Monday, November 21, 2011

Cruising on the CETME Failboat

I was all atwitter.  That Guy gave me a CETME picatinny rail receiver mount that didn't work so well for him and I slapped it on my CETME.  It sure did FEEL solid.  I ignored the voice of experience in my head.  I don't know why I do that.  It was telling me "You know about mounting scopes and there is nothing holding this mount to the receiver except a couple of clamps.  It's going to suck under recoil".  But my eyes were saying, "Wow, doesn't it look cool when you pop the scope in the quick detach mount on there?"  Range time was a disaster.  The bore-sighter lied and said 5 inches high.  Ok, so let's try over 5 feet low.  I set up a target a little less than 5 feet high.  I taped targets from top to bottom. 

I aimed at the bottom.  BOOM.  Nothing. 

I aimed at the middle.  BOOM.  Nothing. 

I aimed at the top.  BOOM.  Nothing?  Was that dust?

BOOM.  Yep, definitely dust, but in front of the target, not behind.

And, oh wait, there's a hole in the target.  Great!  But, wait there are LOTS of holes in the target.

Hmmm.  BOOM.  Ohhhhhh.  I'm shooting rocks in FRONT of the target.  Hence, the rock shrapnel which has now rendered my target all but useless for determining where the rounds are hitting.  There is no scope that can adjust for over 5 feet of elevation at 100 yards.   Back to the drawing board.

The mount has threaded screws so you can change elevation, so I haven't lost hope.  Yet. 

I pop off the scope and loosen the mount.  I see what I will call evidence of "slippage" of the mount on the receiver.  Remember the little voice?  Now it was saying, "I told you so."  I hate when he's right.

Also, I will add here that the rifle itself is just fine for what it is.  A battle rifle.  It will shoot inside of 15 inches using open sights at 300 yards and the spread is all me, I'm sure.  Mounting optics seems something of an afterthought in the design.

I debated trying it again and I had done a bit of research to see what I was getting into.  I wasn't pleased with the terms "fiddle" and "tinker" to make it work.  We're talking about a scoped rifle I was intending to take game with.  I owe the animal more than that.  I expect 1 MOA or less or it doesn't go into the field.  I also didn't feel like using a whole package of JB Weld like I saw in this humorous video.  Really?  I don't begrudge anyone whatever they want to do to their stuff, but I'm kind of past the "rigging" stage of firearms ownership.  I'm liking the nice stuff I own now.  So, I'm following the path that That Guy has decided to go down and sell this and maybe another gun I don't use and get an AR-10.  You know, something with a rail as part of the design.  I'd love to go with a SCAR-H, but I'd have to have a whole lot of CETMEs to sell to get there.

9 comments:

  1. I wish it would have worked for you.

    So, I'm putting the DPMS Oracle on my short list.

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  2. I'm forever preaching against scopes on battle rifles...scopes break, it's inevitable. Iron sights work, period. Aimpoints and such are fine for the purpose they serve yet some day those batteries will die, and those plain old everyday iron sights will just keep on ticking...

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  3. Stephen sent me! but i have enjoyed your comments on Stephen's blog and am adding myself to your followers.

    i wish it had of worked too. but Stephen is dead right!

    kymber

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  4. That Guy - Yeah, I think we didn't really learn anything didn't already know deep down inside

    Stephen - I'm really with you there. It being hunting season, I've found myself lending out a bunch of scoped rifles. I was hoping this could be another option for hunting season in .308 caliber and it's been gathering dust in the safe. I was also hoping it would free up my AR 15 to be a dedicated carbine instead of a part-time hunting rifle. The ARMS QD rings actually really do work well on the AR, but the mount on the .308 is a no go. I'm going with That Guy and getting an AR10 that I can dedicate into an accurized shooter and keep the AR15 as a dedicated defense rifle.

    Kymber - I most definitely see your comments on Stephen's blog. You're always a ray of sunshine there and more than welcome here. Thanks very much.

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  5. I'm with Kymber Scopes break, Irons will also break but your rifle is probably broken to at that rate.

    Also around here you can't SEE a deer in the woods past 100 yards.

    Oh and just because I dislike the CETME and have monster love for the FAL, you can buy a topcover with a rail for your FAL, and I hear they work quite well.

    But yeah I don't like glass. I'm halfway decent at shouldering the gun with two eyes and closing my off eye and having the target be right in the glass....but the times when I'm off or distracted and I have to hunt through that narrow window for what I'm shooting at.

    YUCK!

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  6. Wee'rd, yeah, this is a way to get some better calibers available to more hunters for now. We pretty much hunt for meat and it's all head and neck shooting. We have some pretty fair stetches around the hunting place with rolling hills. Most shots aren't that far, but you need to be able to stretch it if you need to. I have enough defense rifles in the safe to not worry so much about scoping one up. However, I'm not tickled with this, so it will go into the pot for a better purchase.

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  7. That rifle does look very nice with a scope. Shame it sucks. I have been greatly underwhelmed with those sort of clamp on type setups. They don't hold a zero unless you are talking about a pickany rail and that is a whole nother beast. Come to think of it I am not really a fan of quick detach anything in terms of sites. Then again my training says if you take it off you need to confirm zero before using it again which kinda kills the convenience.

    I enjoy both beer and guns and will try to follow this blog. Keep up the good work.

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  8. TOR, I was just like you when it comes to taking off a scope. I went ahead and spent some bucks on a good set of QD rings and closed my eyes and jumped. I have tested it many times and it sure holds zero to 100 yards mounted on the AR rail. I was pleasanty surprised. That said, I still check zero before each hunting season, but then I do that with rifles that have the scope hard-mounted as well. Thanks for stopping by. I think you've given me an idea for a post, to actually test the QD rings to retain zero.

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  9. call me wierd if you want but the only 308 semi-auto's that appeal to me these days are the FAL (any model really) the FNAR http://www.fnhusa.com/le/products/firearms/model.asp?gid=&fid=FNF049&mid=FNM0137 (although i hate the proprietary mags that cost an arm and a leg) and the ar 10 that pretends to be an m15/a2 like i carried in the marines 8D http://www.armalite.com/ItemForm.aspx?item=10A2BF&ReturnUrl=Categories.aspx?Category=f4bd4a13-55d1-41aa-aea0-49488ec48776 - like i said call me wierd but these are what i like lol

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