I recently acquired one over the weekend. This is my first rifle like this one so bare with me a little.

I understand century isn't the best out there. One thing I have noticed messing with the gun is the metal mag it came with is not locking properly. The mag catch almost seems too wide apart. You can hear and see the mag lock into the catch, but its almost as if its barely holding on and you can rock it back out with a little push forward at the bottom of the mag. I did fire a box through it, it functions fine despite this small issue, but its something I would like to try and correct. If I could make the catch a little tighter the problem would be solved, but I am too new to this platform to understand if the mag catch is adjustable such as they are on AR15s.

Also, what is the thread on the barrel? From what I can gather it is M15x1. I would like to suppress this rifle with my m4-2000. I feel like I haven't seen many of these rifles suppressed before. Usually there is a reason for that. Im just wanting to make sure I am not missing something on this rifle that makes them a PITA to suppress or function while suppressed.

Thanks guys.

Is they play in the mag "up and down" while it is seated in the mag well?  Or is the mag loosey-goosey in the mag well and flopping all over the place?

As far as adjusting the mag catch, if that is the problem, I dont think there is a way to adjust it.  

With all that in mind, if you have not bought any Pro Mags for the rifle I suggest trying a few of them.  I've bought both 20rd and 30rd Pro Mags and they fit nice and tight.  I've put over 500 rounds down range through a couple of 20rd and 30 rd mags, no hiccups at all.  Plus, they are $15.  

As far as Century goes, dont right it off just yet. Over all, I think the C93 is just fine. Just read up and get to KNOW your rifle.  If it was built correctly it will be just as effective as the "real deal" for a fraction of the cost.

Even despite the small mag catch issue it seems to function fine. I haven't put enough rounds through it to call it that though. I believe I have a 30 rd pro mag that came with it as well that will need some work to make it fit.

The issue with the mag catch is its too wide. Left to right that is. It is not recessed far enough to engage the impression in the magazine well enough. The receiver itself is tight in that area, which probably is why it isn't cropping up as a serious issue.

I shimmied a qtip between the trigger housing and mag release. That little bit of pressure on the back of the mag release makes it hold mags like it should. Without anything there however, a small hit on the bottom of the mag to the front will rock it free from the mag catch.

It isn't an issue associated with misalignment as much as it is the mag catch is either worn or out of spec. It almost holds on.

Im either going to make a shim to put between the housing and the mag catch, or chop the mag catch down a little to make it hold tighter on the mags. I haven't decided the best approach yet. I was really hoping I could screw it tighter such as you can on a AR15.

Fixed the mag issue. Possibly the mag was slightly out of spec. Took a screw driver and bent out the tab that engages the mag catch

Got the can mounted. Ran about 10 rounds through it just to insure everything was working correctly.

I like this gun a lot! Sounds like a loud nail gun! Excited to actually shoot it some this weekend

Old school tag

If that is the 40 round aluminum mag, I wouldn't base much off that magazine.  My C93 has issues with the supplied 40 round mag.  HK 25 and 30 round mags fit fine in my rifle as well as 30 round promags.  David

Yep, It is whatever it came with. Also the guy threw in a 30 rd pro mag, I haven't messed with that one yet, but I remember it didn't lock and didn't even come close.

After looking at the price of mags for this rifle. One will be plenty for what I plan to use this rifle for.

It is a cool gun though. Wish parts weren't so expensive. Ill leave it to my ARs for serious use.

I hear you on the cost of parts. In regards to mags, i have a number of 40rd aluminum mags and they all seem to fit slightly different. Only the pro mags all fit the same. While Ive come to trust the pro mags i do hope mag pull eventually produces a 93 mag. Watch the prices on the HK metal mags drop a bit once that happens.

Be sure to try as many dofferent mags in your rifle as possible to help verify mag well issues.

Ill play with the promag I have this weekend to see what it needs to make it fit.

I just remembered it didn't latch up at all.

The factory mag did, sort of, but could be bumped free until I flared the catch on the mag itself.

I honestly haven't even looked at the pro mag. I think its still in my trunk actually

But this weekend will be this guns real maiden voyage. I hope everything runs well

Something you might want to pay attention to is bolt gap.  I'd suggest doing a search of "checking bolt gap".  You can buy a cheap set of feeler gauges at any automotive store for $5.00 and the SS set was $15.00.  The bolt gap in my C93 started to drop after 400 rds.  Proper bolt gap should be 0.010" - 0.018".  Do some searching on how to check bolt gap.  The roller locked guns aren't cheap, but they are a lot of fun.  When adding a suppressor watch for "over function".  The locking piece is designed for the dwell time of a certain length barrel.  Adding a suppressor is like adding barrel length, which tend to increase dwell time.  Increased dwell time tends to increase energy in the bolt group.  If the bolt group comes back too quickly, when the carrier hits the back end of the receiver and stops, the inertia of the bolt slamming into the locking piece, will drive the roller out and pound into the inside of the rails that guide the the bolt group.  As the rails get repeatedly pounded, they can be deformed, causing function problems.

