Need advice---Debating a Cetme

nchunt101

nchunt101

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For whatever reason I have been wanting a (non AR-10) cheapish 308/7.62 "battle rifle" for a range toy. I am currently leaning towards a one of the newer Cetmes. From what I have gathered they tend to be of better quality than the earlier imports. What sort of reliability can I expect with bulk 7.62? Considering this will be a range toy fed on the cheapest ball ammo available I am not concerned with brass life and have no great expectations regarding accuracy.
 
they're 3MOA guns from what I have gathered. I seriously considered a PTR91 which would be a cut above any import CETME, and I still ended up with an AR chambered in .308



And the HK91 platform is heavy AF, parts are expensive, triggers can suck, expensive to scope. But the mags are cheap, the .308 ammo can be found cheaper than most other .30 cals, etc.

IMO the only reason to own one is if you have an auto sear and you wanted a FA battle rifle bullet hose. Unless you got it cheap and were just plain sick of the modularity and ergos of the AR.
 
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It seems like CETME's are still hit or miss. I think Century is at the bottom of the CETME parts barrel too.

FWIW, I had a PTR. It's big, it's heavy, it's not very ergonomic. It shot whatever you put in it and was minute of man. Handles steel case without a problem.
It was fun to shoot but I ended up getting bored with it and sold it.

If you can, find someone who has one and get some trigger time with it. You'll probably make up your mind really quickly as to whether you want one or not.
 
I have a PTR carbine - it's a fun little gun.

"Little" - it is very heavy. $4 mags / top and bottom rails.
 
charliesgrave said:
It seems like CETME's are still hit or miss. I think Century is at the bottom of the CETME parts barrel too.
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Actually I think PTR had a hand in fixing the C308 from the old Century CETMEs. Pretty sure the barrels and recievers are from PTR, the rest CETME parts.
 
I had one. Hell of a "farm gun". It was fun as crap to blast with. You know you are shooting something with authority. I really liked the one I had. Id buy another.
 
I have a ptr 91, with the cheap surplus ammo the best I can get is a three inch group, of course it'll hold that three inches to 300yrds. still my fal is more accurate doesn't rip your brass up, and for me, just more fun to shoot.
 
I had a PTR 91. Mags are cheap and it was reliable with any ammo. I’m sure a Cetme without any manufacturing flaws would serve you well.

My only gripes about the PTR were the ergos and weight. It was not light. A lot of people say they recoil hard but I did not experience that. It was a lot of fun to shoot.

I sold it to move on to other things but if I was a collector I’d surely have one in my collection.
 
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Thanks for the info. After doing some shopping some of the appeal has worn off. For whatever reason I thought Cetmes/C308s were $400. The cheapest one I have found will be $625ish after shipping and transfer. Given the prices an Ar-10 is starting to make more sense.
 
nchunt101 said:
Thanks for the info. After doing some shopping some of the appeal has worn off. For whatever reason I thought Cetmes/C308s were $400. The cheapest one I have found will be $625ish after shipping and transfer. Given the prices an Ar-10 is starting to make more sense.
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Especially since there's a nice .308 AR in the BST for $550
 
Ikarus1 said:
Especially since there's a nice .308 AR in the BST for $550
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I saw that and would be tempted if it wasnt stainless (Personal hangup but I hate a bare stainless barrel). The prices on the Aero Precision 308 upper/lowers has got me thinking of doing a somewhat budgetish build.
 
nchunt101 said:
I saw that and would be tempted if it wasnt stainless (Personal hangup but I hate a bare stainless barrel). The prices on the Aero Precision 308 upper/lowers has got me thinking of doing a somewhat budgetish build.
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Cerakote it pink if you want. Stainless barrels are more accurate and generally less maintainance until they are completely shot out.
 
