Century Arms C93 rifle (HK93 clone)

Well, I ended up getting myself something new for Christmas again. Yup, another one of my gun review threads. I was at my local Cabela's earlier today and had a gift card from my birthday last month and also a discount coupon. I was checking out their rifles and saw that they reduced the price on their C93's from $799 to $599. Adding in my gift card and coupons, I ended up paying $430 for the rifle.

I was hoping to find a new Zastava AK since they are being imported en-mass as of recently (atleast from what I hear from my gun buddies) and are roughly the same cost of a WASR-10 nowdays, but didn't see any in stock.

My C93 pictured below.



I know Century has QC problems, but I decided to chance it on this rifle. Long story short, it's $430 vs a bit over $1,000 for a Vector v93, $1,400 for a PTR, or a ton more for an actual HK.

I wont be able to take this to the local range for atleast another week or 2. (Sacrificed range time today to instead buy another gun).

First impression - Fit and finish isn't great. It's a Century rifle so that's not really a concern for me. Butt stock, handguard, is rough polymer, nothing special. The pistol grip and lower is also polymer, pretty thin for my hands, and has checkering. I would rather it be smooth, rather than the checkered. It would just feel better IMO. Ive disassembled it, cleaned it, and haven't noticed anything negative yet. Of course, Century dunks their guns in grease and it takes forever to get it off. Also, the sights are not canted at all so that's a plus.

The only thing that has me somewhat worried is the cocking handle. It is somewhat tough to pull back. Im new to the roller locking system, and am somewhat weary on how well it will cycle. Im a big fan of the AK system (piston driven), and to a lesser extent, the direct impingement system on my AR's. Don't get me wrong, the DI system works great but I just like the piston system in AK's.

In a nutshell, I've read a bunch of mixed reviews on the C93. I believe they first started being available on most shelves back in 08-09, and there were lots of problems with those models. After a few years, CAI stepped up on their new makes and there's hopefully less problems with the newer models. Anyone here have any input on the C93?

reply to post by buni11687


Bought the clone rather than the real deal ehh?
In a world of compromise, some men don't.
However the slogan was then compromised.
In a world of compromise, some don't.
I guess they wanted to be pc for the "kitchen dwellers".
Aww hell, if ya want it, buy it.
Me myself, stick to the German/Austrian manufacturers, there is a reason these people were building fine watches when the rest of the world was grunting and clicking over how pretty fire is.
Sure hope your new toy turns out to be a good one.

reply to post by buni11687


G,day mate. you seem a bit negative about your new bang stick.
so, i do hope the rifle tunes in ok for you.
as a point of interest i purchased my last bow from cabela's . (pse bowmadness) and a plano case. cheaper from cabela's with special security shipping than buying here in Australia.
what about m1a's or FN/SLR's and if so are they very expensive.
i have used both and loved em both.
in saying m1a i mean the civilian version of the m14.
anyway enjoy your 93 copy. i did prefer the 91 personally. never the less enjoy and keep yer powder dry bloke.

reply to post by g146541


One day I'll hopefully get an actual HK. Their prices are just insane though. I never really understood why HK costs a bazillion more dollars than some of their counter-parts that make nearly identical rifles and costs about $2,000 less. (PTR, Vector, not Century though.)



I mean, of course HK is going to have the best of the best QC, but does that really justify an extra grand or 2?

reply to post by pronto

G,day mate. you seem a bit negative about your new bang stick.

A lot of what Century makes is usually a gamble. They import a bunch of cool stuff that's hard to find at other places, and their prices are usually great, but I have no idea where their Quality Control is.

Another few good examples is their WASR-10 AK's. Sights couldn't be put on correctly, gas tubes and barrels were misaligned, etc.... Then they had their FAL rifle that was probably one of their worst guns. Their FAL finally got the name "Franken-fal". A giant mess of mixed and mashed parts, mixing stuff like inches and metric together, etc....

as a point of interest i purchased my last bow from cabela's

Im curious if you're using the bow for hunting or target practice. If you're hunting, what kind of animals do yall hunt down there?

what about m1a's or FN/SLR's and if so are they very expensive.

I haven't actually seen any FN/SLR rifles in person for quite awhile now. I do see them on auction sites though. As for their price, the Century Arms horrible model is roughly around $1,000. Im not all too familiar with these rifles and who else makes/imports them. (Im sure there's a few members here who know more about them). Just going off of auction site prices, I saw a Steyr model that's going for a bit over $1,000. Then there's a few other companies going up in price, whose prices are $1,500 to $2,500. The priciest Ive seen is a Belgian made, which runs $3,500 and up.

As for m1a's, they're pretty common around my area. My local Academy, Cabela's, and a few other places always have the $1,500 m1a1 Springfield in stock. Im also not too familiar with them. I believe most m1a's these days are going to be made by Springfield. Their prices run around $1,000 to $1,500

reply to post by buni11687


Is my Colt as nice as my Knights Arms.............No. You get what you pay for when it comes to firearms. People will try and tell you different but they are wrong.




