Digby
Member
Hey guys
I just wanted to share with you some pictures of work done for me by John, gunsmith/machinist at Duffy’s. John did a spectacular job on my Century AK74 Tantal, replacing the barrel and painting the rifle in a low sheen black Cerakote finish, to replicate the original military finish on a Tantal.
I bought this rifle new in 2008 and the first time out to the range, it key-holed badly. Every bullet strike on the target backstop at 50 yards was in the shape of a bullet silhouette. Century refused to fix the rifle under warranty and instead claimed that bullets fired from the rifle were supposed to tumble. The truth is that Century used barrel blanks rifled in .223 caliber. Since the 5.45x39 slug mikes at .220”, bullets would just rattle down the .223” barrel and tumble end over end upon exiting. John confirmed this when he slugged the Century barrel at .2235”.
I couldn’t shoot the rifle with the existing barrel, so it sat in my safe for years until I discovered that Green Mountain finally got around to making a replacement chrome lined Tantal barrel with the right diameter and twist for the 5.45 round. I took a chance, bought the barrel, and then began looking for a qualified gunsmith to install it. That’s when I met John. He is a talented machinist, excellent gunsmith, AK aficionado, and all-around good guy.
Thanks to John, the rifle runs perfectly and prints awesome 3.5”- 4” groups at 100yards. It also looks 100% better than it did when I bought it. It was originally parkerized in a battleship grey color. Now, it looks like a proper Tantal with a beautiful Cerakote finish. Honestly, I can’t find even one tiny flaw in the paint or in any of the work that John did on the rifle. He transformed a Century tomato stake into a beautiful, accurate and smooth operating AK.
Thanks John!!
I just wanted to share with you some pictures of work done for me by John, gunsmith/machinist at Duffy’s. John did a spectacular job on my Century AK74 Tantal, replacing the barrel and painting the rifle in a low sheen black Cerakote finish, to replicate the original military finish on a Tantal.
I bought this rifle new in 2008 and the first time out to the range, it key-holed badly. Every bullet strike on the target backstop at 50 yards was in the shape of a bullet silhouette. Century refused to fix the rifle under warranty and instead claimed that bullets fired from the rifle were supposed to tumble. The truth is that Century used barrel blanks rifled in .223 caliber. Since the 5.45x39 slug mikes at .220”, bullets would just rattle down the .223” barrel and tumble end over end upon exiting. John confirmed this when he slugged the Century barrel at .2235”.
I couldn’t shoot the rifle with the existing barrel, so it sat in my safe for years until I discovered that Green Mountain finally got around to making a replacement chrome lined Tantal barrel with the right diameter and twist for the 5.45 round. I took a chance, bought the barrel, and then began looking for a qualified gunsmith to install it. That’s when I met John. He is a talented machinist, excellent gunsmith, AK aficionado, and all-around good guy.
Thanks to John, the rifle runs perfectly and prints awesome 3.5”- 4” groups at 100yards. It also looks 100% better than it did when I bought it. It was originally parkerized in a battleship grey color. Now, it looks like a proper Tantal with a beautiful Cerakote finish. Honestly, I can’t find even one tiny flaw in the paint or in any of the work that John did on the rifle. He transformed a Century tomato stake into a beautiful, accurate and smooth operating AK.
Thanks John!!
