Talk me into / out of a Century CETME

[GAP]

I've recently thought about picking up a Century built CETME. I have no idea what to look for in a CETME. I really just want a good shooting semi auto .308 . At $540, the CETME is a good fit for a general purpose shooter. Be it paper, critters, or whatever.

[mikec]

If you get one I have three mags left over from back when I had one...

[CJ]

I've recently thought about picking up a Century built CETME. I have no idea what to look for in a CETME. I really just want a good shooting semi auto .308 . At $540, the CETME is a good fit for a general purpose shooter. Be it paper, critters, or whatever.

I have a lot of experience with CETME's, HK91's, and G3's generally. I've built 3 CETME's from scratch, and I've probably help repair/inspect a dozen of the Century's. I would be very careful buying a Century CETME, you should probably have someone that knows them very well inspect it for you before you buy it. I've gone along many times and had to tell someone not to buy one because of problems. Century just flat out sucks at building HK weapons. HK weapons are some of the most difficult to build, and it's very easy to mess them up. Some of the problems/mistakes Century usually makes are:

1) canted front sight/improperly aligned - (I've seen this 3 times, 4 as of last night.)
2) no welds on the receiver rails to the trunion (I've seen this 2 times).
3) cocking tube misaligned (I've seen this 2 times)
4) Improperly sized receiver (Just about all of them).
5) Improper head space (Just about all of them), or rigged/ground down bolt (which does nothing, just shows you how inexperienced they were).
6) misaligned magazine release (half a dozen times).

But, occasionally they build one halfway decent. Just be aware these are not very accurate guns, and they are built using used parts, including barrels. They also will destroy brass, and they cannot fire .308 win commercial, only military 7.62x51. If you decide you still want to buy one, I can give you some tips and things to look for when inspecting them to check for symptoms of problems.

For the money, I would suggest you buy a Saiga .308 AK, they are hands down the best most accurate/reliable .308 for the money at the moment.

[Strychnine]

Post of mine from the old site:


If you get a CETME, try to get a cast / milled reciever instead of stamped... unless you don't want optics and will be sticking to the iron sights.

Also, you need to run surplus mil spec brass through it, not off the shelf .308 Winchester or anything. The weaker commercial stuff will expand, especially in the neck area... but the extractor WILL pull out the bottom of the case, even if it means ripping the neck off and leaving it in there. It can sometimes take a special tool to get it out.

They also use a delayed roller blowback system instead of the gas operated systems of the AK, AR, etc.

And don't shoot Indian surplus!

Anyway, my stamped receiver caused me all sorts of trouble. I ended up selling the gun.

Buuuuuuuut, it was fucking fun and threw brass further than anything else I've owned.

[CJ]

Post of mine from the old site:


If you get a CETME, try to get a cast / milled reciever instead of stamped... unless you don't want optics and will be sticking to the iron sights.

Also, you need to run surplus mil spec brass through it, not off the shelf .308 Winchester or anything. The weaker commercial stuff will expand, especially in the neck area... but the extractor WILL pull out the bottom of the case, even if it means ripping the neck off and leaving it in there. It can sometimes take a special tool to get it out.

They also use a delayed roller blowback system instead of the gas operated systems of the AK, AR, etc.

And don't shoot Indian surplus!

Anyway, my stamped receiver caused me all sorts of trouble. I ended up selling the gun.

Buuuuuuuut, it was fucking fun and threw brass further than anything else I've owned.

The cast receivers made by FAC are not that great, that will be the majority of the cast CETME's you find. Century did make some cast stainless steel receivers, which are probably some of their best (because it removes 90% of the things they fuck up) guns. However, none of them are as good as a stamped PTR rifle. If you want to get a HK91 style rifle, I would recommend a PTR if you're dead set on it. Those are made properly. CETME's can be had for bargains but you really need to know what you're looking at because MOST of them are built wrong.

[Moose242]

CJ summed it up perfectly. Building the HK roller locked stuff is hard, which is why companies like Dakota Tactical and even Vector charge a shitload for their builds.

IMO, if you want a G3 variant to shoot, then buy a PTR91 GI-

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_878/products_id/411550830/PTR+INC+PTR91+GI+.308+18%22+Special+Edition+wGreen+Furniture

You can find them at some places for $899 and they can fire both 7.62x51 and .308 win because of a true HK 91 chamber instead of the tighter mil-spec g3 chamber. I have put both commercial 308 and 762 through my PTR with no problems and it has been a great gun. Also dont forget how cheap g3 parts are. Mags are $1.00, rollers are a few bucks, whole bolt and carrier groups are $100, etc.

I know it is more than a CETME by century, but it is worth the extra coin. Maybe scope out a used one on gunbroker.

[GSXRK5]

I took one to CJ one time and he noticed about 5 things just from looking at it. Then tore it down and noticed 20 more things and told me not to buy it lol. I've wanted one for a while as well.

[CJ]

I took one to CJ one time and he noticed about 5 things just from looking at it. Then tore it down and noticed 20 more things and told me not to buy it lol. I've wanted one for a while as well.

Both of the CETME's I've bought I paid $250 for because they were completely f'ed, that's when I'll step up for one. But most of the time people will just sell them screwed up without telling you. Yes, the one you were looking at suffered from most of those problems, improperly aligned cocking tube, improperly sized receiver (I broke the sling trying to get the rear stock off), improper head space.

Another common problem CETME's have that I forgot about is the receiver block doesn't have a lip to hold the front of the FCG into the rifle. What happens is the FCG is only held in on the rear by the stock, after a while the FCG gets pushed downward from all the bolt cycles on the hammer, and it will fail to reset the hammer and jam the gun. I've bought a few of these and fixed them by welding on a lip to the block. You can have Mach1 on the board TIG your rifle if you find one with this problem.

[GAP]

Well screw that. I have no qualms with tinkering and modifying to improve function, but I definitely dont have time to make a barely/non/irregularly functioning rifle into something i'll enjoy taking out. I have too many unfinished projects as is. I'll keep a look out any smoking .308 Saiga deals, or just stock up on ammo!