to cycle everything. Any advice? what am I missing?

 

[Shattered Mind]

You DID clean it out... I mean everything. Stripping the bolt down to nothing and getting all the sand, slag, grease... everything... clean as possible? The only thing you shouldn't have to take apart would be the rollers out of the bolt head. You need dental picks to get at all the corners in an HK/clone to absolutely clean it throughly.

Once you're absolutely positive there's not one surface you missed, then you can test it and bitch if need be. A lot of guys thought they had a handle on HK cleaning... and found out differently.

 

[TommyV]

What is so fragile about your AR-15? I have been tempted to get some kind of 93 but I ended up starting on a different project. Also am having many issues and it is not even a complete gun yet. Hopefully that will be a good thing when I finally get it running dealing with issues now.

Good luck with your Century. You can always send it to ghilliebear instead of Century. I think he can upgrade it and get it running good for you. What is the barrel twist? I do not like 55gr 223/5.56. 62 gr just seems to work better even in a 1/9 twist barrel but especially in a 1/7. I know the 55gr stuff is cheap and everywhere. I bought a 500rd box of BVAC 223 62gr PSP ammo for real cheap and it is extremely good stuff. Way better than any federal 55gr junk.

 

[thirtyoughtsixn]

You DID clean it out... I mean everything. Stripping the bolt down to nothing and getting all the sand, slag, grease... everything... clean as possible? The only thing you shouldn't have to take apart would be the rollers out of the bolt head. You need dental picks to get at all the corners in an HK/clone to absolutely clean it throughly.

Once you're absolutely positive there's not one surface you missed, then you can test it and bitch if need be. A lot of guys thought they had a handle on HK cleaning... and found out differently.

Im pretty sure I did, I took the bolt and carrier completely apart and cleaned it with motorcycle chain lube I use. I use this stuff to destroy the nastiest strongest caked on grease/oil and dirt. It works great! I even knocked the pin out on the bolt head and cleaned the rollers and inside of that surface. I probably could of gone more in depth but I don't have experience with it. Thanks for the tip

What is so fragile about your AR-15? I have been tempted to get some kind of 93 but I ended up starting on a different project. Also am having many issues and it is not even a complete gun yet. Hopefully that will be a good thing when I finally get it running dealing with issues now.

Good luck with your Century. You can always send it to ghilliebear instead of Century. I think he can upgrade it and get it running good for you. What is the barrel twist? I do not like 55gr 223/5.56. 62 gr just seems to work better even in a 1/9 twist barrel but especially in a 1/7. I know the 55gr stuff is cheap and everywhere. I bought a 500rd box of BVAC 223 62gr PSP ammo for real cheap and it is extremely good stuff. Way better than any federal 55gr junk.

The steel cases of the 5.45x39 beat the hell out of the upper's shell deflector. I hate shooting it which defeats the purpose of the 5.45x39 (cheap rounds). 5.45x39 and the AK74 is a better pair.

I believe the barrel is 1:9 from what I have read. There isn't any markings on the barrel and I wish I saw your recommendation earlier for the BVAC 62gr. I walked passed it at the show where I got this gun! LOL

The bolt gap didn't change in those 100 rounds so we will see how she keeps going with the 62gr. I will report back after my range trip this weekend. Thanks guys!

 

[TommyV]

The steel cases of the 5.45x39 beat the hell out of the upper's shell deflector. I hate shooting it which defeats the purpose of the 5.45x39 (cheap rounds). 5.45x39 and the AK74 is a better pair.

I believe the barrel is 1:9 from what I have read. There isn't any markings on the barrel and I wish I saw your recommendation earlier for the BVAC 62gr. I walked passed it at the show where I got this gun! LOL

The bolt gap didn't change in those 100 rounds so we will see how she keeps going with the 62gr. I will report back after my range trip this weekend. Thanks guys!

Yea the AR-15 works best with 223/5.56. I do not see the point of a 5.45 upper as you can only shoot the cheap Russian ammo that is also available in 223/5.56 for the same price. If you are in TX I may be interested in buying your AR. I would scrap the upper but am always in the market for quality lowers.

If you want to shoot 5.45, just get an AK74. They are cheap and work.

