Jul 25, 2011  The receiver just says Century Arms, R1A1 Sporter cal.308 with their Georgia, VT address and made in the USA. Serial number is CA323XX and Century R1A1 FAL Questions.

Just got it from AIM Surplus' one day sale, $379.95 + 12 shipping, not too shabby for a big battle rifle. The rifle came in a cardboard box, with extra cardboard around the receiver. The box arrived in excellent condition, thankgod for UPS. There are no accessories, just one 20rd mag other than the rifle itself. The magazine itself was a little beat up, I may have to pick up another one day. Like Harlan @ FAC said, it's made on Century's own receiver. There's been controversy regarding Century's rebuilt using Hesse receiver, so I guess they decided to do their own after all.

The receiver looks as good as any other I've seen. Machining looks well done, no sharp edges or sloppy cuts. The receiver's marked Century Arms, Georgia VT, R1A1 Sporter 308 Cal. Why the 'R1A1'? Does someone hold a trademark over 'L1A1'?

The most interesting is serial# CA0003X, now if that's not a low serial I don't know what it is. I sure hope there arent' going to be any problems, as it's a first run rifle.

The rifle looks very clean, no signs of a 'parts gun'. They either reblued it, or the parts were never used. The new receiver matched up with the barrel, lower extraordinarily well. I would really like to know what they did to refinish the surface. Some kind of park? The condition of the metal parts is EXCELLENT!

The bored's clean, even my FFL guy was amazed. The lower is marked AD62XXXX.some one said this is Aussie? I'd apprecite more info. There's a 12 hole muzzle brake mounted on the barrel, I assume that's the aftermarket piece Century put on in place of the flash hider. It looks straight enough, and I hope it'd help with 308 recoil.

It does seem my whole gun's based on INCH pattern L1A1, parts and receiver. There's the inch mag knotch, and the fold-down charging handle and big ears protecting the front sight. There's one problem I discovered with the front sight 'big ears'. The one on the right side is slightly bent inward! I assume it occured during shipping or storage in Century or AIM. Apparently the rifle rests on this 'right' ear when it lays right on the fold down carrying handle.

Has anyone had this problem before? Can you bend the 'ear' back? I've tried with a plier but it's too hard to budge one bit.

I might have to use a brass hammer. The charging handle also seem 'very tight' like mentioned by some posters here. I haven't had a chance to clean the inside out, so I hope this would resolve itself later on. What would be the 'normal force' required to charge the handle? But the worst about this rifle would be the 'cheap' plastic furniture. The handguard has some molding flash left off, and the two halves aren't mating perfectly.

Hopefully I can go over it with Xacto knive to make things smoother. Same thing with the pistol grip and butt stock. The pistol grip itself was alright, but the there's a piece of metal tang running down the front of the grip, except it stays on top of the grip, rather than flush with the grip. Is that's the way with all L1A1 grips, or just a bad pistol grip mold? Butt stock must be aftermarket too, because there's no swivel for the sling to attach to (although there's front sling hook on the barrel). I might have to drill and buy my own.

There's a huge flat-head type screw there, must be how the rear pad is attached to the stock. Overall I'm extremely pleased with the rifle, at least it far exceeded my expectations for a 'rebuilt'. I haven't had a chance to fire it, but after cycling and dry firing it, I'm confident it'll perform well. If not for the sale at AIM Surplus, I wouldn't have bought the L1A1 by Century, but this has changed my opinion most definitely. Century's own L1A1 inch receiver looks very well made, I won't hesitate recommending any of my friends getting a Century L1A1 rebuilt, especially if you can find one using the new receiver, and under $400!