Hello,
I feel that today is as good a day as ever to do this review. Its not like i can go anywhere lol
I recently purchased a century arms made vz2008 from AIM and have had enough time to gather thoughts on the rifle and do a little more in depth research. I started looking into the rifle a few years ago when i was interested in getting into semi auto rifles in x39. Never thought much of it just looked at pictures. After about a year i realized it had exactly what i was looking for in a rifle, but did not have the funds to purchase. I digress
I'll get into technical specifications and impressions
Weight
I really like the weight of this rifle it feels similar to an AR in weight. Keep in mind mine is a folding stock model. I believe that this light weight is achieved by milling off as much material as possible from the parts. The lower hand guard is hollow and the bolt has two (what i think are) lightning holes milled through to help reduce weight. The top of the bolt is also triangle shaped compared to a rounded ak bolt.
unloaded the rifle is 7 pounds
Loaded the rifle is 7.5lbs
Bore diameter/ characteristics
The barrels are produced by Green Mountain
4140 chrome moly with a RC range of 30-35 (found on internet needs conformation)
16.25" in length with 14.1 RH threads
1:9.5 twist
Bore is not chrome lined
Bore is .308 diameter
Furniture
Furniture is a mad science experiment of wood chips and resin. Not Bakelite.
Some people complain about the furniture transferrring heat easily with extended firing. I havent experienced this, but i do wear gloves. The upper hand guard has a heat shield under the wood poly and the lower hand guard is hollow and held on with a roll pin and the front hand guard retainer. I recommend removing it during cleaning to wipe out GSR that builds up during firing.
The folding stock folds to the right, but does not interfere with firing/ safety manipulation
Aftermarket options?
There are many in fact, zahal, mako, FAB (Israel), North eastern arms (Canada), storm werks produce many pieces to make your gun more tactical. IMO many of these options are wayyy over priced
stock type
Other than the many aftermarket options the two main types are fixed and folding. The stocks are apparently screwed and thread locked in very tightly. Take caution in removing them. The fixed is hollow and held on with a through screw to a threaded hole on the back of the receiver. The folding is held on via the same method. Slotted head screw through a plate into the rear of the receiver.
I have found the folding stock to be manageable, but would prefer an AR stock mounted to the gun via an adapter
Action type
Weird. The action on this gun is weird. It is a tilting block action fired by a striker. I have found that if this rifle were to be dropped into dirty sandy water, the block may fail to engage, but more on that later. I find it very interesting that the inventor choose to combine these two features in one gun, but it does make a very eclectic system. Also the bolt is actuated by a short stroke piston that is held in place by the upper hand guard heat shield.
Bolt out of battery
Bolt in battery
Other features/ notes
The safety is actuated by a selector switch on the right hand side of the receiver. sights are AK style, with the rear sight being smaller than an ak sight and graduated for 800 yds. The sides of the rear sights are more curved to allow better sight acquisition (because eyes are distracted by straight lines). The magazines can be fed with stripper clips while inserted into the gun i LOVE this feature, because it allows you to load you magazines more quickly if you already have ammo on stripper clips. Plus it saves your thumbs lol. Also, do not remove the pistol grip unless you intend to take apart the entire FCG. The little block is free floating and is under the sear leaf spring, it was impossible to get it back in the proper position without removing the FCG. IMO if the charging handle were on the left side of the gun, it would make for very quick reloads.
This gun is a clone gun. The internals are not held in the same way as a czech point gun. They use a roll pin and a e-clip to hold in some of the FCG parts. Get a pin punch if you wish to remove them
Bolt hold open
It is a small button to the right of the magazine release. It is actuated by a piece of the magazine follower. its not like an ar BHO where you can tap it and send the bolt home, you have to pull the bolt back to release it. However they do make aftermarket release levers that allow you to send the bolt home with the index finger
Magazine release on left BHO device right
Trigger
The trigger is good, not as nice as a tapco g2 ak trigger, but good. The only qualm i have with it is the long reset (almost all the way forward). Trigger is a bit narrow IMO. Trigger can be used with gloves
trigger
Magazines.
