On Friday, I did something that makes the anti-gun nuts skin crawl. I met a stranger in a parking lot and paid cash for a “high powered assault weapon.” No paperwork done. I inspected the rifle, handed him the cash, and we both went our separate ways after a hand shake.
This particular acquisition is a Century Arms CETME.
For those of you who don’t know, the CETME was designed by the Spanish government in the 50’s based on the German STG-45. It’s a roller delayed semi-auto .308 with a 20 round detachable magazine. It’s easy to see the similarity of this rifle and several H&K rifles. H&K actually had a hand in its development, and would use it as the bases of the G3 to the point that a large number of parts are interchangeable.
Most of the CETMEs you see on the market (including this one) were imported in pieces by Century Arms. To get around import restrictions, Century Arms imported parts kits and built enough parts in the states to be compliant with the import laws (including, I think, the lower receiver). Century Arms doesn’t have exactly the best reputation in doing this well. Some of their rifles come out great, and some… well… not so good. Even though this one was in good shape, the seller included some spare parts from where he’d replaced a few bits.
My initial impression of the rifle is that they went with the philosophy of “go big, or go home.” While the barrel is only a 16.5″ barrel, it’s set so far forward, that it feels like it’s much longer. This does have the benefit of a very long sight radius, considering that they placed the rear sight as far back as they could.
The receiver itself is not small by any means either. Anyone used to being able to reach over with there index finger and pressing the mag release will be disappointed with this design. I found that I have to completely rove my hand from the pistol grip to reach it, which is just as well, as the magazine does take some rocking to remove. The original design had an AK style lever mag release, and I’m not clear if the change to a button release was a Century Arms decision or if this was a CETME originating modification. Since you still have to rock the magazine in a little, it requires some practice before insert the magazine becomes a smooth operation. The safety is also oddly designed in that easy to engage the safety from a firing position, but disengaging it is awkward.
Anyone familiar with the charging handle on the G3, MP-5, etc, should feel at home with the one on this rifle. The handle folds away nicely when not in use. Of course, since you’re pulling against the massive recoil spring, it is a bit of a work out to pull it back. To hold the bolt open, you simply pull the charging handle back and shift it into a hold open notch. There is no hold open on last round option, so you have to manually charge the rifle when replacing an empty magazine.
I did manage to hit the range on Sunday and try this beast out. It was a beautiful day, and it wasn’t nearly as hot as it has been. I started by trying it with the aftermarket (I think UTG) bipod that the seller threw in as part of the deal. I must say, considering that this was designed as a battle rifle, it is very accurate. It’s no sniper rifle, but I would say that it would be good enough to work as a deer rifle if you happen to live in a state where the authorities wouldn’t piss there pants at the sight of you hunting using a rifle with a 20 round magazine attached to it.
The recoil is very manageable. I was actually surprised at how little kick it has. I was expecting it to be similar to my Ishipore Enfield, but it was much more of a firm push than a kick. I attribute this to its weight (they claim 9.5lbs, but it feels heavier), and the semi-auto action of the rifle taking the bite out of it. Even off hand, it was a pleasure to shoot and very easy to quickly reacquire the target after shooting. The Cetme (along with the G3) has a reputation for mangling its brass. I inspected a number of the cases after firing, and, for the most part, I failed to see any damage that I would think would cause the case to no be reloadable.
One thing I do need to comment on is the speed at which the brass is ejected. The range I went to has chicken wire partitions in between lanes, so that the ejected cases don’t wind up hitting the guy next to you. The guy to my right was very happy that they were there. I had several round bounce off the partition on my right, then on my left, then hit my arm!
All things said and done, I’m pretty happy with this rifle.
When picking up one of these rifles used, what kind of wear/tear should we be looking for? Anything to avoid?
Besides the normal stuff, I’ve read that Century Arms had a nasty tendency to grind the bolt down instead of replacing the rollers if there was an issue with the bolt gap being too big. Also, check to make sure that the rear sight clicks firmly in place. Something I failed to mention in the review is that there are four settings to the rear sight (3 peep holes and 1 dove tail). You rotate the sight to select the one you want. I’ve been told that there are some CETMEs out there where the rear sight has been worn to the point where the sight no longer snaps firmly into place.
The paddle magazine release had to go because if it was still there, a full auto trigger group would fit on the rifle with no modifications.
If you drill all the way through the receiver to put in the paddle release pin, the BATFE will consider the rifle to be a machinegun, since that same pin is needed to hold the full auto group in place.