wtb:mags!

[BIG 54R]

hey guy's I missed the tapco 50 for 50 mags and was wondering if any of you had some for sale at a reasonable price, I was gonna sell my cetme's but thought better of it since I like them so much!!! I only have 2 cetme's so about 25 g3 aluminum's would be ok I think? well maybe 30 that's 15 for each...hahaha:D

[GearShanty]

Before Tapco killed me with their sale, I was selling them 24 mags for $50, shipped. That is as many mags as I can safely fit into Priority Mail Flat Rate box. If you are interested, contact me at bill@gearshanty.com.
I accept Money Order, PayPal, and should have major credit cards going by the end of the week.

Thanks,
Bill

[BIG 54R]

I'm interested in that deal gear i'll be in touch, hopefully funds will be available this weekend!:rolleyes:

[nalioth]

Before Tapco killed me with their sale,

You should get used to it, they do it regularly.

[drhall762]

I'll ask the question here since we are talking mags. I am a newby starting my first build on a CETME. What is the deal on mags? Some say G3 mags are usable, others say they need some mods or the rifle does.

I'm confused.

Dave:confused:

[franks71vw]

I talked to Kevin at tapco and he said he was all out?? not sure if they have them again. I too am looking to build my two cetmes and was not able to read the forums on the last sight. I left off in where i could buy all the parts never even made it to the actual assembly..

[SteelCore]

If you get a CAI stamped receiver, the magwell is 99% of the time ot of spec. Therefore, they would modify the magwell enough to get the 2 CETME mags to fit.

If you have a cast stainless receivered CETME, you are much more likely (99%) to get CETME and all sorts G-3 Mags to fit without any trouble (Steel, alloy, Thermods, whatever).

Me, I have a stamped CAI CETME, so I had to decide either to modify the magwell by grinding, or modify mags. As it was, I got about 2/3 of my alloy G3 mags to fit by slamming them home until they wore in properly. the CETME mags that came with it fit perfect. I had to reshape/modify my Thermolds with sanding and filing to get them to fit.

So to sum up--if a CETME receiver is in spec, there should be no mag fit probs....if you have an out-of-spec magwell, then there may be some mag fit prob with certain mags.

[GearShanty]

I'll ask the question here since we are talking mags. I am a newby starting my first build on a CETME. What is the deal on mags? Some say G3 mags are usable, others say they need some mods or the rifle does.

I'm confused.

Dave:confused:

I've had two Cetme's, both with stamped receivers. One would not accept G3Mags without modification. My current Cetme will lock in every mag I put in it. Some need a little bump of the hand on the bottom plate, but 80% fit fine in my rifle. To me, it seems to depend on the individual rifle and mags. I would suggest that you find a shop that has some G3 mags, take your rifle to a gunshow or just buy a few to try. The good news is that they are only a few bucks each, so if they don't work you're not out much.

If you can't find a good deal on any, let me know. But, someone here should a few extra you could try (hint, hint).

[rustypirate]

The real issue is the length of the mag well.

The Century receivers are out of spec in this area, and somewhat inconsistant.

On some rifles you can file down the edges of the well to reduce the length and the magazines will fit better.

Some people prefer to modify the mags rather than mess with the receiver, and that works too.

One last thing is that on the stamped receivers the sides of the well are sometimes bowed either out, or in, and that can make the mags fit really loose or sloppy. This can be fixed by straightening the sides.

[drhall762]

Thanks to all of you who took the time to explain the magazine issue to me. I appreciate it. Not so ominous when you know the answer. LOL

Dave:D

[Seattlefungus]

While the great Tapco 50 for 50 is over, Cheaper than dirt sill sells them for $2.97 ea for non members 2.67 for members.. Lots of mags around.

[bullseye]

Big 54R pm inbound.

