Used Zastava M70 Mauser Rifles Provenance
- Thread starter 762mm
- Start date
I bought one new, and I love it. One caliber you did not mention is 6.5 x 55 SE. Great and versatile caliber for large, medium and small game here in North America and Europe.
Mine is marked Serbia, has deep, mirror polished bluing. They all had a very dull, dry finish on their stocks, but a bit of tung oil brought up very nice character in the wood. Stocks were luck of the draw, ranging from very plane to nicely figured. I like the adjustable trigger (not the easiest to set up, but worth the effort), I have not bedded the action; as one might expect, the 6.5 Swede is inherently accurate. Twist rate is, I believe, 1:8. Length of pull is a bit long, but maybe Serbians have longer than normal arms. LOL.
I don't think anyone could go wrong with these.
I paid new about the same price as many of these used ones. Some of the cheaper ones with cracked stocks would make good project guns (I need to finish some of my projects before getting another.
Second photo is it in it's current configuration.
I may not be off with the hunting club theory...
One of the guns in the lot still has a hunting club sticker on the stock.
As per my internet research, it was a hunting club or a resort in Yugoslavia called "LSG JELEN" :
Club medallion :
Club members in September of 1975 :
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Wow, that's a beautiful rifle and a great setup. Congratulations and thanks for sharing !
From what I've been reading, these Zastava Mausers are "old world" build quality and an exceptionnal value for an all steel, controlled round feed true Mauser rifle in modern times. Other popular manufacturers don't make them like that anymore (too expensive to manufacture).
To get an equivalent new gun today from another manufacturer, you'd need to get yourself a Rigby or similar and pay 10x the price...
That being said, I wouldn't mind one chambered in .416 Rigby... maybe some day, lol.
There are lots of Huskies with commercial M98 actions kicking around; I picked up one in 9.3 x 62 with a QD side mount for not a lot of money; not as pretty but just as functional and mechanically, and bore wise, like new. 9.3 x 62 (.366) is looked upon as being almost the equivalent to 375 H&H, no .416, but enough recoil for me. With a slip-on limb saver, I can manage 20 rounds, without about 5. LOL; it hurts so good. Now, the rifle is just a bit over 7 lbs without the scope, so not heavy, but easy to carry.Wow, that's a beautiful rifle and a great setup. Congratulations and thanks for sharing !
From what I've been reading, these Zastava Mausers are "old world" build quality and an exceptionnal value for an all steel, controlled round feed true Mauser rifle in modern times. Other popular manufacturers don't make them like that anymore (too expensive to manufacture).
To get an equivalent new gun today from another manufacturer, you'd need to get yourself a Rigby or similar and pay 10x the price...
That being said, I wouldn't mind one chambered in .416 Rigby... maybe some day, lol.
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Comparing zastavas and Rigbys is like comparing a Kia and a Mercedes
This is from someone who owns a couple of zastavas and built a custom rifle on one of their actions.
Like meroh said, you can get fn clones in similar shape for less money. Zastava used the old fn tooling and schematics and had much worse quality control depending on the era
This is from someone who owns a couple of zastavas and built a custom rifle on one of their actions.
Like meroh said, you can get fn clones in similar shape for less money. Zastava used the old fn tooling and schematics and had much worse quality control depending on the era
The Zastavas made prior to the disintegration of Yugoslavia were better finished than later ones. There was the civil war and then NATO bombed Serbia, forcing them out of Kosovo. I suspect a substantial recovery effort was required.Wow, that's a beautiful rifle and a great setup. Congratulations and thanks for sharing !
From what I've been reading, these Zastava Mausers are "old world" build quality and an exceptionnal value for an all steel, controlled round feed true Mauser rifle in modern times. Other popular manufacturers don't make them like that anymore (too expensive to manufacture).
To get an equivalent new gun today from another manufacturer, you'd need to get yourself a Rigby or similar and pay 10x the price...
