Zastava, to bed or not to bed?

vpsalin

vpsalin

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I just bought a bedding kit for my new Zastava M70 in 9.3x62. My initial thinking was that with a thumper round like 9.3 I should bed the action before even firing the gun. I wanted to avoid cracking or splitting my stock at any cost. Upon closer inspection it seems that the factory has done a very good job at mating the action to the stock and it already has a pillar at the tang. Im now starting to think that I should fire it and see how it groups first before considering bedding it. Why fix something that might not be broke sort of thing...? Afterall ,this would be my first attempt at a bedding job and I could end up making it worse then it is from the factory...

What do you think? Are Zastavas prone to splitting or cracking? I know the .375 H&H + calibers have a metal crossbolt through the stock but the 9.3 doesn't. Is that a factor you think?

One gunsmith once told me that as long as I keep action screws on tight I should never encounter an issue with 9.3. I was skeptical of this at first but I'm starting to think that just might be true by the looks of things...
 
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vpsalin said:
I just bought a bedding kit for my new Zastava M70 in 9.3x62. My initial thinking was that with a thumper round like 9.3 I should bed the action before even firing the gun. I wanted to avoid cracking or splitting my stock at any cost. Upon closer inspection it seems that the factory has done a very good job at mating the action to the stock and it already has a pillar at the tang. Im now starting to think that I should fire it and see how it groups first before considering bedding it. Why fix something that might not be broke sort of thing...? Afterall ,this would be my first attempt at a bedding job and I could end up making it worse then it is from the factory...

What do you think? Are Zastavas prone to splitting or cracking? I know the .375 H&H + calibers have a metal crossbolt through the stock but the 9.3 doesn't. Is that a factor you think?

One gunsmith once told me that as long as I keep action screws on tight I should never encounter an issue with 9.3. I was skeptical of this at first but I'm starting to think that just might be true by the looks of things...
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Mine came with a crack behind the recoil lug from the factory, so it's entirely possible. 9.3 is a "light kicker" compared to a .338 or .375, but it's not a light-recoiling cartridge overall. If you want it to perform best, I'd either stick it in a new stock (and possibly bed it), or leave it in the factory stock and definitely bed it. Then again, I think anything that could go wrong has gone wrong with mine! Pull it apart, have a look, decide if you want to try it un-bedded first, if you really F it up bad its not like the stock is a collector or show piece. Check the EE and I'm sure you can find one pretty easy.
 
My friend has that rifle in a left hand version. By the look and feel of it, you could drop it off a cliff then run over it with a tractor and it would be fine. A very robust design indeed.
All joking aside, I would try it out first. I have a 9.3x62 in a CZ, and was set to bed it but started shooting it first and didn't bother as it shot just fine.
 
I suspect it might be a thing about warranty, if that concerns you - I would expect them to stand good for whatever they made - once you change that, whatever happens should maybe be on you? I had similar with a Zastava M70 in 458 Win Mag - never even fired it with full house rounds - the bulkhead between mag well and trigger was found to be cracked right through. And no secondary recoil lug on the barrel, like many other serious recoiling rifles have - even the 1964-ish M70 Winchester in 375 H&H had both a second cross bolt (in front of trigger mortice) and the barrel recoil lug...
 
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You can also buy a DIY stock cross-bolt kit and install your own stock cross-bolts, I've done it, and I'm hardly an expert. Just follow the instructions and it's pretty easy to do.

And nothing can be harmed by bedding it, as long as you do it correctly. I wanted to glass bed a M700 one time, and I got a buddy, who had done it a time or two, to do the bedding job. Simple enough, yet weirdly complicated, if you know what I mean?
 
Demonical said:
You can also buy a DIY stock cross-bolt kit and install your own stock cross-bolts, I've done it, and I'm hardly an expert. Just follow the instructions and it's pretty easy to do.

And nothing can be harmed by bedding it, as long as you do it correctly. I wanted to glass bed a M700 one time, and I got a buddy, who had done it a time or two, to do the bedding job. Simple enough, yet weirdly complicated, if you know what I mean?
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Read the bolded part a few times. When you get stingy with the release agent and manage to "glue" your metal to the wood stock, and are considering the hatchet to get that wood stock off, you will realize what "do it correctly" might imply ... Or you ended up with the action sitting too high or too deep into the stock - or tilted - or the barrel pressed tight against one side of the barrel channel - and so on ...
 
So I finally decided to try shooting the rifle without bedding it for the first time since new from the factory. I zeroed at 50 and then shot this first group at a 100yards. It measures 1.33inches! :dancingbanana::runaway::dancingbanana: Needless to say I'm super pleased. It was a very smooth process zeroing it using and oldie but goodie Legend Ultra HD 1.75x5x32 scope. I don't recall ever owning a rifle this easy to zero with such surgical precision so quickly. The whole zeroing process you see here was like 8 rounds or so in total.

I just used the nosler loading data and picked the middle of the road recipe to zero the scope before attempting to figure out what powder charge the rifle really likes later on using Varget. Groups can only shrink from here I think, unbelievable! What a pleasant cartridge and such an affordable rifle, wow!

I'm now starting to second guess my abilities at bedding the rifle so I'm holding off for now. I'm also sticking to 250GR bullets only at the moment which should keep the stock intact longer I'm thinking...

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I use the same scope on one of mine...has good eye relief and seems ok with the recoil so far.
Sits on an odd old HVA 98 that has a side mount and was converted from 9.3x57 by a board member here with a reamer. I run the Speer 270's with varget to decent velocity, haven't shot anything with it yet but paper.
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medvedqc said:
always a good idea to bed the zastava or any commercial 98 action.
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Yes, it is.

I bought one of these rifles last year (6.5 x 55), just in time for ground-hog season. My intent was to bed it before going to the field with it... However, by the time I got ammo loaded, tested and settled on a load, it did not happen. I did take the time to ensure that the barrel was free floated (Zastava has a pressure point built into the stock just back from the fore-end; mine required on a light sanding, and resealing with tong oil). I will be bedding it before spring, and retesting loads.

I don't use fancy kits; I use JB Wood for wooden stocks and JB Plastic for composite stocks.

I start by using a transfer agent (red-lead) to show me the high spots around the action and the barrel chanel; I use varying grades of sand paper, and I have a pencil grinder with small carbide burrs that I use to relieve the stock where I am going to bed, and to cut rough grouves to anchor the bedding material. I use liberal amounts of past wax as a release agent. Works for me.
 
I bedded the recoil lug of my 458 with Devcon steel (my go to bedding compound). Easy enough to do as others have mentioned. Remember though Mausers are different and I'd suggest you watch a few videos on bedding a mauser first.

cheers,
 
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