World
Guns
CETME Spanish Rifle
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".
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 Model 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 Model C begins.
1966: The development of the Model L begins.
1976: The manufacturing of the Model C stops.
1980: The development of the Model L finishes.
1982: The first AMELI prototypes are finished.
1984: The first batches of the Model 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.
1997: 100,000 M-16 are purchased to replace the Model L. That's the End
of the Story...
Ancestor: The SturmGewehr
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Goto Gun's World Sturmgewehr 44 home page |
Back in the late thirties, the German Army develops a new concept
in war, the Blitzkrieg, that emphasizes the concept of mobility.
Within this concept, 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 Kurtz (short)
cartridge, a shortened 7'92 (8x57mm). |
The Model A
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New assault rifle to replace the Spanish Mauser rifles. The cartridge
aim was to be able to incapacitate an enemy up to 1000 m away. So
was born the 7'92x40 CETME, a light (6,8 g.), long cartridge (5.8
calibers) with an aluminium core and a brass band. But it didn't
match war conventions so the spanish developped a new cartridge
: the 7'62 CETME, with a full metal jacket, lighter projectile to
be fired in CETME model B. Model A variants adopted in September 1957 by the army are :
In 1957 the CETME was introduced to Europe and H&K signed an
accord to co-develop the rifle. |
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The Model B
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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 right side, and the sights had no modifications. It replaced the Model A in 1958, and was adopted by Navy and Air Force. |
The Model C
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The Model E
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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. |
The L Series
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Using plastic, the Model E was developed to fire the .223 cartridge,
it suffered from plastic weaknesses problems ashe plastic parts
weren't as tough as their wooden ancestors, and the unrifled chamber
made it not as reliable as the Model C. |
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