Century Arms G3

[Lightsped]

I am considering buying a Century Arms G3. I am speaking of the one with the HK parts with the American made receiver.

Are these guns any good? What is the typical price? How is quality? I don't have tons of monrey to spend on the expensive G3s. I just want a decent looking G3 that I can have fun plinking with.....

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

First off, these guns are CETME's, not G3's. the CETME was designed in Spain with German engineers and is a progenitor of the G3.

I have one and I am extremely happy with it; it is accurate and reliable, and fun to shoot. If you do decide to get one, look around on Perro's CETME forum and search this forum for tips to inspect the CETME's you are looking to buy. CIA has a history of putting out firearms that have not been inspected well, so you will have to do their job.

Most CETME's are in fine shape, but some have had headpsace issues (mine is perfect) and other minor problems. Save yourself some potential trouble and do a little bit of research before you buy.

Also, most importantly: if you are at a dealer, whether at a gunshow or gun shop, and that dealer offers to sell you a "Century Arms HK G3", immediately walk away and tell your friends not to buy from that scam artist. CETME's are a totally different gun than G3's, and they are clearly marked as CETME's on the reciever. Scumbag dealers try to sell CETME's as G3's because they know some people are seduced by the HK name (I can't figure out why though...) and you should avoid these dealers because if they are lying to you about what kind of gun they are selling, they probably wouldn't hesitate to sell youa firearm that was defective.

 

[itgoesboom]

First off, these guns are CETME's, not G3's. the CETME was designed in Spain with German engineers and is a progenitor of the G3.

TGI

In addition to the CETMEs, Century has also put together some G3 rifles as well.

Go to gunbroker and type in "century G3", and look at the results.

You can these apart just by looking at the sights, but also the selector lever is also different. Internal parts are also different as well.

But in all honesty, save yourself some grief and purchase a JLD PTR-91.

I.G.B.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

First off, these guns are CETME's, not G3's.

This blanket statement is incorrect.

Century does indeed sell CETMEs, but they also sell G3 clones, marked C91 on the receiver. They are made from G3 parts kits on US-made receivers. I have one.

My rifle has been good so far, although it's only got a couple hundred rounds through it. There are a couple of other THRers who own them. Use the search function.

 

[Father Knows Best]

Deleted -- duplicate post

 

[Lightsped]

Tell me more about this "head spacing" issue. Any pics of what to look for?

 

[Cpl.Parker]

Could someone explain how to check the headspace of a rifle?

Thanks
P

 

[Kurush]

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/headspace/index.asp

 

[itgoesboom]

Tell me more about this "head spacing" issue. Any pics of what to look for?

Could someone explain how to check the headspace of a rifle?

Thanks
P

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting...pace/index.asp

Sure. Not a problem. The link that Karush posted should be sufficient info for most rifles, as long as you don't use those headspacing gauges on CETMEs or G3 or anyother roller delayed blowback rifle.

Due to the design of the HK/CETME rifles, normal headspace guages don't really work.

You check headspace by checking the gap between the bolthead and the boltcarrier. This is referred to as bolt gap, and the safe range for it is between .004"-.020".

Checking is a simple matter, and you just need some automotive feeler guages in the proper range.

Cock the rifle, and let the bolt slam home on an empty chamber!!! and then pull the trigger.

Turn the rifle over, and look into where your magazine goes, and you can see the bolt head and the bolt carrier, and the gap between them.

Insert the feeler guages until you find the one that just fits in.

If your reading is less than .004" you will need to add either + sized rollers, a new locking piece or a new bolt head. If your reading is > .020" then you need to add - rollers, or make sure that you aren't using + rollers.

One little problem here though is that Century decided to make rifles that were out of spec appear to be in spec by grinding the bolt head.

No matter what your reading is, you need to check to see if your bolt head is unground. It is a simple matter of pulling the bolt carrier and bolt head out and looking at it and seeing if it has been ground.

Cetmerifles.com has photos showing how it is supposed to look.

I.G.B.

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I take back what I said.


I did not know that CIA sold G3 clones. I said what I did because I have seen a great deal of dealers at gunshows selling CETME's (and I have checked them) as G3's.

 

[Monkeyleg]

Folks over on the cetmerifles.com forum seem to feel that .004" is too close, and most get replacement rollers to get the headspace to .008" to .012" or so.

To check to see if the bolt head has been ground, it's best to pull the bolt head from the bolt carrier. The rear face of the bolt head should have a slight radius to it as it meets the sides. If it looks ground, it probably is.

The Century G3 is a pure crap shoot. I lost on the first go-round with mine, and had to send it back to Century. When I got it back, though, it functioned 100%.

It's a fairly hard-kicking rifle, but fun to shoot. I haven't played around with various types of ammo to be able to say anything more than accuracy is decent.

Depending upon the dealer, expect to pay anywhere from $350 to $500. I got mine in exchange for some website work I did for a friend's gun shop; he got a deal.

The plastic furniture on the Century G3 isn't particularly attractive, but you can pick up used HK91 furniture cheap if you don't mind repainting it. I got an HK91 wide foregrip for $25, and a buttstock for $20, and a can of Alumahyde paint for $18. Most people at the range think it's a real HK unless I tell them otherwise.

 

[Farnham]

You check headspace by checking the gap between the bolthead and the boltcarrier. This is referred to as bolt gap, and the safe range for it is between .004"-.020".

Not trying to hijack the thread, but how does this give you headspace? Headspace is a measurement of boltface to where the round's shoulder impacts within the chamber, right? Near as I can figure, measuring as described will give you...well...bolt gap, not headspace.

I don't know much about the roller delayed blowback mechanism, so I'm honestly curious as to how this measurement will ensure you don't have a long or short chamber (or bolt).

Just when I thought I knew something about headspace, a new wrinkle pops up...

S/F

Farnham

 

[itgoesboom]

Farnham,

The HK/CETME system is completely different than pretty much any other rifle out there.

Explaining it is really beyond me, so here is a good explanation from over at cetmerifles.com:

the designers and engineers that made this rifle originally (and who also made theHK G3 which uses the exact same operating system) designed a system that was ingenious!! What is called a delayed roller locked bolt operating system. This system does not lock into the trunnion like a normal rifle like an ar 15, or a fn fal, instead it uses a set of rollers that ride into notches of a trunnion to lock into battery. it is not a positive locking system like others, and instead relies on the wear of its parts, and the way that it is designed, it is self headspace correcting to an extent. As a matter of fact, these same engineers also designed the hk G3. it works the exact same way as the cetme, and the engineers published an armorers manual for the g3 that states. as long as the gap between the bolt head, and the bolt carrier is from .004 - .020 inches, or .1mm - .5mm measured with feeler guages, then headspace is set correctly.

 

[Open Carry]

Technically, what is measured is bolt gap, not headspace. However, two small a gap means that headspace could be excessive, allowing gasses to escape past the bolt resulting in unpleasantness. Too large, and the bolt head may not be properly engaged with the trunnion with possibly even more unpleasant results. Over time, as the locking piece wears on the rollers, the bolt gap will get smaller. The quick fix is to get larger rollers, but eventually the locking piece will need to be replaced. The rollers also wear on the trunnion, which leads to larger rollers being needed as well. The controversy of ground bolts refers to the rear of the bolt head which should have a chamfer. Grinding this surface results in the illusion of proper bolt gap without having to replace worn, out-of-spec parts.

 

[MachIVshooter]

This blanket statement is incorrect.

Century does indeed sell CETMEs, but they also sell G3 clones, marked C91 on the receiver. They are made from G3 parts kits on US-made receivers. I have one.

I'll add that many of the parts are marked "HK" (at least on mine they are).
I've had good luck with mine. Very reliable, about 1-1.5 MOA with most ammo but consistently ~.5 MOA with American Eagle 150 gr. FMJ-BT. Go figure.

 

[Farnham]

Well, I'll be...thanks, IGB!