Zastava 7.62x39 M85?

You will find it a lot easier to mount a variety of optics with the rail, the rifle is very picky about scope size with the weaver bases.

If I was going to put an optic on the m85 again I'd go for the rail.
 
Looks way better than the mal ninja looking magwedge thing. The good thing about the magwedge is that it's available in Canada. I am thinking of buying a magwedge rail and cutting it into three sections, and just using the ends.

I bought the mount at my local gun store. I posted the link so you can see it and get the part number
 
I've had both, and honestly, neither one of them is what I would call a well finished rifle. Both where/are accurate, but in my opinion, the zastava is more of a riflemans rifle. I hate how the magazine on the cz protrudes, and I really hate the backward safety. I'm not a fan of the set trigger, and they shape their stocks for continental tastes. My zastava was rough when I got it, the stock finish sucks, the base holes where off, and according to the ground off rail it even failed remingtons quality control....., but the gun itself I like.
too bad Sako never chambered the 7.62X39.

Ivor
 
I would have thought that they did, so it doesn't suprise me. I think that I lament more that it wasn't a common chambering. I do understand the dilemma though. For years I simply looked at the 7.62X39 as that lottle cartridge that the russians chambered their assult rifles for...really quite useless.
I'm now realizing that there are yimes when most calibers are way overpowered. A good example of this is a small parcel of private land with houses surrounding in the distance. You want a cartridge that promptly knocks down the animal, but where a stray bullet or one that fully penitrates minimizes the risk of damage or injury beyond the animal. With its 123-125gr bullets that are in fact specifically designed for that cartridge, you have an ideal little cartridge for this senerio.
Ivor
 
Yes, I remember trying to hunt one of those Sako's down decades ago, but to no avail. It's collector status only.
I ended up with a nice Ruger M77 MkII in 7.62x39 in the early 90's and have been very happy with that.
I thought Remington would make one of those, but the different bolt head never happened. Since then I've a built a few custom Remingtons in that caliber.
 
I thought hard about the ruger because it would be a good gun, but one of the really nice things about the 7.62X39 is that it fits in 223 sized actions like the zastava and cz.
Ivor
 
I would have thought that they did, so it doesn't suprise me. I think that I lament more that it wasn't a common chambering. I do understand the dilemma though. For years I simply looked at the 7.62X39 as that lottle cartridge that the russians chambered their assult rifles for...really quite useless.
I'm now realizing that there are yimes when most calibers are way overpowered. A good example of this is a small parcel of private land with houses surrounding in the distance. You want a cartridge that promptly knocks down the animal, but where a stray bullet or one that fully penitrates minimizes the risk of damage or injury beyond the animal. With its 123-125gr bullets that are in fact specifically designed for that cartridge, you have an ideal little cartridge for this senerio.
Ivor

Used to think the same way of the 7.62 x 39. Then one day I just "got it". It's a very effective round, accurate and hits hard within it's intended range.

Highly underrated. It's a mistake to think it's an AK/SKS round only.

And I COMPLETELY agree about your over powered point. There are times when you need more power at extended ranges or more power if a hippo is breathing down your neck but for the most part guys are wayyyyyyyyy over doing it these days for no real benefit.
 
The round gets a bad wrap based on its usual SKS platform..... Not that SKS don't have their place in the shooting world, but they are best left in the safe or locked plastic case under the bed when hunting....

My time on CGN has taught me a few things... One of those things is that a true Hunter knows the range and limits of his or her round and rifle..... 7.62 x 39 is fine within its limits in the bight game....

Another thing I learned thanks to CGN, no serious Hunter packs an SKS in the field....
 
I'm trying hard to convince myself to buy a Zastava in 7.62 but with a Husky in 6.5X55 in the safe i just can't find the use for a 7.62...
 
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Okay, slight hijack, my apologies.

I get Can Am's emails, and would like to check their site, but their web page is all text for me, and all jammed on the left side of my screen, with text overlapping each other etc.

Totally unusable...anyone can throw me a bone here to make their site look fine for me? No problems with any other sites that I know of...
 
Used to think the same way of the 7.62 x 39. Then one day I just "got it". It's a very effective round, accurate and hits hard within it's intended range.

Highly underrated. It's a mistake to think it's an AK/SKS round only.

And I COMPLETELY agree about your over powered point. There are times when you need more power at extended ranges or more power if a hippo is breathing down your neck but for the most part guys are wayyyyyyyyy over doing it these days for no real benefit.
I'm using the hornady z max in my rifle at the time. Stupid advertising, but a good bullet at s great price. Reloading for this little csrtridge is fun and easy, anf my zastava doesn't seem to be picky about the loads it prefers. When I first recieved it, it was about the roughest action that I had ever cycled. Instesd of polishing it in all the wrong spots, I simply ran an entire case of dominion hallow point through the gun; smothed up quite nicely.
As far as zastava quality goes, I love this gun, but I wouldn't recomend it. My cz was a pile of issues as well. I honrstly think that if zastava ever put serious effort into their quality control, they would have a product that other companies would try to emulate.....who cares if it would cost a few hundred dollers more.
ivor
 
Okay, slight hijack, my apologies.

I get Can Am's emails, and would like to check their site, but their web page is all text for me, and all jammed on the left side of my screen, with text overlapping each other etc.

Totally unusable...anyone can throw me a bone here to make their site look fine for me? No problems with any other sites that I know of...

Clear your history/cache and it should be fine after.
 
You will find it a lot easier to mount a variety of optics with the rail, the rifle is very picky about scope size with the weaver bases.

If I was going to put an optic on the m85 again I'd go for the rail.

I don't want to mount a variety of optics, I only want to mount one scope.
 
LOL, maybe I can cut some down if it embarrasses you to have a full length picatinny .... the whole point of making it full length is to give more than two possible mounting points.

But aren't there are plenty of choices out there already for the two piece mount?

I have already ordered a M85 and the rail. I can cut it myself easily enough. If I knew where I could get two piece bases I would have got them. The looks of the rail do not embarrass me, it just looks cheap. If it does not work out as I want I will get the Leupold mount from Brownells, it looks quality.
 
A steel mount is certainly nice if you can get it at a reasonable price.

That being said we have made this mount out of a good quality aluminum and it is milled, not cast.

I have seen pics of the original aluminum mounts and they do look beat up after use, so that makes me wonder if they are cast rather than milled. Certainly if the mounts I made are not doing the job for you I would like to hear back. My choice of aluminum as a material has to do with keeping the customer costs down and not adding any more weight to your rifle than necessary.

I might add that at this point there is a very small market for this particular item in Canada. I think there are only a few hundred of these rifles in the country that require a mount.

This is not to suggest that the Canadian market isn't important, but before spending the extra money in making a run of steel mounts I would want to be certain that the demand was there.
 
I'll just add that I have had two Zastavas (full size, not M85), and the rear hole spacing was different enough that one would accept any M98 base, and the other wouldn't. I eventually elongated one hole on the steel mount; mine wasn't as far out as described above, more like about 1/4 of the screw diameter. An aluminum mount would be much easier to modify this way than the steel one was. The M85 is such a nice light little gun that the lower weight of the aluminum base also seems more appropriate for it.

For the record, both of my guns cycled smoothly and functioned without any problems.
 
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