Zastava rifles? Yea or nea.

I have/had a few. Good rifles, proper Mauser 98 action with the 3rd safety lug on back of the bolt. Good triggers, easily adjustable. Basic 2 position safety. Reliable and built tough, MOA with a bit of work but realistically 1.5-2 MOA with most factory ammo which is reasonable for a hunting rifle.

Many of the receivers are drilled a bit wonky so windage adjustable rings are often needed. A couple of my bolts were filled with a ton of shipping grease and made cycling the bolt feel a bit gritty. Stripped them down and a good cleaning resolved that issue.
 
I've had good experiences with my Zastava's in 9.3x62, 8mm's, and 7x64. Shot great and work horses that you don't have to worry about bumping and bruising. Dont let one person's lemon ruin it for you.

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mikeyb said:
I have one and I hate it. My grievances are many, and it's currently in pieces... again...
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I would suggest that your grievances are not the norm.

I have seen and used several Zastava built rifles, including the one built for Remington, the REM798.

I have seen ONE where the base mount holes weren't square to the axis of the receiver and the bases had to be modified to square.

I haven't found them to be especially accurate, say on the level of a Tikka or Sako but more than adequate for shots out past 300 yards on big game animals.

The early Zastavas had many hand made parts and were a true testament to their machinists/smiths. Sometimes the metal used for the smaller components was a bit on the soft side, especially in their adjustable triggers.

It was one of the early rifles that I saw with trigger issues. Replacing the trigger, with an after market adjustable trigger fixed it.
 
bearhunter said:
I would suggest that your grievances are not the norm.

I have seen and used several Zastava built rifles, including the one built for Remington, the REM798.

I have seen ONE where the base mount holes weren't square to the axis of the receiver and the bases had to be modified to square.

I haven't found them to be especially accurate, say on the level of a Tikka or Sako but more than adequate for shots out past 300 yards on big game animals.

The early Zastavas had many hand made parts and were a true testament to their machinists/smiths. Sometimes the metal used for the smaller components was a bit on the soft side, especially in their adjustable triggers.

It was one of the early rifles that I saw with trigger issues. Replacing the trigger, with an after market adjustable trigger fixed it.
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The few i shot with a bedding and free floating job shot between 1/2 inch to 1 inch groups on average with load development. My best shooting one is my 8x57. Shoots 3 shots in a cluster for .5" group with Norma Dual core plastic points.

My 9.3 with no bedding job was an awesome shooter. Regret selling that one.

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dgradinaru said:
The few i shot with a bedding and free floating job shot between 1/2 inch to 1 inch groups on average with load development. My best shooting one is my 8x57. Shoots 3 shots in a cluster for .5" group with Norma Dual core plastic points.

My 9.3 with no bedding job was an awesome shooter. Regret selling that one.

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Very nice! How hard is it to change barrels?
 
I have one in 22wmr and is my go to rimfire. Excellent shooter with tight groups to 100 yards.
I like the fit and finish of this one.
Go for it!
 
I have a full stock 308 version love it. Wood leaves a little to be desired but everything works as it is supposed to, as long as I do my part.
 
Well, I'm waiting for an 8x57 M70 from a site sponsor, Great North Guns. Needless to say, I'm hoping to get a good one. I am not an Olympic class shooter, so if it will do minute of gong, I'll be happy. It will be the very first brand new "big rifle" I'll have in my pile, that I plan to keep. A Christmas present from my dear wife, I should add. :)
 
I have one in 9.3x62 overall I like the rifle shoots good , carries nice. The 2 things that I don't like are the floor plate lock up ( although it has never popped open I still tape it shut ) as the rifle is - was carried for bears I didn't want to take a chance. And I could never get it to feed round nose bullets , pointed bullets feed fine never a problem.
 
pounder said:
I have one in 9.3x62 overall I like the rifle shoots good , carries nice. The 2 things that I don't like are the floor plate lock up ( although it has never popped open I still tape it shut ) as the rifle is - was carried for bears I didn't want to take a chance. And I could never get it to feed round nose bullets , pointed bullets feed fine never a problem.
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Hello - a pure "spitball" guess on my part, but I noticed that BSA sporter conversions from M1917 seem to all have a "half-an-hour-glass" shaped grind done to the receiver feed rails - from somewhere, it was explained to me that lets front end of round nose hunting cartridges rise up sooner from the magazine, as the bullet rides up the feed ramp - not needed with the pointy FMJ military bullets that the M1917 was designed for. Maybe worth your while to look at that??
 
They're accurate. They have a great barrel. Its a tough action and the bluing looks way sharp.

I've had about 5 and they all needed some form of fixing.

ALL had scope base holes too far off center to zero a Leupold Vx-1 or Vx-Freedom. Doable with a Bushnell Elite.

One had a trigger screw fall out during a hunt

One had a chamber that was improperly cut and while functioned just fine, you could see it had a pretty interesting impression on the case shoulder.

One had a rear sight that couldn't be zeroed and shot a foot low.

One came from Trade Ex with an extractor that didn't function at all. They made it good for me right away. Great service. They even let me use it that hunting season as a single shot first.

And some feeding issues.

You pay your admittedly cheap price and take your chances but I'd say be prepared to get some form of fixer upper. Others have had a lot better luck than me. At this point I'm in the "Save a bit more for a Winchester or a Ruger even if its used" camp.
 
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