I’ll try to keep this succinct, but probably won’t:

LK70 in 7X57. Very first impression out of the box is “crude”, and that is solely due to the lack of finish on the stock. I think there is a finish somewhere in there, I can smell it, but it looks like raw wood at first glance.

Bolt travel is a bit rough, trigger pull is a l-o-n-g grating creep. The stock is huge, there is enough wood here for about 1 ½ nice stocks. LOP is 14 ½ “, those Serbs must have really long arms. Checkering is amateurish at best, a bordered line checkering with several overruns, some areas deeper than others and so forth. Metal to wood fit is so-so, lots of gaps but nothing too horrendous. The barrel is free floated.

The wood itself is great, I’d say terrific for the price, it is a very, very nicely figured and laid out piece of walnut. It will be beautiful with some Tru-Oil or any kind of decent finish on it.

Second impressions: I took the rifle apart and it is a real Mauser – all milled steel. The floorplate and magazine box are one piece and that mag box is thick walled and Strong. The follower is a bit shorter than the mag box as there is a slight gap at the front. The box will hold a .30-06 length round but the follower is sized just right for a 3.1” OAL 7X57. The stock is pillar bedded. Inletting is good but rough, the barrel channel in particular is very rough, they didn’t bother to sand it out after hacking it out with a chisel or some similar tool.

The stock has a rollover monte carlo and thick cheekpiece and it has the proper cast-on for a left hand shooter. Except for the extreme LOP it feels very comfortable.

The trigger is fully adjustable, you need a 7mm and 8mm wrench to loosen the lock nuts, but just turning a couple of screws quickly took it from a long, grating 5 pound pull to a crisp, 2 ¾ pound pull with just enough overtravel to be reliable. Very nice.

It holds 5 down. Feeding the first one is rough and takes some effort, the remaining four feed up slick. Rails and some other areas will need some 600 grit work, the cases are scratched as they come out. This is a genuine Controlled Round Feed, better than my Winchesters. That extractor takes control properly. I think the bolt travel and feeding will slick up a whole lot with some polishing.

Throat is long, a Hornady 139 grain Spire Point seated to the lands only has about .1” inside the case, maybe a bit more.

Summary: First impression - a bit disappointing. Second impression – hmm, this might have potential. Third impression – jury is still out, really need to see how it shoots first. I've had a few other rifles that didn't spectacularly impress me right out of the box but with a little tweaking became favorites. So we’ll see.

Does the receiver incorporate mirror image extractor slots, or the original single slot design?

You’re exposing my lack of Mauser knowledge. Not sure what a mirror image extractor slot is but I can guess.

Didn’t look at that part of it too closely last night, but it does incorporate most of the original Mauser design I’m aware of. The right hand locking lug is split for the ejector and it has the third locking lug back on the body. It also has a gas flange on the left to protect from gas coming down the extractor raceway.

Again, I’m no Mauser expert but from what I can see it follows the original design very closely.

Would it have killed you to post photos of the rifle?

George

Merely wounded me.

Did not have time last night nor will I tonight, but will try to take some Thursday.

How could you allow life to get in the way of something this important?

You are hereby ordered to turn in your "gun nut" badge.

George

quote:

Originally posted by Jim in Idaho:
. . . Not sure what a mirror image extractor slot is but I can guess. . . .

No problem, Jim.

Pull the bolt from receiver. Pointing the rifle away from you, shine a light into the barrel, from breech end. Where receiver and barrel meet there will be a slot into which the claw extractor slides to a fit (when bolt is locked down). There may be a second slot 180 degrees rotation from the other. These are the slots about which I ask.

Original Mauser 98s, probably through World War II for all M98 pattern actions, had a single extractor slot. Single slot allows more nearly complete cartridge case support, resulting in a safer, perhaps, stronger action. FN (Browning) may have been the first M98 pattern action to use mirror image slots, starting in the late 1940s, I think. The reason was it's less expensive to machine receiver's interior surfaces.

For a thorough description and analysis of this facet of M98 design, I recommend Stuart Otteson's The Bolt Action, Volume I.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim in Idaho:
. . . Not sure what a mirror image extractor slot is but I can guess. . . .

