Many thanks for this excellent thread, Baribal. I somehow missed it when it first came out...fortunately (?), another winter storm is keeping me in the house and giving me an excuse to read some on CGN, so I found it now.
You are a goldmine of information.I got my first Zastava, a .9.3x62 Mannlicher-stock model, a couple of months back, and
I am very impressed. It's not a high-grade rifle, but for the money I think it represents excellent value. I've had several CZ's in various chamberings, and the finish on the Zastava easily matches all of them, and surpasses most. The slight roughness in the bolt (again, like the CZ's) is already much improved after a few hundred firings, and probably a thousand or so dry-firing cycles.
The Animal Planet channel provides plenty of practice hunting opportunities...must be sure to observe all safety practices scrupulously, to avoid being featured in "Canadian Man Shoots TV Set!" headlines.
I didn't want a do-everything generic rifle in .30-06/.270/whatever...I wanted a gloss-blue Mauser, chambered in one of the cartridges I was hankering to play with, topped with a straight-tube gloss scope in old-time Weaver mounts, that was inexpensive enough for guiltless, carefree hunting. How's that for a set of specific criteria? The Zastava filled them to a T, and did it so inexpensively that I can easily grab another one in .458 and have both guns for about the price I expected to pay for just one new toy.
It's always nice to get a new gun. A new gun that still makes you smile a few months later when you pick it up and are reminded how perfectly it fits the bill for you, is much less common. I cannot wait to hunt this gun!