One last urgent plea for help Re: Century G3

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Monkeyleg

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In another thread I ran through the various levels of angst experienced while getting a Century G3.

After reading everything I could find about the Century models, and the G3 in particular, I think I have a rifle that could be a "keeper" with just a minor amount of work.

There are two major problems: the bolt gap is at roughly .005", on the very low end of the scale. I could deal with that by buying +4 rollers for about $30.

The other problem is that I can't get the buttstock off to get at the bolt head and carrier. Can't get at the bolt head and carrier if the stock doesn't come off.

I've tried rapping on the stock with a lead-filled rubber mallet. I've tried heating up the receiver cap with a hair dryer. I've tried putting my strongest foot on the pistol grip while pulling on the stock. In fact, I've tried combinations of all three approaches.

The rifle doesn't have the other "drunken monkey" flaws that Century guns often have. The sights are straight, the sight adjustments work, the welds look professional, the finish is decent (not "HK decent," but decent), and it shoots well.

The warranty on Century's semi-auto's is 90 days--from the day the dealer receives it! Fortunately, I'm well under 90 days.

However, I'd rather not send the rifle back to Century in the flimsy, bang-around-the-UPS-truck box it was shipped in, have another "drunken monkey" screw around with it, and wind up with something worse than what I have now. I can almost imagine the rifle showing up at my door with the stock hack-sawed off and held on by duct tape.

FWIW: banging, pushing and pulling on the stock is moving the receiver cap and the stock at the same time. They don't move separately. The most I've been able to move the receiver cap/stock combination is about 1/8".

Hellllpppp!
 
The stock/receiver cap on mine is really tight, as well. To get it off I had to position a punch against the front edge of the cap and drive it off with a mallet. Before putting it back on I greased the inside of it where it goes over the receiver so that it's a bit easier to remove now.
 
If you can't move the stock off I would take it to a good G-3 smith and have him solve the problem or you could check with the people over at WWW.L1A1.com for help
 
Try this...
Remove front handguard.
Firmly mount the barrel in a vise with the appropriate protection of the barrel to prevent scratching it up.
Get a philips head screwdriver that will fit into either of the holes that the takedown pins go into on the buttstock.
Grab each side of the screwdriver protruding out of the stock hole and give it a good yank or two.

If this doesn't work then pound on the screwdriver handle with a rubber mallet while it is in the stock. Alternate sides that you pound on by removing the screwdriver and inserting from the opposite side.

Hope this helps.
 
blfuller, it was my understanding that the holes run through the stock, the receiver cap and the receiver. Am I wrong? If not, how would the screwdriver trick work?

Hard to believe that Century could screw up a stock this bad.

And I don't think that the fact the rifle costs $400 to $500 is any excuse. Let's face it: the internals are used parts, the receiver is stamped, and the plastic furniture isn't exactly expensive.

Any other ideas very much appreciated.
 
Try bouncing the bottom edge of the stock on your thigh as you pull it. The bouncing will sort of lever it up/down and the stock should wiggle off.

They probably applied too much paint in that area, so after several difficult disassemblies, it should become easier.

I would not use the gripframe as a leverage point. You may damage the shelf in the gripframe and cause excessive play, which may result in ejection problems.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Century G3 clones come with US buttstocks that lack the stock retainer pin holes near the buttpad, right? eg:

Parts%20023a.jpg
 
OK, now I'm really confused. Looking at the photo that Destructo6 provided, there are no holes for the mounting pins. Going over to gunbroker.com and searching for G3 furniture, I see that all of the buttstocks--HK or aftermarket--for sale have no holes for mounting pins, either.

So what they heck holds the stock on to the rifle? Some sort of adhesive or crimp in the receiver cap?

I was thinking the same thing about the receiver cap being put on when the receiver paint was still wet. I thought, "naw, they can't be that dumb."

Well, maybe so. ;)
 
There ISN'T anything to hold the stock on. The stock in that photo is incomplete. There is a metal housing which fits on the front of the stock. It has the recoil plate and recoil spring.

http://www.cetmerifles.com/pictures/g3buttcomplete.jpg

That is the complete stock. What Blfuller is recommend is for you to pull the stock out via the two holes in the back, used to retain the stock pins during maintainence. The CETME stock doesn't have a pin retainer though.
 
Feanaro, Destructo6, thanks for being so patient.

I understand that the retaining pins go through the receiver cap (the metal housing fitted to the front of the stock) and the receiver.

But no amount of pushing, pulling, hammering, heating, rapping or praying seems to be able to budge that receiver cap off the receiver.

If Century had the common sense to provide a user manual like every other firearms manufacturer
:cuss: I probably wouldn't have to be asking stupid questions like this on various forums.

And, if Century was keeping one eyeball on lawsuits, and if another THR member who said that a bolt gap of .004" or less was dangerous is correct, then Century would do well to get their drunken monkeys in line.

So, please continue to educate me. The stock/receiver cap are held in place by the two takedown pins that go through the receiver. Am I corrrect? And the stock itself is held to the receiver cap by some mystery substance/force that I don't comprehend.

I can dismantle car or motorcycle motors and put them back together almost by memory. Yet this seemingly simple task is eluding me.

Your continued advice is very, very much appreciated.
 
OK, I just looked at the photo that Destructo6 provided for the GENUINE HK G3 stock. It has two holes at the rear of the stock, near the buttplate.

The Century G3 stock doesn't have those two holes. The only holes the Century G3 stock has are the two that run through the receiver cap, into the receiver, and out the other side. Those two holes can be seen going through the metal receiver cap in the photo that you (Feanaro) provided a link to.

