Zastava ?? Are they worthwhile?

I don't know what had happened to my zastava 9.3x62, it is now super smooth. It used to be a very rough action. It is now very accurate. I shot at 300 yard gong in the port alberni range, bang on! The trigger is feeling much better.
Took a black tail deer the past weekend with it. It is not going anywhere
 
I just bought a new zastava M70 magnum action from tradeex.
Not as smooth as it could be but a little use and it will wear in i believe.
Im building a 460 weatherby on it. I also bought a zastava m70 barrel from tradeex chambered in 458wm for a sporter surplus rifle i have.

I think they are well worth the price.

I have a MP-22 in 22LR and that is an awesome 22 for the price. I like it a lot

Tradeex also has M70's as complete rifles and or just barrels in 375h&h, 458wm, 9.3x62 and a few others for a very atractive price.
 
I just bought a new zastava M70 magnum action from tradeex.
Not as smooth as it could be but a little use and it will wear in i believe.
Im building a 460 weatherby on it. I also bought a zastava m70 barrel from tradeex chambered in 458wm for a sporter surplus rifle i have.

I think they are well worth the price.

I have a MP-22 in 22LR and that is an awesome 22 for the price. I like it a lot

Tradeex also has M70's as complete rifles and or just barrels in 375h&h, 458wm, 9.3x62 and a few others for a very atractive price.

It's a true magnum action? How long is the magazine well?
 
Its a true magnum. 5mm longer then my 8mm mauser action. The mag well opening is 92mm long. Its set up for 91.5mm oal from factory (375h&h)
 
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The action has not been modified, here are two pics of a unmodified action (top) and a modified one (bottom).

TMv4Tk0.jpg
 
Yeah the magnum action is 2mm longer in the back and 3.5mm longer in the front. Like ground away towards the recoil lug. It also has a different shape to it, its wider at the feed ramps

My commercial 8mm mag well starts at 26mm from the back of the recoil lug and the m70 mag well sit at 22.5mm away

Im sure ill have to move it forwards for the 460 but i think i can do it my self. Also open up the bolt face more
 
My observations of a Zastava 458 Win Mag - bought new in 2014. As received from factory, there was clearance between the recoil lug and the stock cross bolt. I glass bedded that with Devcon Steel. I was surprised that there was only the action recoil lug - no recoil lug on the barrel, which I expected to see.

The stock's bulkhead at the rear of the mag well was very thin - about 1/8" or less, with about 3/16" clearance between rear of mag box and the bulkhead. There was a cavernous excavation in the stock to accommodate their trigger assembly, and then some. There was no rear cross bolt. Not surprisingly, within a couple years of sitting in the gun cabinet, there was a crack through that bulkhead, so nothing holding the stock together from front of mag well to rear tang. I built up about .030" thickness of masking tape on rear of magazine box and filled the gap with Devcon to reinforce the bulkhead. I like the two stage mauser triggers, when set up for nice clean two step trigger pull, so carved a block in the shape of the space needed for a military trigger to function, attached it to the action, and filled the trigger cavity with Devcon - that took three separate pours and well over a fluid ounce to get it filled. Laid a U-shaped metal strap in there a-la-Weatherby internal cross "bolt".

I had mounted an old time Redfield flip up aperture sight to the rear of the rear scope base. Removed the rear sight from the barrel - 2 - M3x0.5 screws and some red "loctite" holding it on - never did find slotted filler screws, so installed some allen head set screws, until I make some slotted ones.

Attempted to change out front sight to a fiber optic bead. Through my own klutziness, I discovered that the front sight is mounted with a shallow dovetail cut into the barrel, a "top hat" style insert that the front sight screw attaches to, and more "loctite" holding the ramp to the barrel. To boot, it is not a standard 3/8" dovetail on the sight ramp.

I do like the blued finish, but did not really fancy the longish skinny (to my eye) bolt handle, so swapped it out with a polished one from a Parker Hale magnum - it headspaces perfectly and at least 80%+ bearing on the recoil lugs. Mounted a Leupold M8-2.5x and I think it is ready to go. Next mod, for sure, will be a front sight that I can be sure will not go flying off into the bush when I really need it, probably a banded ramp that can be soldered in place.
 
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Have had several new Zastava rifles. 375 H&H, 9.3x62mm, 6.5x55mm, 7x57mm.

The good news is they were all quite accurate. The bad news is be ready to tinker.

The 9.3mm had the holes for the scope bases drilled so off center that I needed windage adjustable rings and ended up shooting my moose that year over the open irons.

The 7x57mm would not extract and would not load the top round on a full mag. Off it went back to the retailer, where it did come back fixed. (Trade Ex took care of this right away, great service)

All were rough feeders with rough actions...they do smooth out some over use but they will never be a Win 70. If you like nicely finished and checkered stocks, these will not be for you lol...But they are cheap.

For the price they shot awesome and had an adjustable trigger.

Good value, overall. But you may get one with issues. If it came down to a new Zastava or a new cheap ass $600 mostly plastic gun from most places these days? Zastava.
 
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