Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Zastava rifles with Mauser action???

I had 2 or 3 in the Interarms flavor and one of the Zastava M70's in 30-06. The M70 came with double set triggers. It was a very good rifle and would predictably shoot under 1" with 165s. The Interarms rifles were also good shooters. In my limited experience they're a good buy for the dollars. I haven't had/shot the 7.62 but I think they were all built on the Mini-Mauser action.

d.

YES!!! That was where I found some. I also was reading your thread and I want to PM you on your calling!

OK...excuse the ignorance, but what are the differing factors on a true Mauser action and the so called mini Mauser action?

Do you guys know what one of the 7.62X39 Zastava's from grabagun would weigh? It might be a decent short range kid gun if it is built on the mini-mauser frame and isn't too heavy.

I have heard great reports of accuracy from the Zastava 22 rim fires.

Yeah, I thought that might be where you saw them--they're not on most of the online gun stores. And feel free to PM me about the other thread, or about anything else that you'd like to!

Regarding the difference with the small ring mausers: I know (obviously) that they have a slightly smaller ring (Here is a Mauser nut website with various info: http://www.mausercentral.com/rings.htm) And there was also a thread a couple years ago here at 24HCF where this came up some:
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4689263/Re_light_weight_mausers

But I'm sure there are much more knowledgeable people who can chime in about that...

I'm not sure what the weight difference would be on the 7.62x39 vs. the .30-06 (minimal, I would think), but I have the latter in an Interarms Mark X which is the same action in a slightly different stock, and it's just about 7 lbs. In another life it was the Remington 798, and that was listed as weighing 7 lbs even (with a composite stock):
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/2010/09/23/featured_rifles_rem798_091406/

See that thread (above) from here at the 'fire for a discussion on how light you can get these rifles. (it get's a bit off topic at points, though, so be forewarned! )

UPDATE::: I will let you folks know how the ARSENAL, Inc. Mini MAuser in 7.62x39 turns out...when it arrives!

Please do that.I would love to know what it weighs and how it shoots with some factory loads.Also interested in how high scope needs to be for bolt clearence and mounting options.

Good luck,I hope you like it.

In just a few days there will be a pile of them with left hand actions hitting our shores, both full size and the Mini-Mauser, in all sorts of calibers from .223 to .458 win. Mag. There was a group buy back in February and the importer is saying that they should be here by the end of April, so look for reports on them in the next few weeks.

Getting a 7X57 and a .223 myself, which reminds me I better get some scope mount bases PDQ.

A group buy through which importer may I ask? It sounds interesting.

The main difference is that the "mini mauser" doesn't have a full length extractor and doesn't have the bolt face opened up for controlled-round feed. It is dual, front locking, push feed system. It still has a mauser-type blade ejector and split left lug. It is essentailly a Sako L46 clone.

The real "mini mauser" is the CZ 527 action (and older Brno ancestors), in that it retains the full length extractor, and CRF. Although it is hard to give a reason why you would want CRF on a mini cartridge - it isn't like we are talking about a DGR! Nevertheless, the is one of the reasons why i rather the CZ action to the Zastava, and one of the reasons why the CZ is considerably more expensive to make, and buy. I like the smoothness and feed reliablity that the combination of midline feed with CRF in the CZ provides. The CZ also has a little bolt support on the tang on the right hand side that prevents the "mauser wobble" and prevents bolt binding - a nice touch. The CZ has larger lugs, too. Lastly, the CZ is quite a bit lighter (and hence is often actually referred to as the "micro mauser") and is made with CrMo steel, whereas i think the Zastavas are made with a manganese alloy reciever and chrome vanadium steel barrel. I think the CZ is a forged reciever and cast bolt, the Zastava has a forged bolt.

As you may have guessed, i am a huge fan of the little CZ 527 action! But they are much more expensive than the Zastava. In Australia, we can also buy the Zastava actions and barreled actions. I wish CZ would do the same, as do a lot of folks. They would be the perfect subject for a PPC or Grendel project.

The other really good buy in the new "mini action" market are the Sabatti 600-class actions from Italy. These are a midline, push feed, dual lugged front locking system which i think were based on either one of the early Sakos or Tikkas. In fact, i heard rumours they bought the old machinery straight off the Finns.

I should mention that the other offering from Zastava that gets overlooked for their bigger mauser actions is their rimfires, which are somewhat confusingly called CZ99. The Zastava rimfires are excellent little rifles and probably one of the great sleepers out there on the firearms market. Triggers aren't great, but otherwise an excellent little rimfire.

Reading back thru the thread, i think you could get a somewhat biased opinion of the accuracy of the Zastava mausers. They are certainly capable of fine accuracy, but most will require a little work to get them to reliable sub-MOA levels of accuracy. You wouldn't buy one if accuracy was your primary concern, but they can certainly be made to shoot very accurately with a minimum of fuss - as can just about well-made rifle. But if you were going to have an out-of-the-box accuracy competition, i am quite confident Zastava wouldn't win any prizes. At the same time, i have also seem extremely accurate and competitive benchrest rifles built on Zastava actions.

I don't know about others but, my 799's have steel receivers, not a magnesium alloy.

Elliot Milmeister
K-VAR Sales Rep
4001 S. Decatur BLVD. #37383
Las Vegas, NV 89103

Office: 702-364-8880 ext 1
Cell: 775-720-0281
Fax: 702-307-2303
Webpage: http://www.k-var.com

Manganese steel or low-alloy carbon steel like many older mauser actions, not magnesium alloy. I used the term to differentiate from the CrMo steels most modern "blued" rifles use.

Action weight is just under the 3lb mark, so they are about half a pound heavier than a M700. They are heavier than most more modern actions but lighter than a pre-64 M70 or a Weatherby Mark V. In the (admittedly pretty crappy) polymer stock, they are only around the 6.5lb mark. The "mini-mauser"/M85 is around the 6lb mark in walnut.

For the coin, the LMK70 is a great buy - once you iron out the bugs. Mine had a timber stock which I bedded tthe action and free floated the barrel. The timber got some more oil and it didnt end up half bad (the factory checkering is atrocious though). I yanked off the iron sights and at least it looks a bit more interesting now





Gus

Got a 93.x62mm coming via the group buy. Can't wait to see what the 'lumber' looks like on it. The Zastava web site shows a nice dark piece of walnut (possibly Turkish), but other pics I've seen, show the wood as rather bland and birch-like - not much to write home about.

The 7.62x39 is the smaller action, IIRC. (799 Rem, or mini-mauser as some have alluded to)

VA had one the last I checked. He test fired it out here and it shot really well.

I have one in 222 that I built from white action up.

I won't part with it short of the cold dead fingers philosophy.

Gotcha' my .223 has a weird finish, the 7.62 is one of the nicest blued rifles I've ever seen,like an old Belgian Browning.

They just did a group buy awhile back for left-handers. I didn't get in on the buy, but Elliot said they ordered some extras and I put a deposit down on a LH M-70 in .25-06 and a M-85 in .223 Rem.

My next purchase from them is going to be a 6.5x57 or 7x57 Mauser.