Well, I've owned two Zastavas, Mark Xs to be exact. One in .375 H&H and the other a .300 Win. Mag. Both rifles were decently accurate but the one in .375 H&H had a serious flaw IMHO. The top of the feed ramp was as jagged as the teeth in a Great White Shark and gouged the brass with very deep grooves. I didn't keep it very long, but did look for another. Every one I found had the same problem, some worse and some not to worse. The .300 was a nice rifle and I would probably still have but a guy at the range saw it and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I'm still sorry I sold it.
I have a few M70s, one post 64 push feeder, the other post 68. A .243 and .338 Win. Mag. They shoot decently and it wasn't hard to find loads they liked. The rest are a .308 Youth Ranger I won in a raffle which I restocked to fit me, and two XTRs, a .257 Bob and 7x57 Mauser in the Featherweight configuration. The only other M70 I have is a New haver Stainless Classic in .338 Win. Mag. that I will probably either rebarrel to something else or maybe even sell off as I do not like it as is. Damn thing beats me to death.
As to which one would I choose of the OP's choices. Knowing the way I think I'd find a way to get both. But that's me. Lately however, I've been playing with the 7x57 which would incline towards the one chambered to that round. I have three as it is, the M70 mentioned, a Ruger #1A and a custom built on a J.C. Higgins M50 Mauser. The more I play with the cartridge, the more I'm getting to like it. As I'm quite fond of the 98 Mauser action, I probably would go for the 7x57 as that's my current labor of love.
Paul B.
Last edited by PJGunner; 07/28/21.
