Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Zastava v CZ v Winchester, 375H&H Opinions??

Any opinions on the Zastava Lefty in 375H&H? compared to a CZ 550 Safari Magnum or a Winchester 70 Safari Express?

I like my Zastava 375 H&H lefty. A lot. Feeds and ejects flawlessly and puts 5 shots into .750 at 100 yards if I do my part. I have no experience with the CZ or the Winchester, so I can't comment on them.

I have only handled the CZ & Zastava but own a Winchester.

All of them can use some work on them. The Winchester the least but it is on the heavy side at about 9.5 lbs nakkid. The CZ is the same or heavier. The Zastava is lighter but rougher in finish usually. AHR does a great job of turning the CZ into a classic African rifle, I have not seen their work on the other two.

So to me it comes down to paying a higher price for a rifle that is ready to go or if you want a basis for a project rifle.

Winchester for a stock rifle, Zastava for a custom re-do and the CZ if you are going to turn it over the AHR. But they all are serviceable as they come out of the box.

Added: Might post this in the express rifle section as well as doing a search. Some who post there regularly have owned multiples of all three although mostly rightys.

Owned a couple of the Winchesters and one CZ, never owned the Zastava.
Biggest difference between the CZ and Win is the weight with the CZ being heavier. The CZ could even be considered bulky by some but it does hold 5 down compared to 3 for the Winchester. The CZ also has built in scope mounts machined into the action which is a plus. CZ also has a set trigger, not sure if this is a distinct advantage.
If I had to pick would go with the CZ. But after owning both my preference is the 375 Ruger.

It is hard for me to imagine the CZ being bulkier than the Winchester, as I think the Win is too heavy for a .375 already, mostly because of a barrel that is too thick and long.

I have never held the Zastava in .375, the largest I have had is the 9.3x62. I would really want to see the barrel diameter on the .375. On the 9.3x62, the barrel was quite thin, and it would be even more so on the .375. So while my dislike for the Win is a barrel that is too big, on the Zastava, it might be just the opposite.

The Zastava is based on a timeless design. As they come from the factory, they are pretty rough. If you know a gunsmith who is handy with Mauser actions, they can be tuned into a quite servicable rig, for not too much money. I hunted with a dangerous game PH in Zimbabwe that carried a Whitworth .458 (same basic action)about a zillion miles after elephants and buffalo and it never let him down. There is about twice as much wood as you need on a Zastava stock, but that is easily remedied by a guy with a rasp, straightedge, and courage.

I do not know about the market for LH Win 70s in Australia, but in the US the prices are pretty much nuts: $2500-3000 asking prices, although I don't know how many actually sell at those prices.

I cannot offer any opinions on the CZ, as never having owned one.

I just never find quite what I want in factory guns, and end up making what I want. Were I to build another .375 H&H, I would find a standard length magnum bolt face LH Win, find a long magnum magazine box and follower, install a 22" barrel with a muzzle diameter of .675" or so and have the necessary action mods done, put it in a Legend-pattern McMillan standard fill stock, for a base weight of somewhere around 8 1/4 pounds. You could build something like that in the US for around $2000 if you spent no more than about half on the donor action.

Why the Winchester? I just love the way the tapered .375 H&H case feeds through a well-tuned Winchester.

JMO, but I think the CZ set trigger is excellent; about 3# regular, ~1.5-2#s set.

Check out the limits for parts availability with "soft tooling". This limits the Winchester, IMO. There won't be any of the mirror image parts left after about 10 more years. The C.Z. is really made for larger cartridges, but the lefty's are only in 375 H&H, the last time I checked. The L.H. action alone costs as much as a right handed rifle.

The Zastavas' are real on and off again products. I don't know what kind of tooling they used. CDNN inv. down in Abilene, TX has some lefty 375 Rugers in either African or Alaskan dress, for a penny North of $700. plus $16. shppg.

Last week, I picked up a left hand 300 RCM Compact R-77, but it had a bad claw ext. and some stock issues. Ruger rushed us a new extractor, which works fine. The first one had 0.022 inch more gap to the claw's jaw, and it dropped the fired case off, within the first inch of extracting it. My 300 RCM was made in 2012, and this model has been discontinued by Ruger. It has the full sized stock with a short 20 inch barrel.

But I bought it for a donor rifle, and it will have a longer fluted barrel, by next Summer. That will actually improve its aesthetics. FWIW, it cycles a 350 Rem. Mag. cartridge, just fine, too.

RLI,
I have a Zastava 375 and a Winnie in 404, the Winnie is great but for the $$ difference the Zastava wins, worst case I know a guy with a Richards micro fit that's most of the way done too.

The alternative would be a Winnie in 7STW to get the action straight off the bat. Of note the only thing my Zastava has shot has been a bull Banteng, such a shame I just always reach for the 404 in Buff/Banteng country.

Regards,

Mog