[okie shooter]

Thanks to all of you who took the time to explain the magazine issue to me. I appreciate it. Not so ominous when you know the answer. LOL

Dave:D

There is one easier explination why the hk mags work in the century cetmes, its because they are built on a hk91/g-3 clone receiver, just that when they leave the factory the get either a "C" or a "G" prefix in the serial number to denote if century intended on building them with a cetme kit or a G-3 kit. Thus from my understanding you can use the cetme mags in the g-3 clones but if you have a true cetme, not a clone you cannot use hk91/g-3 mags in it.

[BIG 54R]

gear I just tried your idea of seeing if a g3 mag would fit in my cetme using a friends' mags and his alum. g3's won't fit my cetme! I'm wondering if it would be worth it to get some and try and fit all of them it seems labor intensive to do that tho!:twisted:

[Seattlefungus]

Rusty, the new Century CETME I got has a stamped receiver and they had "Mouthed out" the forward edge of the mag well. Left the edge a little sharp, still have to rap the mag bottom to get a good seat... I gotta say the Century Cast are a better fit...

[dinod]

If you get a CAI stamped receiver, the magwell is 99% of the time ot of spec. Therefore, they would modify the magwell enough to get the 2 CETME mags to fit.
...



The real issue is the length of the mag well.

The Century receivers are out of spec in this area, and somewhat inconsistant.

On some rifles you can file down the edges of the well to reduce the length and the magazines will fit better.
...


How much and where would you modify the mag well?

Along the entire circumference of the mag well?

or simply dremel only where the magazine "wings "touch the mag well? ...and go little by little until the mags seat well?

and then simply GunKote the new raw edge?

Thank You for your help on this...

-dino

[rustypirate]

Dino,

Just file the long the sides of the of the mag well with a hand file until the mags fit OK. try to keep the edge even.

It doesn't take too much, so take it slow with a little off of each side and check the fit often.

You can touch up the edges with whatever paint you like for a good match to the receiver.

[JayGeeWentWorth]

Since the issue of stamped vs. cast receiver has been brought up, would someone mind telling me which one is better and why?

Also, what's an easy way to tell the difference between the two?

[SteelCore]

He knows. go slow, you don;t wanna grind too much. Me, I prefer to modify mags instead of the magwell...when I was using the alloy G3 mags, I could get about 4of6 to fit with a bit of pounding and they were fine....2 would not have any of it.

JG, the Cast Stainless usually fetch a higher price because they are more 'in spec' than the stamped receivers...this means that the magwells are usually a better fit for g-3mags.

[JayGeeWentWorth]

JG, the Cast Stainless usually fetch a higher price because they are more 'in spec' than the stamped receivers...this means that the magwells are usually a better fit for g-3mags.

Ok, good to know. From inspection I thought I had a stamped receiver, but then I heard someone on these forums say that if you have protrusions on the top of the receiver to mount a scope then its a cast receiver. So now I'm trying to figure out which I have. :confused:

[tanstaafl4y]

Ok, good to know. From inspection I thought I had a stamped receiver, but then I heard someone on these forums say that if you have protrusions on the top of the receiver to mount a scope then its a cast receiver. So now I'm trying to figure out which I have. :confused:


The old forum had side by side photo's. I'll try to find some. Look at your rear sight. iirc The stamped receivers are tack welded on

[SteelCore]

the easy wat to tell is that the stamped started l;fe as a sheet of metal.

The cast one was poured in a mould.

Cast has the rear sight triangle thingys that come straight out of the top of the receiver, since it is all one cast.

A stamped has the rear sight tack welded on, and there are little welds on each ocrner of the base that hold the sight on there.

So, if the rear sight riser is a seamless transition into the top of the receiver, it is cast.

Most of us have stamped, and there are some cast ones out there stil...most discerning CETME collectors have snapped up at least one cast SS CETME.


I think that the stamped would be safer in the case of a kaboom. I've seen rifles with cast pieces tirn into frag grnades, and I've seen pix of the stamped CETME...it held together, although it did blimp out a lot...it did not cause the shooter to lose fingers or face bits.