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Double-fire during my first C308 range test

3K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  heatwelsh 
#1 ·
I was finally able to shoot my Century Arms C308 for the first time this morning. I went with a couple of friends to a local member-only shooting range that one of them belongs to.

A NOT-COMMON PREAMBLE: My C308 came with nothing on the muzzle except threads. Last Monday, July 27 I saw a Century Arms chevron 5/8-24 muzzle brake for sale on eBay and ordered it. It was supposed to arrive Saturday, August 1; instead, it was in my mailbox yesterday, less than 48 hours after I ordered it. (Cue theme from The Twilight Zone.)

A BIT UNUSUAL: Then I screwed the brake onto the muzzle threads, and . . . and . . . it indexed to the vertical without needing a crush washer!! (Cue screeching violins from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.) I unscrewed it, added a dab of blue thread locker, and screwed it back on.

Maybe, someday, I'll share the slightly bizarre story of the events that happened the day I got this rifle. Maybe.

SHOOTING: I'm not including pictures of targets with this report. This wasn't a MOA fine tuning event, but rather a meet-n-greet, how-do-you-do, pleased-to-meetcha social introduction with a new-to-me rifle and a newly installed Vortex Diamondback 4-12x40 scope. I shot about 50 rounds with no problems, and after dialing the scope to put the rounds somewhere on the target, had a great time. Ejected brass really does fly all the way into the next county, just like the reviews said. I wish I could throw that far when I was the proverbial worst player in Little League baseball.

RECOIL: The recoil and muzzle jump of this rifle is noticeably less than a Ruger American Predator in 308 I used to own. The American is a fine rifle, but the recoil, even with Ruger's excellent pad on the butt, was enough that in the middle of my 60s, wasn't much fun after 10 rounds or so. Call me a wimp if you will (I love the recoil of heavy/powerful revolvers, by the way - "Hi, my name is TNC, and I'm a recoil junkie") but bruised shoulders don't heal as fast as they did 30 years ago. Kudos to that chevron-shaped muzzle brake. It does as good a job as the online reviews I read said it would. My friends also reported that the side blast wasn't bad, either. I suspect that most of the gases are blowing upwards. I certainly didn't experience any muzzle jump worth mentioning.

THE DOUBLE FIRE: At about round 20 or so, I experienced a double-fire, the first in my lifetime. It was actually kind of fun! I had been firing slowly and deliberately, so the rifle wasn't hot by any means. Now, a few weeks ago my local gun shop had two five round clips of 7.62x51 military ammo that I bought cheap, and that was what I had loaded in the magazine and was shooting at the time. When I pulled the trigger the result was BUHBANG! just as fast as you can say it. My right peripheral vision caught the briefest glimpse of two brass shells spinning in the sunlight on their way to Santa Fe county.

My friends stopped what they were doing and looked at me. One of them said he never knew anyone could double tap that fast. I said I couldn't double tap that fast, and I hadn't. I was still holding the trigger back firmly, and it hadn't reset. I took the magazine off, removed the chambered round, and field stripped the rifle. Everything was in perfect working order. I had previously checked the bolt gap, it's right in the middle of the tolerances. I put everything back together and continued shooting without incident.

My best guess is that one of those old rounds may have had a primer that was not set properly. To anyone reading this: You best guess, thoughts, and suggestions about this double-fire would be appreciated.

CONCLUSION: Of the firearms I have owned (and currently own) this one is closest to being a "tool" to me. I have a medium toolbox with tools I've owned for over 40 years (a few date back to before I was born). I've kept them because they work, I'm familiar with them, and I know what I can do (and what I cannot do) with them. This metal and plastic Century C308, built of old surplus CETME parts, works, so far. It's not perfect (I have simply GOT to get an oversized charging handle for it!!!) but it's pretty simple. Unlike the lever-action rifle I traded for it, I can take this thing apart and put it back together with a few tools, and it goes bang when I pull the trigger.

Besides, it's heavy enough to maybe get me back in shape after retiring a few years ago.

And, who knows? Maybe it'll go BUHBANG!again. :biggrin:
 
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#4 ·
I have a recent production CETME (2019) No problems so far and it's a sweet shooter. I don't think I'll ever trust my life to it in combat, however. It's a shooter and maybe after I put a few thousand rounds through it, a truck gun, although I prefer an AK for that
 
#5 ·
WRT the double, Not sure I'd look to an incorrectly installed primer as the first problem but I guess it is a potential problem.

These guns aren't free floating firing pin setups so unlike most U.S. military arms that's not likely to be the culprit either unless you are missing the firing pin spring or it is particularly damaged in some manner that makes it non functional. You might disassemble the bolt and take a look. You might also check to see if chambered but not fired rounds show evidence of the firing pin tapping the primer.

You left of an important bit of info though, What lever action did you trade?

Looking forward to hearing the rest of the 'bizzaro' acquisition story.
 
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