While definately not a Sniper Rifle, I have always wanted to pickup a CETME or HK91 Clone.
I sell parts and accessories, but few of my suppliers carry them for this oldie but goodie. So I instead chose to focus on the AR15 Platform and to a lesser degree the Remington 700 platform for my personal projects.
However, given the current market conditions AR parts and most of the Remington 700 parts are in too high of a demand to hord for my own personal projects.
So with an AR15 Pistol Lower, an AR15 Rifle Lower, and an AR10 Rifle lower safely tucked away in my safe in case a ban comes along, I decided to try something new for a change and sold off all my personal AR parts to fund this new project.
I spent five days searching GunBroker.com for something unusual, and "off list" - I am in California and we have a lot more restrictions than elswhere in the Country.
SKS are too common, too long, and not very accurate. All the ones I saw were too expensive for what you get.
The AKs were priced about twice what I would ever consider paying for an AK. The demand for them is just as high as an AR15 right now.
The M1As were too expensive, but then they have always been too expensive. You get an excellent rifle, but it's just too rich for my blood right now.
The PTR91s were too expensive, and all were new and pretty much finished...so I would not have the fun of restoring them.
The Vector Arms and Bobcat HK Carbine clones all have ugly fake suppressors that I can't just get passed, and again priced way too high to be a project rifle.
That left a Century CETME. The AR madness has inflated their value a little, but not nearly as much as the other rifles I mentioned. Perhaps because they were somewhat hit and miss as to whether or not their quality was any good. Since my goal is to restore her...I was not too worried.
So I bought one, in need of some TLC for just over $500 (others in the same condition were going for $900).
It has yet to arrive. However, if I can take the seller at his word the bore is in excellent condition, as is the bolt. It supposedly feeds reliably without issue.
Assuming all of that is true I can focus on cosmetics. If not, this project just got very expensive.
I have already ordered the following parts:
1) New Green Wide Handguard w/ Bipod
2) New Green Grip
3) New HK Collapsible Stock (not tapco, the real one)
4) New CETME Flash Hider (the break they come with is loud as hell and not consistent with a CETME or HK)
5) New low profile extended scope mount that does not block the sights and extends pretty far out so a modern rifle scope does not look cheesy.
Additional planned improvements that will happen more slowly include:
1) Williams Trigger Job (the one they come with sucks)
2) Mid-Price Range Scope for the Target Range on throw lever rings (it's not a sniper rifle but I do what to see that 100 yard target)
3) Replace the CETME sight with an HK sight
4) Ceracoat Paint Job from somebody who can do professional work
I could not find a picture with the green stock and and grip, but this one shows where I am headed.
I sell parts and accessories, but few of my suppliers carry them for this oldie but goodie. So I instead chose to focus on the AR15 Platform and to a lesser degree the Remington 700 platform for my personal projects.
However, given the current market conditions AR parts and most of the Remington 700 parts are in too high of a demand to hord for my own personal projects.
So with an AR15 Pistol Lower, an AR15 Rifle Lower, and an AR10 Rifle lower safely tucked away in my safe in case a ban comes along, I decided to try something new for a change and sold off all my personal AR parts to fund this new project.
I spent five days searching GunBroker.com for something unusual, and "off list" - I am in California and we have a lot more restrictions than elswhere in the Country.
SKS are too common, too long, and not very accurate. All the ones I saw were too expensive for what you get.
The AKs were priced about twice what I would ever consider paying for an AK. The demand for them is just as high as an AR15 right now.
The M1As were too expensive, but then they have always been too expensive. You get an excellent rifle, but it's just too rich for my blood right now.
The PTR91s were too expensive, and all were new and pretty much finished...so I would not have the fun of restoring them.
The Vector Arms and Bobcat HK Carbine clones all have ugly fake suppressors that I can't just get passed, and again priced way too high to be a project rifle.
That left a Century CETME. The AR madness has inflated their value a little, but not nearly as much as the other rifles I mentioned. Perhaps because they were somewhat hit and miss as to whether or not their quality was any good. Since my goal is to restore her...I was not too worried.
So I bought one, in need of some TLC for just over $500 (others in the same condition were going for $900).
It has yet to arrive. However, if I can take the seller at his word the bore is in excellent condition, as is the bolt. It supposedly feeds reliably without issue.
Assuming all of that is true I can focus on cosmetics. If not, this project just got very expensive.
I have already ordered the following parts:
1) New Green Wide Handguard w/ Bipod
2) New Green Grip
3) New HK Collapsible Stock (not tapco, the real one)
4) New CETME Flash Hider (the break they come with is loud as hell and not consistent with a CETME or HK)
5) New low profile extended scope mount that does not block the sights and extends pretty far out so a modern rifle scope does not look cheesy.
Additional planned improvements that will happen more slowly include:
1) Williams Trigger Job (the one they come with sucks)
2) Mid-Price Range Scope for the Target Range on throw lever rings (it's not a sniper rifle but I do what to see that 100 yard target)
3) Replace the CETME sight with an HK sight
4) Ceracoat Paint Job from somebody who can do professional work
I could not find a picture with the green stock and and grip, but this one shows where I am headed.
