I am looking for another gun in a bigger caliber. (shooting a 7.62x39 ak now). CETME's are pretty cheap and I was just wondering how good accuracy was on one of these?

complete crapshoot, if you buy a Century gun. My own experience is my Cetme shoots a hair better than my FrankenFAL, around 2 1/2" @100 yards with iron sights.  Of couse, I have to aim 4" about low and right to put the rounds where I want them lol.  The front sight is off, and it's a beyotch to adjust CETMEs for windage past a very small reference point...the front sight post is slightly off center on it's base base...as you rotate it for up/down, it also adjusts for windage as the base rotates...not exactly the ideal method, but it works to a point.  Anything past that, and you have to twist the front sight assembly, which is welded, iirc.

Most of the Century guns are off to some degree.  I just adjusted mine as best I could, and decided to get a tacpoint for it lol.  Only problem was the BSquare mount I paid $80 for blows, and the one that DSA sells is $125.  Havent' gotten around to ordering it yet.  Cleaning the thing is such a PIA that I don't shoot it much.    

A CETME is great if your hunting barns!

When mine would actually fire I was shooting 1 1/2-2 MOA.

I love mine.  It is more accurate than me.   I never have any problems with mine and it shoots very well at 100 yards.

With iron sights & Hirtenberger ball, mine groups 2.5 MOA.

Which is better than I can say for my M1A.

I bought one as a toy, not expecting much.
I would not use the words 'accuracy' & 'CETME' in the same post.  3inch groups at 100yds.

Removing the muzzle brake helped accuracy a bit (and is a hassle to do, as it is pinned in place).  

The iron sights were useless.  Adding a scope was a pain in the ass... claw mounts will not stay put... had to JB-Weld it in place.  Even then, the rifle is not 'straight'.  The scope points so far off kilter that my initial (cheap) scope for it could not adjust far enough to center.  

Put about 1000rds through it before it broke.. the weld between the receiver and the charging tube went.  Only had 1 or 2 FTFs, and 1 or 2 jams, both possibly caused by shooting surplus ammo.

Mine sucked enough that I will not bother fixing it.  Debating buying a new one, as I have all the CETME goodies (lotsa mags, nice furniture, parts gun), and 2000rds of 7.62NATO sitting around.  (My only other .308, a FAL, is on semi-perm loan to a friends son, who was going to blow his hard-earned lawn mowing money on a POS.)

If I buy a new one, it will be my 'low expectations beater'.  It will never be cleaned, and will not be expected to smack a target consistently past 250yds.  It will never be fed anything other than the surplus-ammo-of-the-season.  

Do not purchase one if your expectation is to build a poor-mans PSG-1 from it.  For a beater 7.62NATO I would say go for it, if you are handy enough to work through the initial kinks.  If you are not tolerant of initial issues, then stay away.

Quoted: A CETME is great if your hunting barns!

Quoted: I bought one as a toy, not expecting much. I would not use the words 'accuracy' & 'CETME' in the same post.  3inch groups at 100yds. Removing the muzzle brake helped accuracy a bit (and is a hassle to do, as it is pinned in place).   The iron sights were useless.  Adding a scope was a pain in the ass... claw mounts will not stay put... had to JB-Weld it in place.  Even then, the rifle is not 'straight'.  The scope points so far off kilter that my initial (cheap) scope for it could not adjust far enough to center.   Put about 1000rds through it before it broke.. the weld between the receiver and the charging tube went.  Only had 1 or 2 FTFs, and 1 or 2 jams, both possibly caused by shooting surplus ammo. Mine sucked enough that I will not bother fixing it.  Debating buying a new one, as I have all the CETME goodies (lotsa mags, nice furniture, parts gun), and 2000rds of 7.62NATO sitting around.  (My only other .308, a FAL, is on semi-perm loan to a friends son, who was going to blow his hard-earned lawn mowing money on a POS.) If I buy a new one, it will be my 'low expectations beater'.  It will never be cleaned, and will not be expected to smack a target consistently past 250yds.  It will never be fed anything other than the surplus-ammo-of-the-season.   Do not purchase one if your expectation is to build a poor-mans PSG-1 from it.  For a beater 7.62NATO I would say go for it, if you are handy enough to work through the initial kinks.  If you are not tolerant of initial issues, then stay away.

What kind of CETME do you have.  I love my iron sites.  That is all I shoot with it.  Mine is the blackwiddow version and I know a few people that have the same kind and love them.  

Quoted: I love mine.  It is more accurate than me.   I never have any problems with mine and it shoots very well at 100 yards.

+1

However, it sounds as if I
managed to win the Century
lottery - most people have
a ton of problems.

Quoted: What kind of CETME do you have.  I love my iron sites.  That is all I shoot with it.  Mine is the blackwiddow version and I know a few people that have the same kind and love them.

Not certain of the version.  Has wood furniture & a stamped receiver.  My rear irons were off-center ever-so-slightly.  

-After- I bought it I learned much about what to avoid in a CETME... misaligned sights, ground bolt.  About all I looked at was the bore, which was fine.  

Mine was just one of the many sloppy ones, by the luck of the draw.  With luck (and experience) I hope my next one will be a shooter.

Perro has a nice 'what to look for when picking up a cetme' guide on his site.
http://www.cetmerifles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=120

accuarcy is like any iron sighted mbr of that time  around 2-2.5 at 100yrds with surplus.
the front sight is tricky to adjust but if you read up on how it is supposed to be adjusted,,you can dial it in.
DO NOT sght it in at 100yrds or such.
read up(at perros,dr.zero's,mwdg3's) sites how to adjust the front  sight,, then go tot he range.
set up at 25yrds,useing the 200M peep. fire away,,and adjust as need'd . doing this will zero your rifle at 200m.
in doing this i was able to maintain groups around 1inch and less from a rest,,  no rest 100yrds im lookin at 4inchs and less. and at  450yrds, i can gong a 15x15 plate all day!
do your home work before you buy as posted visit peroos cetme rifles page and gunboards cetme forum for  help.
these rifles are well worth the money IF you put a few minutes of elbow grease into them to correct what century hacked up on them.. 90% of the probelsm you will encounter will not be serious issues,,,, just  take your time do the resarch andlearn the rifle.



as for hunting barns,,well..im sure you just have one big wealth of cetme knowledge sitting on your shoulders dont you!

Ive shot one a good bit. It does go Bang. Just dont expect too much. For my $ I would not get one.
just my opinion.

I order a DMPS lower ar15 reciever a few days ago. I was thinking about waiting on an upper to get a bigger rifle but now I may get one of those .45 uppers from atlantic arms. I am just waiting for higher capacity mags to be made for it. That would be one sweet home defense rifle.