I've got a ton of stuff to do tomorrow, but I'm putting a call to Century International Arms near the top of my list. If Art's grandma starts complaining about the phone wires from Wisconsin to Florida turning red-hot, well, it ain't all my fault. ;)
 
Monkeyleg,
I mistakenly assumed that your rifle had a stock with the takedown pin storage holes in the stock near the butt like Destructo6 has shown. My intent was for the screw driver to go through one of these pin storage holes. So if yours does not have the holes then my suggestion will not work.
 
The stock/receiver cap are held in place by the two takedown pins that go through the receiver. Am I corrrect? And the stock itself is held to the receiver cap by some mystery substance/force that I don't comprehend.
Click to expand...

Correct on the first count. I am not sure how the stock is attached to the receiver cap. It appears to be crimped but I have heard that it is not. Maybe this will help you. There are a few things(stock disassembly section) that won't apply to your rifle. And the photos aren't the best. But it should give you some idea on how the rifle fits together.

I would try to get Century to repair or replace the rifle, though that opens up its own can of worms. Excessive tightness would be acceptable to me, given the price. But if you can't remove the stock at all I would consider the rifle non-functional.
 
Just curious if you have fired it yet. Maybe you could run a box of shells through it and that may loosen it up from the bolt carrier pounding against the stock buffer.

Safety tip
DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT BOTH PINS INSTALLED IN THE BUTTSTOCK!!!
 
Monkeyleg, I own a Century CETME, first cousin to the G3, assembled by the same drunken monkeys.

It was very difficult to remove the stock pins the first few times. It was also very difficult to free the stock from the receiver the first few times. I think the tolerances were fine before Century parked or painted the receiver and the stock cap, and their paint/park process made things too tight.

And YES IT IS POSSIBLE that the paint dried with the stock in place on the receiver, fusing the two together.

I remember having to whack my stock pretty good to get it off the first few times. Trigger group, too, for that matter. I got some instructions from AK-47.net, of all places. Or maybe it was the Cetmerifles.com Knowledge base ?

Anyway, as I remember it, the trick was to thump the stock pretty good--first "up" and then "down", but never side to side. You could bend the receiver 'wings' that hold the stock in place if you bang side to side. IOW, keep the force in-plane with the rifle. If you do that, you can whack it pretty good with rubber mallet or what have you.

BTW--when www.cruffler.com did their review of the CETME (which is in their archives on the site), they had the same problem with inability to remove the stock. They sent the rifle back to Century.

I just whacked mine.

Been very happy with it since I got the stock off. And fixed a burr in the magwell. And fixed the "not enough windage" problem...

Seriously, once that stuff was fixed, its been very accruate and reliable. And the stock comes off normally after a few times.

Its just that first time that's tough.
 
blfuller, I'd run some more rounds through it, but there's so many metal shavings inside the receiver and inside the bolt head/carrier that the bolt head wasn't returning to "rest." Which meant that the gun wouldn't fire at all. That's why I need to take it down and really clean it.

Dave R, I've rapped on the stock really hard. Any harder and I think it might crack.

I sent an email off to technical support at Century, although I suspect they're going to suggest I send it back to them.

If I was looking to replace the stock and repaint the receiver, I'd try a real heat gun on the receiver cap to see if it was paint that's keeping the cap stuck on. The heat gun I have, though, would certainly melt the stock and bubble up the paint on the receiver.

What a bunch of morons.
 
Yup. Sounds like a return trip to Cenutury is the best course of action at this point. Sorry you got a bad one.
 
I emailed Century's "tech support" yesterday, and they replied with the following:

"I've found that using the hammer on a small block against the seam between the backplate and the receiver or a punch in one of the holes will allow more force to be applied. This should make it easier to remove the stock assembly. The new receivers are a bit bigger than the original which has made for a snug fit of the butt assembly.
Let us know if we can be of any further help."

So, they couldn't get the receiver dimensions right. That means that the receiver cap will always be a tight fit.

I actually managed to get this guy on the phone today and ask him if putting some kind of block at the leading edges of the receiver cap and pounding away wasn't going to scratch the hell out of the receiver. He replied that I could touch it up using some flat black paint made for barbecue grills or something like that.

Not an acceptable solution.

At this point, I don't know what I'm going to do. If I have my dealer ship it back for a refund, Century is going to refuse because it's been fired. If I send it back to Century for repair, they're probably just going to bung it up further.

I'm thinking of masking off the receiver with heavy-duty duct tape or gaffer tape to minimize scratches, and try pounding on the front of the receiver cap. Then liberally coating the rear of the receiver with a high-temp lithium grease before putting the stock/receiver cap back on.

Any other ideas are very welcome.
 
An update. I masked off the receiver, put a thin steel wrench to the leading edge of the receiver cap, and rapped on the wrench with a hammer. After a few whacks, the receiver cap and stock came off.

Now I have the bolt and carrier partially disassembled, and will get to cleaning this evening or in the morning (depending upon what assignments my wife gives me ;) ).

Peeking inside the receiver, I can see the hammer and another part of the trigger group sticking up in the way of the bolt assembly going back in. Not surprisingly, the trigger group didn't just "swing down" as instructions on cetmerifles.com show. I think I may have to do some pounding on that as well.
 
Congrats on getting the stock off!

Yup, you'll likely have to whack the trigger group pretty well, too. The 'stroke' that worked for me was--muzzle down, whack the back of the pistol grip toward the floor. I had to whack mine about as hard as I could stand with my palm to get it off, the first few times. Much easier now.

They do break in...
 
Thanks, Destructo6. Having taken everything apart, it looks like some steel wool is in order.

Man, what a mess!
 
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