Often referred to as a "C" or "H" type receiver. 10 to 1 it's an "H".

And the winner is... H! It has the slots on both sides.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
How could you allow life to get in the way of something this important?

You are hereby ordered to turn in your "gun nut" badge.

George

You're right - so I came home early just to get some pictures.

Here it is: Zastava LK70. You can see the nice figure of the wood and the fact that it seems to have no finish at all. But the overall lines are nice.



Closeup of the same left side. I tried daubing on a little Tru-Oil to bring out the grain but my bottel was old.


Right side.


Lots of wood around that barrel. You can see the inletting isn't too close.


Looks like a Mauser bolt to me.


The metal polish is actually quite nice.


It has a slender barrel, it's .555" OD at the muzzle.


Inletting.


More wood to metal fit.


The pistol grip is very pleasing to the hand. Those palm swells on either side and the flare at the bottom make a nice, sure grip.


Front sight.


Okay, this branding I don't mind.


And the caliber stamp I really like. But the other part, I dunno, Las Vegas just doesn't strike me as the home of fine rifles.


"Hey, Sergei, hurry up and finish that checkering and let's go get a beer!"


"Okay, okay, I'll be right there, I'll just be another minute!"


"There. Perfect!"




Third impression: Nice rifle. Needs polish but solid and generally well made. The stock has good lines, great ergonomics and nice wood, but they sure didn't put much effort into finishing it

Overall, though, it's definitely worth the low price of admission, and with all of that milled steel I'd almost say it's a bargain. I think I'll keep it for a while.

Jim,

I agree the metal work looks really good. I'll be happy if my stock has the figure that yours has. My first inmpression was like yours and the Canadian one showed earlier, there is a lot of extra wood on that stock. I'm hoping that if the big bores use the same dimensioned stocks there wil be a lot less extra wood around the barrel channel, etc

Is that flat topped checkering?

Almost no stocks have enough drop at the comb for me so I think that my stock will have to go to a stockmaker and get the rollover shaved off along with a general thinning and redo of the checkering.

I'd bet money they use the same stock for the big kickers, there is plenty of wood there and through the pistol grip to stand up to severe recoil.

And yes, the checkering is flat topped. If/when I get this stock polished up it will definitely be time to sand off this old checkering and have someone redo it who knows what they're doing.

The wood figure impresses the heck out of me. Much nicer than what comes on a stock Cooper these days. With the checkering recut and the stock refinished that rifle would easily pass for something costing a hell of a lot more.
To bad they put that goofy Vegas stamp on it though.
I see you bought a 7x57 as I did. Close as I can tell they have about a 1-8 twist which should rechamber nicely into a .280 improved (my plans if mine shows potential).

Not to often a group buy goes as planned. Thanks to everyone who put up instead of shutting up and thanks to George for stopping by and getting the barrel rolling.

I like it. My 375 H&H is supposed to be at the gunstore tomorrow. If my wood is as good as yours, I'll be tickled pink.

I'm a johnny come lately to this Zastava rifle.
How much are these rifles?

Jim congratulations you have a beautiful rifle. It has a lot of potential. Thanks for posting the pictures and evaluations. Look up the web sites for Goseph Smithson in Utah and Duaine Weibe in Washington in their gallery they have beautiful photos of authentic classic original Mausers built by them, use them as your guiding post . Trim the fat off the stock to your specs. and you will have something special.
My FFL was closed for the day so he can catch up on paper work, then I have my 10 day waiting period. I should be able to bring them home september 2nd.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:
I'm a johnny come lately to this Zastava rifle.
How much are these rifles?

They cost $599 for most calibers if you got in on the group buy. Been told the company ordered extra so contact them for the latest price.

I wasn't expecting the wood to be anywhere near that nicely figured. I hope mine is as nice.

With a proper finish that could be very nice indeed! Man, I hope it's a good shooter.

Just picked up my 6.5 today, and spent the last hour cleaning it up. The wood is nice, but definitely needs to be refinished. The metal finish is pretty good. The bolt is definitely one of the roughest I've ever felt, but hopefully a little polishing and use will fix that. Overall I like it, just wish they'd sent the DST like I'd ordered...

