All,
Looking at a local pawn shop and they had a Cestava (probably incorrect spelling) Mark X Mauser action. Obviously commercial as there was no thumb notch. Anyhow, looking for an action and wondered everyone's thoughts on them. Good, bad, indifferent. I have a VZ-24 picked out to build my 25-06 AI on but was thinking this may be a better route to go. It was listed at $295 with a 4x PO Acklry scope on it. Is that a fair price. Decent wood, nothing flashy but grain is laid out right. Lastly, I have a stock inletted for the VZ-24 that I wanted to use on this project and would like to know if this stock would work for a Mark X action. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Jason

If it was a shooter, might not be a bad deal.. Other question would be the caliber....

Never enough toys....

You could always make an offer..

To much fun...

MauserKid and All,
I have a Lothar Walther barrel to go on either the Mark X or the VZ-24. I need an action and was debating the merits of the Mark X vs. the VZ-24. I hope the barrel threads are the same???? I am pretty familar with the VZ-24's but have never used a MarkX. How long is the mag on the the MarkX. I hope it is 3.4 inches long at least. Thanks.

Cheers,
Jason

The magazine box on the Mk 10 is about 3.41". The stock should fit OK; however, if the stock is inletted for 4-screw, military bottom metal, it will be over-cut for the Mk-X floor plate and will have to be filled. The MK-X will accept your LW barrrel. The slide safety on the Mk X is a POS and should be replaced. I have a Mk X action that I had hoped to build into a custom rifle on some day. It has a magnum bolt face, bold trigger and Gentry 3-position safety (Gentry installed). I don't think that I'll every get around to finishing that project, so any reasonable offers for the action will be considered.

South40,

What's the problem with the Mark X two position safety? I recently obtained a Mark X in .243, but haven't shot it, yet. Is the safety faulty on these? Do they fail?

Thanks for any help,
Scott

The Mk X action I have is quite serviceable. It is not the most luxurious action (feel, build, safety etc) I have laid my hands on, but for the price it is not bad. Quite apart from the end result, it is a lot cheaper to start from a Mk X than from a military Mauser (unless you can do the work yourself). I changed the trigger on mine to a Timney, so I can't really comment on the factory trigger. The action itself may need a bit of stoning and polishing to be smooth, although if the rifle is older, maybe wear will have made it smooth enough? Standard safety (as on most commercial mausers) is "trigger only", i.e. the safety does not work directly on the firing pin - like the M70 3-pos safety does.

I think the name of manufacturer (Yugoslavian - in days past) was "Zastava".
- mike

The Mark X safety consists of a piece of stamped steel attached to the side of the action. When you push the safety to the rear, it has a knife-edge that moves under the trigger mechanism to prevent it from being pulled. The safety does not lock the firing pin, as is the case with bolt-mounted safeties.

The operation of the safety on my Mark X was coarse and uncertain to operate because of a rough finish on the knife-edge and spring detent area. I don�t think the design is patently unsafe; however I didn�t trust the safety --so I replaced it.

Words of caution: 1) If you remove the safety for any reason, take special care with the spring and detent ball, otherwise they will disappear forever; 2) If you install a Timney trigger (with safety), you probably will have do some grinding on the trigger guard to make it fit.

South40,

Thanks for the info. I'll probably keep the factory trigger, since it's adjustable. I haven't fired it, yet, though. Who makes a good 3-position wing safety for the Mark X action?

Thanks,
Scott