How are the CETME's holding up?

[tlhelmer]

How are your CETME's holding up. Some local dealers have a couple different models.

They seem to be calling me.

They look similar to the H&K only more crude in fit and finish.

 

[Marko Kloos]

Mine's running like a top...no failures or problems of any kind so far.

Sure, it's a little less polished than my friend's HK91, but it does the same thing for less than a quarter of the price.

Mine is one of the last models with the muzzle brake. Recent CETMEs have a naked muzzle. The muzzle brake works very well...between it and the roller locking system, my CETME has amazingly little recoil for a .308-caliber battle rifle. Everybody who shoots it comments on the lack of recoil.

 

[Dave R]

Mine also runs like a top. I have not had a misfeed since I fixed that one mag long ago. Accuracy is great. What's not to love?

Edited to add I've had mine about 2 yrs now. No discernable wear.

 

[Mannlicher]

holding up? For goodness sakes, these are military rifles, designed to dish it out and take it, in harsh condition. I think they will outlast most of the casual shooting folks do at the range.

 

[hksw]

The two I have have been working fine. My first one, wood furniture, did have an occassional problem with one particular mag. Last round would not fully feed and get caught (crushed) between the bolt and chamber but occurred about once maybe every 1000 rounds. Other, black plastic stocks, hasn't misfed yet but is relatively new (less than 8 months old).

 

[outdoorman63]

new one

i have the black stocked minus muzzle break and it is sweet

 

[keederdag]

I'm on my second. The first went back to SOG and they replaced it. It had a bent charging handle tube, and would seize after heating up. With both the five round mags have never worked; the 20's are about 50-50. Many old/bad mags. I also had to cut off and re-weld the front sight to get enough windage adjustment to be on the paper. Now it's acctually quite accurate. I'm not a huge fan of the desighn; I'll take my L1A1 any day. I allso extended the stock about 3", it was much too short for me to shoot comfortably. After some grief, I have a pretty reliable nice shooter. It must be rembered that these are not "Combat Rifles", they are Century Arms Intl. Scabbed together from "combat Rifles" There is a big difference.

 

[Ian Sean]

Mine is OK now, the angry monkeys at Century ground the bolt and I am watching the wear, oversized rollers are probably in the future. I would love to find an un-ground bolt for sale and fix it right.

The other problem I had was with the mag catch. The angry monkeys in thier haste failed to remove enough metal and Cetme mags would not lock in good. G-3 mags do work flawlessly. I removed the offending piece of metal (careful file work) and they lock up nice and tight now.

Other than that, no sight issues (another common problem), and she is now reliable. When I brought her home she required a thorough cleaning. The rifle appeared to have been assembled with used motor oil (smell, consistancy and color). Nice to see Century is doing thier part in recycling.

My only recommendation on these rifles to those interested, they are good, there are some bad ones out there, but educate yourself well before purchasing one and steer clear of someone who won't let you do a good inspection on it.

Check out the wealth of info here:http://cetmerifles.com/forum/index.php

Good Luck!!

 

[Marcus]

Mine`s a late production synthetic stock/no brake version. It was fairly gritty at first but after a really thorough cleaning and a few hundred rounds it`s smoothed up nicely. No issues. Very accurate with Mil. surplus ammo and reliable with every mag I`ve stuffed in it including a cheap off brand 30 rounder I paid $10 for! Marcus

 

[mrapathy2000]

was thinking of getting a cetme but hear they dont like commercial .308 ammo whats the deal? can you use commercial ammo close to mill sur spec or what? I have read bout the various stuff ie barrel and how commercial spec is hotter. forgot half of it but every so often get interested in it again. would like to get a cetme but the ammo is a problem for me. also sick of people not distinguishing the difference between nato and commercial ammo. in wrong rifle it sounds like a world of difference. but someone set me straight

 

[Dave R]

I shot some commercial .308 through my CETME, and some handloads, just to try it. No problems. But I'm crazy...

Over at the CETME forum, they say that commercial brass is too soft. CETME ejects pretty violently, and the chamber is fluted, so the entire case is not supported, and there have been 1 or 2 reports of torn cases with commercial ammo.

Surplus ammo is significantly less expensive than commercial, so most people just stay away from commercial for safety's sake.

And Winchester sells a commercial .308 load that is essentially the NATO load, with NATO-thickness brass. White box, labeled 7.62, USA, That's the brass I reloaded for my CETME. I would not hesitate to handload .308 hunting load in that brass and use it in my CETME.

 

[tlhelmer]

Can you point me in the right direction to the CETME site?

 

[Dave R]

There are 3 that I know of. Here's the oldest:

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

Then there's the one 4 posts up in IAN's post: http://cetmerifles.com/forum/index.php

Then there's this one.

http://www.hk94.com/hk/index.php?showforum=32

 

[tlhelmer]

Thanks!

 

[GigaBuist]

I bought a used one about 3 weeks ago and took it out for the first time today.

