Hi everyone,
I've just bought an Interarms X rifle in 7mm Rem Mag. Both the rifle and the calibre are a little unusual here in the UK, and I haven't been able to find out much about the rifle or the company. The rifle itself is stamped "Alexandria Virginia" and "Manchester England", and looks like it was based very heavily on a mauser sporting rifle. It was threaded for a scope and took Mauser mounts as well.

It also has express style sights with extra flip up leaves for 200 and 300 metres, and has been magna ported at some stage too.

It's in excellent condition, with no obvious marks, the shop I bought it from bought it at auction and couldn't tell me anything about its provenance.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the history of these rifles, and what I can expect from it? I haven't had the chance to fire it properly yet.

It's a Zastava....formerly imported to the US by interarms.

They sell locally for about $400 or so depending on condition.

Thanks! Are they generally considered sound rifles or not?

I paid about £600 for it, $1200! :O I guess thats just how it goes in the UK though.

yes....IMO they are fine and sound rifles.

The markings of Manchester, England and the three leaf express sights make the rifle sound like a "Whitworth" to me........which is a somewhat higher grade of rifle than the run of the mill Zastavia .

I have owned two Mark X's and both had Manchester, England stamped on the left side of the action but only one of them had Whitworth stamped on the front ring... I've also often wondered if there were other differences between them. The one with the Whitworth stamp was a late 1980's action.

I have one in 30-06 and I will not part with it. The action butter smooth. It is my favorite rifle. I reload for it and hunt it. I got a timney trigger on it and a four power scope.

Shooting it is like taking a picture with a digital camara, be it @ running deer or practice at the range. I have put well close to 1000 rounds tru it and plan to put several K more. It is as reliable as sunrise and sunset.

A gunsmith talked me into buying it back in the 80's. He said it was a very good firearm. He was right and if I saw him today ( he is no longer in the business) I would thank him for taking it off the shelf and putting it in my hands and saying, "Here you need this."

you have an excelent rifle there.
And an excelent cartridge. I have argued with a few guys about the Zastava compared to the FN mauser actions. While I somewhat prefer the FN, its prey close.
The Zastava has a better botom metal , it works, well while I don't even try to open the FNs any more to bad some yahoo ported it ...tj3006

Excellent rifle and it is an excellent base for a custom.

Here is a thread with lots of info on Mark X vs. Whitworth. LINK

Wow! I've just had a look at that thread, and it would seem that mine is one of the Whitworth Express Rifle African Series, as it is also marked "Whitworth", as well as "Manchester: England." It is also identical to the Whiworths shown in the thread.

I still have a Whitworth in a .375 H&H. It is a well made and accurate rifle. I've also owned a Mark X in a .30/06 for several years (one that "got away") and took some goats, axes deer, and pigs with it. The Whitworth has some nice features the Mark X is missing, ef. "express" sights, sling attachment on the barrel, nicer finish, better fit, and (particulary yours) better wood. Congratulations, Mags

Yeah, it certainly seems a nice gun, I'm itching to get some time off and get it on the range! Hopefully it will shoot as well as it looks.

From an accuracy perspective, is it worth mounting the sling to the stock, not the barrel? The barrel seems to be fairly free floated and I can't imagine having the sling attached to it will help.

I'd love one in .375, ifI could convince the Police, and find one!

Clarkey - The idea of having the sling mounted to the the barrel was to keep the hand from being "damaged" by the sling or "swivels" during "recoil" when shooting big bore rifles such as the .375 and .458 Winchester (big problem with that last one). If one were to use a "hasty" sling for shooting in "field positions", you might make a case that a "tight" sling might effect bullet impact. I've not seen a problem with group or impact effect of the barrel sling, but my barrel contour is fairly heavy in the "three-seven-five". My rifle is not "free floated", but is "full length glass bedded"; either way works well. Regards, Mags

I'll leave it be then and see how I get on; I doubt I'll be shooting at game at much beyond 250m, its not really the done thing in the UK and the terrain doesn't allow for it, so I doubt it will be crucial.