I have been trying to figure out the answer to this question the last few days and have had no luck so far. Is there anyone that is going to import the stainless steel Zastava mausers to the US?

If so, would they be worth having? I know Zastava is a bit hit or miss, but a stainless steel Mauser action is just too intriguing to me to not want.

If you want a Mauser in SS then yes, they're worth having. The issue is that no one seems to have had any luck importing the Zastava Mausers on a regular long term basis. Vol717 from the AR forums is the last guy I know that was importing them. http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2711043/m/5031038632 You may want to reach out to him to see what is possible.

They are serviceable rifles needing a bit of judicious polishing to make them a smooth operating rifle. Far better then the Dumoulin Mauser actions that are being sold by SARCO.

I think they could be imported if anyone could stomach dealing with Zastava. At least, that's the impression I got the last time someone did a special import. Seems the Zastavians care much more about the quality of their checkering than they do about dealing with Americans.

We really, really, really need a sarcasm imogee.

I think a stainless Mauser would be about as rugged a rifle as you could build on. Plenty of stock options out there, so that wouldn't be a huge issue. Thanks for the pointer to the guy on AR. Every dealer I've messaged no longer has any Zastavas, much less the stainless version.

Were those Remington Mausers from a while back Zastavas? Those stocks were rough for sure. Dull screwdriver inletting and so on.

Yes, they were, and yes, they were.

We sure do!

I have a Zastava "M70" (M98), and when it arrived it looked as though it had been finished with a single Lipton tea bag after having brewed a cup or two of tea. Add the etched-in "checkering" and it was something to behold. Ironically, the finish on the rifle itself is some of the deepest and even bluing I've seen. But as you said, they're not much on stock work. I should mention, though, the wood underneath the Lipton finish has a decent grain that a few coats of Timberluxe brought to the surface.

RM

I've been told but can't confirm that Boyds supplied those Laminate stocks for the 798's.

When you get tired of wishing and hoping, consider putting a stainless barrel on a blued one or one of the bazillion FNs out there. My late brother had one built by Brown with a Shilen stainless barrel and electroless nickle finish stuffed into a kevlar stock. Pretty nice rig, but pretty dang heavy by today's standards. Back when I was a one-rifle guy, I used it to kill my first WV buck while my son used my rifle.

Yeah, Rev, I've looked at several of those and they were all like that. I think Jim overhauled one and it came out nice.

Just so this doesn't become too much of an inside joke.









Lest I seem to sneer at the Zastava too much, there is a pretty nice rifle contained in that desecration of wood. With a little polishing of the action they can be made into very nice rifles.

And despite the finish, they occasionally do put some nice wood on them.




I wish all success in someone making a stainless Mauser available at an affordable cost.

They do clean up nicely. We used a French Red stain on this and in retrospect I wish we'd left the wood natural or used a walnut stain, but with some slenderizing, refinishing and recheckering they are fine rifles.

I never got a piece of wood on a Zastava worth working with, so I went with a more radical approach.



A lefty stainless Mauser would be almost more than my constitution could bear.

Well, I don't know about a lefty version, but this is a model they have on their website. http://www.zastava-arms.rs/en/civilianproduct/sporting-rifle-m70pss

I figure that in a decent stock would be some kinda interesting. I mean I have various Mausers. But a stainless one..... That just screams rugged to me.

Hmm. That checkering looks like a great rifle loony winter project. Recutting isn't hard but takes a lot of time and patience. And that would run the price up quite a bit if Zastava did it.

That turned out really nice. How much wood did you remove?

By the way, for those interested, the one I have is 7x57 and the twist is the standard European twist: 1:220mm/1:866". It dearly loves 175-grain bullets.

Hard to really quantify how much was removed, but the LOP was reduced from 14 1/2" (must be lanky fellows, those Zastavians. ) to 13 3/4", the rollover cheekpiece was ground off, the wrist and grip were reduced enough to get through the original checkering and the action area and especially the forend had about half the thickness removed. These pictures also show the nice exterior finish they put on the rifle.