These magazines similar to AK mags in appearances only. The body and feed lips of the bullet snuggie are made from stamped Aluminum. It concerns me that the feed lips might wear out, but they show no wear after ~200 rounds. The magazine follower is steel though. The floor plates come off like AK mag. Each magazine has a BHO device on the follower.
I also found the magazine release to be a little to easy. If you were to bump it you could drop your magazine accidentally
Accuracy/ reliability/ known problems
The barrel seems slightly thinner than a WASR barrel, so i was concerned about accuracy after sustained fire. The rifle seems to be capable to 2-3 MOA (2-3" at 100yds). I do not have the facilities to test this though.
The reliability of the rifle is not on par with the AK. A vz will jam if grit gets into space on either side of the breach or if you get it in the area that the locking block falls into. However, being that this rifle is more closed than an ak, that shouldn't be as much of a problem unless it falls into said conditions with the bolt open. I found that the jams consisted of the bolt stove piping spent shells between the bolt carrier head and the piston port, and the bolt failing to go into battery.
Known problems of this rifle are varying. Most of them are linked to century arms. Canted sights, rusting on parts (my bolt came with surface rust), triggers not working, finish wear ect. People getting lemons ya know? The rifle i received, had a nice shiny bore, no finish marring, and slight surface rust on the bolt. Everything important (sights and trigger) are they way they need to be.
Now, the vz2008 is a clone of the Czech made vz58 so everything cant be the same b/c of patents. Also these rifle were originally made to be FA. The problem that has arose from this is called the "gremlin". It is the striker failing to reset because the trigger was pulled while the bolt is out of battery. CZ solved this by adding a tab to the bolt carrier, century inst able to b/c patent issue. Instructions on how to resolve this are on the internet
Fit and Finish
The fit of the rifle is excellent. All the parts are pressed together properly, there is very little wobble in the flash hider. All of the parts mate very well.
The "paint" they applied to this rifle seems to be made from dollar store spray paint however. It is absolute crap and has already started to wear on my rifle.
I feel that today is as good a day as ever to do this review. Its not like i can go anywhere lol
I recently purchased a century arms made vz2008 from AIM and have had enough time to gather thoughts on the rifle and do a little more in depth research. I started looking into the rifle a few years ago when i was interested in getting into semi auto rifles in x39. Never thought much of it just looked at pictures. After about a year i realized it had exactly what i was looking for in a rifle, but did not have the funds to purchase. I digress
I'll get into technical specifications and impressions
Weight
I really like the weight of this rifle it feels similar to an AR in weight. Keep in mind mine is a folding stock model. I believe that this light weight is achieved by milling off as much material as possible from the parts. The lower hand guard is hollow and the bolt has two (what i think are) lightning holes milled through to help reduce weight. The top of the bolt is also triangle shaped compared to a rounded ak bolt.
unloaded the rifle is 7 pounds
Loaded the rifle is 7.5lbs
Bore diameter/ characteristics
The barrels are produced by Green Mountain
4140 chrome moly with a RC range of 30-35 (found on internet needs conformation)
16.25" in length with 14.1 RH threads
1:9.5 twist
Bore is not chrome lined
Bore is .308 diameter
Furniture
Furniture is a mad science experiment of wood chips and resin. Not Bakelite.
Some people complain about the furniture transferrring heat easily with extended firing. I havent experienced this, but i do wear gloves. The upper hand guard has a heat shield under the wood poly and the lower hand guard is hollow and held on with a roll pin and the front hand guard retainer. I recommend removing it during cleaning to wipe out GSR that builds up during firing.
The folding stock folds to the right, but does not interfere with firing/ safety manipulation
Aftermarket options?
There are many in fact, zahal, mako, FAB (Israel), North eastern arms (Canada), storm werks produce many pieces to make your gun more tactical. IMO many of these options are wayyy over priced
stock type
Other than the many aftermarket options the two main types are fixed and folding. The stocks are apparently screwed and thread locked in very tightly. Take caution in removing them. The fixed is hollow and held on with a through screw to a threaded hole on the back of the receiver. The folding is held on via the same method. Slotted head screw through a plate into the rear of the receiver.