Ikarus1 said:
Cerakote it pink if you want. Stainless barrels are more accurate and generally less maintainance until they are completely shot out.
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That would be way too easy. You underestimate my ability to convince my self I am saving money by buying parts (never works). If Critmus wasn't around the corner I would probally jump all over it.
 
nchunt101 said:
That would be way too easy. You underestimate my ability to convince my self I am saving money by buying parts (never works). If Critmus wasn't around the corner I would probally jump all over it.
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As an owner of one of those stainless (18") PSA .308 ARs.........I can say there's very little chance you would be disappointed, even if you had to put some hi-temp exhaust paint on the barrel to make it purty.
It shoots 1.5 MOA with cheap XM80C ammo that I got on a deal from PSA last year, and under 1 MOA with Federal GMM. I didn't even need to put an adjustable gas block on it, but I did put a 3.5lb RA trigger and a nice LUTH-AR stock in rifle configuration.

It's my choice to clear the yard of Antifa invaders, or white-tail invaders of my corn pile. Even if my yard is 500 yards to POI.
 
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Ikarus1 said:
As an owner of one of those stainless (18") PSA .308 ARs.........I can say there's very little chance you would be disappointed, even if you had to put some hi-temp exhaust paint on the barrel to make it purty.
It shoots 1.5 MOA with cheap XM80C ammo that I got on a deal from PSA last year, and under 1 MOA with Federal GMM. I didn't even need to put an adjustable gas block on it, but I did put a 3.5lb RA trigger and a nice LUTH-AR stock in rifle configuration.

It's my choice to clear the yard of Antifa invaders, or white-tail invaders of my corn pile. Even if my yard is 500 yards to POI.
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Good to know and the last thing I needed to hear. I may try to make some arrangements.
 
Pic for effect:

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nchunt101 said:
For whatever reason I have been wanting a (non AR-10) cheapish 308/7.62 "battle rifle" for a range toy. I am currently leaning towards a one of the newer Cetmes. From what I have gathered they tend to be of better quality than the earlier imports. What sort of reliability can I expect with bulk 7.62? Considering this will be a range toy fed on the cheapest ball ammo available I am not concerned with brass life and have no great expectations regarding accuracy.
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Cause I really don’t wanna type out a response on my phone.

The 3-4 CETMEs I have had here is my experience-

A- Are fun, but not for a reloader
B- Sucks in the recoil department, if you are recoil sensitive. It’s the design of the gas system that makes it that way. But once you get some rounds down the tube, it softens up a bit. Or your shoulder does.
C- Cocking tube, and mechanism are of typical stiffness for said rifle. I never had an issue with the 3 I owned.

CETMEs are good for the price, IF the one you get wasn’t assembled by a monkey or child or both. But they are cheap enough to fix and learn about them and whatnot. Not saying the ones I had where junk, but they had some minor issues from both just normal shooting and fail QC from Century. All easy fixes, and learned to really like the Delayed Roller Blowback system.

That lead me to this awesome site that has the core for these pattern rifles http://militaryfirearm.com/ which lead me to https://www.robertrtg.com/store/pc/home.asp. If you decide these are rifles you want to mess with, you can roll your own.

If you don’t wanna run a higher risk of needing to fix stuff, get a PTR91.

If you want a true HK, well you can’t go wrong with dropping the coinage for a HK.

They are far from precision as you can get. If you want that platform look for a MSG or a PSG variant.

If you want a minute of man rifle, then a CETME will do it

They are 600 yard rifles, they look awesome. If I needed further than 600 I would get something else.

Forget subsonic shooting unless you manually cycle the action.

They shoot fireballs. Least mine did on ball ammo

Edit- I love the ones I had, I might end up getting another just to have.


BatteryOaksBilly said:
God ain't that the truth!!!wear me out across the yard...
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My 358 AR10 actually weighs less and the 16” CETMEs I own. I never found them to heavy.
 
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nchunt101 said:
Thanks for the info. After doing some shopping some of the appeal has worn off. For whatever reason I thought Cetmes/C308s were $400. The cheapest one I have found will be $625ish after shipping and transfer. Given the prices an Ar-10 is starting to make more sense.
Click to expand...

I replaced my PTR with an Aero AR10. Much better ergos, balance and weight. Also less recoil and doesn’t damage the brass. Mags cost a little more but are more available.
 
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