Total failure to fire... firing pin isn't hitting the primer. I take the thing down wondering if I entirely forgot to put the firing pin back into the thing or something. Nope, pin is there, but sure enough when I hit the striker the pin doesn't come through the bolt head. I whack the bolt head down so it snaps as far back as it will go and then the firing pin penetrates the bolt head... but the roller's are locked out and I can't get it back into the rifle this way.

I monkey with it, take the bolt head back off, put it back on and have the rollers pushed inwards. Before placing the trigger guard in I push the bolt head back down into the position where it'll actually come through, insert trigger assembly, buttstock, etc, and get it ready to fire.

Same thing. I don't know what in the world I'm doing wrong.

The thing didn't come with an owner's manual and I had a little trouble finding a really comprhensive takedown guide online. I'm doing something wrong when I reassemble it (and that kinda scares me)... anybody have a clue as to what it is?

I'm going to pick up a .308 snapcap tomorrow so I can actually testfire the thing in my dwellling without worries. I'd like to know if somebody has a good CETME manual online though that gives all the little details that I might be overlooking.

 

[Ian Sean]

Gigabuist, in the above posts are links to places and other forums that will answer any question you have about your rifle. Some give very detailed take-down and maintenance info.

Putting the bolt back into the weapon is a little tricky, but it is a specific and important operation and ensure you do it correctly. Please check out the above links.

 

[GigaBuist]

Thanks Ian,

I've checked out the previously mentioned sites before (when I first purchased it)... I took it down again tonight after I made my post and double-checked with instructions on cetmerifles.com. Seems that I'm doing everything just fine. When I drop the bolt carrier and bolt into the rifle it's got a 1/8" or so gap between the actual bolt and the bolt carrier -- which is normal, seeing as how it has to be there for the roller's to actually allow it to move in.

I remove the gap (just like I did on the range) by pushing it together and locking the rollers in and it's workable from there. I left the trigger assembly off entirely this time so I could take a look at it.

I pull the charging handle back, the roller's unlock, and everything slides back normal. Let go of charging handle, bolt carrier rams back into battery -- but not with enough force to lock the rollers. Thankfully it won't fire that way! I give it a little push with my finger (through the hole where the trigger assembly pokes through) and it drops back to where it should be. Repeat and the same thing happens again and again.

Maybe THIS is why it was up for sale. I'll keep poking around to see if I can figure out what's going wrong with it.

 

[Ian Sean]

If the rollers are not locking in to battery, it may be time for oversized rollers. Do you have a ground bolt as well? What kind of reading are you getting with a feeler gauge?

Until you get on top of this I would NOT fire the rifle.

 

[Ian Sean]

Go here as well for more answers, scroll down, they have a CETME/FR-8 forum. I believe someone had a similar problem as you. It may take a bit to find it. Good people and info there.

http://www.gunboards.com/forums/default.asp

 

[armoredman]

Had a Century CETME, worst POS I ever owned. Would barely feed from any magazine, gave me a 7 inch group at 50 yards, total garbage. Bolt was ground, so needed a new bolt AND rollers. Found a guy with time/money to tinker, and sold it to him. To be fair, i have heard many people say they got good ones - get the stainless steel reciever, no the stamped one. GunsNStuff has CETMEs dirt cheap, and TAPCO has lots of accessories, but, caveat emptor!

 

[TexasAg]

tlhelmer....CETMEs are hit-and-miss. Depends on the monkeys at Century that "assemble" them. As posted earlier....check out the CETME sites on the web.....perros site has details on what to look for, etc.

Also...a CETME will need to be tinkered with....mags, rollers, bolt, etc.

be safe.....

 

[ceetee]

GigaBuist

Three things:

First, when you take it apart, check the recoil spring guide rod to make sure it's straight. A lot of the time, when some monkey tries to reassembe the thing, and doesn't get the parts lined up properly, they just whack it good with a rubber mallet, and the rod will get bent.

Second, people have found 30-year-old cigarettes, wads of cloth, paper, photos, diaries... all kinds of things stuffed into the cocking tube. Century could try to clean them out before thye sell them, but that would add at least fifty cents to the cost of manufacture...

Totally strip it down and clean it out ! Get all the oil, baked in cosmoline, metal filings, whatever else you may find... Get it out of there! clean out the trunnion, clean out the receiver; some guys have found so much baked on grease that the bolt wouldn't fullly close no matter what. Get a cheap .45 cal bronze bore brush. Put in the end section of the cleaning rod (the end without the T-handle). Put it in a cordless drill, soak it in bore cleaner, and use it (slow rev's only!) to ream out the flutes in the chamber.

Once you're done cleaning it like this, stop and clean it again! The biggest problempeople have had with Century CETME's is that they come from the factory looking like they've been stored in waste-oil tanks...

Third, some people have said that they have found their cocking tube bent. This could also cause it to hang up. Some people have also found their cocking tube to be installed crooked... this could also cause problems.

Lastly, DO come and check out the CETME and FR-8 forum... the guys there are really great!