The closest before and after pics I have of the action area ,hopefully they show the difference in amount of wood around the action.




More "before" of the thickness of the forend.




"After" pics of the buttstock and checkering. The checkering was done by my local gunsmith. I didn't want anything really fancy (i.e. $$$) in keeping with the more budget aspect of the whole rifle but he did a nice functional job of it.

My all stainless zastava in 9.3x62 came out ok. bottom metal by duane wiebe and shroud safety by stuart satterlee

]

Two U.S. importers are listed on that website.

Nice.

I bought a stainless M70 in 9.3x62 when I lived in Australia a few years ago. It was a nice light piece. A little rough in the action that a few hours of work took care of. The barrel was very lean finishing at .550" IIRC. The synthetic stock was stiffer than what I had in the past with factory Remington's. I had brought a Bansner stock down when I moved hoping to find such rifle. Alas, just months after I bought it (it took months to get the necessary license) I was transferred to Korea and had to return it to the store where I bought it at a loss. It would have made a fine rifle I am sure.

Retailers

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Man you really turned that stock into something

That is almost exactly what I had in mind when I started this thread.

Also, I appreciate the people naming the two distributors listed on Zastavas website, but after emailing both companies they no longer import them.

I stripped off the mud they used to finish the stock on my mini mauser and there was a nice piece of quarter sawn walnut hiding underneath.



I'd like to have a stainless mini mauser in 7.62x39

Nice job putting that stock on a diet, Jim.

I had Jim Kobe do a little work on mine when I first got it - putting a red Decelerator on it was a nice touch. All-in-all they are pretty sturdy rifles...which makes me wonder whether or not they aren't game for a semi-custom build.

RM

Is that the original bolt handle?

I'd love to take credit for that but all I did was go to my gunsmith and tell him what I wanted, he gets the credit for the actual work.

Too bad. Never fear, besides the stainless barrel option, there are other SS Mauser-like actions out there. Just squint your eyes a little!

I'm not sure of the hassles involved acquiring firearms from Canada into the US but here is one in 7x64.

https://www.tradeexcanada.com/content/zastava-commercial-m98-m70-stainless-synthetic-7x64-0

There are a few blue steel and walnut ones on Gunbroker (new).

Now that exact rifle would be pretty neat. A 7x64 was actually one I thought it would be nice to have in. Anyone have any idea on the expense of importing one?

If you look through the GB listings, you'll find a store in TN with several for sale, might be a good place to contact.

Guns International shows a new 7-08 at Cabela for $400. I didn't know Zastava made one in 7-08.

Yes original bolt handle.

Just got back from my local Cabela's, they had a .30-06 and a (shudder) .270 on the racks outside the Gun Library for $400. Checkering was slightly better than the one in Jim's pictures but still not great; there was lots of extra wood on them to work with though. If one had been a LH I'd sure have brought it home.

if you find one or own one keep it as they will no more made.

it was part of a deal between remington and zastava. never made in left handed version.

i got one in 9.3x62 that is not leaving home even used by RH people ....

Would there be interest in some sort of group buy for one? Maybe in 9.3x62?

stainless zastava wont be made anymore it was a part of the dead deal between zastava and remington ...

if you find one take it while you can.

i have one in 9.3x62 that my wife is using for bison hunting.

I’m very pleased with mine. It’s a solid 1.25moa shooter with 180g Interlocks. Shoots a little better with BTs and match bullets. Currently sitting in a Boyd’s....



Same rifle in the original plastic stock, which are not too bad by the way. Much stiffer than say an RAR stock...





I don’t use the rifle too much as 30-06 is a little too much gun for most of my shooting. It’s a great back up rifle though and useful for the big scrub bulls, feral horses and so on. All up weight is around 8.3 pounds.

That Boyd’s looks darned good Bob.

That's way more than OK.