After reading several positive reviews about these, I wanted one. This would be my first milled AK. I decided Henderson Defense would be my best choice, as they offer their "certified" service and are CA friendly.

I ordered through there website and sent an e-mail to Matt. I requested matching laminate wood, and to pick me a nice one. Out of the 5 they had, he e-mailed back that he thought I got the nicest one.

It arrived at my dealers shop and had excellent laminate wood. The finish was your typical Century Parkerized. The grip was some BFPU Romy G. I already had an extra polish Orange bakelite PG, so I wasn't concerned. It also had a cleaning kit and a nice bayo. The only problem is the back of the bayo isn't wide enough to fit onto the barrel?

This rifle comes with a slant brake installed. I've heard the barrel at the end is longer than it should be and a muzzle nut will be too short to completely cover the end of the barrel. I had purchased a US made barrel nut and a cleaning rod in anticipation of picking-up this rifle. I've also read the cleaning rods will be too long to fit properly due to the way they apply the bullet guide rivet (hope I got that right?).

I've read some people have shortened the end of the barrel. I'm not that handy. After trying to devise a washer/spacer to fit between the front sight post and the back of the muzzle nut (while it's flush with the front of the barrel), I decided to just cut-down an extra slant brake I had and use the back end as a spacer. I grounded out the threads (as it would not screw all the way down), and just used it as a spacer/washer.

I also had to cut down the cleaning rod. Both the rod and muzzle nut I had refinshed earlier in the week using a dark park spray and bake offered by Brownells. It matched fairly well.

The wood didn't match very well. The rear stock was lighter than the front handguards. The wood looked really good, and I didn't feel it really needed to be sanded. I hit it with cherry chestnut stain trying to darken-up the rear stock and give it a little more orange. I than added two coats of spray urethane gloss.

These are some of the issues I've read about these guns and how I dealt with them. Hopefully, it can help others.

Overall, I am very impressed with this rifle. I really like the way it turned out. Can't wait to shoot it.

Here's the finished product.

I'd jump on it if they blued it and chrome lined the barrel. I wonder why they don't include the original FCG?

I picked mine up yesterday and it is very nice as well. I plan on firing it just as soon as possible, and am hoping that Century did not have enough of a role in its building to f#ck it up. It is put together very solidly and the front sight base is straight up and down, which I was concerned about.

More later after I have run it a bit.

Great pics!

Just start with a standard size AK cleaning rod (available at Copes Distributing). From there, insert it. It will probably be too long. Figure out how much to remove. I first removed the treaded section, and than a little more.

Yes, a muzzle nut for authenticity.

You may want to pick-up a Polish bakelite PG and Polish Sling from Apex. Here's a link to the Polish parts page.

https://www.apexgunparts.com/index.php/cPath/21_86

The Bayo mine came with didn't fit. Don't know if my barrel diameter is too big? It also looks like a scrubbed Bugarian bayo. I ordered a Polish one from Copes for $20.

After I cleaned my Polish up and re-did the wood, it's one of the nicest AK's I've ever seen.

Hope you get a nice one.

Here's a pic of an original Polish milled (probably in Iraq).

these take the type 1 bayonet. and to be correct the are supposed to have a wood pg a with the metalpart on the the top of it.

Just a FYI, received mine and I'm very pleased. I was seeking a unique AK, one that was worth investing in - and your review made me take a good look at these.

The action is super smooth, the quality is very good. The milled receiver is virtually flawless with no tool marks at all. Even my local gun shop owner was impressed with the value for the money. Milled like a real AK, finished much like a real 1960s AK - for the $629 asking price I feel it was a very fair deal.

If your seeking a milled AK, this one is a winner. J&G offers them for a little less at $589, but I felt the "certified AK" from Henderson was worth the extra price - perfectly straight sights, and a squared away gun.

Oh, and the bayonet fits too...

Edited to add pics...

My other 2 AKs are special: a new/clean Arsenal SGL31, and a Draco AK Pistol with million dollar custom wood furniture. Those two look like nice clean AKs - which means they don't really look like true AKs. That was the reason for this one - to show the original AK in its milled, but raw form. To dress it too much is to ruin its character. This is why I'm conflicted with the furniture - its nice for an AK, but not finished like it could be. I'm leaning toward leaving it the way an orginal AK should be.

In any case, the raw product was worth the price of admission - and upgrades required are few and purely optional.

––––––––––

Well, I ended up staining the furniture and losing some of that raw AK appeal. It came out nice, but maybe too nice. Anyway, here it is....

Edited pics added:

Looks good.

The workmanship on these truely make it the best deal around right now.

I might have to buy another and do a red stain.

Gonna need pics when you get it.

Do you know if it's the grenade launcher (KBK GN 60) version or not? Just wondering if they give you the option of which version you get.

Good luck with your orders, I think you'll be pleased. The quality of the latest receiver machining is very good/excellent compared to early versions.

I regret not taking a before pic, and I stained the furniture to match which changed the look.

Here is a "finished" pic of mine, with the included bayonet.

Ah shit, now I want one...

I handled one of these today at a shop in Birmingham, I was impressed by the fit & finish, not your typical Century rifle. Big thumbs up, anyone considering a first AK I think this would be a nice option, a lot nicer than a WASR but not nearly as expensive as an Arsenal or most other milled AK's out there.