I see that Apex has these kits and IIRC Century Arms bought all of these way back in 2002 and brought them in then.  So, what's going on? Is someone finally coming out with a U.S. made receiver? Or are they just getting dumped on the market because they are useless?  I would like to have a functional one just for the collection.

advntrjnky

These kits are a recent development from what I understand. There are build solutions being worked on at present, over on WG and possibly others. HK93 barrels can be turned down to work for these.

I posted some questions about them in the HK forum. Still haven't picked up a kit but fully intend to. Apparently someone is looking into making receiver blanks for them.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1699820_Holy_______awesome_news_from_Apex__Spanish_CETME_L_kits_coming_.html

Thanks for the info!  David Fortier did a SGN article on Century Arms in the early 2000s and one of the pictures were of pallets of CETME L.  I believe someone mentioned that was most of them that Spain had.  I wonder if these are finally them 12-13 years later?

advntrjnky

I'd be interested in one

As much as I would like to see one, I don't think its a practical build.

The receiver is 100% unique, and an "approved" semi auto design has not been made.

While the G3/HK91 is a copy of the original CETME the HK33 and CETME L are two different approaches to the same problem..

I recall reading something about the lackluster performance of the CETME L in Spanish service. Is this the case or it did it hold up well?

From what i've read it was pretty average to below average in lots of departments, not necessarily a bad rifle or one that had issues with reliability but the build quality varied wildly (will try to pull up some sources). The biggest issue with them according to some Spanish guys I was talking to who were on an exercise was that the mags they were issued with were utter crap, poorly made and would often cause misfeeds etc.

I'm going to build one up (one way or another) just for the uniqueness value of it i guess.

On one of the other forums, there is a Spanish soldier who has been kind enough to detail the issues that the CETME L had in service. Basically you had the mag issue, which was remedied by using other NATO mags. Then later on in production, it was decided that the rifle was too expensive to produce, and the cost needed to be reduced. This was done at the expense of quality, more specifically quality control. The issues resulting from this were primarily related to the fire control group(bad springs, improperly hardened hammers). Now the good news here is pretty obvious: other than mags, these issues won't really apply to us here. Since we have 922r to contend with, we're likely going to replace these parts(interestingly enough FAL FCG parts can apparently be modified to work). And obviously, suitable mags are plentiful, since it uses AR mags. So beyond that, the other potential issues are more to do with how careful the builder is with assembly, not that it's looking that difficult. Interestingly enough, a "refurbished" CETME L used in the tests for it's replacement, actually did better in several tests then the G36 that ultimately replaced it.

I'm really excited about this design finally coming over here for a few reasons. I like variety, and so I like oddball military weapons of all shapes and sorts. I never thought we'd see these here. And now, not only do we have parts kits, we are REALLY close to actually having a way to put them together. Prexis is making receiver flats. HK93 barrels can be reprofiled to work with these, and there's some pretty credible talk regarding actual CETME L barrels being produced soon. US made FCGs using the original pattern are being tested, or FAL FCG components can be modified.. So basically, that's about everything we need to put these together. All of that within 90 days of the kits being released.

Also for the guys trapped in at least 1 ban state(Maryland), as I understand it these would be effectively un-effected by the recent stupidity made into law. Even though I don't live in a place like that anymore, I'm all for the idea of getting one over on them.

I'm also hoping that this is a preview of what's to come. At present a chunk of NATO is reasonably dis-satisfied with it's issued arms, and some are replacing them at present. This could mean some VERY interesting things headed this way, even if only in the form of parts kits(which undoubtedly will mean APEX will continue to empty my wallet). Maybe these are only the beginning? I was under the impression that the CETME Ls had basically all been completely destroyed, and as such we'd never see anything of them. But here they are, and the parts kits are even fairly inexpensive when you look at what other kits are bringing now. Never know what tomorrow holds.

Thanks guys. Mace: interesting evaluation.