A couple pics I took tonight:













Is this gap in the bolt cut-out normal?

quote:

Originally posted by Jim in Idaho:
I'd bet money they use the same stock for the big kickers, there is plenty of wood there and through the pistol grip to stand up to severe recoil.

And yes, the checkering is flat topped. If/when I get this stock polished up it will definitely be time to sand off this old checkering and have someone redo it who knows what they're doing.

Wow Jim, I like the wood, what did the 223 look like and was it as ordered, with double triggers?

If my wood on my rifles are that nice I am going to send them to make over school! A wood rasp cut the cheepiece down, slim the forend, take dimensions down overall and keep the lines, and rechecker.

Mine are to be delivered Thurs. adnd FFL is hunting. Sure hope they don,t get sent back, UPS is a pain to deal with up here.

Just talked to a real nice fellow at K-Var, I called asking about a different trigger for my Model 85.

He had a bit of trivia about the wood on our rifles. Apparently it comes from trees planted 300 years ago by Armenians. So now you know...

Got my 9.3x62 today!! Looks like the rest dry finish, over run checkering and needs some polishing inside. But am happy with the thing as I work over all my guns anyway. the wood looksto have some figure to it and is dark. THANKS to all that got this Buy going !!!!!!! Clint

Will the bolt shroud from a military 98 fit these rifles or is the thread direction reversed on the lefties ?

WAtcH your triggers my trigger would go off at a slight bump!! Clint

I finally was able to see my two rifles for a total of 5 minutes, the shop was busy. I can pick up after the 4th of sept.
First impression they appear to be a solid working mann's rifle. The wood is very similar to the previous pictures posted. The wood shape is similar to the HEYM SR20 or WALTHER 3000 rifles, a definite European flair similar to the 1970's monte carlo stock. Overall fit is comfortable with proper cast on. The grain is pleasing to the eye. In fact I was so pleased with the wood character that I scratched the idea of restocking in wood or synthetic. I'm going to work with what I have. The checkering is similar to others already shown, so is the finish. All this is immaterial to the final product because the stock is over dimensioned and needs a proper slim down which will remove all the checkering and finish.
The metal finish is nice so is the action. The action needs some elbow grease to smooth out. It is caked in grease. I'm going to remove the bolt handle and replace with an original Oberndorf straight type, Install a 3 position safety, refine the trigger, glass bed and go hunt.
My overall impression is it is a steal for the price and well worth it. It has unlimited potential especially for the people like me who cannot leave well enough alone and are Mauser admirers.
Thanks Fjold and all the people who helped in putting it together especially for Elliot and KVAR they came through while all other
companies gave excuses.

Picked up my 6.5 a little bit ago. Like the others the wood finish and checkering leave something to be desired but those are easy fixes. Metal finish is OK but the triggerguard and floorplate finish doesn't match the rest.

All and all though I'm happy and would buy another for similar money.

Looks like you guys got wood with a little better figure than I did. It doesn't have much finish. In fact, when I opened the box it smelled like a plank of walnut more than the normal oily smell of a new gun. There's a bottle of Danish Oil waiting in the basement to be rubbed into this stock, which hopefully will give it at least a little weather resistance.

Overall I would have to say I'm not disappointed. In fact, I'm trying really hard to keep myself from ordering one of the extras.

Shot my 9.3x62 today took 6 rds to get on at 50yds. The next 3 rds went into a 1' group. the load was a cast 280 rnfp with a GC /50grs Varget/Wolf LRP/Graf brass I think some whitetails are in trouble. Clint

quote:

Originally posted by Elkins45:
Will the bolt shroud from a military 98 fit these rifles or is the thread direction reversed on the lefties ?

The thread direction is reveresed.

I took my rifle apart tonight to spray everything good with brake cleaner - they really pack it in grease - and the instruction manual says to turn the shroud anti-clockwise. So I'm trying to turn it anti-clockwise and really leaning on it and wondering what the heck? Then I tried turning it clockwise and it came right off.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim in Idaho:

quote:

Originally posted by Elkins45:
Will the bolt shroud from a military 98 fit these rifles or is the thread direction reversed on the lefties ?

