Century Arms CETME Serial Number

[kodiak]

I'm a newbie with a lot of questions. I hope you gentlemen can help me out. I recently purchased a Century Arms CETME .308. I can not find a serial number. Is this common? It appears to be several years old. It came with the original wood furniture, a set of "Plastic" furniture and currently has the synthetic. I'm trying to figure out when it was assembled. It has the flash suppressor and bayonet post. I have not had a chance to fire it or disasemble it. The people that have fired it said it shoots great. Is there anyway to tell when they were assembled? Thanks in advance.

[rustypirate]

do you know if the receiver is cast or stamped?

the stamped receivers have the SN on the left hand side of the mag well, while the cast receivers the SN is on top of the receiver a little behind the mag well area.

[kodiak]

The receiver is stamped. The mag well has
Made in USA Century Arms, Etc. on the right side. Nothing on the left. There is nothing on top of the receiver. I'll take pictures tonight and post tomorrow.
I don't know if it's relevent, but it has the original Bi-pod, Bayonet and steel magazine.
I don't know if this can help in the detective work, but it also came with (5) old boxes of ChinaSports (Norinco) .308W ammo (White Box). Didn't look at the date stamp yet. These could have been bought anytime though.

Also, what is the best ammo to shoot. Mil/Surplus or Commercial? I want to take it out this coming weekend. I've ordered some Wolf .308 but it won't be here for several weeks.

[drine]

Welcome from GA. Now we need some pics of the rifle. Stay away from commercial ammo. Read all the stickies in the CETME section and you'll see why. Sounds strange it has no serial number yet stamped Century. Measure your bolt gap, etc. as suggested in the stickies to insure everything is in spec and let us know how it runs.

[kodiak]

Do you know of any photo's or video's that actually show you where and how to measure the bolt gap. Does the CETME have to be disassembled to do this.
I saw the bolt gap video in the stickies. It doesn't show it actually being done.

[hunter_la5]

Do you know of any photo's or video's that actually show you where and how to measure the bolt gap. Does the CETME have to be disassembled to do this.
I saw the bolt gap video in the stickies. It doesn't show it actually being done.

http://www.militaryfirearm.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=103

^^^ Read this ^^^

http://www.militaryfirearm.com/Forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=159&d=1173135247

The rifle SHOULD NOT be disassembled when checking bolt gap.


Make sure the rifle is unloaded
cock the rifle and let the bolt slam closed
point the rifle in a safe direction, and pull the trigger to release the hammer
one at a time starting with the smallest size, place a leaf from a set of automotive feeler guages (can be purchased at any auto-parts store) through the magazine well into the narrow gap between the bolt head and the bolt carrier
if the leaf slides in and out easily, try the next largest size, etc, until you find the thickest leaf that will fit. That is your bolt gap
repeat a couple more times to ensure an accurate reading
your gap should ideally be between .005-.020 inches


*Remember to make sure that your bolt head is not ground, and that the bolt carrier tube is not resting directly on the charging handle, or you will NOT get an accurate reading.

[kodiak]

Thank you very much!!! It's hell being a newbie! Lots of opportunities to look foolish!

After you see the picture it's one of those forehead smacking moments. Duh!

Thanks again!!!!

[hunter_la5]

Thank you very much!!! It's hell being a newbie! Lots of opportunities to look foolish!

After you see the picture it's one of those forehead smacking moments. Duh!

Thanks again!!!!

No problem, that's why we're all here; to learn about firearms and help each other out.

No need to feel foolish, I think we all more or less started off that way. Gotta start somewhere. Hell, when I first bought my CETME, I thought it was a gas-operated rifle. :rolleyes: Stick around, you'll be surprised how much you'll learn from these guys.

[kodiak]

What is the preferred image size and resolution for posting? I'm taking photo's tonight to post tomorrow.

