[TULAver]

.223 shoots like that - you can zero it at short range and have the same impact point further downrange, I forget what the exact distances are but it's always a nifty thing to be able to do.

You have 30 ROUND HK91 mags? I didn't even know such a thing existed. The only 30 round 7.62NATO mags I was aware of are Bren machine gun magazines. I know they work in some other rifle, but I was thinking it was the FAL...

Also, make sure you wipe down the mag you doctored before firing. If any WD40 smears onto a casing before firing, it could lacquer up in the chamber and cause an ejection problem.

[just_a_car]

Okay, I only think they're HK91 mags, I'm not sure, but they are 30 round and look a lot like HK91 20 round mags.

Here's the link to the album of pictures for my CETME: just_a_car/CETME - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting (If that link doesn't work, let me know, as I'm not sure if it will work for someone not logged in to my account.)

Two there are are 4 of the 6 targets I was talking about and the left one in 100_0087.jpg is the one with a flyer and a string of 8.

The clamped mags are the 30 round'ers and I placed 'em next to a G3 and CETME 20 round mag for comparison.

As you can also see, the headspacing is visually good and the bolt face is not ground. Yay! Heh. Unfortunately, the green is a paint that has flaked away when the solvent cleaner came in contact with it. I'm wondering if someone bought the black stock set and just sprayed it green. Eh *shrug* either way, that makes it that much easier for me if I decide I want it a different color.

The case that I keep it in is a $10.47+tax Flambeau® plastic hard case from WallyWorld.

[wolverine]

The 30 rounders are aftermarket and qulaity is hit and miss. I just took two steel CEMTE mags, cut the feed lips off one and the base off the other and welded them together. A quick spot weld and the mag springs were one. Viola! 40 rounder for under 5 bucks. Beta is supposed to be coing out with a 100 round drum for them this year but man that'd be HEAVY!

[RabidPitWeasle]

100rd drum, heavy! no kidding, I gotta check out one of them

[Big Dog]

Factory thirty rounders DO exist - I have one. Hard to find, so I jumped when the real thing came available on ebay . . .
The recoil spring assembly may be out of whack. Make sure the rod is straight, and not angled to one side.
The HK rear stock and spring/buffer assembly can be installed on the CETME - the HK springs are generally a bit stronger. The plastic piece on the buffer needs trimming - a minor modification.

As you're finding, the CETME is like a musclecar - always needs a bit of tweaking to make it run right.

[just_a_car]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Big Dog

As you're finding, the CETME is like a musclecar - always needs a bit of tweaking to make it run right.

Hehe, yeah... and I know what you mean, since that's actually my 1972 Mustang Mach1 in my avatar. ;-)

[billy]

Quote:       Originally Posted by just_a_car

Hehe, yeah... and I know what you mean, since that's actually my 1972 Mustang Mach1 in my avatar. ;-)

oh...then you are an old hand ! yer a natural! that is a good looking rifle .i was thinking about one myself but got scared off from the bad things i heard about how touchy they were. i wanted to get a kit but it sounded like it was over my head.and went for the saiga 308. i dont know if this will do you guys any good but i bought 2 boxes of the pakistani ammo headstamped L2A2 79 and it was good so i bought 2000rds.and have been happily shooting away .its pretty clean really and at $24 per 100 its a good deal.

[WyrTwister]

Quote:       Originally Posted by billy

oh...then you are an old hand ! yer a natural! that is a good looking rifle .i was thinking about one myself but got scared off from the bad things i heard about how touchy they were. i wanted to get a kit but it sounded like it was over my head.and went for the saiga 308. i dont know if this will do you guys any good but i bought 2 boxes of the pakistani ammo headstamped L2A2 79 and it was good so i bought 2000rds.and have been happily shooting away .its pretty clean really and at $24 per 100 its a good deal.

There is nothing wrong with a CETME ( as the Spanish origionally built it ) , the problem is that what the hungry beavers at Century are cobbling together . :-)

And , yes , I own a Century CETME problem child . I would love to get out of it what I have in it . :-(

Wyr

[just_a_car]

So, I took La CETME out to the range this last week and had some serious issues with feeding.

I took out all my mags to see which ones worked and only three of the ten I brought worked without feed issues. I made sure to clean all of the mags to get the gunk out of em first, they were pretty nasty in some places.

Two of the mags, one steel and one alloy G3, had the issue of the follower catching and tilting, resulting in a failure to feed the last couple rounds.

With most of the others, it seems like they may not be getting deep enough into the mag-well. I have three G3 mags that just don't engage the mag release catch when inserted, no matter how hard you 'tap' them.

The worst of the issues was when it wouldn't even feed the first round; it just scraped over it and after aiming, instead of a boom, I got a *click*. I then recharged with the appropriate H&K slap, as always, and it did it again. After that, that one went to the 'bad' pile.

I'm thinking that the anti-full-auto Century block at the back of the mag-well may be hindering the depth that the mags get into the well and thus limiting the ability of the bolt head to engage the rear of the bullet casing to strip and chamber the round.

Also, I was only using the Wolf .308 this time, as it seems to have a bit more kick than the South African I was shooting. I was hoping this would overcome any spring issues I was having, but it's looking like that might not be the issue. Honestly, the only thing I don't like about the Wolf is the dirtiness and all the smoke I get in my face, even with the range having a decent airflow downrange-ward (indoor). I just don't like my snot coming out black when I blow my nose after going to the range, yano? The steel doesn't mar the deflector at all and it cycles out just fine.

