More ?'s in the ongoing Century G3 saga

[Monkeyleg]

Today I received the HK91 stock set I'd purchased on Gunbroker.com. I knew it wasn't going to be perfect, but for $20.95 I wasn't expecting much.

The rubber buttplate was chewed up more than the auction photos showed. I can deal with that.

Problem is, the guide rod was broken off. The seller even wrapped it in a separate piece of paper.

He was at least kind enough to enclose a Century Arms buttstock, but it's a Cetme buttstock, so I don't think the buffer plate/recoil rod assembly will work. The recoil rod is a bit short.

Anyway, I already have a G3 buffer plate with an intact guide rod. All I have to do is figure out how to remove the rubber buttplate from the HK91 stock. I read somewhere that there are clips that go around the holes for the retaining pins in the stock.

Suggestions for removing the buttplate? Also, any suggestions on where to find a decent buttplate?

I've bought a number of guns and accessories from Gunbroker.com. This is the first time I've been disappointed. Fortunately, the disappointment only cost $20.95.

 

[Father Knows Best]

The buttplate just pulls off the stock. It has spring metal clips on it. The easiest way to do it is to clamp the buttplate in the (padded) jaws of a vise, and the pull on the stock. It will come right off.

 

[Father Knows Best]

Oops. Almost forgot. For a "decent buttplate", I recommend leaving the one that you have on and just covering it up with one of these: http://www.brasscatchers.com/store/recoilpad.html . The small pad is the one you need. It's black rubber with a removable closed cell foam insert, and looks quite good. It will add about 1/2" to the LOP, but that's usually needed unless you are of particularly small stature. A little extra recoil protection also never hurts with these rifles, which aren't particularly soft shooting.

If you want something fancier, you can order an adjustable stock extension from the same company: http://www.brasscatchers.com/store/stockext.html . I have one, and it is very well made and attractive. I don't use it, however, as I found that the slip-on pad gave me enough additional LOP. In fact, if you want it, let me know.

 

[Onmilo]

TAPCO has or had replacement buttplates for CETME stocks.

I believe I would send the stock back to the seller and list him as not producing the goods as offered.

I use a small size LimbSaver slip on recoil pad on my JLD PTR-91 G3 clone and it does a great job of soaking up recoil.
You can get these from Brownells.com

 

[Monkeyleg]

Thanks for the suggestions on the recoil pads. That adjustable one would probably be the best for me, since I have fairly long arms. Maybe it's just going to have to wait a month or so. (June: car/house insurance, property taxes, $$$$ medical bills ).

Onmilo, if it were more than twenty bucks I'd send it back, but I don't think it's worth the effort. As long as I have all the parts, things will work out.

 

[Monkeyleg]

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. Not the first time.

Thanks to the advice given here, I popped the buttplate off in short order.

I figured I'd have the broken buffer plate out of there quickly, and just slip the old one I have with the guide rod back in.

Wrong. The fluting on the receiver cap appears to keep the buffer plate in place. I looked at it six ways from Sunday, and can't figure out how to get it out.

If there's a way, please let me know.

Meanwhile, I've emailed the guy who sold me the stock to see if he has an HK91/G3 stock with everything right, rather than a Cetme stock.

If all else fails, I may just try to use some J-B Weld on the guide rod. I've used it before, and the stuff really works.

What's the old saying about silk purses and sow's ears?

 

[Logan5]

Ugh, the JB weld on the guide rod sounds like a poor idea. If it's that bad, I have a spare CTD green G3 stock set I can mail you; can't have you putting your eye out.
It's been a while since I've read up on getting that assembly off of CETME and G3 stocks, but it's really on there. Over at Perro's or the Gunboards forums I think people were talking about vise and rubber mallet at the very least. It's worth going to those pages and doing a search, I'm sure there's info on getting the G3 buffer assembly off, since people do it to swap in the CETME one on a G3 stock.

http://cetmerifles.com/forum/index.php

http://www.gunboards.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=47

 

[Monkeyleg]

Logan5, I'd already posted over on cetmerifles.com, and did get a couple of replies. However, none of them were quite on the mark.

I was able to get the receiver cap off the stock by rapping on it for quite awhile with a rubber mallet. Now I'll just remove the receiver cap/buffer plate/guide rod from my Century stock and put it on the HK.

For future reference for others trying to do this: the Cetme buffer plate and the HK91 buffer plate are not the same. The holes for the screws are in different places, and nothing will line up right. So, anyone wanting to do this will have to get a Cetme receiver cap for a Cetme, or an HK91/G3 receiver cap for a G3.