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I've been looking at these for a while, does anyone know anything about them? Accuracy? Any frailties like a soft or brittle bolt? Good? Bad? I wanna know! If you really want something you'll find a way ... ... if you don't you'll find an excuse. I'm really not a "kid" anymore ... but I haven't grown up yet either  | ||
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| Gracie Allen is my personal savior! |
You have your pick. 20" barrel with a sporter-style stock or 18.5" barrel with a Mannlicher-style stock. I would have to advise against the Mannlicher, which is a pity because it is in many ways a nice little rifle (if a tad on the heavy side). The problem that seems to be endemic to them is that the extractor will only work with some cases and will often only work sometimes with some cases. There doesn't seem to be any way of predicting whether using only brass or steel cases will solve the problem. The extractor just doesn't consistently slip over the rim of the case. The rifle will fire, but sticking your fingers into the action to clear the chamber is not easy since the receiver doesn't leave much room to reach into and the interior edges of the receiver are really pretty sharp (think mag lips on cheap metal AR mags, or a bit worse). Basically, it's a PITA that I haven't figured out how to solve yet and for which there doesn't appear to be a commonly-known solution. The 20" sporter seems to have fewer problems with the extractor. It works consistently well with brass-cased ammo like Sellier & Bellot and PPU, but you will get feeding problems if you don't load the 4-round magazine so that the rounds are straight and shoved all the way back to the back. Even so, you'll still have the occassional time when the extractor won't quite slip over the rim, particularly if you don't slam the bolt forward before trying to turn the bolt handle down. As far as steel cases go, my rifle will feed and eject Golden Tiger and Silver Bear, but seating in the magazine is even more critical - it's easy to get failures to feed if you don't cycle the bolt vigorously, and the failure can only be remedied by sticking your fingers down into the small receiver with sharp edges. In both cases, the small size of the action and sharp edges militate against using a scope. It's easy to seat a scope low on the rifle using Warne rings (listed on Warne's website as being for the Interarms Mini-Mauser, which is in fact the same rifle). However, loading the magazine and clearing problems becomes a real challenge with a scope seated low. The only way to solve the problem is to mount the scope high, and enough people griped about having to do that with CZs in the old days that I don't know that it's really a good alternative. Since the front sight on both Zastavas is just a black bead, the odds are that you'll eventually decide that you need good light or a scope to shoot them. One other thing to warn you about - the gunsmith that worked at CAI who knew from these rifles left and now has his own shop. CAI can put you in touch with him, though, FWIW. In fact, I need to get in touch with him just to see if he's found a solution for the extractor problem. I have no reason to think that the bolts are soft or brittle at all. I really wish I could recommend these rifles more highly. Except for the problems I've mentioned, they seem to be very well made and durable. They also have shot well enough for me to make plinking a lot of fun. Unfortunately I think you're much better off with a CZ, particularly given that it's detachable box magazine basically eliminates any of the problems I've had with the Zastavas with low-mounted scopes. My CZ carbine has had no feeding problems at all, and has been more accurate at the target range than either of the Zastavas. The only way that the Zastavas are better is that they come with fold-down rear iron sights. CZ also offers threaded 527s with a 16.5" barrel and a regular 22" (OK, 21.875") barrel, but I don't believe either comes with iron sights. | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
Most reviews I've read say that it's really worth spending the extra cash for the CZ 527. Ruger recently released an American Ranch in 7.62x39, which has been getting good reviews, if you're wanting something cheaper than the CZ. | |||
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I looked at both guns and settled on the Ruger American and could not be happier. The win for me was that it took mini30 mags. It's lite, bolt is smooth ,trigger is fantastic and it ate every round of dirty lacquerd ammo I fed it. ________________________ "The Revolver -A more elegant weapon from a more civilized age." | |||
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Bone 4 Tuna |
+1 to that _________________________ An unarmed man can only flee from evil and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it. - Col Jeff Cooper NRA Life Member Long Live the Super Thirty-Eight | |||
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Same here. I've used a variety of wolf, tula, no name russian and various U.S brand ammo and it's worked flawlessly. Though Mini 30 mags aren't cheap, the O.E. ones are built well and you really only need a couple. | |||
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Hop head  |
great info, thanks for that, just to add, Zastava is the same as the Interarms Mark X, all made in the same plant, since the early 20's IIRC https://chandlersfirearms.com/chesterfield-armament/ | |||
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Decent rifle. Accurate. Steel case Ammo is difficult to close the bolt. Brass case is fine. For the price. Go with the Ruger American Rifle 7.62x39, accurate rifle, uses mini 30 mags big plus, it's threaded, and it's lightweight. The CZ is really accurate, set trigger, and five round mag. | |||
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Thanks to everyone, especially Il Cattivo for the detailed info! I'm not really interested in a detachable box mag and since I've recently been bitten by the CZ bug I think if this persistent urge for a Mauser type 7.62x39 continues I'll look into the CZ! As typical for me, I bid on a Zastava ... then started asking questions about them so if someone out bid's me on Gunbroker I won't be heartbroken ... and if not, my bid is the low end of a fair price ... and it's got 5 days to go. If you really want something you'll find a way ... ... if you don't you'll find an excuse. I'm really not a "kid" anymore ... but I haven't grown up yet either | |||
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| Gracie Allen is my personal savior! |
 Notice that I complain about them, but I'm still trying to figure out how to fix them rather than telling you that I've gotten rid of them. | |||
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The one thing I didn't say in the op is that I'd already bid on one on GunBroker ... I picked it up yesterday, its every bit as perfect as the pictures but after reading some of the thoughts here it surprised me. The trigger could be improved but its not horrible, the bluing is nice, the bolt operates nicely and not overly hard to close and the texture of the finish is nicer than I expected. I took it out on my lunch hour and shot 10 rounds of old lacquered steel cased ammo, 5 hollow point and 5 FMJ ... I didn't shoot it for accuracy as I was just shooting off the hood of my truck (it was warm), just at a gong about 100 yards out, the sights seem to be off to the left a bit but I think the only way I could be any happier with it, is if I'd bid less ... but then I wouldn't have gotten it! Here's the one of the GunBroker pix:  If you really want something you'll find a way ... ... if you don't you'll find an excuse. I'm really not a "kid" anymore ... but I haven't grown up yet either | |||
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Waiting for Hachiko |
I just read a review about that Ruger Ranch rifle, and I must say it appeals to me as much as the newly introduced Ruger Carbine. I have a Ruger Gunsite rifle, but I think the 7.62x39 Ranch rifle would be carried and used more, just wish it had iron sights. 美しい犬 | |||
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