Nice weather here today; finally....about 45 degrees and just a hint of wind.

My boys and I went out to do a little shooting.   I haven't had much range time with my CCW lately and it was too nice to sit at home.   I decided to take my CETME with me this session, as I haven't had it out since I refinished it with Aluma-Hyde II this last fall.   I also brought along my EMF Dakota 1873, in .357mag, my Springfield Champion Loaded(my CCW), and my sons brought along a little Savage 73Y, that was mine when I was 7.

The Cetme:

I look at this gun and wonder what the hell I was thinking when I bought it.   It has had way too much money and time put into it to make it "right", but dang it, it is fun to shoot.  I was a little worried about the durability of the Aluma-Hyde II, but I was presently surprised at how durable it was.  The Century finish(black paint) would scar easily from the departing brass, but not the Hyde II.  There was absolutely no indication of wear from the brass hitting the receiver on its launch into the upper atmosphere.


I put out a reduced SR1 target at 100yds and proceeded to go at it from a sitting position.   It was a good thing that no one else tried to come in the door to shoot, because my brass was hitting the door with a considerable force on each shot.   I actually wanted to see if it was still "on" and with the sight set on the "1" position, it was hitting right at the point that the front sight was resting on.  I had a nice little group of 5 shots in about a 2.5 inch cluster; although they were just a bit low on the target(I was holding on the bottom of the bull, and that is where they hit).  

Nothing as good as an AR, but dang it was nice to see it shoot so well.   I was very happy.

The Champion:

Did great, dang does it shoot.   I set up a torso target at about 7yds and did some double tap practice.  I still have to work on keeping my shots centered and not drifting left.  

The 73Y:

Kids had a great time shooting army men at 25yds.  My 6yr old still needs some trigger control, but he was doing pretty well.    He was complaining that it was shooting low, but I took a couple of quick shots with it, and it was perfect.   It sure is satisfying to see those little men go sprawling across the ground with a solid hit.   His brother, eleven, who always says he hates to go shooting finally took the rifle away from him and cleaned up the missed targets quite rapidly.  He is a pretty dang good shot.  I wish I could figure out why he always plays the "I hate shooting" bit with me.  

The EMF Dakota:

I actually brought this along for my 11yr old because he loves to shoot handguns, even though he says he doesn't, but we was being a poop.    I finished off some .357 ammo, and kept the .38s for him at a later time.    It is a fun, accurate gun, and is a nice change of pace from the autos.

It was a fun day, and I even enjoyed the cleaning afterwards.

Your CETME looks great.

One of the best I have ever seen.

Quoted: Your CETME looks great. One of the best I have ever seen.

Thank you.   For as much as that money pit has sucked out of my wallet, I could of bought one with brand new parts.    I hate Century.  

It's a good thing this thing it is as accurate as it is.   I guess that makes me not feel so bad about how much money has gone into it.   It has always shot well, and that made it easier to pour money down the barrel of it.

That Cetme is a beautiful classic rifle !

There's just something about the older semi-autos
with wood furniture that I like .

Of the people I know that have a Century Cetme ,around 90 %
have had to send it to an HK smith to have it rebuilt or reworked
in some way.

Once their working properly their a great rifle.

Most think of them as a kit rifle,with a small chance that they might work
out of the box.

Of all those I know from shooting events that had theirs reworked,
not one has sold theirs .Many have ponied up for a second one .
Even knowing they'll probably have to fix it.