Anyone out there know how to fix the problem here.. I have a junky century L1A1 metric, (all i can afford right now till i can get a dsa or something) it has a flip up rear sight and starts at 300m every round that goes through it moves the sight to a longer elevation, just keeps bouncing up till it goes no farther. I also know there are millions of variants out there for parts. Question is can i put on a rear sight that has a push button slide or do i just have to replace or stretch the springs and if the springs are in question how do i know the people slapping rifles together at century put the right part on in the first place. I have since put a scope on it but i need the backup irons to work. also do they make front sight posts that are taller than what i have? right now i have to have mine almost falling out of the rifle to put it close to the target at 100.
another stupid question for a novice FN(almost) person, is there a way to smooth the trigger up without doing any damage to the guts and make the trigger smooth and not like dragging a shopping cart under your car in the wally world parking lot?
Sorry about the stupid question but i just wanna make it work right and there is no one round where i shoot that has one that i can ask.
any help would be most helpfull, thanks

Its pretty cheap and easy to replace the rear sight.  Just remove one of the two screws and tap the thing out.  Since you are having problems getting a good zero, it is likely that you have a metric front end with the inch lower.  The inch rear sight is much higher than metric and that would cause you sighting problems.  IIRC, the rear sights are interchangable.

Now about that trigger... I'm not as familiar with the inch triggers but I'll tell you what I do with the metric.  First, I polish everything.  Every pin, hole and contact point gets attention with emory paper.  Be VERY careful at the hammer and sear contact point.  Do nothing more than polish the surface and don't remove any metal.  Also, make sure you smooth out the trigger return plunger.  I also replace the trigger return spring with a sear spring.  That take a good 2 pounds off the pull.  The biggest thing though it to make all the moving parts move smoothly.

Is there any side to side play in the sight?  This is often a problem with many FALs.  If so, you could try removing it and squeezing it (gently!) in a vise a bit.  Otherwise, replacing the detent spring, as you mentioned, is worth a shot.

About replacing the rear sight assembly, you may have problems if going to a metric push button, as your current inch sight is a bit taller.  If you get one of the folding push button's, you should be OK.  Although I think on one the sight base rail is offset and on the other in the middle (forget which), so you'd probably be best off replacing the whole assembly and not just the aperature.

About the front site - if you have a standard metric front sight post with the taller inch rear, that's likely why you have to have it almost falling out.  In this case, you may be better off just switching to the metric rear, which may solve all your problems.

I know that the izzy front sight posts are available in a wide range of sizes, but I'm really not sure what front's fit what gas blocks.  The hodgepodge of parts the Century rifles were built with probably won't help the situation...

Regarding the trigger pull - you may consider switching to a standard FSE HTS.  Most folks don't have a very high regarding for century's set.  Both RSA and FSE are coming out with a HTS sets that are more of a "match grade" quality in the near future, however, so if you are thinking of upgrading, you may want to wait.   Otherwise,  you can always try polishing the contact surfaces and pins.  Just be careful not to take off much material or alter the angles.  Some folks also try to lighten the trigger return spring, either by replacing it, or cutting off a few coils.  However, this can lead to trigger reset problems and would only help with a heavy trigger pull and not really do anything for the grittiness you're describing.

Rocko

Good suggestion about the FSE set.  I have two of them and they are already close to match quality.  The new set will be a two stage affair, which I do prefer.  The regular set though is smooth and crisp and has a let off at about 5 pounds with the trigger return spring replaced.  I still polished all the pins and holes.

Regarding the trigger pull - you may consider switching to a standard FSE HTS. Most folks don't have a very high regarding for century's set. Both RSA and FSE are coming out with a HTS sets
What are these? RSA and FSE. is there a web site regarding these that have info and prices?

Is there any side to side play in the sight?
Yes there are 2 screws on both sides of the base and the screw is pushing the assymbly all the way to one side and I am still off over a foot or two. As far as replacing the rear sight assembly what other distributors are there besides Tapco out there that carry parts that I might need?

Thanks for the input, I just might be able to get this thing singing :)

FSE is First Sons Enterprises.  They currently don't sell direct, but that is about to change.  You can get the HTS set through Tapco.

Your rear sight is all the way to one side and you're still a foot off?  You've got a barrel timing issue.  What that means is that your barrel is not screwed on where the front sight is at top, dead center.  You have two choices to fix this.  Either get the barrel re-installed by a professional or get a scope.

Yeah, if you are out of windage adjustment and still can't get it zeroed, then your barrel is not timed properly.   You didn't mention which way it is shooting - if to the right it is overtimed, if to the left undertimed (good way to remember - "right, too tight").   Undertimed is usually easier to correct - sometimes all it takes is a bit more torque or removing the barrel and taking a bit off the shoulder.  Overtimed may mean that the barrel will be too loose when correctly timed - to compensate, you'll need to peen the shoulder (which means you'll not get 100% contact w/ the shoulder and receiver - effect of this is arguable, though) or add a breeching washer between the shoulder and the receiver.

At any rate, you'll need some specialized tools to perform any of the above operations yourself.  Minimum of a receiver wrench and you'll also want to recheck headspace after rebarreling.  Will likely cost more for the tools than sending it out for retiming.   Century Gun Works charges $75 for barreling and are running a 25% off sale until the end of August. Not sure if this includes return shipping, but either way, it should be under $75-80 total.  Their website is www.centurygunworks.net/.

Alternately, you could post your location and problems at www.falfiles.com and perhaps there is someone close by with the proper tools that will be able to help you out with fixing the barrel timing.

The For Sale forum at FalFiles is also a good place to look for various parts.  You can also check www.gunthings.com.   Moses at FalFiles is currently selling the FSE HTS for $47 shipped - I don't think you'll find it for less elsewhere.

Rocko

HimDude,

Like a couple of others have mentioned, you have a barrel timing issue if don't have enough windage to get on target. Replacing the rear sight won't help that problem.

As far as replacing the detent and spring to keep it from moving while firing and to take some of the slack out of it, try this.

Use a detent(ball bearing) and spring out of an M16A2 rear sight assembly. The ones for the elevation wheel, sight housing and windage knob are all the same. Use a new one(spring) and it will take deliberate effort to move the sight. Just makes it nice and stiff, which is what you want. It will also help take some of the slack out of the sight. If it seems to stiff for your particular sight, just cut a coil off or use an old one that has lost some of it's tension. Did this on a friend of mine's L1A1 and it worked great.

To get it apart, you'll have to remove the pin on the rear sight base so you can slide the sight off. After you replace the spring and detent, press them into the sight with a small screw driver or punch just enough to slide the sight back onto the base. Be careful not to launch them across the room. Once it's back on the sight base, replace the pin and your all set.

Wpns Man