It also shoots sufficiently accurate enough for home defense (minute-of-milkjug, as Ol' Painless on The Box O' Truth says), but I was so frustrated by the end that I put it away hot and dirty, went out to the lobby to get a drink of my coke, took the riflecase to the car and switched out to my M91/30. I sat there and put those Czech silvertips in sub-2' groups at the 25yard range we have.

I'm thinking I may take her in to have my local semi-auto gunsmith take a look at it, along with my magazines. I'm hoping that it may just be a case of removing a little excess Century-Monkey metal and I'll have a properly functioning Spanish Lady. *crosses fingers*

[Big Dog]

Modding the mags is easy to do. If they don't seat in the well far enough, simply file the tops of the limiter bumps on the side - two on CETME mags and three on HK mags. Go slowly and carefully - it won't need much! Always better to change the mag, rather than the gun.
I got lucky - all fourteen of my mags work well. Two original steel CETMEs and twelve HK alloys. The original steel thirty rounder is quirky - the box sides are dented. My five rounder for 'hunting' is okay.
I bought the "ten pack" of HK Alloy Mags from InterOrd last year, and all ten 'used' mags work perfectly. Eight look NEW, the other two were lightly used. $19.50 for all ten - great deal!

[just_a_car]

Ah, that's right, I forgot to mention that many of those mags don't seat all the way flush with the gun anyways. They're a little loose, even. Whether they sat flush or just under, they still didn't strip/feed well. So, I'm pretty sure it's not the magazines, otherwise the ones that sat perfectly flush and tight should feed well, but that's not necessarily the case. Thus, I'll probably take it to the gunsmith, though I really appreciate the advice, Big Dog.

[grasshopper2]

RIFLE-COMPANY.COM -- View topic - The cheapest 7.62x51 Surplus on the Internet, 03.21.07

[just_a_car]

Thanks for the link Grasshopper2. Most of them I already check and have accounts with, hehe, but some I hadn't heard of.

BTW all, still haven't had the time to get my fussy Spanish Lady to the smith; just started classes again at the U. of Washington. Plus, I just picked up another toy that I won't post about until it arrives, so no cash flow to pay for work done. (FYI, watch for a post by me in the Glock forums in the next couple weeks. )

[ssfeldjager]

Quote:       Originally Posted by BattleRifleG3

The recoil operated mechanism of the CETME isn't served well by Steel cased ammo. Gas operated arms are usually ok with it. The best gun to fire it in would be a Saiga-308. Steel cased ammo is best used in eastern bloc guns.

How do you figure this one? There's a lot of people shooting Wolf and Barnaul in their HK91/G3/CETME clones with no problems. Including me. All ammo is dirty, which is why you clean your weapon after shooting.

[just_a_car]

Yeah, Wolf FMJ works great in the weapon, but gets it really, really dirty. The powder smoke pours out of the weapon after a few shots.

As an aside, I think I may have discovered the main issue... The springs in my mags may be too weak. The last outing, three of my mags had the follower catch on the front and tilt forward, causing a failure to feed of the last 3 rounds out of twenty; the first 17 shot through great!

I'm thinking I'll buy some new mag-springs fro $0.75 each and see if that fixes the problem. Man, it'll be nice if it's not the gun that's hiccuping and just the mags!

[meatloaf]

Hey has anyone used the hundred round C-mag yet? Im curios on how well they work.

[just_a_car]

Quote:       Originally Posted by meatloaf

Hey has anyone used the hundred round C-mag yet? Im curios on how well they work.

Wait..... They finally came out with it?!?!

LINK FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! WHERE!?!?!

[BattleRifleG3]

It's still in the future, and I don't think it holds 100.

[meatloaf]

Quote:       Originally Posted by just_a_car

Wait..... They finally came out with it?!?! LINK FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! WHERE!?!?!

Sorry last I checked it was supposed to be out in august, now it says second quarter 2007. Wouldnt that be now? You can check it out at betaco.com look under new products.

Hey Its now listed as just in betaco.com newproducts onehundred round c-mag!!!!!!! whooohooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[just_a_car]

First off, meatloaf, I looked at the betamag and the 7.62mm one is listed only for the M1A/M14, but says that the feed clip is interchangable to fit all weapons. Not sure how that works if it's listed for only that weapon.

Now, as for my feed issues...
I took my CETME to the range a few weeks ago and decided that I'd do a little test to see if it was the mags or the gun and if it was indeed the mags, then the gun had earned the right to be named. So, what I did was load a steel 20 round mag full, shoot 10, load it back up with 10 more rounds and shoot through those to the end. I figured if it ran through 20 straight rounds (essentially a full mag's worth) without a hiccup, then it must be the mag springs. Guess what?... it only hiccuped ONCE and that was on the 3rd to very last round, which was essentially the 28th round. I was very proud of my Spanish Lady and her name came to me while out in my car just starting to drive away from the range.

Without further ado, the name of my CETME:
Jessica
Now, I originally wanted to name her something very Spanish sounding, but every time I tried to think of something different, my mind fixated on this name. So, it stuck. I'm going to buy an aluminum dual-rail mount for her tomorrow and then some steel rings so that I can install my new 6.5-20x50mm AO Barska Varmint scope on her. *GLEE!!!*