I have found the folding stock to be manageable, but would prefer an AR stock mounted to the gun via an adapter
Action type
Weird. The action on this gun is weird. It is a tilting block action fired by a striker. I have found that if this rifle were to be dropped into dirty sandy water, the block may fail to engage, but more on that later. I find it very interesting that the inventor choose to combine these two features in one gun, but it does make a very eclectic system. Also the bolt is actuated by a short stroke piston that is held in place by the upper hand guard heat shield.
Bolt out of battery
Bolt in battery
Other features/ notes
The safety is actuated by a selector switch on the right hand side of the receiver. sights are AK style, with the rear sight being smaller than an ak sight and graduated for 800 yds. The sides of the rear sights are more curved to allow better sight acquisition (because eyes are distracted by straight lines). The magazines can be fed with stripper clips while inserted into the gun i LOVE this feature, because it allows you to load you magazines more quickly if you already have ammo on stripper clips. Plus it saves your thumbs lol. Also, do not remove the pistol grip unless you intend to take apart the entire FCG. The little block is free floating and is under the sear leaf spring, it was impossible to get it back in the proper position without removing the FCG. IMO if the charging handle were on the left side of the gun, it would make for very quick reloads.
This gun is a clone gun. The internals are not held in the same way as a czech point gun. They use a roll pin and a e-clip to hold in some of the FCG parts. Get a pin punch if you wish to remove them
Bolt hold open
It is a small button to the right of the magazine release. It is actuated by a piece of the magazine follower. its not like an ar BHO where you can tap it and send the bolt home, you have to pull the bolt back to release it. However they do make aftermarket release levers that allow you to send the bolt home with the index finger
Magazine release on left BHO device right
Trigger
The trigger is good, not as nice as a tapco g2 ak trigger, but good. The only qualm i have with it is the long reset (almost all the way forward). Trigger is a bit narrow IMO. Trigger can be used with gloves
trigger
Magazines.
These magazines similar to AK mags in appearances only. The body and feed lips of the bullet snuggie are made from stamped Aluminum. It concerns me that the feed lips might wear out, but they show no wear after ~200 rounds. The magazine follower is steel though. The floor plates come off like AK mag. Each magazine has a BHO device on the follower.
I also found the magazine release to be a little to easy. If you were to bump it you could drop your magazine accidentally
Accuracy/ reliability/ known problems
The barrel seems slightly thinner than a WASR barrel, so i was concerned about accuracy after sustained fire. The rifle seems to be capable to 2-3 MOA (2-3" at 100yds). I do not have the facilities to test this though.
The reliability of the rifle is not on par with the AK. A vz will jam if grit gets into space on either side of the breach or if you get it in the area that the locking block falls into. However, being that this rifle is more closed than an ak, that shouldn't be as much of a problem unless it falls into said conditions with the bolt open. I found that the jams consisted of the bolt stove piping spent shells between the bolt carrier head and the piston port, and the bolt failing to go into battery.
Known problems of this rifle are varying. Most of them are linked to century arms. Canted sights, rusting on parts (my bolt came with surface rust), triggers not working, finish wear ect. People getting lemons ya know? The rifle i received, had a nice shiny bore, no finish marring, and slight surface rust on the bolt. Everything important (sights and trigger) are they way they need to be.
Now, the vz2008 is a clone of the Czech made vz58 so everything cant be the same b/c of patents. Also these rifle were originally made to be FA. The problem that has arose from this is called the "gremlin". It is the striker failing to reset because the trigger was pulled while the bolt is out of battery. CZ solved this by adding a tab to the bolt carrier, century inst able to b/c patent issue. Instructions on how to resolve this are on the internet
Fit and Finish
The fit of the rifle is excellent. All the parts are pressed together properly, there is very little wobble in the flash hider. All of the parts mate very well.
The "paint" they applied to this rifle seems to be made from dollar store spray paint however. It is absolute crap and has already started to wear on my rifle.
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