Good cheap and reliable G3/CETME Clone

[mattmacklind]

Ilike the wood myself, I think it looks awesome. I've heard the early CETME's are better, but I am a noob as well so someone else will chime in here soon on the issue!

[nick112207]

Yeah i'd say if the early ones are the good ones then 600 wouldnt be to bad. because they basically do indefinate lay away and dont care how long you ahve it as long as you keep making payments

[SilverRun]

Taken from the Century Website:
Product ID: RI1189 Condition: Excellent
CETME Semi-Auto Sporter, Cal. .308 WIN. Price: $569.87

I had a Federal Arms that was one of the more frustrating rifles I have owned. As soon as the barrel heated just a little bit the accuracy totally went to heck (and I mean bad!). Never did figure it out. Sold it!

[Big Dog]

I prefer the wood furniture, as that is how it was issued.
I have read of the synthetic stock of the Century "Black Widow" being somewhat flimsy - many owners switched them out for the stouter HK stock - though it needs a bit of modification.
Qualitywise, the CETME seemed to vary - some batches were pretty good, others were less so. Depended on the assembler monkey - my monkey had a good day apparently.

[nick112207]

i really like the rifle. I'll have to go there tomorrow to check it out. Also it was a previously owned rifle so im guessing it is either good or was fixed to be good, or it was such a problem child they didnt want it

[rocketmonty]

i have one ,let me know

[tracker366]

I got a good deal on mine bought it from a friend of mine .I did add a scope to it.

[cma g21]

Originally Posted by Big Dog

I prefer the wood furniture, as that is how it was issued.
I have read of the synthetic stock of the Century "Black Widow" being somewhat flimsy - many owners switched them out for the stouter HK stock - though it needs a bit of modification.
Qualitywise, the CETME seemed to vary - some batches were pretty good, others were less so. Depended on the assembler monkey - my monkey had a good day apparently.

FWIW, on the Black Widows, Century uses the US made stock set for 922r compliance. So, replacing it with a foreign stock could be a 922r issue.

A big issue with Century assembled CETME’s (at least the older ones) is out of spec bolt gap (due to worn parts) which they “fixed” by grinding the bolt to create a false gap. This can be fixed, but how much it will cost depends on how extensive the needed repairs are.

[doctor rizz]

Nick, what store in Cincinnati has those CETME. What part of Cincinnati are you from. Used to live in West Chester but now live in Columbus, Mississippi, due to the air force.

[chrisgun]

What would be the grouping and MOA on the CETME?

[Cyrano]

Last I heard, $500-600 is the going rate. Not a year and a half ago, they started to climb from around $350-$400 because Century Arms International (CAI) stopped making them from the kits (so I heard). Though, I believe you can still purchase the receiver-less kits, it requires you to get everything perfectly aligned and then weld it all together, which is why there were so many "Century-Monkey" screwed-up CETMEs out there. It's not like an AK or AR build where you just pin or rivet it all together.

just a car, can you explain what you mean by "weld it all together?" I was poking around on gunbroker.com looking at CETMEs and the going rate there seems to be in the $750 range. So I looked at all the CETME auctions and came up with this hypothetical situation. Tell me what you think.

There are CETME parts kits (complete rifle less barrel and receiver) for $150. A CETME barrel is going for $75. There is a receiver for $150. So, for the investment of $375 plus S&H and one FFL transfer fee for the receiver, in theory you could buy everything to build yourself a complete CETME rifle.

But you talk about having to weld a CETME together. I suspect very few of us here at Guns and Game can weld at all, much less weld to the fine tolerances rifles require. Could you please provide us some more details on this welding issue?

[just_a_car]

Due to the fact that the original CETME's were select-fire (i.e. had "safe", "semi-auto", and "full-auto" settings) the importer was required to destroy the original receiver by law. This was done by cutting it with a torch behind where the barrel attached to the receiver. They then took US-made receivers and welded them onto where they torched-off the old ones.

If you're thinking of doing it yourself, you will need a jig to get everything straight before welding OR you can see about buying a receiver with the charging tube already attached (via welding) and then all you'd have to do is attach the barrel (I think it screws in, but I'm not sure) and other parts.

Also, a lot of those CETME parts kits contain a select-fire FCG (fire control group) and if you make a working firearms out of it and still have those parts in your possession (even if they're not in the gun anymore) you better have a Class III machinegun stamp for it or get busted by the ATF. Some states (like WA, where I live) don't even allow machinegun parts, so I can't buy those parts kits legally.