MD,
what is your impression of the Zastava 98 labelled as M70?
I am eyeing one in 300 Win Mag for $350. At the price of a Ruger American is it worth a gamble as a user or maybe future build? As if I need another. lol.
Not MD, obviously, but it is quickly becoming my "go to" hunting rifle. The finish on the metal easily matches that on my M70 or my BIL's M700, and the action is very smooth now that it has been cycled 1000+ times. The featherweight contour barrel doesn't string its shot as it gets warm, and it was easy to adjust the trigger to right at 2 lbs with zero creep. It is also easily the most accurate of my 7x57s, keeping almost everything I've used well within one MOA, especially the longer 175-grain bullets. I don't know whether or not that can be attributed to the faster European twist (1:866 instead of 1:9.5) - that would be a question for the technical guys - but it puts 175-grain Speer Deep Curls and Grand Slams into a nice little group. Zastava did a great job on the metal work.
The stock, on the other hand, is a different story. I've previously described it as consisting of "checkering" cut with a pocket knife, all finished with a single Lipton tea bag. It was really that bad. I've never done anything to slim the stock (which it could use), nor have I had it re-checkered - both options are on the table - but I did use a small bottle of TimberLuxe on the wood, inside and out. Underneath that tea bag finish was some nice walnut. Someday I might just have the entire stock dressed up a bit.
As for tweaking, the only thing I've had done is bedding and floating the barrel, as well as the installation of a red Decelerator, which matches the red tint in the wood. HT to Jim Kobe for his excellent work.
For the price, I don't think buying one for a future build would be at all out of the question.
RM
