Zastava 7.62x39 M85?

Hitzy said:
I think they could make this little gun a winner by ditching the whole mini Mauser marketing concept as the only thing Mauser-like is the ejector box.
Make a round receiver with traditional bolt/ejector/extractor, Winchester style safety, would simplify manufacturing and improve the functioning. I think there is a market for these lightweight mini-actions as it is a handy little rifle.
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We had a long conversation with the chief Engineer on these subjects. They hope to make these sort of changes. The reality is that they suffer the same inertia, or lack thereof, of most post-communist, government owned factories.
 
grelmar said:
I did read you post, and still not sure why you bothered. Maybe it's just a difference between one rifle off the factory and another. I had some issues getting the safety to engage properly after adjusting the trigger, but time and patience solved it. I just had to work back ad forth with the safety engagement screw to find the sweet spot.

In the end, I ended up with a no takeup, crisp 3lb pull, with very limited overtravel. And the safety works. It took about 1/2 hour of fiddling back and forth to get it where I wanted it.

Anyway, to each their own.
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I imagine there is some difference from rifle to rifle, lots of hand fitting on these. In my case there is too much play in the trigger group to get anything without a ton of creep and still have the safety function properly, and even at 4lbs I'm not confident that the sear will hold if it takes a good jolt. I played around for quite a while....not my first rifle or first time with an adjustable trigger. I'm probably running Timney in just about every single stage rifle I have now with no issues.
It's going to be an OK rifle, I'll turn many yotes and other small critters inside out with it no doubt. I was just expecting some areas to be a little better done on these rifles....
 
Hitzy said:
I imagine there is some difference from rifle to rifle, lots of hand fitting on these. In my case there is too much play in the trigger group to get anything without a ton of creep and still have the safety function properly, and even at 4lbs I'm not confident that the sear will hold if it takes a good jolt. I played around for quite a while....not my first rifle or first time with an adjustable trigger. I'm probably running Timney in just about every single stage rifle I have now with no issues.
It's going to be an OK rifle, I'll turn many yotes and other small critters inside out with it no doubt. I was just expecting some areas to be a little better done on these rifles....
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I'm starting to get that sense from what I've been reading around here and in other places. Some of them are great, no problems, some... Notsomuch.

Quite happy with the one I got. Considering I bought it as a deer gun for the fall, and maybe the odd Coyote or Badger, it seems to find it's way into the trunk most of the time when I head over to the range. I just enjoy shooting it, and finding it quite accurate.
 
well, if it is TRULY the Remington 799, then I have no porblem with it. I might even buy another from CanAm. I shoot plenty of non-corrosive milsurp ammo with this and have NEVER had a hard extraction. I do find the bolt handle a bit small, but the rifle shoots fine with Norinco ammo. I pull the bullets, even out the powder, and use soft points for hunting and it always finds a deer to bring home.
 
Gun works well, would love to see how it shoots with a good piece of glass on it, but all I could afford was a fixed 3x. Still holds minute of deer no problems, when I had the scope correctly adjusted 2moa was not a problem,and some groups were damn close to 1. Too bad I'm not happy with good enough, and now I have no idea where it is shooting after some lackadaisical scope adjustment (just started using optics recently).

The only real issue I encountered that wasn't related to my compulsive desire to adjust the scope was that it is almost impossible to close the action when there are 5 rounds in the magazine. I found myself forcing it at times, and at others I was able to get it in. Think I might have to polish the magazine a little.

A fun gun besides this, I will have to put a nice 2-7 on it or find a peep sight that slides into the dovetail.
 
conor_90 said:
Gun works well, would love to see how it shoots with a good piece of glass on it, but all I could afford was a fixed 3x. Still holds minute of deer no problems, when I had the scope correctly adjusted 2moa was not a problem,and some groups were damn close to 1. Too bad I'm not happy with good enough, and now I have no idea where it is shooting after some lackadaisical scope adjustment (just started using optics recently).

The only real issue I encountered that wasn't related to my compulsive desire to adjust the scope was that it is almost impossible to close the action when there are 5 rounds in the magazine. I found myself forcing it at times, and at others I was able to get it in. Think I might have to polish the magazine a little.

A fun gun besides this, I will have to put a nice 2-7 on it or find a peep sight that slides into the dovetail.
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It's a 4 + 1 magazine, at least the Stutzen stock one I got from Corwin-Arms is. I load 4 in thin magazine, drop in a 5th half chambered, and out slight pressure on the top round in the magazine while I push the bolt forward far enough to keep the 4 magazine rounds down, then pull my thumb out and finish "force feeding" the fifth round with the bolt.

Sounds more complicated/harder than it is, but I'm sure you get the idea.
 
They are all 4+1 in 7.62x39 223 model and 222 will take 5+1. Factory based capacity on the 223 and 222 models and caused lots of confusion.

We still have 2 rifles left before they are gone from us
 
1 Left.

To Hitzy
Too many Zastavas are coming from US. We paid Canadian Prices for them and simply can not compete.
 
Sounds right corwin, I was able to shimmy a 5th in, it would fit in the magazine but there was not enough room to feed it. The only reason I tried is the zastava site said 5 + 1 which is clearly not possible, guess it is just a mislabel if .223 models take 5.

Will you guys be bringing in the battue models of the m70? Very interested in one in a larger caliber.

Thanks


Also I would say that issues with closing the bolt on laquered cases may be more to do with the little bolt handle than the ammunition being used. I fired 4 brands of hunting ammo and 3 brands of laquered non milsurp ammo from the gun and I would say they all closed with equal ease.

Interestingly the steel ammo appeared to shoot the best groups. The European ammunition with brass cases surpassed the american. Does anyone know if the Winchester Super X has a .308 bullet? because it is god awful expensive and I couldn't even find 2 of the shots I fired on the 5 inch target at 100 yards.
 
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I think most of the US made ammo is undersized. I picked up some brass S&B 123gr sp at SAIL to try, they had lots of it. I also have a few '000 rounds of corrosive surplus, but the rifle seems too nice to run that #### through it lol.
I stuck a Japan made 1-4x20 Bushnell Banner on it to see how it shoots, should get a chance this weekend. If it performs I'll pick up a Redfield 2-7....been impressed with those scopes so far.
 
Isn't anyone having the rough feeding from the mag issues I had with mine? It was awful and I was glad to see it go. The bolt was sloppy and just wanted to bind instead of running smoothly.

Darryl
 
mine was a little rough at first but some shooting smoothed it out. It does wiggle a bit when it's out of the receiver but it never failed me.
 
Just a heads up for the next guy! I bought weaver bases number 71A and 23 for my Zastava M85. The front base (71A) fits properly. The rear base (23) does not! The contour is correct to match the receiver, but the holes on the base are spaced too far apart. Does any one else have this problem? If so, what base are you using for the rear? Can I just get away with using just the one hole? I don't want to do that. Should I modify the base to fit? It's not worth sending it back. Any help would be great. Thanks guys and gals. Good shooting, Toni. ps, otherwise the rifle has worked flawlessly for me and is quite accurate with the open sights.
 
for those who don't like the mag sticking out on the CZ 527 ...


Was doing some research on the 527 and could have sworn I stumbled across a 3 round mag that sits flush with the bottom of the stock.

Thought I also stumbled across an insert that made it into a single shot.

If I find the links again will post them.

I'm planning on the CZ. The extended mags don't bother me. I like scopes as low as possible however so might be looking at a bolt handle replacement or mod.
 
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