 

[thirtyoughtsixn]

Hey guys I figured I would give you a little update since I shot the C93 today.

I did some reading on some forums and read about people sending in their gun. Call me stupid because I should have sent it in too but I wanted to go to the range with my buddies and get some time in.

I read about people getting their guns back with notes from the century arms gunsmith saying "polished chamber". So I polished my chamber. I have an impact driver which wouldn't work but I just went out and got a harbor freight drill master drill and used that with success. For my polishing tip I used a cotton bore brush for I believe a .410 shotgun, I am not sure because it was in a universal kit and not marked but it was perfect for the chamber diameter. It was connected to the brass cleaning rod clamped into the drill. I first cleaned the barrel with some motorcycle chain cleaner from a brand called Motorex which is low VOC and easy on the brain cells but destroys crud and the spray pattern was concentrated so I didn't need to do a lot of manual scrubbing. From there, I busted out some Mothers mag polish and went to town. Once I got it polished up, I hit the fluting valleys with the chain cleaner and man she was pretty!

The Result:
WORKS PERFECT! I shot 5.56x45 55 grain and 62 grain, works perfect. I shot some .223 55 grain and 62 grain. Shot brass and steel. She worked frigging amazing. The brass didn't split but the cases had lines that caught your fingernail (might be good idk)

Notes:
My bolt gap is damn tight right now .003! I am probably going to have to send her back to Century once and for all and just have them fix it. If you are competent you can fix your C93 by polishing the chamber if your bolt gap is in spec. I believe I am competent from my experience assembling AR15s and my experience building up my M1 Garand all from the receiver up.

Yea the AR-15 works best with 223/5.56. I do not see the point of a 5.45 upper as you can only shoot the cheap Russian ammo that is also available in 223/5.56 for the same price. If you are in TX I may be interested in buying your AR. I would scrap the upper but am always in the market for quality lowers.

If you want to shoot 5.45, just get an AK74. They are cheap and work.

Im not in TX. I still stand by my logic though because the cheapest .223 I find locally is about $200/1000 (steel case) and the cheapest 5.45 I find locally is $145/1080. As much as I shoot, that saves me $500/year +. They make steel shell deflectors now for the AR15. Forget about the AR, I like this HK design much better and a lot of my buddies agree they love it and they own AR15s.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

My bolt gap is damn tight right now .003! I am probably going to have to send her back to Century once and for all and just have them fix it.

So you are a stand up comedian?:43:

Have been advised to buy one myself, but only knowing in advance that it is a sorta~shooting parts kit that will have to go the Ghilliebear for a total rebuild. I bought my new US made barrel last week and I am gathering parts, mags and such for what I know is inevitable. A few people have won the toss of the dice with century, but it seems many if not most are just a semi~working parts kit

PS: About AR15s, you get what you put into them. If you build a bare bones cheap gun you will get bare bones functioning.. here is my gal's new AR15 (5.56) and total $$ on it so far is about $1700 and it works flawlessly. I built it from the best parts I could afford

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/7051/dsc00934vi.jpg

 

[thirtyoughtsixn]

So you are a stand up comedian?:43:

Have been advised to buy one myself, but only knowing in advance that it is a sorta~shooting parts kit that will have to go the Ghilliebear for a total rebuild. I bought my new US made barrel last week and I am gathering parts, mags and such for what I know is inevitable. A few people have won the toss of the dice with century, but it seems many if not most are just a semi~working parts kit

PS: About AR15s, you get what you put into them. If you build a bare bones cheap gun you will get bare bones functioning.. here is my gal's new AR15 (5.56) and total $$ on it so far is about $1700 and it works flawlessly. I built it from the best parts I could afford

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/7051/dsc00934vi.jpg

Im pretty confident that Century will fix her up once they get it in. If not I will send it off to ghilliebear and have him repress the barrel or something. I have built $600 AR15s and I have built $1300 AR15s so I know the differences but they still are the same gun with the same characteristics. I mean each gun was built piece by piece, lower parts kit, upper parts kit, barrel, barrel nut, gas piston or gas tube system every finite detail. Its a great gun but im over them and stoked on this super simple and functional German design which IMO simplicity is superiority in guns.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Im pretty confident that Century will fix her up once they get it in. If not I will send it off to ghilliebear and have him repress the barrel or something. I have built $600 AR15s and I have built $1300 AR15s so I know the differences but they still are the same gun with the same characteristics. I mean each gun was built piece by piece, lower parts kit, upper parts kit, barrel, barrel nut, gas piston or gas tube system every finite detail. Its a great gun but im over them and stoked on this super simple and functional German design which IMO simplicity is superiority in guns.

