24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
I�ll try to keep this succinct, but probably won�t:

LK70 in 7X57. Very first impression out of the box is �crude�, and that is solely due to the lack of finish on the stock. I think there is a finish somewhere in there, I can smell it, but it looks like raw wood at first glance.

Bolt travel is a bit rough, trigger pull is a l-o-n-g grating creep. The stock is huge, there is enough wood here for about 1 � nice stocks. LOP is 14 � �, those Serbs must have really long arms. Checkering is amateurish at best, a bordered line checkering with several overruns, some areas deeper than others and so forth. Metal to wood fit is so-so, lots of gaps but nothing too horrendous. The barrel is free floated.

The wood itself is great, I�d say terrific for the price, it is a very, very nicely figured and laid out piece of walnut. It will be beautiful with some Tru-Oil or any kind of decent finish on it.

The bluing is also very good, it has a nice polish to it. Rear sight is adjustable for elevation and drift adjustable for windage, front sight is a ramped bead with the typical mailbox hood.

Second impressions: I took the rifle apart and it is a real Mauser � all forged and milled steel. The floorplate and magazine box are one piece and that mag box is thick walled and Strong. The follower is a bit shorter than the mag box as there is a slight gap at the front. The box will hold a .30-06 length round but the follower is sized just right for a 3.1� OAL 7X57. The stock is pillar bedded. Inletting is good but rough, the barrel channel in particular is very rough, they didn�t bother to sand it out after hacking it out with a chisel or some similar tool.

The stock has a rollover monte carlo and thick cheekpiece and it has the proper cast-on for a left hand shooter. Except for the extreme LOP it feels very comfortable.

The trigger is fully adjustable, you need a 7mm and 8mm wrench to loosen the lock nuts, but just turning a couple of screws quickly took it from a long, grating 5 pound pull to a crisp, 2 � pound pull with just enough overtravel to be reliable. Very nice.

It holds 5 down. Feeding the first one is rough and takes some effort, the remaining four feed up slick. Rails and some other areas will need some 600 grit work, the cases are scratched as they come out. This is a genuine Controlled Round Feed, better than my Winchesters. That extractor takes control properly. I think the bolt travel and feeding will slick up a whole lot with some polishing.

Throat is long, a Hornady 139 grain Spire Point seated to the lands only has about .1� inside the case, maybe a bit more.

Summary: First impression - a bit disappointing. Second impression � hmm, this might have potential. Third impression � jury is still out, really need to see how it shoots first. I wasn�t spectacularly impressed with some other rifles out of the box but with some tweaking they became among my favorites, so we�ll see.


Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
BP-B6

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
PS - this thing cost $589 so that should probably be taken into consideration. You don't see many forged, 100% steel rifles for that price.


Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424
Campfire Sage
Offline
Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424
Where did you get it?



Travis


Originally Posted by Geno67
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual.
Originally Posted by Judman
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
Originally Posted by KSMITH
My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
It was a group buy of left hand Mausers arranged on accuratereloading.com. We ordered them last February. They were supposed to be here in 90 days but it ended up taking about 190. Lots of neat calibers � the American standards plus 7X57, 9.3X62, 6.5X55, .375 H&H, .458 WM, plus mini-Mausers in .223, .22-250m even 7.62X39.

They were manufactured by Zastava in Yugoslavia and imported by K-Var in Nevada.


Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424
Campfire Sage
Offline
Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424
Congrats on getting one. That seems to be a coveted item for wrong-handers.

Go shoot it!


Travis


Originally Posted by Geno67
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual.
Originally Posted by Judman
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
Originally Posted by KSMITH
My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
IC B2

Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 26,524
RWE Offline
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 26,524
Originally Posted by Jim in Idaho

Summary: First impression - a bit disappointing. Second impression � hmm, this might have potential. Third impression � jury is still out, really need to see how it shoots first. I wasn�t spectacularly impressed with some other rifles out of the box but with some tweaking they became among my favorites, so we�ll see.


I felt the same about my mini, but I did some polishing and tuned the trigger a little, and it has become one of the few guns that won't see the revolving door that covers my gun collection.

Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,964
P
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
P
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,964
Send that puppy to Karnis and let him whittle it down to pleasing proportions


Guns don't kill people, it's mostly the bullets
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
I had thought of exactly that and am kind of torn here. On the one hand, the wood itself is very nice. A little slimming (and sanding off that awful checkering job) while keeping the overall lines, recheckering,a nice finish and maybe a forend tip would turn it into a real beauty. But then the inletting would still be a bit �off�. It�s not horrible but has gaps around the rear of the trigger guard and around the barrel, that wood is gone and can�t be put back.

It�s a bit premature to mention this, but kk alaska put me in touch with a stockmaker in Idaho real close to me and I've emailed him. He says he has almost 250 patterns with many of them being old historical classics. He�d like to create a pattern and supply semi-inletted stocks to a lot of us who bought these left handers. I�m going to drive over and visit with him sometime soon to see what his work is like and what he has.

What I�d like is to sort of duplicate Osa Johnson�s Type A that BFaucett displayed in the African forum and I'm hoping this fellow could do that. I�ve had a real nice piece of quarter sawn walnut sitting in my bedroom for over ten years, Jack Belk picked it out for me at a Boise gunshow. It has a great reddish/brown tint to it with nice figure and would be a perfect candidate for this.

But then I�d waste that nice piece of wood that came with this rifle. It�s not AAA or anything but it�s right up there with some of the nicer wood you occasionally see on Ruger #1�s.

Plus, this rifle has to prove itself before I go spending a lot more money on it.

I�m in no hurry, just thinking of possibilities. Besides, half the fun in these kinds of projects is just dreaming and planning. grin


Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,255
E
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
E
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,255
Jim,
Much appreciate the comments. Would love to hear about the .223 too.
And how's feeding? My lh Charles Daly/Zasta mini has issues there....

Ella

Joined: May 2008
Posts: 16,540
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 16,540
Picture Jim, pictures.


The Chosin Few November to December 1950, Korea.
I'm not one of the Chosin Few but no more remarkable group of Americans ever existed.
IC B3

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Here ya go! I cut and pasted this from a post I just made on ar.

Here it is: Zastava LK70. You can see the nice figure of the wood and the fact that it seems to have no finish at all. But the overall lines are nice.
[Linked Image]


Closeup of the same left side. I tried daubing on a little Tru-Oil to bring out the grain but my bottle was old.
My amateur photography doesn't do this justice, nor does the lack of finish. But in my mind I can picture the highlights coming out of this with a nice deep finish on it.
[Linked Image]

Right side.
[Linked Image]

Lots of wood around that barrel. You can see the inletting isn't too close.
[Linked Image]

Looks like a Mauser bolt to me.
[Linked Image]

The metal polish is actually quite nice.
[Linked Image]

It has a slender barrel, it's .555" OD at the muzzle.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/IMG_01896.JPG[/img]

Inletting.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/IMG_019012.JPG[/img]

More wood to metal fit.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/IMG_01918.JPG[/img]

The pistol grip is very pleasing to the hand. Those palm swells on either side and the flare at the bottom make a nice, sure grip.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/IMG_01929.JPG[/img]



Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Continued:

Front sight.
[Linked Image]

Okay, this branding I don't mind.
[Linked Image]

And the caliber stamp I really like. But the other part, I dunno, Las Vegas just doesn't strike me as the home of fine rifles.
[Linked Image]

"Hey, Sergei, hurry up and finish that checkering and let's go get a beer!"
[Linked Image]

"Okay, okay, I'll be right there, I'll just be another minute!"
[Linked Image]

"There. Perfect!"
[Linked Image]



Third impression: Nice rifle. The action needs a little polish but it's solid and well made. The stock has good lines, great ergonomics and nice wood, but they sure didn't put much effort into finishing it

Overall, though, it's definitely worth the low price of admission, and with all of that milled steel I'd almost say it's a bargain. I think I'll keep it for a while. smile

[img]http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/IMG_01839.JPG[/img]



Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
I'm still thinking on the .223. The stock is definitely more than needed for the trim little rifle that sits in it and the wood is more blonde, not as nice as the 7X57, but the overall shape is the same.

Really busy last night and tonight so haven't had time to even make up dummy rouunds to run through to check feeding or to check the throating.

I'm warming up to that 7X57 by the minute but just haven't devoted much time to the .223 yet.

It looks like it will make a great rifle with the same bit of tweaking and wood finishing as the larger one, but I'm not sure I'm up to two projects like that. Plus, I hold it next to my Kimber of Oregon M84 .223 and, well, there just isn't any comparison.

But we'll see. wink


Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 16,540
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 16,540
Based on the pics I'd say your first impressions were spot on.