Some must have parts would be half a dozen extractor springs and a spare extractor.  All it takes is one FTE.  The shell comes against the extractor and hyper extends the spring.  Once the extractor spring is hyper extended, it is junk.  You can bend it back to the original shape, but it won't stay.  I now just pull out the hyper extended spring and throw it away rather than trying to bend it back to try and reuse it.  The extractor is a wear item.  The C93s are built from used parts sets.  Some with a lot of use, some without a lot of use.  But since the extractor is a wear item, who knows how much wear the extractor has.  So when you start having extraction issues, having a spare extractor will be handy.

If you are originally an AR guy, like I am, there are some smiths that do AR mag conversions, so the roller locked 5.56X45 gun will use AR mags.  Keeping my 5.56X45 firearms to all use one mag system.  This conversion is not for everyone.  I love that I only need one mag system for 5.56X45.  Congratulations on your first roller locked gun.  They are addicting.  There is the 33K, 53, and for "shock and awe" the 53K.  At 5.1" barrel, the 53K is loud.

Scott

This is turning into a good thread with some good info.

I had a end cap strike with this gun unfortunately. I cannot tell if it was user error, bad round, what. I think its possible I didn't have the can on fully, maybe. I kept taking it off every 15 rounds or so to help clear the carbon that was coming loose from inside the can. I normally use MB mounts but used a FH mount on this one and I guess the gasses moving in different direction started knocking carbon loose. End cap strike was so minor I didn't notice for a few days. Id hate to rule out bad threads, but looking down the barrel, dropping rods, etc I cannot say that this is the issue. Everything seems to check out on the threads.

I have shot a few rounds suppressed since then without issue.

The gun is more enjoyable to shoot unsuppressed anyways and may only suppress it on rare occasions. Such light felt recoil its ridiculous. Very enjoyable to shoot.

I do not have any feeler gauges, but I can see a gap between the bolt and carrier when in battery so I am assuming its good to go.

I tried the plastic promag that I also received with the gun. Its a no go. Simply doesn't lock good enough. There must be an issue with the mag catch itself. The aluminum mag I could make work by bending out the engagement tab. Its like the mag catch will not seat deeply enough into the engagement on the mag.

How did you mount that light? It is the only thing I would like to do to this rifle and I may end up using it as a trunk gun

Op, check the magazine housing. Do the edges of the magazine well look even when viewed from the front or sides?  When Century bent/welded these receivers they didn't usually align the stampings well at all.

The magazine well on the C93's that i have owned have been uneven and I  too, had magazine catch issues..The  built-in magazine stops have to hit the magazine well on both sides evenly in order for the magazine catch to engage.

My fix was to carefully draw file the magazine well edges until they where equal on either side. When this is done, the magazines typically fit/function fine  afterwards..

"How did you mount that light? It is the only thing I would like to do to this rifle and I may end up using it as a trunk gun"

I drilled two holes in the handguard and attached a short Magpul MOE rail section, then attached the Streamlight TLR1s to the rail.

Does anyone know a developmental history of the C93?  It appears that there were/are at least two different sources for receivers.  Or maybe the one source they're using has gone with an easy and possibly cheaper to produce stamping.

I saw this because I've noticed some of the older guns floating around have the HK-style mag well ribbing along the sides and front of the mag well.  Current production guns all seem to have a non-traditional G3 ribbing.

Older receiver?  Note ribbing along front of mag well:



Newer receiver/current production receiver?  Note G3 ribbing:

The newer ones are better made even though they have the G3 type ribbing.  I think the older ones are Special Weapons receivers and the new ones are something else. The newer ones are better made and more correct.

Anyone got a link for the extractor springs?  extractor? Makes me remember the MP5... On the FAM range.   I want to grab a few now that I know

My receiver is like the newer one.

I checked out to see if the sides of the magwell are even. Everything looks fine from what I can tell.

Im not sure what my issue with my mag catch is about

IIRC the newer ones are MKE flats with the older ones being hte SW ones.   How are the reciever channels on the newer ones?  Square or rounded?

How much of a gap?  Is the gap above 0.010" or below 0.010"?  As I posted above " You can buy a cheap set of feeler gauges at any automotive store for $5.00 and the SS set was $15.00. The bolt gap in my C93 started to drop after 400 rds. Proper bolt gap should be 0.010" - 0.018"."  Bolt gap is important with the roller locked system.  Especially if the bolt gap starts to go away.  With out feeler gauges, I'm not able to tell by eye that my bolt gap has dropped 0.002"-0.003".  Maybe others can tell that small a difference.  That is why I bought the feeler gauges.  When I clean a roller lock, I check the bolt gap when I am done.  A few thousands can be the difference between in spec and out of spec.  As I recall my C93 started at 0.014" and dropped to 0.012" after 60 rounds.  The gap stayed there until I hit 400 rds, then started to drop again.

