CETME Ameli

Lore & Background

The Ameli was developed at CETME under the supervision of Colonel José María Jiménez Alfaro, who later became the institute's director. It was unveiled in 1981 and adopted by the Spanish Army in 1982 as the MG 82, serving as the standard squad-level support weapon. Manufactured at the Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara factory in A Coruña until the factory closed in 2013, the weapon uses a delayed blowback system with a fixed barrel and two rollers that retard bolt movement, a mechanism shared with CETME rifles and the Heckler & Koch G3, HK33, and MP5 series.

The Ameli fires from an open bolt with a striker firing mechanism and offers only fully automatic fire, with rate of fire adjustable via bolt weight. It is fed from an M27 disintegrating belt, either loose or in a 100- or 200-round plastic container with a transparent rear wall for monitoring ammunition. The quick-change barrel has a chrome-lined bore with 6 right-hand grooves and a 178 mm twist rate optimized for SS109 rounds, with an alternative 305 mm twist barrel for M193 cartridges. The chamber is fluted to assist extraction, and the barrel can be replaced in 5 seconds. The weapon features a polymer stock, bipod, and iron sights with range settings up to 1,000 m.

Reader's Guide

The Ameli represents Spain's effort to produce a modern squad automatic weapon based on proven roller-delayed blowback technology. Its design draws on the MG 42's external appearance and feed system but adopts the internal mechanism of CETME and Heckler & Koch rifles, allowing parts interchangeability with the Model C and Model L rifles. The weapon's adjustable rate of fire through bolt weight gives it flexibility for different tactical roles, while the quick-change barrel and fluted chamber address heat and extraction issues common in sustained fire. The use of sheet metal stampings in the receiver, barrel shroud, and trigger housing reflects cost-effective manufacturing. The Ameli was produced until 2013 when the Santa Bárbara factory closed, and it remains in service with the Spanish Army and other users such as PASKAL. Its legacy is that of a capable light machine gun that adapted a well-known operating system to a smaller caliber, offering reliability and ease of maintenance in a compact package.

Did You Know?

• The name 'Ameli' is an abbreviation of the Spanish 'Ametralladora ligera', meaning 'light machine gun'.
• The Ameli uses a delayed blowback mechanism with two rollers, similar to the Heckler & Koch G3 and MP5.
• The weapon's rate of fire can be adjusted between 850–900 and 1,200 rounds per minute by changing the bolt weight.
• The barrel can be removed and replaced in 5 seconds.