Blackwell

A while back I bought a CETME G3 clone for $200.00, the magazine it came with was complete junk seeing as the follower would not stay straight. This led to stovepipe jams and failure to feeds. I thought that this problem would be fixed by two HK91 magazines. Wrong. The magazines don't even fit.
Since then it has consistently failed to feed, extract or do much of anything for more than one to three rounds at a time.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Before anyone says anything let me make this clear. I AM AWARE THAT CETME HAS MADE CRAP IN THE PAST. NO, I CAN NOT AFFORD A REAL HK91 OR BUILD MY OWN OR ELSE I WOULD NOT BE POSTING THIS.
It's a swell shooting rifle and I think it would be neat to have a G3 with a couple of magazines loaded in case of the communazispacezombie invasion we are all very, very afraid of. I leave this in the hands of the professionals.

Joe Ford

Seems like I see those advertised as "Metric" and "Inch" receivers and "Metric" and "Inch" magazines. Is it possible you are using metric magazines in an inch reciever or vice versa ?

86thecat

Blackwell,
Many of the Cetme and HK G3 clones have problems, especially if it says Century on the receiver, but almost all problems can be corrected with a little knowlege and basic (at home) gunsmithing. You may want to talk to the folks at www.cetmerifles.com as they are about the best at troubleshooting these weapons. These are great rifles once everything is straightened out. My Century Arms Cetme clone had a few bugs but is running like a champ now, totally reliable and reasonably accurate. I know I sleep a little better knowing that weapon and some 20 round mags are in the safe.

N-Frame Guy

+1. The CETME is the father of the G-3. It is a VERY fine battle rifle in it's own right. WTS, US builders (Century, CAI) have done some butcher jobs putting some together on US receivers. Many do not understand the peculiarities of this system including bolt gap (as opposed to headspace). I have a Century CETME and an HK-91. I will always prefer the HK but the CETME, once understood and tweaked, is a great shooting gun.

Dave W. Waits

Sir;
I just recently had a Cetme in for a stuck round and feed problems with two of the three magazines. The stuck round was fairly easy, he didn't know the safety had to be off to eject a round. The problem with the mags stemmed from the fact that two of the three were G3 magazines( The ones with the feed problems). The G3 magazines aren't as wide as the Parent CETME mags are right below the feedlips where they lock in and it would cause the mag to fit loosely, creating feed-problems. The CETME mgazine fed just fine. The easiest way to tell the difference is that the G3 mag is slightly longer. Alot of gunshow magazine sellers try to sub G3 mags for the harder to find CETMEs because usually the buyer won't come back.
HTH;
Dave

PS- CETMEs like grease so don't try to run it dry or it'll give all kinds of trouble.