I'll be looking for these on the used market in the future.


The Chosin Few November to December 1950, Korea.
I'm not one of the Chosin Few but no more remarkable group of Americans ever existed.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 12,145
C
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
C
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 12,145
A few years ago when Charles Daly was closing it's doors I bought one of their zastava mausers in 30-06, right hand, synthetic stock for $260 on closeout. It had some of the problems you described, gritty trigger, fed poorly from the box. The synthetic stock was standard tupperware like you'd find on a remington or winchester and the lines were fairly trim and pleasing, so other than it being tupperware it was OK. The good news is that the trigger cleaned right up with a bit of tinkering, it was pretty easy to get around 3# and get the creep out. I'm no gunsmith, but after feeding a bunch of rounds I was able to trace the feeding problem to some machining flash on the bottom edge of the extractor, a minute or two with a file had the flash cleaned up and it's fed great ever since. The really good news is that right out of the box it shot sub-moa, it's the most accurate big game rifle I've ever bought out of the box, it really didn't take much tweaking at all to get it shooting 3/4" groups.

For the money I paid it's probably the best firearm bargain I've ever found. I'd say yours is also. They're a bit of a diamond in the rough, but I'll bet it'll shoot well like mine did after you fix the minor issues. The stock does have nice wood, it reminds me a lot of the stocks you get on a CZ, too heavy and poorly styled for the american market. It looks like a project for someone with a rasp and some patience, but I'll bet it could be made nice.

Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 28,283
Yep. I'm not making any snap judgements but unless the .223 really impresses me on the range it might find a spot on gunbroker.

But you can see my dilemma on the 7X57 stock. It only needs a 1" shorter LOP and it would fit me perfectly, the pistol grip is round and full and fills the hand nicely (hmm, images of a woman's breast somehow come to mind right now, not sure why. confused ) Anyway...maybe slim down the forend just a tad and it would be perfect. And it does have really nice figure to it. A little bit of magic by one of our talented folks here on the fire and it would be a beauty. But that inletting... sick

But then again - it's mostly paid for. New stocks cut from blanks can get expensive, and even though the basic rifle is good it will never be an Oberndorf Type A so I'm only dreaming to think I can make it one or even close to one without a lot of work. And I appreciate inexpensive solutions (translation - I'm cheap).

Decisions, decisions...


Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery.
Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,255
E
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
E
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,255
Much appreciate the photos. I'm feeling kinda torn now. That IS some nice wood grain, lotta potential in that guy...

...but does it shoot?

Could be as fine a rifle as you want. Someone on this website had done an awefully nice custom by Someone Anderson? on a Zasta lefty action. I'm talking serious
nice....

(Here's the link: http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4344508/1)

Ella

Last edited by Ella; 08/22/12. Reason: link added
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 18,941
M
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
M
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 18,941
I had a Zastava Yugoslavia Mauser many moons ago. It was a RH 270Win. Me being a southpaw, I let it go, despite it being a gift from family.

Anyway, it was a well finished piece of metal, and built like a tank, action, and bottom metal. The action was not smooth, you had to manhandle the hell out of it.

Mine was in a custom myrtlewood stock, so that fit well. It was a shooter. Had a custom 27" bbl, so velocity was good. I just couldn't like a RH rifle.

Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,908
K
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
K
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,908
Wow Jim, I like the wood what did the 223 look like and was it as ordered, with double triggers? If my wood on my rifles are that nice I am going to send them to make over school! Mine are to be delivered Thurs. adnd FFL is hunting. Sure hope they don,t get sent back, UPS is a pain to deal with up here.


kk alaska

Alaska 7 months of winter then 5 months of tourists
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424
Campfire Sage
Offline
Campfire Sage
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 115,424
If I was born with the left handed issue, liked Mausers, and wanted a 7x57, I would say that rifle has a lot of potential.

Karnis would be my first call. After shooting it of course.


Travis


Originally Posted by Geno67
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual.
Originally Posted by Judman
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
Originally Posted by KSMITH
My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
365 members (1lesfox, 160user, 257 mag, 1lessdog, 12344mag, 01Foreman400, 40 invisible), 2,042 guests, and 903 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,593
Posts18,397,970
Members73,815
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.172s Queries: 15 (0.002s) Memory: 0.9051 MB (Peak: 1.0861 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 11:16:26 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS