Cetme
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nalioth
Member
The cheap ones you are referring to are "all of the above".
Century makes them, and grinds precision parts to fit (instead of fitting them properly).
The best Cetme you can get is the Mars Cetme (imported in the late '60s/early '70s. They are rare and expensive, but are the only "real" Cetme in the country.
The next best Cetme you can get is to find a nice kit and have a competent 'smith build it for you.
The Century Cetmes are a crap shoot (emphasis on the "crap").
Century makes them, and grinds precision parts to fit (instead of fitting them properly).
The best Cetme you can get is the Mars Cetme (imported in the late '60s/early '70s. They are rare and expensive, but are the only "real" Cetme in the country.
The next best Cetme you can get is to find a nice kit and have a competent 'smith build it for you.
The Century Cetmes are a crap shoot (emphasis on the "crap").
W.E.G.
Member
You don't want one.
Virtually guaranteed to have some issue.
Resale value never gets any better, no matter how much "fixin'" you do on one.
Virtually guaranteed to have some issue.
Resale value never gets any better, no matter how much "fixin'" you do on one.
BamAlmighty
Member
I have a century cetme and it shoots fine, but the things i always hated about the Cetme is you can't simply throw on G3 parts such as replacing the entire stock. You can easily replace the rear buttstock, but the foregrip stock takes modding.
Ignition Override
Member
Those issues must explain why so many are often on Gunbroker, at much lower prices than PTRs.
I read about them for weeks on several websites, along with .308 prices/reloading issues and the prices for PTR-91s.
These problems/prices quickly persuaded me to consider a good CMP Garand instead, for a just a bit more cash than a CETME.
I read about them for weeks on several websites, along with .308 prices/reloading issues and the prices for PTR-91s.
These problems/prices quickly persuaded me to consider a good CMP Garand instead, for a just a bit more cash than a CETME.
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Sunray
Member
"...Why so cheap?..." Because Century bought all the parts and assembled them out of parts bin with zero QC.
"...you can't simply throw on G3 parts..." Different rifle. Cetme's pre-date the G3/HK91.
"...The Century Cetmes are a crap shoot..." Any firearm Century had anything to do with is a crap shoot. They have no concept of what QC is. When they were still in Canada, they were notorious for assembling thousands of Lee-Enfields out of parts bins and selling 'em cheap without bothering to ensure the rifles were safe to shoot by simply checking the headspace. The FALs they assembled were a mix of inch and metric parts too. Inch and metric parts don't mix.
How Century hasn't been sued is beyond me. Likely their condition of sale being 'As is'.
$500 will buy you a CMP M1 rifle that you know is safe to shoot. Spend the extra $100 for a Service grade. And don't wait. Jump the hoops, shoot the matches even if you don't have to and buy an M1 rifle. You'll be far happier. There's no battle rifle that's quite like an M1.
http://www.thecmp.org/m1garand.htm
"...you can't simply throw on G3 parts..." Different rifle. Cetme's pre-date the G3/HK91.
"...The Century Cetmes are a crap shoot..." Any firearm Century had anything to do with is a crap shoot. They have no concept of what QC is. When they were still in Canada, they were notorious for assembling thousands of Lee-Enfields out of parts bins and selling 'em cheap without bothering to ensure the rifles were safe to shoot by simply checking the headspace. The FALs they assembled were a mix of inch and metric parts too. Inch and metric parts don't mix.
How Century hasn't been sued is beyond me. Likely their condition of sale being 'As is'.
$500 will buy you a CMP M1 rifle that you know is safe to shoot. Spend the extra $100 for a Service grade. And don't wait. Jump the hoops, shoot the matches even if you don't have to and buy an M1 rifle. You'll be far happier. There's no battle rifle that's quite like an M1.
http://www.thecmp.org/m1garand.htm
NWCP
Member
Save your money, buy an HK91 and never look back. A great weapon and drop dead reliable. Mine has only increased in value over the years. Besides, it is chambered in one of the greatest rounds to ever grace a military rifle and ejecting the spent .308 is never an issue. Finding the brass afterward might be, but with a fluted chamber you'll never have an ejection issue.
Lloyd Smale
Member
Ive had two and both were dammed good guns that never missed a beat with good ammo and although not as accurate as my ar10 but then that was probably due to the crude sights and how difficult scope mounting is on one.
amd6547
Member
My Century CETME has been 100% reliable from the start. It is not a match rifle, but 100yd accuracy is fine. I only paid about $350 for mine.
Another plus is the cheap aluminum HK mags, which have worked perfectly for me...I have a bunch.
Yes, plenty of Century CETME's have had problems, but almost anything can be fixed easily...for a lot cheaper than buying an HK. Militaryfirearms.com (formerly cetmerifles) is the repositary for info on just about any problem and how to fix it.
To the poster above who said HK fore arms dont fit...I bought one of the green HK stock sets that are so cheap. The spring retainer on the buttstock mounted recoil spring needed a very slight mod to fit. The slim-style fore arm fit right on with no mod. My CETME came with the spanish wood stock set, so I like to run it with that most of the time...
The only problem with my CETME is feeding it, since the cheap south african battlepacks dried up.
Another plus is the cheap aluminum HK mags, which have worked perfectly for me...I have a bunch.
Yes, plenty of Century CETME's have had problems, but almost anything can be fixed easily...for a lot cheaper than buying an HK. Militaryfirearms.com (formerly cetmerifles) is the repositary for info on just about any problem and how to fix it.
To the poster above who said HK fore arms dont fit...I bought one of the green HK stock sets that are so cheap. The spring retainer on the buttstock mounted recoil spring needed a very slight mod to fit. The slim-style fore arm fit right on with no mod. My CETME came with the spanish wood stock set, so I like to run it with that most of the time...
The only problem with my CETME is feeding it, since the cheap south african battlepacks dried up.
nalioth
Member
Actually, no.Sunray said:
The Cetme "C" (what Century has gotten thousands of, and mutilated 99% of) and the G3 were both developed from the Cetme "B". They are virtually identical.
Century is a quick and dirty sort of company, so they had a higher incidence of problems with a lot of their cetme's.
But they are NOT universal crap. I know lots of guys whose cetme's are in spec and work fine, including my own, and didn't require tons of fussing to get them that way.
So if you want one, do a bit of research, there's only a few things to check before you buy, and lots of correct information out there on the web to learn what to check. Steer clear of out of spec rifles, unless you like the project of correcting the problems - some guys do. From what I've seen on the web, about 60-75% are fine - quality control was horrible to get the numbers that low, but you still have a pretty good chance to find a decent one.
But they are NOT universal crap. I know lots of guys whose cetme's are in spec and work fine, including my own, and didn't require tons of fussing to get them that way.
So if you want one, do a bit of research, there's only a few things to check before you buy, and lots of correct information out there on the web to learn what to check. Steer clear of out of spec rifles, unless you like the project of correcting the problems - some guys do. From what I've seen on the web, about 60-75% are fine - quality control was horrible to get the numbers that low, but you still have a pretty good chance to find a decent one.
My Century CETME runs great, the bolt was not ground, no problems. Only issue on mine is it will for some reason only accept true CETME mags, not the HK's.
Great shooter, but I don't take it out often for two reasons - the price of .308, and the fact that it ejects brass into low earth orbit where it is never seen again.
Great shooter, but I don't take it out often for two reasons - the price of .308, and the fact that it ejects brass into low earth orbit where it is never seen again.
eXe
Member
Yeah, I too have a CETME that runs perfect and is pretty darn accurate as well. It all depends on which one you get. Mine was around 400 bucks and has yet to fail me other than a broken extractor spring, a very simple fix.
Don357
Member
I bought a used Century CETME a few years ago and have had NO problems with it. I even use it with commercial ammo to deer hunt. I found a good scope mount, a decent scope and some 5 round mags, and have never thought twice. You will get good and bad guns from ANY manufacturer/importer that has to build their guns, but anything can be fixed.
I picked up one - did a little internal polishing and smoothing some edges and the gun runs like a panicked coyote. Two buddies and I had it at the range a few weeks ago and we ran it until it was too hot to hold without a work glove. Surprisingly accurate, used the $.97 aluminum magazines with my reloads. I use it for my "end of the line" brass. I'm also thinking about scoping it and using it for deer hunting.
nalioth
Member
True. Century seems to be higher on the "bad" side than others, though.Don357 said:
Sure it can. Are you prepared to spend what you paid on the original rifle to "fix it"?Don357 said:
Once those precision parts have been ground, you can't just weld them up.
SCPigpen
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