I think I have found a new obsession.  I was searching around the other day and saw a Cetme rifle.  The wooden stock sets just look so nice.  I think this would be the perfect rifle to fill the gap between my Garand and my RRA middy, as I have been looking for a 7.62 rifle.

Gunbroker and Cetme rifles.com have several for sale at about $500.00.  Is this the going rate and if so, why so cheap.

I have read that there are better brands to get than Century.  Is this true?  Does Century build an OK rifle (reliable, accurate) ?  If not, who should I go with?

What type of accuracy can I expect out of this rifle with match ammo at about 300 yds?

Thanks in advance for all the help, and any info will be greatly appreciated.

All Cetmes have been rebuilt on somebodies semi-auto receiver.  I chose to pass on this one.

Dennis Jenkins

Mine a Century works flawlessly, that said irons are absolutely horrible.  I have yet to scope it or shoot at 300yds, 110+ irons is about the limit of my skill with it.  Also check to see if the rifle will take HK mags a few of each batch dont.  With ball at 200yds I have seen 7' pattern irons not me shooting it, with optics ang match ammo I fully expect it will do the job at 300.




$500 is too high $425 + shipping for a non-stamped max.  I paid $289 + shipping for a ban model I prefer the brake to the flashhider and if I want a knife I do not want it on the gun.

they are hit and miss but can be fixed easy. here is a list of what i did







 cetme rifle $400 with tax
 tapco fansty wood and flash hider with us buttpad for 922 $70
 reweld lower and demel rec to mili spec and paint lower with bake on $20
 spray molly in side parts $10
  flawless after 1k of ammo after fixed price less
  check head space with feeler gage Free and is easy to do

Stay away from anything made by Century!!! I have had the chance to fire aprox 12 Century guns over the years and not one could make it through a full mag with out jaming several times.

Spend the extra money and get a JLD PTR1. Top quality gun you will be proud to own. It looks like a Cetme for the most part.

When looking for a Cetme, do you guys prefer stamped or cast recievers??

Quoted: Stay away from anything G3's made by Century!!! I have had the chance to fire aprox 12 Century guns over the years and not one could make it through a full mag with out jaming several times. Spend the extra money and get a JLD PTR1. Top quality gun you will be proud to own. It looks like a Cetme for the most part.

My Century 8mm Mauser and my Century L1A1 FAL work just fine.

My Cetme has always functioned well, even from the start, but the canted sights and ground bolt added costs to it.    Then there was the new wood, new bolt, +4 rollers, the new finish, the flash hider, and bayonet lug, ect.    

Mine was a money pit, but it shoots great, and I enjoy the gun.
Good luck, hide your wallet.

Wow, what a beaut.  That is exactlly what I wnt mine to look like.   Where did you pick yours up from ?

Quoted: Wow, what a beaut.  That is exactlly what I wnt mine to look like.   Where did you pick yours up from ?

I bought mine from SOG many moons ago, when they were @350, but you didn't really get what you paid for.

They are a crapshoot. Some are good, others are seriously screwed up. Mine has been fine after I did a little bit of home gunsmithing on it and it even has a ground bolt!
repairs to mine were
1. Adjust extractor tension
2. repair ejector not to jam up on bottom of bolt.

Run away... run far away.

Even after my own tweaking and work by a gunsmith, it still wasn't functioning to acceptable standards.  Add in the fact that the sights are craptastic and you have one nice, steaming pile of shit.


Get an FAL.   I did... no regrets.


- BG

My Ex Girlfriends Dad had one and it was fine.  Good shooter and reliable.  He paid around 450 for it.



-K

My CETME has a cast receiver. It runs like a top and the groups with Portuguese 7.62 NATO surplus are fairly tight. The sights are off so much, though, that the rifle shoots to the left with the adjustments maxed out. I plan to have the rear sight cut off one day and replaced with something nicer- maybe an old HK drum sight. I bought it from Wholesale Guns and Ammo for $399.00 in 2003. Domestic G3 clones at a sub-$1k price were still rather rare at the time. If I had to do it again, I would probably save up for a PTR. Of course a PTR costs twice as much.

Galland

Some of the Century Arms CETME's have been known to have some issues, but most usually can be fixed fairly easy, check www.cetmerifles.com or www.gunboards.com and scroll down to the Cetme & Fr-8 forum for some great info & help.   By the way I've owned a Century Cetme for several years now (and love it) and mine ran fine right  out of the box, and still does after over 10000 rds. Plus you can get the aluminum HK G-3 mags real cheap, usually less than $5.00 if you look around.  Also from what I've read & heard the kits are drying up so Century won't be making them for much longer.   Another Plus for the Cetme is the wide variaty of stocks and other assories you can add, most any HK G-3 stocks will fit.  I like the iron sites, they are adjustable out to 400 meters, the open V (battle site) is for 100 meters and closer, although I usually use the 200 meter apature for everything 200 meters and in. I've fired mine quite a bit from 450 yards and she's definately fun and accurate from that distance, no problem hitting a 16" square metal plate from that distance.  
      The price didn't seem too bad, they are going up in price some now, just make sure there's some type of return policy if you buy sight unseen.

 If you want the Real thing look for a MARS IMPORTED CETME, they were manufactured by Santa Barbara in Spain, that's the company that made the original select fire rifles for the military. Santa Barbara made some semi-auto sporter rifles and Mars Import Company imported them into the USA back in the 60's. If you find 1 be prpaired to pay, last 1 I saw was going for around $2500.00 and it didn't last a day..  That's the next thing on my list!!