That being said, I wouldn't mind one chambered in .416 Rigby... maybe some day, lol.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Twenty-plus years ago the SFOR troops would conduct Op HARVESTs to cordon, search and seize unlicenced firearms. The Brits were garrisoned in a sector of Bosnia that was still a little cranky, and every so often SFOR had to remind them of the assorted peace agreements. The 1 PPCLI battlegroup provided pers for checkpoints and traffic control while someone else did the door knocking (and kicking).
I knew a couple Canadians who were tasked to escort the captured rifles, pistols, AKs and shotguns to a smelter. One of our guys caught a factory worker doing a slight of hand to slide a flat sided 7.65 or 9mm out of the big bin and into his belt while throwing something with the other hand. And the Public Affairs photographer actually was doing his job at that moment, so no denying anything.
I doubt any of the rifles mentioned by the OP came from seizures. What I saw were beat up very ordinary civilian guns. Unfortunately those little towns were suddenly disarmed, and we know what happens when people don't have their guns in a world full of other people's guns.
I knew a couple Canadians who were tasked to escort the captured rifles, pistols, AKs and shotguns to a smelter. One of our guys caught a factory worker doing a slight of hand to slide a flat sided 7.65 or 9mm out of the big bin and into his belt while throwing something with the other hand. And the Public Affairs photographer actually was doing his job at that moment, so no denying anything.
I doubt any of the rifles mentioned by the OP came from seizures. What I saw were beat up very ordinary civilian guns. Unfortunately those little towns were suddenly disarmed, and we know what happens when people don't have their guns in a world full of other people's guns.
Thanks! The quality dip observation is also reflected in what members of US gun forums appear to say.
This lot appears to be mostly (if not all) pre-war examples, based on the Yugoslavia inscriptions on receivers.
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If that's where these guns are from ("unlicensed" rifles seized from civilians by the occupying force, a la WWII occupied Europe), then this would be quite sad...
I sure hope his is not the case and that these rifles were sold off voluntarily.
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I had 2 new ones when they were cheap here, 7x57 blued/wood and 7x64 stainless synthetic.Wow, that's a beautiful rifle and a great setup. Congratulations and thanks for sharing !
From what I've been reading, these Zastava Mausers are "old world" build quality and an exceptionnal value for an all steel, controlled round feed true Mauser rifle in modern times. Other popular manufacturers don't make them like that anymore (too expensive to manufacture).
To get an equivalent new gun today from another manufacturer, you'd need to get yourself a Rigby or similar and pay 10x the price...
That being said, I wouldn't mind one chambered in .416 Rigby... maybe some day, lol.
The blued/wood 7x57 looked nice on the outside, not much above a Norinco with internal metal work, one of the roughest 98's I've ever had pass through, dumped it on consignment locally.
Kept the 7x64 SS, that one is well made all around, tight and smooth. $500 from Gobels when they were blowing them out.
I'll take an HVA or Parker Hale if I absolutely need CRF, better made, and still $500 used.
As for manufacturing today, Howa/Vanguard are all forged and machined, 1 piece bolts, hammer forged barrels, and base models start under $700. Made in Japan too, not poor country eastern Europe.
There's Tito!
dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
Clearly you haven't handled a norinco Mauser m334 clone. Talk about crude and rough. I've owned and handled many Zastava's and while there were a couple that needed some TLC, they're still much better than that offered by Norinco.
dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
Id agree, that the older ones are better finished. I have a few from the 1990s and the actions are definitely smoother.
I will say the couple I owned from 2008-2012 production were probably the worst batch Ive seen. My 2014 dated Zastava's had much better tolerances that the 08-12 production runs.
No, I know better then to buy one of those outfits lol.
But even compared to PH98 or HVA98, 1600, etc, that blued Zastava was rough working the action, interior was finished with a chisel I think, real bad stuff. The stainless one is right on par with the PH/HVA's for interior clean milling for sure though.
