Polish Tantal AK74. Anyone have any recent experiance with buying one?

BNOBrien · April 22, 2011, 01:39 AM

I was wondering if anyone has had any experiance with purchasing a Polish Tantal from either Century Arms, or more specifically Classicarms.com. I have read some reviews that say that the Tantals made by Century Arms have a tendancy to key hole every now and then. The thing is, all of these reviews are several years old. Is this still a problem or has the issue been remedied? I have heard that Classicarms.com is a very reputable dealer and i would imagine that they have an at least decent QA and are not going to sell junk, but they are basically selling the weapon that century arms made. Does anyone have any actual experiance with purchasing and using one of these withing say the last year?

Ignition Override · April 30, 2011, 01:25 AM

You might look up a guy nicknamed "Sturmgewehr", who months ago bought a Tantal assemble by Century.
His descriptions might be on "THR". He even had a Youtube video a while back. About all of his shots from 100 yards "keyholed", and Century was well aware of the over-sized bores in many barrels.

What really surprised me was that Century's warranty period begins when the gun leaves the factory.
It might be in a store for a while before the first purchase. I'm really surprised that US consumer regulations allow this.

The huge number of bad reports (a year ago) about both older Century CETMEs, some C-93s and other types quickly convinced me to never buy a semi-auto from them.

Good luck.

raftman · April 30, 2011, 02:08 AM

J&G has tons of user reviews for this particular gun, including several from this year. The recent ones are mostly positive, and I do have reason to believe Century has made efforts at improving quality control. But all of that still doesn't give me enough confidence to buy a Century Tantal unless it comes from a retailer that stands behind what they sell. Not all Century products are bad, I have a couple of Century assembled rifles right now and I couldn't be happier with them, they are definite keepers. If you're looking for a 5.45 AK, you may look into one of their "Bulgarian" AK-74's. They tend to have a much better reputation, they're also a little bit cheaper (but they don't look as cool).

goodspeed(TPF) · April 30, 2011, 04:34 AM

Unless you can Mic the bore, or shoot it first, PASS on a CENTURY build.

tedgas · March 24, 2012, 08:35 AM

I bought a Polish Tantal from Classic Arms on 3/17/2012. The Tantal is great. Shoots great. I only had to adjust the front site to make the bullet impact point go down 4 inches and move it left two inches.

Serial # starts with the TTL and my Tantal shoots out to 200 yds without any key holes. I used Classic Arms Russian surplus 5.45 from 1976. It is 52grain bullets.

Great rifle and good shooter with no issues other than adjusting front site.

April 22, 2011, 01:39 AM	#1
BNOBrien Member Join Date: March 21, 2011 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 19	Polish Tantal AK74. Anyone have any recent experiance with buying one? I was wondering if anyone has had any experiance with purchasing a Polish Tantal from either Century Arms, or more specifically Classicarms.com. I have read some reviews that say that the Tantals made by Century Arms have a tendancy to key hole every now and then. The thing is, all of these reviews are several years old. Is this still a problem or has the issue been remedied? I have heard that Classicarms.com is a very reputable dealer and i would imagine that they have an at least decent QA and are not going to sell junk, but they are basically selling the weapon that century arms made. Does anyone have any actual experiance with purchasing and using one of these withing say the last year?

April 30, 2011, 02:08 AM	#3
raftman Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2009 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,890	J&G has tons of user reviews for this particular gun, including several from this year. The recent ones are mostly positive, and I do have reason to believe Century has made efforts at improving quality control. But all of that still doesn't give me enough confidence to buy a Century Tantal unless it comes from a retailer that stands behind what they sell. Not all Century products are bad, I have a couple of Century assembled rifles right now and I couldn't be happier with them, they are definite keepers. If you're looking for a 5.45 AK, you may look into one of their "Bulgarian" AK-74's. They tend to have a much better reputation, they're also a little bit cheaper (but they don't look as cool). __________________ "My momma, she done told me, there's heart and then there's hate If one of 'em's inside of you, the other one, it aint."

April 30, 2011, 04:34 AM	#4
goodspeed(TPF) Senior Member Join Date: January 19, 2009 Location: WI Posts: 1,162	Unless you can Mic the bore, or shoot it first, PASS on a CENTURY build. __________________ It's a trick. Get an axe. http://www.thepiratefleet.com/index.shtml

March 24, 2012, 08:35 AM	#5
tedgas Junior Member Join Date: March 24, 2012 Posts: 1	Polish Tantal I bought a Polish Tantal from Classic Arms on 3/17/2012. The Tantal is great. Shoots great. I only had to adjust the front site to make the bullet impact point go down 4 inches and move it left two inches. Serial # starts with the TTL and my Tantal shoots out to 200 yds without any key holes. I used Classic Arms Russian surplus 5.45 from 1976. It is 52grain bullets. Great rifle and good shooter with no issues other than adjusting front site.

April 30, 2011, 01:25 AM	#2
Ignition Override Senior Member Join Date: February 18, 2008 Location: About 20 nm from the Big Muddy Posts: 2,886	You might look up a guy nicknamed "Sturmgewehr", who months ago bought a Tantal assemble by Century. His descriptions might be on "THR". He even had a Youtube video a while back. About all of his shots from 100 yards "keyholed", and Century was well aware of the over-sized bores in many barrels. What really surprised me was that Century's warranty period begins when the gun leaves the factory. It might be in a store for a while before the first purchase. I'm really surprised that US consumer regulations allow this. The huge number of bad reports (a year ago) about both older Century CETMEs, some C-93s and other types quickly convinced me to never buy a semi-auto from them. Good luck.