Let it rip. What is good and bad about Century's FAL. I bought one today, and need the bottom line.

Thanks.

You should ask this at www.fnfal.com  I've never shot one (Century), but have heard all kinds of things, and it's always hard to know what to believe.  It's an entry level rifle price-wise, so it's unreasonable to expect an excellent rifle.  However, there's no reason it can't be a good and reliable shooter.  If it's not, you get to tinker with it to make it better, and that's half the fun.

One thing I would do is to check the headspace on the rifle to make sure it's safe to shoot.  Because the FAL has an adjustable gas system, you should be able to get the action to function reliably.  If it does not, some tinkering and parts replacment should fix that.

I would tend to disregard the pronouncements of the hardcore purists.  They will immediately say "it's a piece of shit" and half of them have probably never even held a Century FAL.

The FAL is a wonderful design, and in some ways superior to the AR.  They're a lot of fun to shoot.  Go try it out and see.

I own 2 ARs, 3 FALs, and am currently building a 4th FAL.  Love em all.

My cousin picked one up at a gun show recently.  Once he got the gas system adjusted, he's had nary a hiccup.  It is a blast to shoot.

I bought one of their newer L1A1 sporters on their proprietary receiver.  It has worked great.  Supposedly they stopped using two-piece pistons last year.  If you have one of the L1A1 (and not STG-58's because CAI builds them up from those kits, too), then there is no bolt-hold-open, so you're not going to be able to adjust the gas setting using that method.  I also have a DSA STG-58 - more expensive, better finish, twice as expensive.  Love them both, but I can give the L1A1 a quick clean and not feel guilty about it.

I've got one of the Century STG-58s on an Imbel receiver.  Accuracy, function, and reliability is much better than I expected.  The only gripe I have with it is the poor finish, but it gave me an excuse to camoflauge the rifle.

I guess it's about 50-50 on whether you will need to tinker with it. Century does build some POS. You might be lucky. Look at the upper receiver, if it says Hesse you are more likely to have trouble. If it says Imbel you are lucky, they are very good. Century just started manufacturing thier own receivers, no word on those yet.

Century rifles are assembled by monkeys and angry beavers, that's how they keep the costs low. You pays your money, you takes your chances.

The FALFiles is a great board for info and trouble shooting, very similar to AR15.com

YOU CAN NOT RUN FAST ENOUGH TO GET AWAY FROM CENTURY. They could not assemble a worth-a-sh*t FAL if their salaries doubled. It simply is not worth the money you save buying a century. you will probly spend the same price you paid for it repairing their f*ckups. mine is improperly headspaced, barrel is undertimed, and the receiver is so out of spec it barely functions.
you get what you pay for.
pay a visit to WWW.FNFAL.com message board, we are some nice fellows over there.
good luck,
Mike