The reason these are so cheap is they are stamped out bad fitting pieces of crap. Kel-Tec comes to mind. Sure they make tacticool looking kit but they are CRAP. Trust me I know. Save up your money and buy quality.

SubTruth
reply to post by buni11687

 

Is my Colt as nice as my Knights Arms.............No. You get what you pay for when it comes to firearms. People will try and tell you different but they are wrong.




The reason these are so cheap is they are stamped out bad fitting pieces of crap. Kel-Tec comes to mind. Sure they make tacticool looking kit but they are CRAP. Trust me I know. Save up your money and buy quality.

Yup. Century is notorious for mixing and matching stuff. I believe the C93 was first made with a US lower receiver and barrel, and the rest was a bunch of Malaysian milsurp parts. Then their recent build were US lower receiver and barrel but with German milsurp parts. (I wonder how many of those parts got mixed after they supposedly "switched"). Plus, I take anything Century says about "improving their QC" with a grain of salt.

Adding on to their Frankenfal I mentioned above, I heard most of the parts on those rifles were South American parts mixed with European parts, had trouble converting metric to US lenths, then all their usual stuff like putting stuff on crooked.

As for Kel-Tec, I wont touch any of their stuff. Their QC is bottom of the barrel.


ETA - Decided to throw in a few videos of the C93 if anyone's interested.

reply to post by buni11687


G,day mate. tks for the reply and info.
when the aussie army first replaced the SLR with the Austrian steyr, we called it the K MART Special.
the mags would warp in salt water and the rifle body would buckle in the AUSSIE sun.
Further more it took 2 years of operations in East Timor for the weapon to claim a higher ratio of enemy troopies killed to aussie troopies the bloody thing had killed.
The first time the Austrian rifle grenade was trialledi t killed one of the 2 RAAF sgts. testing it.
The bloody wanker of a bang stick has no real saftey and can and has knocked itself into battery and killed blokes.
If you have to use the bayonet, every bullpup rifle is at a distinct disadvantage over a normally configured rifle. the bloody thing has about as much reach as a cotton bud and looks as menacing as friggin water pistol.
As u can see i have a lot of time for the steyr.
Now if anyone is thinking, nobody does a fix bayonet and up and into em. think again.
one of our inf. bats. did so when entering a bunker system in funny land er south vietnam
take care bloke and keep yer powder dry

reply to post by buni11687

I mean, of course HK is going to have the best of the best QC, but does that really justify an extra grand or 2?

Yessir, there are some areas where I will not skimp.
If you are buying a serious "my life depends on this" weapon, then no cheap stuff.
This new rifle of yours sounds like is the newest addition to a fairly large family, so not so much of a big deal.
So I'm fairly sure this won't be the one you are strapping on as you run out the back door.
I have owned a few...."nostalgia guns" myself, some good some maybe not. cough llama 45 cough
Either way, it should be a fun gun.

reply to post by buni11687


G,day mate. Sorry, u asked what do i hunt.
rabbit, fox, goat, pig, deer.
Oh and 4 brown snakes this year. they are born grumpy and get worse with age.

reply to post by buni11687


I would never touch anything from century,kel-tec,bushmaster,taurus. They are all crap and need better quality control and designs.



Also gun gear is another area were people lose hard earned money. Never and I mean never buy anything from these companies if you need your kit to hold up.



Barska,CAA,NCSTAR,Simmons,Hammers,Leapers. This is all made in China crap. And ya you might save a little money but your kit will break and you will have to buy it again and again. And if anyone tells you different either they have no idea what they are talking about or they have no idea what they are talking about.



If you own one of these scopes and are using it you had better study up. I am not trying to flame or start a debate I am only trying to save you time and money.

reply to post by pronto


Man. Sounds like the Steyr started out really horrible over there. Just simple performance problems would lead me to think that yall would have dropped the design all together (ex - the buckling under the sun.). I personally have never even held an AUG before. I've seen them at gun shows (the problematic MicroTec makes), but never actually picked one up. However, Steyr recently began re importing their own made AUG's into the country, but I still probably wont ever shoot one since they're running atleast $2,000 currently.

reply to post by g146541

Yessir, there are some areas where I will not skimp.
If you are buying a serious "my life depends on this" weapon, then no cheap stuff.
This new rifle of yours sounds like is the newest addition to a fairly large family, so not so much of a big deal.
So I'm fairly sure this won't be the one you are strapping on as you run out the back door.

It's one of those nostalgia rifles again. A new system/design for me to take a shot at and have plinking fun basically. Not many in my collection would be "life depends on it". There's only a couple that have made it into that category so far.

SubTruth
reply to post by buni11687

 

I would never touch anything from century,kel-tec,bushmaster,taurus. They are all crap and need better quality control and designs.



Also gun gear is another area were people lose hard earned money. Never and I mean never buy anything from these companies if you need your kit to hold up.



Barska,CAA,NCSTAR,Simmons,Hammers,Leapers. This is all made in China crap. And ya you might save a little money but your kit will break and you will have to buy it again and again. And if anyone tells you different either they have no idea what they are talking about or they have no idea what they are talking about.



If you own one of these scopes and are using it you had better study up. I am not trying to flame or start a debate I am only trying to save you time and money.

Ironically, a Taurus was my first ever gun purchase, and it was major fail. It was a jam-o-matic PT709. I doubt I'll ever buy another Taurus after that experience.

As for Bushmaster, I do like them as they were a few years ago. Long story short, I'm talking about Windham Weaponry, the original Bushmaster. Windham (original Bushmaster), makes great AR's, while the new Bushmaster (Cerberus or Freedom Group, not sure what they're called now), makes junk. I also love the story of how Windham came to be.

"Barska,CAA,NCSTAR,Simmons,Hammers,Leapers" - Out of those, I've only took a look at Leapers, NCSTAR, and CAA, and have only heard horrible reviews. And I mean absolutely horrible reviews. I would add BSA into that list to. Had a BSA mounted to the top rail over the gas tube on my Saiga AK and it failed after 5 rounds (5.56). Im currently only running original iron sights on all my guns, with the exception on my Windham CF with Magpul MBUS.

ETA - I really haven't gotten into optics a whole bunch yet, as my local range is only 25 yards and irons do well for me there.

reply to post by buni11687

buni11687
I was hoping to find a new Zastava AK since they are being imported en-mass as of recently (atleast from what I hear from my gun buddies) and are roughly the same cost of a WASR-10 nowdays, but didn't see any in stock.

The Yugo (Zastava PAP) M92 and M85 AK pistols are truly a great investment right now. IMO Yugo's have always been one of the top AK's available and the M92/M85 PV are no exception. You will not be disappointed, built like a tank and extremely reliable.

They are on sale right now, at a price that is hard to beat ($399):
www.jgsales.com...

If you prefer a already set carbine length M92PV (Pistol M92 with folding stock and blind pined fake suppressor), this might be of interest ($589):
www.cncwarrior.com...

(No affiliation with J&G or CNCW; simply a satisfied customer)

reply to post by kneverr

The Yugo (Zastava PAP) M92 and M85 AK pistols are truly a great investment right now.

They are really affordable at the moment. I saw a Zastava PAP pistol for $499 at my local Cabela's not too long ago. However, I've never really been a big fan of AK pistols, AR pistols, (or even any kind of long gun pistol make). If I had a ton of money to blow, I would buy one, but I would rather spend my money on other stuff at the moment.

IMO Yugo's have always been one of the top AK's available and the M92/M85 PV are no exception. You will not be disappointed, built like a tank and extremely reliable.

Speaking from what all Ive heard from the Yugo AK rifles, they are top of the line reliable. Their prices are nearly the same as WASR's , and they are generally machined and put together much much better. I've been trying to find them locally for the past month, but they haven't shown up here yet. Im pretty sure the local Cabela's will get them in stock soon. They had WASR-10's in stock the other day for $475.

As for J&G, I pretty much trust them. However, if there's one type of firearm I wont order over the internet, it's an AK build. Always have to see those in person. (Unless it's something very high end, such as Arsenal).

reply to post by buni11687


Yep add BSA to the list. I actually bought one when I first started getting into guns and what a failure. A smart man learns from his mistakes a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.




If you want something that is going to hold up save up. Do not buy the cheap eotech with the red and green dot buy the real deal. By the way eotech never comes in a green dot........NEVER. If it is green it is fake.




Basically anything made in China is CRAP. Also watch out for Magpul PTS line of products they are made for airsoft and will not hold up. Buy the regular Magpul kit.

reply to post by buni11687


Also buddy if you want a good cheap scope look at the insight MRDS. I run one and love it. They run about 400-500. Watch out for the lower end Vortex scopes they are made in China.



Also lower end Bsuhnell are made in China. I run a Bushenll 4200 tactical Elite on my 700 and love it.....Made in Japan. Hakko I believe. You can find many great cheap scope on EBAY that are made in Hakko Japan. The Browning scope line and a few others are great.

If anyone's still watching, I finally was able to take the C93 out to the range today for New Years Eve.

I put 60 rounds of Tula through it and had no function problems. (I guess I got lucky and picked the right one off the gun rack at the store!) The only negative I found was that the sights are a tiny bit off, but not by much. My shots were a little low and right at 25 yards. An easy fix.

SubTruth
reply to post by buni11687

 

The reason these are so cheap is they are stamped out bad fitting pieces of crap. Kel-Tec comes to mind. Sure they make tacticool looking kit but they are CRAP. Trust me I know. Save up your money and buy quality.

I gotta call BS on the Keltec sentiment...and I guess they may not have the absolute best QC but as far as their reliability I have yet to see an issue. I currently own an SU-16 and have run an easy 500 rounds through it without one FTF or FTE. Sure its polymer but that was kind of the point. They wanted a lightweight reliable rifle...and as far as I can tell it is just that. I can't speak on their pistols but as far as the PLR-16, SU-16, RFB, or KSG I have only heard good things. Here is a little video for the nay sayers.Look here!

reply to post by RickyD


I've had a Keltec Sub 9 for years with no problems.