For the extractor springs http://www.hkparts.net/shop/pc/HK-Rifle-Extractor-Spring-For-All-HK-s-8p16248.htm but they are not the only supplier.  And the same can be said for HK extractors http://www.hkparts.net/shop/pc/HK-93-HK33-HK-53-223-German-Extractor-8p189.htm but I think this is the only source http://www.hkparts.net/shop/pc/HK-93-HK33-HK-53-Extractor-US-8p14962.htm for US made extractors.  BTW, the rifle extractor springs can also be used for pistol caliber roller locks.  YMMV.

Scott

I think the new receivers are by HEB manufacturing located in the same city as century arms. They seem to be of high quality but I do not think they sell to the public to use on a home build yet. The rails are squared / flat like the HK93.  The MKE flats for .556 look like they have the usual ribbing and not the G3 type HEB uses?

You are probably right.  Maybe I have it backwards.  I know..ok THINK  that mine was an MKE flat...no pics so I can't remember the details.  I need to by another one of these.

Weren't the early Vector guns supposed to be the guns built on the MKE flats?

ok..I have no business posting tonight.  About 9hrs sleep in the last 3 days so I'm a bit fuzzy on details.

I went back over some of my old topics at HKpro and you are correct.  It looks like the early Vectors had the MKE flats w/rounded rails and the laterguns used the SW flats.  I had one of the V93's also.   It does look as if the early C93's have the same reciever but tonight I ain't sure about anything.

Are they (Century) still welding the front trunnion in by going around the front of the receiver with the weld or have they started welding it properly?

Thought Id give this a little bumpity bump with some info from using the firearm a bit more.

I finally measured the bolt gap somewhat.

.010 fit in fine. Went up to .012 with a bit of wiggle room left. Me guessing Id say the bolt gap is somewhere around .015 so that seems fine to me.

The original metal mag still works fine. Never got the plastic mag that was aftermarket to lock. Still as if the mag catch is too wide apart in the receiver or is out of spec/ worn out. The only reason the metal mag is working is I have flared out the portion where the mag catch locks in on the mag.

Guns been running great. I have even shot about 100 rounds suppressed again with no end cap strikes. Must have just been a fluke or I didn't have the can all the way on. Probably have 3 or 400 through the gun.

Promags need a slight dremeling







 

I have a Vector V53 SBR and a V93 and have never checked the bolt gap on either of them.  What's the risk if the bolt gap is off? A kaboom? Firing out of battery?

Right on I'll give it a shot. That's my exact problem with it so

Well I Drmeled the shit out of that mag and is still a no go.

I think the catch itself is the issue

I'd like for someone to try the Promags in their HK93 (not a clone). I'm curious as to how they fit a true "in spec" x93 rifle.  

I dont have any issues with the Promags fitting in my V93's.  They fit nice and tight.

Lets see the results





 

I've got a couple of 53's and 33's at work.  I'll check tomorrow when I get in.  David

Test fired fine in the 33K.  The Promag actually seats easier on a closed bolt than the HK25 round mag.  David

HK Porn

Just has a nice hole where the catch should be at . The issue is having something to do with the mag catch on the rifle being too wide apart to rest solidly into the recess on the mag.

I guess since I cannot solve this issue I only should buy the metal mags that I can flare out the catch on the mag with. The issue there is I cant find any metal mags that do not cost 100 a pop .

Id really like to find 2 25 rounders that I can flare out like I did the original metal mag with a screw driver.

I have found others on HK forums who have had an identical problem. Their mag catch is worn down. Replacing it fixed their problem

I may do this. Wish I would have ordered it along with a few pieces I did today from hkparts

Anyone know how big of a pain it is to put in a paddle release? The button release location must specifically be built to large german men spec as I cant get my finger anywhere near it

I would not call it hard to put in a paddle mag release but getting the material out of the semi auto shelf without cutting past the rear of the paddle is a pain.

I agree.  I'd just send it off and have it done by a HK smithy.  Or, if you're good enough and have the proper tools there are a few videos out there showing how to do the job without violating those lame ass rules.  

Or... do like I did and buy Vector.  The paddles are already installed.  

EDIT:  

I just wanted to add a bit about the Promags- FWIW, I just put another 200 or so rounds through a 20rd Promag yesterday- I even put some stress on the mag while firing (up, down, forward, rearward), and it stayed locked nice and tight in my V93. Again, the Promags fit nice and tight in both of my V93's, no dremel or modification needed.

I have a few Promags and they work fine also but they needed a little material removed to lock up correctly.  I actually sanded off everywhere that said Promag and restamped them HK. I know they are still Promags but I like the HK stamp just for myself.