help with a CETME rifle.

[mosinfan]

what i need to know is if the front sight is adjustable and if so where do i find such a tool to do the adjusting with?

a friend of mine has one and has asked this question to me and i have no clue....and of course he wont send me the firearm...lol.but i just cant seem to find any info on it.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I was told by someone to look here

http://www.sandygunworks.com/articles/a002.htm

CETME sights:
Within the last several years, many hundreds, if not thousands, of Spanish CETME battle rifles have been produced and sold in the United States. The majority of these rifles have receivers that have been manufactured by Century Arms International and up until recently,the only receiver readily available was Century's injected stainless steel receiver. Now stamped receivers of a type very similar to the original receiver are also available. It has been reported that Century acquired their manufacturing process from another company, which had been making receivers for H&K "clones." and Century proceeded to modify the process to make use of the many CETME parts kits that they had acquired from Spain. Of the two receivers, it is my understanding that the stainless receiver is the best choice as it is made to also take the H&K factory Hensoldt scope mount.

The CETME was Spain's main battle rifle throughout the Cold War years, and has just been recently replaced by a newer version in 5.56 NATO, the CETME Model L. The basic design of the 7.62x51 CETME rifle provided the basis for the German made Heckler und Koch (H&K) series of battle rifles which included the H&K 91 civilian rifle and the G-3 service rifle. There was also a Model 21 belt fed light machine gun in this series of firearms, as well as versions in 5.56 NATO.

When looking at the CETME, one sees little difference from the H&K, (other than the difference between the wood and synthetic furniture) until one looks at the sights. These two features are the biggest external difference between the two separate rifles. The H&K sports a turret diopter rear sight that is quite different than the CETME's, which is a four bladed, revolving paddle sight. The CETME's rear sight paddles are calibrated for different ranges, while the H&K's is adjustable by revolving the turret. The front sight remains the same in appearance on both. however, there is a difference between the two.

The H&K's front sight is designed to be adjusted for elevation by replacing the stamped sheet metal inserts, which fit into a slot in the front sights hood. Hence, elevation adjustments can be made by replacing the blade with a slightly longer, or shorter sight post. The CETME's front sight however is designed to adjust not only elevation, but windage. How is this possible? The CETME's front sight has an eccentric screw type, front sight post, which when adjusted will change not only elevation, but windage. The post itself is off center from the threaded portion of the sight, so when revolving the front sight, the post will rotate from side to side slightly. While very simple in concept, there is a minor trade off for this sight system. The changes in elevation and windage will be rather courser than those of the H&K.

Remember that the H&K was manufactured and issued after the CETME had been adopted by the Spanish military. This entails that any modifications would have been seen as an improvement. While the Spanish military was satisfied by the available sight adjustments, the Germans (similar to the U.S.A. in this area) are a nation of "Type A" personalities in technical matters. The sights of the H&K are adjustable, both front and rear, to a very fine and precise degree. The CETME's, while fully adjustable, are not quite so precise.

One wonders while the Spanish would be so crude. I can only surmise that they took in consideration the target one trains to encounter in war. Human beings, on which the difference of a few inches usually means absolutely nothing. Again, this difference in sights is the main dissimilarity between the two weapons systems.

This brings us to the issue, "How does on adjust the sights of the CETME?"

Well, the rear sight is fixed, adjustable for elevation in course increments from 100 to 400 meters by rotating the paddle wheel to the elevations marked in meters on the paddles. Any adjustment for elevation is made on "Battle sight Zero," which is usually at 200 meters for most militaries. The rifles sights are adjusted to impact on "zero" (exactly where the sights are looking) at 200 meters. This means the bullet will impact under the line of sight at less than "zero" distances, or at greater than ranges, however still on target.

While the rear sight is easily adjustable, the front requires a special tool. When looking at the front sight, one can see that there is a hole in the very substantial hood of the sight. Through this hole a tool is inserted which has two prongs that engage slots on the side of the sight. However, one must also be aware that before any sight adjustments can be made, there is a locking screw on the front of the sight assembly that must be loosened. This is a slotted set screw with a pointed end that engages the threads of the front sight post. Very little pressure needs to be used to tighten this screw. Over tightening can damage the threads of the sight and cause a real headache later by stripping out the threads of the front sight assembly.

Proper procedure calls for loosening the set screw, firing the rifle, rotating the sight to the left to move the strike of the round to the right, and right to move the strike of the round to the left. The sight needs to move in the opposite direction than the round needs to go. A technique to help one to visualize and remember this, is to use your thumbs. Hold your thumbs up, one represents the rear sight, the other the front. Hold one in front of the other. If you move the front thumb to the left, it is easy to visualize that it will require a movement of the muzzle to the right to get it back on center. Hence the strike of the round will be to the right.

Once the shooter has his windage and elevation as close as possible to "zero," the shooter locks the set screw. I would recommend a little nail polish in the set screw hole to help keep both the sight and screw from "creeping." I would not recommend a thread locking sealant as the use of the wrong kind would render the sight fixed for good. At 100 meters, a NATO round will impact approximately 1 1/2 inches low. This can vary on the specific round and natural conditions. The 1 1/2 inches is a rule of thumb only! Do your homework and check the trajectory of your specific load.

A newly designed and made tool is available from Sandy Gun Works to assist in this operation of adjusting the CETME's sights. It is a "T Handled" tool with a screw driver blade on the "T" to loosen and lock the set screw. It is modestly priced at $15.00 each, (does not include shipping) which considering the time involved in it's construction, is cheap. The tool however is made to last, and like all Sandy Gun Works products and service, is satisfaction guaranteed, as long as the tool is used for it's intended purpose. Please be aware, that if this tool is broken, it was not used for adjusting a rifles sights. To order, merely email Sandy Gun works with your order and we'll contact you with a ship date. Right now, lead time is several weeks.

I hope this article has answered the questions that some of you may have had regarding the CETME's sights! Good shooting!

Eric

[mosinfan]

thanks.this is exactly what i needed to know and they have the tool to do the adjustments.

[protus]

http://web.jet.es/rafa/CFD/e_FieldStripping.html

if your buddy ever needs more. There was an awesome cd put out a few years back by guys over at cetmerifles.com before it went in gunboards.
had all of the orignal armorers manuals translated etc with pics, movies etc on how to repair,fix, maintain these rifles.
They are pretty simple, but since they arent like an AK or AR many get crippled by simple 2 minute fixes.
here is a link to a majority of those same manuals.

http://www.drzero.org/cetme/pdf/cetmec_ver2.0.pdf

[eeyore]

Thanks for the links, great info

[groovy mike]

Great replies guys. Thanks