Tweet
Last week there was a thread about Century's new CETME rifles. I've linked it here. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s....php?t=1148511
There was a discussion that showed a lot of interest and concern about the workmanship of the rifles.
Well I bought one during turners sale last week and took it to the range on Wednesday and today.
WORKMANSHIP
I compared the rifle to a PTR on the rack at Turners and I really saw no difference in quality of the welds or the finish. I also compared the Century rifle to my friends PTR he bought last year. We both believe the rifles are comparable and the addition of the top 1913 rail is much better than the HK Claw mount.
See the photos below;
FUNCTION;
I brought my new Rifle home on Tuesday Broke it down and greased it and oiled it and went to the range Wednesday.
Now here is where the issues began.
I could not get a mag to fire completely. I had a failure to eject every 2 to 4 rounds. I used 10 different G3 mags and never got more than 4 rounds to fire in a row using Lake City XM80 and Hornady Steel Match.
Oh no. I figured these dudes worked on my rifle.
SO after a frustrating hour or so I put the C308 away and shot some other guns.
I went home and looked at some other gun boards and found a list of potential problems with CETME Rifles.
Now here I want to point something out. This rifle is made from a Surplus parts kit. The internal parts are all used and need to be treated as such. The first issue I found was with my extractor. I didn't take it apart and clean under it. Huge error. There was what looked like 40 years of crap under it. I should have cleaned it before I went. Also this being a surplus rifle the springs are always a suspect area. I took the trigger pack out of the FCG and found that the Extractor spring looked bad. So I went to RTG parts and ordered new extractor and ejector springs as well as a new extractor. Cost was under $20 delivered which I received Friday. (Hat tip for quick delivery)
Now here is where people may get upset. It is a "new" rifle so it should work out of the box. I agree, except it isn't entirely new. Like all surplus rifles springs can be an issue. I bought a Garand from CMP that had FTEject issues and it didn't have an extractor spring at all! So this is across the board with new old rifles.
I also ordered a new ejector from APEX but it hasn't arrived yet.
The next issue I found was the ejector was wobbling in the trigger Pack which can be a common issue with these rifles. I cut down a plastic washer to shim up the ejector and the wobble was gone. The ejector with new spring was moving into the groove on the bolt correctly and I was out of cures.
You can see the shim below. (Edit, took the advice of seasmoke below and bent the parts with some vise grips to where they should be. Shim is now removed)
RANGE day 2
SO today I went to the range and shot 100 rounds of Hornady Steel Match and had zero FTEjects. I am quite pleased. My only issues were some double feeds from my 50 year old G3 mags I have (Date stamped 1962) that I figure haven't got a lot of spring tension left at the end of a mag. All of the double feeds were at the last 2 to 3 rounds of a mag. Obvious mag issue. my newest mag from 1990 had no issues.
VERDICT.
I really like the rifle. For the price, which was $820 OTD which is cheaper than the pre tax and license sale price of a PTR, It can not be beat.
The accuracy is good. 2-3 MOA at 100 well within battle rifle specs. I can wholeheartedly recommend this rifle as long as you have an understanding of what you are purchasing. it is not a new rifle and should not be seen as such.
Here are the internals
Obviously not new. But its fun and with a little work seems to now be ready to Rock and roll.
I hope you found some usefulness from this long *** post.
Here she is put together with bayonet attached (not included with rifle, bought at gun show last week)
There was a discussion that showed a lot of interest and concern about the workmanship of the rifles.
Well I bought one during turners sale last week and took it to the range on Wednesday and today.
WORKMANSHIP
I compared the rifle to a PTR on the rack at Turners and I really saw no difference in quality of the welds or the finish. I also compared the Century rifle to my friends PTR he bought last year. We both believe the rifles are comparable and the addition of the top 1913 rail is much better than the HK Claw mount.
See the photos below;
FUNCTION;
I brought my new Rifle home on Tuesday Broke it down and greased it and oiled it and went to the range Wednesday.
Now here is where the issues began.
I could not get a mag to fire completely. I had a failure to eject every 2 to 4 rounds. I used 10 different G3 mags and never got more than 4 rounds to fire in a row using Lake City XM80 and Hornady Steel Match.
Oh no. I figured these dudes worked on my rifle.
SO after a frustrating hour or so I put the C308 away and shot some other guns.
I went home and looked at some other gun boards and found a list of potential problems with CETME Rifles.
Now here I want to point something out. This rifle is made from a Surplus parts kit. The internal parts are all used and need to be treated as such. The first issue I found was with my extractor. I didn't take it apart and clean under it. Huge error. There was what looked like 40 years of crap under it. I should have cleaned it before I went. Also this being a surplus rifle the springs are always a suspect area. I took the trigger pack out of the FCG and found that the Extractor spring looked bad. So I went to RTG parts and ordered new extractor and ejector springs as well as a new extractor. Cost was under $20 delivered which I received Friday. (Hat tip for quick delivery)
Now here is where people may get upset. It is a "new" rifle so it should work out of the box. I agree, except it isn't entirely new. Like all surplus rifles springs can be an issue. I bought a Garand from CMP that had FTEject issues and it didn't have an extractor spring at all! So this is across the board with new old rifles.
I also ordered a new ejector from APEX but it hasn't arrived yet.
The next issue I found was the ejector was wobbling in the trigger Pack which can be a common issue with these rifles. I cut down a plastic washer to shim up the ejector and the wobble was gone. The ejector with new spring was moving into the groove on the bolt correctly and I was out of cures.
You can see the shim below. (Edit, took the advice of seasmoke below and bent the parts with some vise grips to where they should be. Shim is now removed)
RANGE day 2
SO today I went to the range and shot 100 rounds of Hornady Steel Match and had zero FTEjects. I am quite pleased. My only issues were some double feeds from my 50 year old G3 mags I have (Date stamped 1962) that I figure haven't got a lot of spring tension left at the end of a mag. All of the double feeds were at the last 2 to 3 rounds of a mag. Obvious mag issue. my newest mag from 1990 had no issues.
VERDICT.
I really like the rifle. For the price, which was $820 OTD which is cheaper than the pre tax and license sale price of a PTR, It can not be beat.
The accuracy is good. 2-3 MOA at 100 well within battle rifle specs. I can wholeheartedly recommend this rifle as long as you have an understanding of what you are purchasing. it is not a new rifle and should not be seen as such.
Here are the internals
Obviously not new. But its fun and with a little work seems to now be ready to Rock and roll.
I hope you found some usefulness from this long *** post.
Here she is put together with bayonet attached (not included with rifle, bought at gun show last week)
Comment