[Enscribe]

I take photos in High res then shrink them down to about 30% of that to post. not sure what the size is though. I think the forum here will resize them automatically to what it can handle if you post them. Congrats on the new rifle and don't be afraid to ask these guys they are great gurus and very helpful. :thumbup:

[bladeworks123]

<TABLE class=tborder cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><THEAD><TR><TD class=thead colSpan=4>When you go to upload your photos, if you scroll down in the manage attachment window, you will find this nifty little file size chart. 640 pixels wide is usually a good choice for camera setting so you don't have to re-size or resample when you upload them.

Attachment Key
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[kodiak]

do you know if the receiver is cast or stamped?

the stamped receivers have the SN on the left hand side of the mag well, while the cast receivers the SN is on top of the receiver a little behind the mag well area.
Well, good news and bad news. I found the serial number. Duh! Since it wasn't on the left or right side of the mag well it had to be on the top as you said. I took the scope mount off and walla! It's C05670. Now that means it's not rolled as I thought. When you said "Cast", the appearance of the metal is not what I had pictured in my mind what cast metal would look like. So it's cast. Since there probably isn't any thing positive about owning a cast receiver, what are the negative points. I checked the bolt clearance also last night. I'll start a new thread about my questions about that. Stripped it down and took a lot of pictures. Thanks everyone.

[hunter_la5]

When you said "Cast", the appearance of the metal is not what I had pictured in my mind what cast metal would look like. So it's cast. Since there probably isn't any thing positive about owning a cast receiver, what are the negative points.

There is nothing wrong with a cast receiver. If anything, it's more rigid than the stamped receiver models. A lot of people like them better.

The easiest way to tell if it is a cast receiver CETME is to look at the rear sight. Is the rear sight assembly an integral piece of the receiver (cast receiver), or is it spot-welded to the receiver at the four corners of the rear sight base (stamped receiver)?

[rustypirate]

There are several positive aspects to the cast receivers.

They do not bend or flex like the stamped ones, and I have found them to be better fitting internally than the stamped ones as well.

The negative is that due to the casting being thicker than the stamped sheet metal, they require some fitting to get some accessories to fit correctly. Also they cannot be parkerized as stainless steel is not affected by this process.

[bladeworks123]

One of my Cetmes is built on a cast receiver, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is the better rifle for more more consistant accuracy. Also much better for mounting a scope to than the stamped receivers. I personally think that is the way to go if you want accuracy and less problematic functioning.

[kodiak]

Glad to hear that there is nothing wrong with the cast receiver. Yes the rear sight is not welded.

14669

[Enscribe]

Sight looks like it's part of it. the saddle in front of the rear sight is a give away also. The mag well probably either reads "St. Albans" or "Limited Edition." I have a cast receiver also and love it. I have had a few problems with mine but nothing major at all.

[kodiak]

All the mag well says is "Century Arms", etc.

[rustypirate]

The St. Albans marked ones were from back when Century was located in St. Albans, so it would be part of the address info below the Century name.

[kodiak]

Nope....Mine is VT.

14683

[rustypirate]

This is one of the later ones after the factory moved to Georgia, VT from St. Albans, VT.

[kodiak]

Do you know if there were any differences between the two?

[jfowl31]

The St Albans VT assembled guns were typically better quality parts kits that Century was assembling... thus better bolt gaps and better looking barrels.

The Georgia VT guns were kind of hit or miss as to whether the parts kit being worked with were worn out rifles or really nice ones. Some were great, some were junk that needed to be rebuilt or reworked.

Neither is really more valuable than the other, but if I were looking to buy another Cetme, I would look for a St Albans gun as they just tend to be in better shape internally.

The Limited Edition guns were built on unissued parts kits (at Georgia VT)

I think all the stamped guns are built at Georgia VT... I dont think Century had the tooling to do the stamped receivers til after they moved.

Take some measurements of the gap and bolt length and stuff like that, and chances are you got a good one that is ready to blast away.

[kodiak]

I've never owned anything that was assembled by Century Arms. I've seen several post where the Century Arms "Technicians" were refered to as monkeys. And I'm sure that is an insult to a monkey!