I too prefer the real HK roller locks and the well made clones but a good AR15 is a fine weapon in it's own right. The barrel is the heart of an AR and this is where a lot of people go wrong. Century is not to be listed among the well made HK clones. At this point I can understand why you would want to have hope Century will just fix it but you need to do a search around this site for the many stories of Century "repair" before you get your hopes up too high

 

[AGG]

Welcome to the site, and congratulations on the acquisition!!! :wink:

Tony

 

[thirtyoughtsixn]

Well I've been shooting my C93 and its been amazing. Its been eating up anything that I have thrown at it! I got a little ambitious and bought a couple translucent MKE magazines. I read that they didn't fit and I figured it was something simple. I just took a dremel aand lengthened the catching lip on the magazine because it appeared that the magazine catch was a little longer 1/8" or so? Well the dremel cleanly did the job. Here is a pic:

 

[U.S. Praetorian]

Interesting. I have a S&W MP15R and it has never had any issues, zero. Extremely accurate and no deflector problems or keyholing. It is as accurate as any of my '74's except my Vepr 5.45 which is real accurate.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

From what I have been told the MKE mags potentially work great but usually need to be fitted to clones, as no two are exactly the same

 

[ghilliebear2000]

From what I have been told the MKE mags potentially work great but usually need to be fitted to clones, as no two are exactly the same

right on. they work great just need a little mod..

 

[Nato308]

As I have said before, why modify mags that are suppose to fit in a weapon? If they don't fit properly in your weapon, modify the weapon, or in this case the mag catch, so all mags will fit. One of my other posts explains what to do.

If you grab someone elses unmodifed mag for what ever the reason and stick it in your weapon, where are you then?

 

[ghilliebear2000]

As I have said before, why modify mags that are suppose to fit in a weapon? If they don't fit properly in your weapon, modify the weapon, or in this case the mag catch, so all mags will fit. One of my other posts explains what to do.

If you grab someone elses unmodifed mag for what ever the reason and stick it in your weapon, where are you then?

mags are made BY mke not hk or us ..

the mags are made to fit MKE rifles not hk93/ sw /c93 recs easy to mod . if you mod the rec when it may only fit mke mags and have a lot of play with other mags ..

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Listen the the bear, he knows his stuff. With the MKE mag mods you can still use any factory 33/93 metal mags. Wish I could have a rock N roll switch on my build, but in WA State it's a no-go!

 

[Nato308]

I believe ghilliebear2000 knows his stuff. But, I am not suggesting to modify the receiver. All the MKE mags i have tried work fine in my unmodified HK93 as they come, but would only lock in, in 1 out of 4 C93's. No doubt these mags were made to tight HK specs. These same guns would not properly lock onto brand new HK93 25 round steel or 20 round aluminum magazines, they would fall out after firing a few rounds.

All magazines work fine in these same C93's, without exception, by rounding off the last one millimeter to one sixteenth inch from the inside front of the C93 magazine catch. They work without modification to the mags. In a catch that that has a half inch wide latching surface for the magazine I do not believe that a sixteenth of an inch will make a significant difference in holding strength. I have not seen any problems with these modified catches holding any magazine in place after this minor mod.

In fact they lock even tighter on the 40 round mags because the front of the catch is no longer resting on the double layer of metal in front of the magazine's catch notch.
If you use brand new magazines, look at the wear pattern in front of the catch notch after firing in a C93, you will see what I am talking about. The catch is too long for the receiver that is slightly out of tolerance.

 

[Nato308]

Go to 4 minutes and 20 seconds into this video. MKEK Introduction in English Mechanical And Chemical Industries Corporation - YouTube