I have done several basic gunsmith videos with my CETME rifle. As I have said before it is a very decent and inexpensive 7.62×51 battle rifle. In this article what I am going to do is show you how to install a HK G3 stock set on your CETME rifle.
A CETME Stock Replacement with HK Parts really isn’t a necessary change to your gun. However, I like having my equipment match. I have a green Glock and wanted green furniture on my CETME.
I know this is borderline to breaking my “don’t modify your firearm without a purpose” rule. However, the new stock has a place to hold the retaining pins during field stripping. It also has a place for a sling both features my original black stock set did not.
There are a couple ways to use HK stocks on CETME rifles. Some work better than others. If you can keep your CETME buffer do so. It is a little better for your rifle. The HK equipment is supposed to be easier to cock. In my experience neither are readily user apparent.
I tried to go the cheaper way from the first. I bought a green HK stock set and tried to bolt it directly to the CETME Buffer and recoil assembly. This did not work, some skilled individuals are able to grind away the internal stock to fit the buffer, as well as find the proper bolts. The bolt that connects the buffer to the butt stock is larger and larger on the CETME. The buffer on a CETME also has a single bolt hole on its face, whereas a HK has two. I quickly gave up as I did not want to make any permanent alterations to my stock or my firearm
Next I ordered a HK buffer and install parts set. While this connected perfectly to the stock, the CEMTE recoil assembly is slightly different, and I could not the buffer to fit flush inside the assembly. I tried grinding some metal off of the upper buffer bolt hole so it would not catch on the recoil spring. But even with the buffer fitting in the recoil assembly, the lower bolt hole on the buffer did not line up with the single bolt hole on the CETME recoil assembly. I tried smoothing out and shaping inletted area of the butt stock to better fit the buffer tube, but it quickly came to the point where I had to decide to take my chances and majorly alter my parts or take a different approach.
What I did was to buy a G3 recoil assembly. This fit my CETME receiver perfectly. All I had to do was to sand down the nylon recoil spring bushing slightly so that it would fit in the bolt assembly. Being a HK part – the G3 buffer and the G3 stock bolted to it correctly.
Now I have a CETME Receiver, Trigger Assembly, and internals, with a HK G3 stock set mounted to a G3 Recoil Assembly with A G3 Buffer.
Not counting tax and shipping here are the parts and their costs from http://www.robertrtg.com/g3.html (once again they are not the only source – just the one I used)
Parts Ordered
3-Pack: German OD Green Surplus Stock Sets $30
Complete Recoil Assembly complete and assembled $24
Nylon Guide Ring Surplus $2.50 (I bought a few nylon buffers just in case I damaged one shaping it to fit but I did not need them)
Buffer $6 (complete with internal parts)
Mounting Hardware Set $6.50 (3-screws, 3-washers, lock plate)
Large Push Pin $2.25 (While I was at it, I also got 2 new large retaining pins for the buttstock)
Total
$77 (plus tax and shipping)
I am pretty pleased with the results. In my opinion. the rifle looks really nice with the green furniture. I am thinking about welding on a HK Shell Deflector or a port buffer to keep the brass from getting thrown into the next county, and I may get a scope mount. However, I probably won’t as I like iron sights.
All in all, it was a nice project. I am quite pleased with the gun. Now that it is looking good, and I bought several action proving dummy rounds I am going to start collecting magazines. I also need to look for a good way to accumulate some 7.62 NATO rounds.
