Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Left Hand Zastava 9.3x62

Toying with the idea of getting one of these for camping in bear country. It has iron sights which is a plus and a 286 gr slug would work great if needed. I can keep my 35 Whelen sighted in with the bullets it likes best for hunting in the mountains and load a 9.3x62 heavy for bear.

For those of you that have a Zastava any reason not to buy one?

No reason at all not to buy one. Here is a post I made about two years ago based on my 7x57 from a LH group buy back a few years ago. The thread was about a 6.5x55 hence the reference but those of us on the group buy shared our views and pretty much had the same experiences.




Zastava makes their Model 70 (no relation to Winchester) in the 6.5x55. It is a lot of bang for the buck but it does need refining. It is the same rifle as an Interarms Mark X except not as nicely finished. Zastava will finish rifles to a certain price point, with the Model 70 they put the money in a good barrel and solid basic rifle but don't seem to spend a penny on looks or interior polish.

They have been discussed before but to reiterate:
The Good
- Very accurate - not 1/4" all day long but they should be sub-MOA for sure.
- Solid steel through and through, a real Mauser albeit with a two position safety
- Good, crisp, easily adjustable trigger
- exterior metal finish is very smooth and bluing is well done
- they come with a good set of basic open sights, including the mail box over the front sight.
- the stock ergonomics are excellent, they come with proper cast and cant although the LOP is made for about a 6' 6" person.

The Bad
- They are rough inside and need polishing. A thousand cycles of the bolt as a minimum and/or you'll need to get after the feed rails and action interior with some fine grit paper.

The Ugly
- the stock. Checkering is amateurish at best, the finish should be removed and replaced. Wood can be plain as a 2x4 or it could be beautiful, you get the luck of the draw. However, they put twice as much wood in them as needed so there is a lot there to let you reshape it as thin and svelte as you want.


There are other commercial Mausers out there but as you've found the selection in 6.5x55 is a bit thinner, whereas I believe Zastava's so chambered are immediately available. Bottom line - if you want a new rifle that shoots well and has a lot of value hidden under a plain jane finish, the Zastava's are a decent choice. Plus they're pretty inexpensive.

Jim's review is spot on, based on the ones I have handled. One thing I would add is that the 9.3x 62 is built with the same barrel contour as the smaller sporting cartridges. That ends up with a barrel sidewall that is very thin and whippy. If the 375 H&H is available to you at reasonable cost, you might think about bumping up to it as it can be loaded down to 9.3x62 ballistics easily enough and it has more appropriate barrel contour.

Yep, the 9.3 barrel that I had measured right around 0.095" wall thickness at the muzzle. Looks curious when one is accustomed to seeing 0.125 to 0.150" wall thickness at the muzzle. Put about 2,000 cycles on the bolt before I called it "good"...

Thanks for the info guys, that is one of the great things about this place. I may pass on the 9.3 then and go with a 8x57 one day. Originally I was thinking of rebarreling or reboring my Rem 700264 WM to 358 Norma and I think I'll stay with that. I would rather have that than a 375 of some sort.

Gerry,

i ve got from few years ago. that is not the US version and mine is better than the one described.

the newer version that is in Canada is coming with a better design stock if it matters for you ...

but this is a $795 rifle to put in perspective a rem 700 sps are over $1000 over here ....

on that kind of caliber the 375 ruger stainless with the laminated stock is hard to beat and the sights are better than the zastava... most of the time the 375 ruger is coming with me ...

I received several of these to work on and upgrade to Winchester style three position safeties and fit new triggers on. In some case more upgrades were requested but the previous replies have all been pretty much spot on. They are for all intents and purposes the same as the late model Interarms Mk X, Charles Daly 98, and Remington 798. All had differing stocks but the metal work was the same except that the Zastava 70 with sights has different sights.

I worked on a couple, one leftie, one righty, 9,3x62's. I found the barrel profile to be perfect and they were great shooters. Rather than the 9,3x62 being too light, I feel that the 6.5x55 is too heavy.

Phil and z1r, thanks for your input got lots to think about. I wish I could handle one in person but that's not possible here.

Looking at the stock here it does look a bit different than some of the others I have seen.


https://www.tradeexcanada.com/content/zastava-commercial-m98-m70-left-hand-93x62-0

Gerry, I have two Zastava model 700 rifles in left hand configuration. One is a 30-06 and the other is a 375 H&H. The 375 came out of a group buy on the Campfire, and a couple of years later the '06 came--I think-- out of Canada. They are clearly not from the same production run.

Woodwork needs a bit of help. I solved that to my satisfaction by using 4/0 steel wool and linseed oil on the 375. The '06 just got the oil. The stocks are perfectly serviceable, but if you like superb woodwork, you will have to address this. I am perfectly satisfied with mine, as while I am careful with my rifle, I don't have to be anal about a random scratch.

Metalwork and bluing on both rifles is excellent, with the polish and bluing being superb. Both rifles function flawlessly out of the box. No failures to feed, no extraction problems, just load them and go. The 375 stays in .750 at 100 for 5 shots with 270 grain TSXs and Rel 15, and the 30-06 does a consistent .900 at 100 with milsurp Lake City '69 head stamp ammo. Trigger pull out of the box was heavy and creepy on both rifles, but adjusting both stock Mauser triggers gave each rifle a crisp, creep free 2 pound trigger.

Would I buy another Zastava if I needed a bolt gun? In a heartbeat.

Yeah, the stock in that link looks to be the hogsback type. I'd prefer it to the rollover that was on the models I handled. Those were the "American Style" http://www.zastava-arms.rs/en/civilianproduct/sporting-rifle-m70-american-style

The link you provided being their "standard". http://www.zastava-arms.rs/en/civilianproduct/sporting-rifle-m70-lefthand

Having handled the Zastava and the CZ 550, I prefer the Zastava. It makes for a lighter, handier rifle. I feel my CZ is just too club like.

Even though it's right handed I always kicked myself for missing out on this deal. M24/47 rifles sporterized by Zastava.



Check out the "More Views" pictures in this link. Man oh man, who says old world craftsmanship is dead?

Custom cheekpiece and checkering



Okay, I really like my full mil-spec M24/47 quite a lot, but this is definitely a "what were they thinking" moment...

Thanks for chiming in much appreciated. I like the looks of the one that they are importing to Canada better than the American version.

z1r, light rifles are much more fun to carry, that's one of the reasons I got rid of my 375 Ruger, it was over 9 1/2 lbs ready to go.

Yes, I prefer lighter too, especially when it is to be carried and used quickly at short to moderate ranges.

This 9,3x62 sports a 25.6" barrel and is open sight only using a Lyman #35 receiver sight. It is almost completed and weighs less than 7 lbs.



The 9,3x62 I am currently using:

[img]https://i.imgur.com/tx6LukG.jpg?1[/img]

The lefty Zastava's I worked on were a good value and with a modicum of judicious stoning slick up real nice.

Gerry,

Is the Tikka T3X Battue available in left hand in Canada?

I've only seen (on the net only) RH in the U.S.

Light weight should make a good camp gun... But maybe too light at only 6.2 pounds!



I've got a Win. 70 Classic stainless that I had JES rebore to 9.3x62, Quite accurate. A bit hefty though... going to drop it ina a Bansner but that will only take about 5 or 6 ounces off.

Jerry


Off of gunbroker;

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/729176942