Century tantal prepurchase questions

[Infidelski]

Seriously thinking of buying a Century Tantal 74 style rifle but before I do...

Any updates if they have remedied the awesome keyhole feature I've heard so much about?

Do they work well with East German 30rd bakelite mags?

What's the overall consensus of the fit and finish?

The 5.45x39 is cheap to shoot so this Tantal would be my plinking rifle and don't want to invest in any more mags...

[Infidelski]

I feel the love... I'm sure this has all been discussed but don't have access to GN archives


Anyone? Bueller?

[RevRob]

I had one and sold it. Wish I hadn't.

The fit and finish is real good on these. I don't know about the EG mags mine where all Polish.

The keyhole feature seems to come from out of spec barrels that can be aggravated or calmed depending on the ammo you use. Apparently specs on the ammo varies greatly. The newer barrels have a tighter twist which seems to help.

The bizarre thing is how some seem to keyhole at 25 years but be stabilized by 100 yards. You will not have to search hard to find arguments over this one.

As always with Century Guns be sure to check it over before you buy.

My 2 cents.

[nfafan]

Don't know if I'm too late to save you or not, but do NOT buy a Cent Arms Tantal no matter how tempted you are by cosmetics, price, caliber. It will be an absolute garunteed roll of the (loaded) dice that you will end up with a loser.

Google Cent Arms Tantal and you'll grow old and die before you can read everything on the 'net about all the problems folks have had with these.

Get one of the other non-Century-branded - TGI ??? - Tantals out there that have been built, but never EVER EVER get a Cent Tantal.

[solarak]

wow, glad I found this thread. I've been very tempted lately by the influx of (relatively) low priced Tantals I've been seeing, but I'll have to do some more research.

[Bluntforce]

Thanks for the heads up.

[preokc]

I have one ill sell you. I call it my magic ninga star thrower. EVERYTIME i pull the trigger it throws out a tumlbling round of 545X39 round of ammo! I notified Century about and guess what...........They said there is nothing wrong with the gun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thay emailed me some article from guns and ammo magazine saying that the round was designed to tumble so there was nothing wrong with my rifle!

When i put a cartridge in the muzzle it sank clear up to the metal casing. Heres a pic of the target from the awesome first outing i had with it. At thirty yards i was getting a MOA accuracy of about three feet. BTW the few holes in the bottom left were from my SLR-106FR the others were from my century built POS!

[blobman]

well,theoretically dont you have a better shot of hitting the target w/ the projectile being broadside

[imanaknut]

The round was designed to tumble, but only after entering the human body at high speed. I would be getting hit with a round already tumbling would not be a pleasant experience!