The thread direction is reveresed.

I took my rifle apart tonight to spray everything good with brake cleaner - they really pack it in grease - and the instruction manual says to turn the shroud anti-clockwise. So I'm trying to turn it anti-clockwise and really leaning on it and wondering what the heck? Then I tried turning it clockwise and it came right off.

Thanks for the report. I was hoping I could spin on an existing shroud that has been modified to accept a traditional low scope safety. I just feel better knowing the cocking piece is positively blocked vs a trigger locking safety.

I suspected the thread direction would have to be reversed because of the mechanics of the situation, since it cocks by turning in the opposite direction of a RH gun.

Does anybody make an aftermarket bolt shroud for LH guns that doesn't cost 1/2 what the gun did?

I suppose the safety upgrade can wait. I plan to epoxy bed the action and refinish the stock before I shoot it anyway. With as much Cosmoline as my gun was smeared with I probably won't even need to use any extra release agent

I've got a 458 Win Mag at my FFL right now and looking at the stocks on these guns I can see that the comb is going to be to high for me. I have a round face and even on my Winchester I can't use the open sights.

What do you guys think about shaving off the roll over comb on these and reshaping the cheek pad to a pancake style?

I came to the realization last night that I should take my rifle out and at least shoot it once before I start messing with it, just in case it doesn't go bang (or the barrel peels like a banana with the first shot). I suspect it would be much easier to get warranty service on a rifle that hasn't been altered.

Not a bad idea, taking mine out this afternoon to see if it shoots. Have a series of loads with 4 charge levels each for two different bullets for initial chronograph workup.


Well, it had to happen. I already broke mine. Fortunately it's not too serious. had it apart this morning and was polishing everything I could think of. Decided to tweak the magazine spring a tad to put more pressure on the rear of the cartridges, put pressure in the wrong place and snapped it in two.


Already have a replacement ordered from Numrich.

Oh, well.

BTW, the extractor will snap over a cartridge inserted directly into the chamber. Had to find that out the hard way.

I'm going nuts, my FFL is shooting a three gun match in Tennessee or Kentucky and isn't home until Tuesday evening.

Couple of pictures of my very first load workup yesterday afternoon. Two bullets, four charge levels each from 46 to 49 grains of H4350. This rifle has a long throat so instead of chasing lands I just seated the bullets .284" deep, that left them approx. .230" off of the lands. Miles and miles away by looney standards.

These are the third through sixth shots from this brand new rifle, the first two were getting on paper. Hornady 139 BTSP, 46.0 H4350, just over 2700 fps. One out at 11:00, then the other three are in the cluster measuring 9/16", i.e. just over a half inch.



The very best group of the day is at top here and measures 3/8" (I'm using a ruler, haven't dug out the calipers to get down to three decimal places yet.) Hornady 139 Spire Point, 47.0 H4350, just over 2750 fps. It did shoot some groups like the one below, that's another 139 SP with 49.0 H4350 avg. 2828 fps, but even that group is 1 1/8" which ain't horrible for a hunting rifle.



You can see the groups all trended toward 2 close together and then one shot out. The light barrel does heat up fairly quickly in this Idaho summer heat and it is not free floating, it is bearing on the bottom of the channel for sure and there may be some side pressure.

But enough excuses, this rifle does not need to apoligize for not shooting 1/4" groups all day long out of the box. It definitely wants to shoot, now to get down to seeing what it likes to shoot its very best.

I'd say that it well meets legitimate expectations -- and when you find the right combo it will be even batter.

Then the challenge will be not to tinker with it further.

After a few hours of elbow grease and some load development these rifle work and shoot very good. One needs a working knowledge of the 98 mauser to turn these rifles into a good thing.

My three came today, M70s in 6.5X55SE and 9.3X62 and one M85 in 7.62X39. I can echo the previous assessments on first impressions of the guns. The stocks are way too high to see the iron sights. This wood does look like it came from 300 year old trees, as the previous poster mentioned. Underneath that fat stock is a slim sporter trying to break free! Who will be the first to post a photo of a remodeled stock?

had my stock ready for final finish and noticed file mark, back to sanding might be done by sunday.