A local pawn shop has one of these 7.62x39 in full stutzen wood, NIB unfired and wants $700 for it. Is it worth it? Was considering offering a trade of sorts but I'm a little hesitant as that's close to what I paid for my Vz.58. I know the fit and finish is generally better on CZ but are these guns shooters? Never owned a Zastava product before...
Zastava M85 full wood... worth it?
- Thread starter fonestar
- Start date
I've been tempted many times just to try one at the sale prices and then hear all the stories about hard extraction, light primer strikes and rough bolts. Some guys didn't have any problems. So, do I gamble and take a chance.
I keep walking away especially when I have other rifles with none of these problems.
I keep walking away especially when I have other rifles with none of these problems.
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
Wanting a couple of shooters with the full wood European look, I have a pair I acquired from Tradex.
The first, a 9.3x62 or better known as the .366 Wagner and after being amazed by the results on paper with my first couple of batches of reloads
I decided to also get a 7x57, to keep it company. My only complaints were the length of pull was excessively long, but that's since been corrected on both. Secondly, the action wasn't smooth. Actually, it felt like there was a bit of sand in the it. Sort of to be expected as for the price, you're not going to get the refinements found in some of the higher priced products on the market. The wood, while functional is plain jane, again, to be expected with the price. No feeding or scope alignment problems encountered and would have no hesitation purchasing another
.
The first, a 9.3x62 or better known as the .366 Wagner and after being amazed by the results on paper with my first couple of batches of reloads
I decided to also get a 7x57, to keep it company. My only complaints were the length of pull was excessively long, but that's since been corrected on both. Secondly, the action wasn't smooth. Actually, it felt like there was a bit of sand in the it. Sort of to be expected as for the price, you're not going to get the refinements found in some of the higher priced products on the market. The wood, while functional is plain jane, again, to be expected with the price. No feeding or scope alignment problems encountered and would have no hesitation purchasing another
.They're good guns, and I love mine... But I doubt I would pay $700 for one. I got mine for WAY less than that a couple years ago, and TradeEx brings them in from time to time for less than $700.
Don't count on CanAm specials on them going forward. Something went sour between CanAm and Zastava, and they won't be importing them anymore. Once the ones they have are gone, that's it. It'll be back to the old channels and prices will be well north of what we've been seeing.
Don't count on CanAm specials on them going forward. Something went sour between CanAm and Zastava, and they won't be importing them anymore. Once the ones they have are gone, that's it. It'll be back to the old channels and prices will be well north of what we've been seeing.
p.s. Comparing the full stock ones to the M85 Standards that CanAm is carrying is a bit of a muggins game. The barrels are shorter on the Stutzen stock rifles (460mm or 18.1" for Stutzen, vs. 510mm or 20" for standard). And the overall fit and finish on the Stutzen Stock is higher. They go through a stricter QC as well - the Stutzens are effectively a "premium grade" (if such a thing exists) Zastava, and are far less likely to suffer from the gremlins that can crop up in the M85 Standard rifles.
Yeah, I'll call bull#### on that, for a couple reasons.
They are not going to spend more time in the fit/finish department on a hunting rifle, fit a full length hunting stock, heavier firing pin spring/extractor, larger chamber, just to have a gun that you can shoot 40 year old corrorive surplus FMJ that you can't hunt with anyway, and shoots like ####.....all for a 50% premium.
My CanAm $375 special shoots surplus just fine, the firing pin spring was so stiff I cut a couple coils off it to make cocking and trigger pull a bit lighter, and it still fires surplus fine. The firing pins are adjustable for protrusion, and I suspect the ones that don't go bang with surplus just need another 1/2 turn to work reliably.
Also CanAm brought in thousands of these(?), and Corwin brought in what, a few dozen?
Zastava could care less about the Canadian market. At best, even with the CanAm bulk purchase, we're a rounding error in their overall sales.
They make different levels of rifles, fit an finish wise, primarily for the European and US markets. Saying that all their M85's are the same is like saying that an 870 express is built to the same standards as a Wingmaster.
The firing pin and extractor upgrades are readily available as options from the factory, and are available as aftermarket parts upgrades. Poke around through this forum, and the ones in the US, and the firing pin and extractor issues/upgrades are well known. Actually, there's some great info on the Zastavas on some of the New Zealand gun boards - they're very popular over there.
The Stutzens were brought in by Corwin-Arms and TradeEx (TradeEx still gets them from time to time). CanAm did a bulk purchase of the most economically priced model they could - which is fair enough, they aren't bad rifles.
The downside is that CanAm did their bulk buy, then for some reason the relationship went sour. CanAm posted in their own forums that they would no longer be importing the Zastava's "for business reasons" (their words, not mine). AFAIK, TradeEx is the only one still bringing them in, and not in large numbers. The CanAm buy set a price expectation for the rifles that wasn't sustainable, so now the imports are down to a trickle, because no-one wants to pay $600-$700 for them, which is what they need to retail at under the current import conditions in order for anyone to make a profit.
It'll turn around eventually, and we'll see more of them available. They're a good, solid, "working man's" hunting rifle. Are they comparable to the CZ's? No. But even in the $600-$700 range, they present a decent value for quality proposition, especially when the CZ-527 runs for about $1,000 nowadays.
I'm sure Zastava makes 100,000+ of the M85 every year, I just doubt the metal work is "made to order" for any specific market, stocks sure, they might be as Europeans and Americans like different styles, and you could probably get pressed vs cut checkering, oil vs poly finish, that sort of thing.
What I don't question is the level of "roughness" in these guns specifically in the action. I think they are consistently rough regardless of where they get sold. Remington dropped them after only 2 years because they were not even up to Remington standards which aren't real high to begin with. New Zealand probably buy less of these then Canada does too, they are a smaller drop in the bucket. NEA sells a good number of AR15's there so I dunno how up to speed they are on quality firearms lol.
Personally, I don't think the M85 is even a $500 gun as it is. Action is way too rough. They need to ditch the "mini Mauser" notion because other then the ejector box, there is nothing Mauser about it, it's not even CRF. They could simplify manufacture by making it a standard tube receiver, bolt with plunger ejector, and swap out the extractor for an M16 style, ditch the bolt guide, wouldn't be hard and would result in a much smoother rifle. There is a market for that size of action, it's perfect for any of the .223 based cartridges, and the x39 of course.
What I don't question is the level of "roughness" in these guns specifically in the action. I think they are consistently rough regardless of where they get sold. Remington dropped them after only 2 years because they were not even up to Remington standards which aren't real high to begin with. New Zealand probably buy less of these then Canada does too, they are a smaller drop in the bucket. NEA sells a good number of AR15's there so I dunno how up to speed they are on quality firearms lol.
Personally, I don't think the M85 is even a $500 gun as it is. Action is way too rough. They need to ditch the "mini Mauser" notion because other then the ejector box, there is nothing Mauser about it, it's not even CRF. They could simplify manufacture by making it a standard tube receiver, bolt with plunger ejector, and swap out the extractor for an M16 style, ditch the bolt guide, wouldn't be hard and would result in a much smoother rifle. There is a market for that size of action, it's perfect for any of the .223 based cartridges, and the x39 of course.
