Thread: 6x45 Rem barrel

Ok so the Zastava pushed inline.
I have made a start on the M85 instead of the Sako as my weekend penciled in for workshop and load development time was sidetracked by a sick wife and kids. They are on the up now so I spent the evening prepping the Zastava and rescheduled the Sako fit up.



The Zastava M85 aka Remington 799 aka Interarms MarkX etc it's not actually a true mini mauser, if my info is correct its is based on the Sako L46 action.
It’s a small-action Mauser, true to its namesake’s double-lug form, with a claw extractor and standard left-side bolt release but it is not a controlled feed. It has a sako type extractor.. infact wit a little filing the Sako extractor can be used as a replacement for the commonly damaged Zastava units.
It’s very lightweight, at just over five pounds empty, *Overal the exterior metal on the M85 is well-finished. There’s a modern thumb safety, a gracefully-shaped trigger guard, and hinged floor plate. The magazine holds 6 rounds but feeds better with 5.

The first thing I notice with the M85 is the short length of the .223 internal box magazine. This will restrict 6x45 loads to about 46.5mm compared to the CZ 527 and Sako Vixons 49mm. Im sure they will still shoot great as shown in previous posting of early projectiles with a big jump to lands.
This is a 75gr Sierra hollow point seated for my CZ mag



This one is getting a 1-10" twist barrel so will handle the heavier projectiles as well.

With the pitted out .223 barrel removed and action stripped I have also noted some ugly machining.



While the bolt is quite slick in this one the actions face, and locking lug surfaces were very ugly.
With a bit of dye on the lug surfaces and a few cycles of the bolt it showed very little lug contact on one side (about 30%) and the other side was very marred from the factory machining process.
I tried to get good pics but it really doesnt show up well.






These surfaces will all get squared up with the bolt and lapped to full contact on both locking lugs.
Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of the dyed surfaces but the marred up shiney spots gives you some idea.