The CETME assault rifle is being retired from service, replaced by his "nephew", the HK G-36E. After forty years of good services, we think a veteran like the CETME deserves more than a slap in the back and a silent discharge.

The CETME has developed, as years went by, a lot of products for the military, but it will be remembered, undubtedly, by its FUSA (FUSil de Asalto, or Assault Rifle) series. The word CETME has remained as a short for "Assault Rifle".

This is, so, our little homage to one of the top assault rifles in the world, combining toughness and efectivity.

The Partiture: A little History

1948: The CETME (Centro de Estudios Tecnicos de Materiales Especiales - Special Materials Technical Studies Center) is conceived, as a medium to counter the effects that the international isolation was having on the army.
1949: The CETME is created.
1952: The demonstrations begin in Spain and Germany
1956: The manufacturing of the Modelo A begins.
1957: Germany adopts the CETME assault rifle. The Spanish Army adopts the CETME assault rifle.
1958: The manufacturing of the Modelo B begins. The Navy and the Air Force adopt the CETME assault rifle.
1959: The first joint-development accord with Germany is signed.
1962: The second joint-development accord with Germany is signed.
1964: The 7'62x51mm NATO cartridge is adopted by the Spanish Armed Forces. The manufacturing of the Modelo C begins.
1966: The development of the Modelo L begins.
1976: The manufacturing of the Modelo C stops.
1980: The development of the Modelo L finishes.
1982: The first AMELI prototypes are finished.
1984: The first batches of the Modelo L and LC are produced.
1985: The first contract of 600 AMELIs for the British Army is signed.
1996: The first M-16 begin to appear in special units, as an evaluation.
1996: The basis for a public offer to replace the CETME are established: The canadian DIEMACO C-7, the belgian FNC, israelian Galil, german H&K G-36E, swiss SIG-550 and austrian AUG-77 start the race.
1999: The H&K G-36E is selected as the future spanish assault rifle.

Back in the late thirties, the German Army develops a new concept in war, the Blitzkrieg, that emphasizes the concept of mobility. Mobility being the keyword, the need for a new type of personal weapon arises, a weapon that could give the soldier the precision and range of a rifle and the firepower of a machine gun for the final assault. Within those premises, they begin the designing of a new war weapon: the Assault Rifle (SturmGewehr). Various models were developed, all of them firing different variations of the 7'92 Kurz (short) cartridge, a shortened 7'92 (8x57mm).
One of the last models made was a development from Mauser, the SturmGewehr 45 (just a prototype), that incorporated some features found in the Mg-42, like the delayed inertial locking with semi-rigid lugs.
The end of WWII did not permit the development to go further, but some of the Mauser technicians working at the project fled to Spain.

The Spanish War Ministry established the base requirements for a new assault rifle that was to replace the Spanish Mauser rifles. The cartridge should have enough of a punch to incapacitate an enemy up to 1000 m. away (that was 200 m. more than the 7'92 Kurz). So was born the 7'92x40 CETME, a light (6'8 g.), long bullet (5.8 calibers) with an aluminium core and a brass band.

In a time of international freezing, without even the raw materials (as a curiosity, the first magazines were handmade from diesel fuel barrels), the first prototypes began to be built (even the tools were hand-made!). A gas-operated model was abandoned as the inertial locking system was so promising. In 1952, the demonstrations began, and so did the critics: The 7'92 CETME projectile hadn't a full metal jacket, so its use was against the war conventions; the NATO adopted the 7'62x51 mm cartridge and, by then, the international isolation began to unfreeze. Then , a new cartridge was developed, the 7'62 CETME, with a full metal jacket, lighter projectile. To fire those cartridges, the model B should be developed.
The Model A and its variants, the A1 (with the fire selector at the right side, fixed cocking handle, and folding stock) and the A2 (with free-floating cocking handle and a carrying handle) were adopted by the Army in September 20th, 1957.
This same year, the CETME was introduced to Europe by Nederlansche Wapen Munitiefabrik, and only Germany showed interest on it. At the end of 1957, H&K signed an accord to co-develop the rifle.

The Model B was born to fire two cartridges, the 7'62 CETME and 7'62 NATO; their principal innovations were a flash suppressor (doubling as a grenade launcher), an anatomic grip, improved carrying handle, and an integrated bipod. The fire selector was still at the left side, and the sights had no modifications. It replaced the Model A in 1958, and was adopted this same year by the Navy and the Air Force.
From 1961 on, the mark CETME dissapeared from the German models.

In 1964 the Model C was adopted by the Army, Navy and Air Force. The chamber was fluted to allow cartridge extraction even in the worst conditions, a separate bipod doubled as wire-cutter, a cleaning tools capsule was added, using the top as a bayonet lug, and the handguard was made of wood (by the way, so the CETME recovered the old nickname for a rifle: the "chopo" - poplar - referring to the wood used). The sights changed to a four distance (100, 200, 300 and 400 m) fixed type, and the fire selector was now at the left side, to be activated with the thumb. A lock for a telescopic sight was also added.
As tough and reliable as anyone could expect, it was undoubtedly one of the best assault rifles ever made. Unlocking at 3 Kg (its handsome cousin, the G3, unlocks at 1 Kg), its punch was something to be seen... from the right side.

A semi-auto, sporting model was commercialized as the Model S (Sport), but its high prize made it almost unmarketable.

Essentially a Model C with plastic replacing the wooden parts, and a spinning rear sight, like the G-3. With plastic magazines, just a handful of them were made, with no significance.

Once established the use of plastic, the Model E was developed to fire the .223 cartridge, but some problems troubled it. The plastic and aluminum parts weren't as tough as their wooden or steel ancestors, and the unfluted chamber made it not as reliable as the Model C (the chamber was later fluted).
The front sight post, supposedly made to be visible at night by the insertion of a fluorescent bar, was crap. It was glued with cement and little of the bars must remain in place at the present time. Also, the muzzle blast from a such a short barrel blinds the shooter inmediately, and more so if he is unfortunate enough as to have one of the rifle's flash supressor slits pointing upwards. (By the way, this style of flash supressor was dropped from the M16 due to bad experiences had in Vietnam. The supressor collected water from the wet bush leaves and conducted it inside the barrel by capilarity).
It was adopted in 1980, in the versions L (depicted) and LC (with folding stock).

Simultaneously, a shy try to step into the machine gun market was made: The AMELI (AMEtralladora LIgera, or Light Machine Gun) was developed by downsizing the MG-42 to the .223 caliber.

Adagio: That's all, folks!

But the story has come to an end, and right now a batch of some 115,000 H&K G-36E in .223 will be purchased to replace the good ol' CETME. However, those of us that spilled our sweat under its weight, will never forget it.

Comparing the CETME models

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