Century International Arms CETME .308
I bought this rifle several years ago when they first started importing the parts, and putting them together.
At that time it looked like this, with some nice, though aged wood, and only cost $399 retail!
I figured that was a great price for a full powered 7.62x51mm NATO battle rifle, so I jumped at the chance.
But I was never happy with it. Probably because I bought a DS Arms FAL Carbine the same day, and it grossly outclassed this poor little rifle.
So I sold it to a buddy, and he shot the piss out of it. He shot it more than anything. He shot and shot and shot. In fact, he was having so much fun with the CETME, I started getting jealous.
Years passed, and when it looked like Sen. Obama was going to win the presidential election of '08, I figured I had better get all the "assault weapons" I could ever want. I called up my buddy on a whim, and asked if he still had the rifle, and would he be willing to sell it back. He had shot some really crappy ammo in it and had had a ruptured case get stuck in the chamber. Accordingly, he hadn't shot it for a long while. He sold it back for what he had paid for it, and we both felt we got a good deal. Him because he off loaded a "broken" rifle, and me, because I knew this was a Century CETME that actually "worked", and I knew something he didn't...I had a .308 broken shell extractor tool. Five minutes after getting the rifle home, it was fixed. No problem. The very next day the new green furniture arrived, and it was like I had a new rifle.
There are two issues I have with the rifle none-the-less. The first are the rear sights. They are terrible. They are very basic and rudimentary. But they do work. I am toying with the idea of grinding them off and welding on a genuine HK rear sight base and assembly. Lots of work. Easier is to put on a low profile scope mount and add some sort of optical sight. Very cool, and no risk to the receiver. Which is exactly what I did. I think it's sort of silly to have a $1200 scope on a $500 rifle, but...what are ya gonna do?
The second issue is the current price of .308 ammo...I can't afford to shoot the thing.
But that's not the rifles fault. It's a fine rifle, especially for the price. Some Century CETME's weren't worth a pot of beans, and that taints all of them, but mine works, is accurate, and reliable.
