Ok, I admit it, I broke down and got a Rem 798 with plywood stock in 30-06. I cleaned it up, adjusted the trigger to where it's acceptable, and mounted an old Swarovski 2.2-9x Habicht I had lying around on it. I haven't fired it yet. I actually like the stock, although it could have been finished better.

My question to those of you who have Zastava based rifles (798s/Interarms/Whithworth/Daly) in 30-06, what does your rifle prefer in the bullet weight department--165s or 180s? What kind of accuracy can I expect, MOA (or better) or minute of Moose?

Thanks in advance

I had a custom 35 whelen made on a CD/ Zastava action. It has a douglas 1:12 barrel cut to 23". While not an 06 it is based on an 06 case. I get 3/4" groups out of 250 grain nosler partitions. Even smaller groups with Speer 250 grain hot cors.

The 225 balistic tips have been right at 1 1/4" so far but I have yet to have time to work on a load it likes.

The actions are capable of great accuracy with a good barrel & shooter.

Try 48gr of IMR-4064 and work up to 50gr with the 165gr Accubond. Should work well.

the one i had liked the 165s better

My charles daly zastava 30-06 shoots 150 gr accubonds into less than an inch. The load is 53 gr RL15. It's only used for deer, I don't see any reason to shoot anything over 150 grs for deer.

I have a zastava branded 30-06 so I believe it is identical to the rem 798. I live in Australia so I use AR2209 which is sold in USA as a hodgdon powder which I think is H4350. My loads are developed for Sambar deer and Fallow deer hunting. For 165 grain bullets 59gn of 2209 shoot a hornady interlock or a Barnes TSX under an inch (54gn also worked well in my rifle as a mild load). The only difference between these two loads is the TSX needs to be seated deeper but there is plenty of space for this. This load should turn up about 2950fps in a 24in barrel. If I shoot a composite group of some hornady and some TSX bullets they are still under an inch.

I also load woodleigh 180 grain protected pionts as these Aussie made progectiles have a big following here. 56gn of 2209 gets a sub inch group. 57.5gn is the listed max and it shot about 1.5in from my rifle. I stuck with the 56gn load. Should be 2700fps in my rifle.

Don't be ashamed of the Zastava they are a rugged and reliable hunting rifle and mine shoots like stink when I feed it what it likes.

Thanks all. I loaded up some 180gr RN and 165gr SP Hornady Interlocks with IMR4350(55gr and 57gr respectively). I will poke a few holes Sunday and see which it prefers and then work on fine tuning loads. From the sounds of the replies given, the 165 load should work well in the Zastava.