Thread: 6x45 Rem barrel

Yes Please - I'd be keen to see what you do. I recently acquired a "Zastava Serbia" marked 223 "mini Mauser" and with a little work it is a very sweet little rifle. I saw an identical one (i.e. the same importation batch, the serial number was within a 100 of mine) in the Dunedin Gun City, just after I got mine, and it was a better, smoother example. On mine the sear dragged heavily against the bolt and it ran much better after I adjusted the sear down a bit with a shim - simple and easy to do.

Just to clarify and add a bit of context about the "mini mausers" that I've garnered from various sources . . . we have two completely different manufacturers and designs. Ceska Zbrojovka in Uhersky Brod, Moravia in the Czech Republic currently make the CZ Model 527, which is a mini mauser design, its predecessors being the Brno ZKW-465, Fox etc.

The Zastava Model 85 is made by Crvena Zastava at Kragujevac in Serbia. It too has been through quite a few variations over several decades at least, and a whole bunch of markings as they have been imported and sold by every man and his dog - Remington 798, Charles Daly Mini Mauser are a couple that spring to mind, as well as their own name. They have been available in a range of quality grades depending on what the middleman has ordered, ranging from pretty horrible to not too bad (for the limitations imposed by the actions design). Even the same batch has variations as I've explained above, there is obviously a bit of human intervention still going on at Crvena Zastava !! Everyone gets them confused with the Czech "CZ" but they are and always have been completely separate companies and designs.

Now I've owned one, tweeked it and shot it a bit I'm a believer, they are bloody good little rifles, nothing like the finish of a Sako L461, but with some features that are better, others not so. I no longer own any Sako "mini's" and have no wish to get another one, the Zastava will do all I want in a mini action.