Polish Tantal 5.45 Folding Wire Stock AK
Are these any good??? Were these imported and assembled by CAI??
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All the AK type guns that are sold nowadays such as the Tantal, and other ex East Bloc guns such as the Czech VZ 58. Are assembled with US made receivers and enough US made parts to be classed and sold as American made. In reality these guns are only Polish, Czech or whatever, in name only. 0 -
quote:rufe-snow
Advanced Member
11388 Posts
Posted - 01/30/2011 : 9:20:20 PM Show Profile Email Poster Reply with Quote
All the AK type guns that are sold nowadays such as the Tantal, and other ex East Bloc guns such as the Czech VZ 58. Are assembled with US made receivers and enough US made parts to be classed and sold as American made. In reality these guns are only Polish, Czech or whatever, in name only.
But are they any good??0 -
quote:Originally posted by armilite1015
But are they any good??
Who assembled them and the price they are going for are big factors in their quality, IMHO. There are a number of on-line forums and boards that discuss the various U.S. made clones. You might consider surfing them to get their actual owners views on them.0 -
Just curious as they are being sold at Dunhams for $399. I haven't gone there yet to actually look at one. I just figured they were probably made by CAI. I was maybe thinking of getting some thing in that caliber if the price was right. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by armilite1015
Just curious as they are being sold at Dunhams for $399. I haven't gone there yet to actually look at one. I just figured they were probably made by CAI. I was maybe thinking of getting some thing in that caliber if the price was right.
IMHO, you get what you pay for. As long as you get some kind of return guarantee if it don't work, how can you lose at $399. You can always dump it on the auction and get your money back at that price.0 -
There are 2 builders of these Tantal rifles out there:
Interarms & Century.
Interarms used Tantal parts kits with the original chrome lined barrel with the correct rate of twist to stabalize surplus corrosive 5.45 amm.
Century used Tantal parts kits w/o the original barrel. Century uses new US made non-chrome lined barrels and has 2 rate of twists.
Their original Tantal came with a rate of twist that resulted in key holing with surplus ammo. Century's response to customer's complaints of key holing was to tell them to only shoot new manufactured Wolf 5.45.
The have since come out with another rate of twist that will stabalize corrosive surplus 5.45.
I forget which twist rate is which with the Century rifles.
Personally I would hold out for an Interarms Tantal, Saiga 5.45, Wasr10-2, or Sar 2.
I have read recently that the "Bulgarian" 5.45 that Century is selling now is a decent rifle.
PS- I have Interarms Tantal waiting for me at home. Just need to pick it up.0 -
I'm no expert on this, but most of the arms I have seen at Dunhams
have been Century.0 -
quote:Originally posted by armilite1015
Are these any good??? Were these imported and assembled by CAI??
Define "any good". . .
They'll fire; though as mentioned there have been issues with American made barrels for the Tantal rebuild guns and common surplus ammo.
Also, in general Century isn't known for good quality control. If you get a good gun, you'll be fine, but there are plenty of its builds that have problems out there.
There were problems with older Century guns built on ORF-manufactured receivers; apparently Ohio Rapid Fire didn't properly heat treat them. I don't know if this applies to the Tantals or not.
Were they imported?
Yes and no.
What Century generally does is buy demilled guns/parts kits from Europe (usually made from decommissioned guns), salvage out the usable internal parts, add enough NEW American parts (barrel and receiver, etc) to satisfy the legal requirements, slap on a new finish, and sell the whole thing as a new gun.
So in practice you're buying a used gun dressed externally like a new one.
If you want something to go "bang" these will work. If you want the best available recreation of the Polish gun for "service" use, you might look elsewhere.0 -
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beantownshootah
Advanced Member
USA
10636 Posts
Posted - 01/31/2011 : 2:40:37 PM Show Profile Email Poster Reply with Quote
quote:Originally posted by armilite1015
Are these any good??? Were these imported and assembled by CAI??
Define "any good". . .
They'll fire; though as mentioned there have been issues with American made barrels for the Tantal rebuild guns and common surplus ammo.
Also, in general Century isn't known for good quality control. If you get a good gun, you'll be fine, but there are plenty of its builds that have problems out there.
There were problems with older Century guns built on ORF-manufactured receivers; apparently Ohio Rapid Fire didn't properly heat treat them. I don't know if this applies to the Tantals or not.
Were they imported?
Yes and no.
What Century generally does is buy demilled guns/parts kits from Europe (usually made from decommissioned guns), salvage out the usable internal parts, add enough NEW American parts (barrel and receiver, etc) to satisfy the legal requirements, slap on a new finish, and sell the whole thing as a new gun.
So in practice you're buying a used gun dressed externally like a new one.
If you want something to go "bang" these will work. If you want the best available recreation of the Polish gun for "service" use, you might look elsewhere.
What I mean by any good is it something that goes bang with every time I pull the trigger with reasonable accuracy. Not bench rest but I understand that the 5.45 cartridge is supposed to be more accurate then the 7.62x39 round. I'm very leery of the Century guns as that I would put them in the same class as Taurus. Some work some don't, I just don't want to take the chance on getting the doesn't work real well rifle.0
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