Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Zanteva sxs

Anyone know about the ones in all the cabelas stores? Guy told me they were a big armory purchase ...most were pretty hammered but I found a nice one in 16 for a tad over 300.. Thought it was a good way to burn up some cabelas points...

If we are talking of the same guns I saw at one of the Cabela's up here, Cabela's bought a ton of them. I saw Zabala guns but it could be there are other names as Spanish gun making of the era of these guns was almost a cottage industry rather than a true industrial operation. I looked hard at a couple but passed on them as the stock dimensions are far from what I prefer.

Zabala has produced mostly lower end guns that have been sold in this country under various names. What I have seen is they are probably more dependable than Huglu/most CZ but not as tank-like as Baikal. Fit and finish is worlds ahead of Baikal and more in the arena of CZ though not as pretty. My main concern, as with all imports, is replacement parts. I don't know of a place that has a reliable supply of often replaced parts and having things made can become pricey in short order.

I typically think of these types of guns as disposable if something breaks and price them accordingly. If not for the stock issue I might have been tempted as my Savage 311 is in need of some repair. The prices aren't bad...

Anyone know the age of them...they look some what old...maybe it's just the design but they look to be old...also wonder if they are a clone of somthing. The one I have is pretty German in design...just not in finish..

Sorry about the spelling in the title it's spelled Zasteva I believe...model 75
That company made a lot of clones .. From Yugoslavia ?

I don't have much on Zasteva shotguns other than looking at one in a pawn shop. As you point out, they are pretty Teutonic looking and I suspect they will follow pretty closely to the German guns of the era for reliability- in other words it will be decent to pretty good.

My experience with guns of this era is springs and firing pins are the most likely parts to fail. Firing pins generally need to be reproduced which is not usually outlandish in price if one can produce all the pieces. If not, length is trial and error which can raise the price significantly though usually not shockingly. Get a second pin made as wel as one for the other barrel at the same time (measure the other pins, there can be some difference in length) which reduces the cost per pin if one looks at it that way.

Springs can be easy to replace if one has a spring shop nearby. I've used one that could measure length, width, and spring rate and typically had something in stock. If not, they can make about anything imaginable though it can be a bit of a wait for a "one of" order unless you want to pay custom prices. Even then it isn't terrible unless you know the original price.

The main problem with these guns in my experience is stock breakage at the wrist. Many are quite a bit thinner in that area and often break, especially as they get older. I believe much of this has to do with the American penchant of using heavy payloads and/or higher pressure shells. Most of those I've seen break stocks were while hunting and were using the standard pheasant/duck load of an ounce and a quarter of shot at 1330 fps. That can be a lot of force directed on the wrist for each shot.

The other stocks I've seen broken were by those using the inexpensive 1 oz loads at 1290 fps. These tend to operate in the higher pressure range as wel as the higher velocity causing more recoil. The previous history was not known on these guns so it may be mere coincidence regarding the loads. I haven't broken a stock using 1 or 1 1/8 oz loads at -1200 fps/>9000 psi but I don't think I ever put one thousand rounds though such a gun before it went down the road.

That said, I have seen far more "German" guns not fail that fail so take that as further anecdotal "proof". If not for the stock dimensions I might look at getting one in 16 ga as a back up to my Citori.

I wonder if they were short chambered for paper shells...plastic shells will cause excessive pressure...thats kinda why I want to know the age..I will buy a chamber gauge and see...

Easy to tell what it is chambered for, take the gun apart and look at the flats on the underside of the chambers. The proof marks from the country of origin, chokes, and chamber length should be there. 2 1/2" shells will be marked 16- 65, 2 3/4" will be marked 16-70. It sounds like a Yugoslavian made post war shotgun if so it should be a fairly robust shotgun, google Zastava 75 shotgun and see iif it is the same.

Yea it's the same...there were several styles of them ..cabelas had many to choose from. I got the one with the cheek piece it seemed to fit better...still short but I will add a spacer in the stock maybe...my chamber gauge shows 2 3/4 chamber

I stopped at a Cabela's yesterday and looked at a couple. They appeared to be decently made. I am more familiar with the company's rifles but the shotguns seemed to be well made. The price was good though I passed on one to replace my Savage 311 for a few reasons.

First, they have a lot more drop than I like. Raising the comb height is not difficult but it generally isn't pretty when done on the cheap and doing it right is more than I wish to spend. Second, if they follow German tradition, they are choked tight and tighter and I don't want to pay to have them opened. Third, I see the utility of having a sling on the shotgun but I hate the look of the sling attachments. Lastly, the real reason, I bought a Browning Citori White Lightning in 16 ga 45 minutes earlier so had no disposable income at the ready.