I held a seriously nice rifle for the money, today

View · by **PaperPuncher** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:19 pm

I watch FleetFarms flyers pretty closely and saw what I thought was a misprint, a bolt action deer rifle looking rifle in a 7.62x39 caliber, full size rifle and not a Chinese import. It was the Century M85 mini in 7.62 with a Monte Carlo stock and full cheekpiece on what I am guessing is a waxed or oiled stock. The finish is tolerable at best but thats nothing, it could be solved in a few winter evenings in the shop.

I stopped by the FF in Brainerd today and the gun hefts up and fits my LOP almost perfectly, I was shocked because I had envisioned in my mind that it would fit like most other import 7.62's do and my trigger finger would be somewhere on the forearm. I kid you not, it fit me perfect and I dont have abnormal reach or LOP. It came up nice, held nice, centered nice, went on target almost perfect...now before any of you accuse me of being a stock owner in the company, I am not. I was just very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the action, fit and engineering of it all. And yes, I suspect one will soon be resting on my shooting bench with a few boxes of Russki ammo ready to test it.

If it shoots as good as it fits and feels, that will be the next test...but for $469 for a nice rifle, you can't buy a decent rifle for that anymore, much less a well made deer or varmint rifle in the perfect caliber for plinkin.

Here is a link, and Mods, if that is a no no, my apologies, I just didnt want any of the other users to think I was hallucinating.

http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/century ... 0000092107

View · by **Sigfan220** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 2:51 pm

You are right not made in China but I was less than impressed with the overall fit an finish. It looked like they had a bunch of kids working at the sweat shop with files and mallets. If you want a good rifle for cheap take a look at used Savage 10's or 110's or Remington 700's. Same price for a nice rifle that will last a lifetime or two. Plus you can get a ton of aftermarket parts for them.

View · by **PaperPuncher** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:12 pm

You and I saw two different rifles and I disagree. The gun I saw and held was well made, fit well and the action was rock solid. I have no use for the Savage low end rifles that look like they were poured out of a mold. Oh, wait, they were...most of the stocks. Give me a gun with a wood stock and Mauser action anyday. I like remington 700's but I want a gun with a WOOD stock, new and in 7.62 or .223 that I can afford to shoot for a couple hours. This gun offers those aspects.

View · by **Sigfan220** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:19 pm

Yeah 7.62x39 bolts are hard to come by.

View · by **Squib Joe** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:03 pm

These aren't bad guns - the Mini Mausers are made in Serbia and they've been churning them out for many years. If there is a concern, it might be in the availability of parts down the road. And if you plan on shooting steel cased ammo with this one you may have some problems, they are really designed for brass only.

View · by **Squib Joe** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:04 pm

Sigfan220 wrote:Yeah 7.62x39 bolts are hard to come by.

We always stock the CZ 527 in 7.62x39 but those are at least a couple bucks more expensive

View · by **Holland&Holland** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:09 pm

Squib Joe wrote:
Sigfan220 wrote:Yeah 7.62x39 bolts are hard to come by.

We always stock the CZ 527 in 7.62x39 but those are at least a couple bucks more expensive

How do the CZs hold up to steel cased ammo?

View · by **Squib Joe** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:20 pm

I know that others have put cases of steel ammo through their CZs with no issues. Personally I wouldn't shoot much of it out of a nice bolt gun

View · by **Holland&Holland** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 4:26 pm

Squib Joe wrote:I know that others have put cases of steel ammo through their CZs with no issues. Personally I wouldn't shoot much of it out of a nice bolt gun

The problem is finding brass case 7.62x39 in stock at decent prices anywhere. Lots of folks shooting steel cases hornady ammo out of their pistols. I have an aversion to it myself out of anything but an AK or Mosin (though I do shoot it without concern out of my m1 carbine too) but I dunno if I am just being paranoid. Thinking about picking up the CZ next. Looks like a fun little bolt gun.

View · by **yuppiejr** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 5:00 pm

$40 more puts you into a Mossberg MVP predator 223 with a nice adjustable trigger, laminate stock, fluted 18" med contour or 20" sporter barrel and it takes AR mags... Made in the USA... Great reviews, for another $40 over the Mini Mauser it's a great walking varmint rig.

I would take the 3030 bolt action CZScout has in the FS section if I was after a bolt action iron sight deer rifle for the brush, same ballistics as the 7.62x39 and cheaper ammo for brass cased soft points suitable for hunting you can find in any SG store.

View · by **PaperPuncher** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 5:15 pm

Squib, when you say they are only designed for brass, how do you mean? I am interested in your perspective and points.

View · by **yuppiejr** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 7:01 pm

Google "mini mauser broken extractor"... tons of hits, it's a known weakness in the design and steel cased ammo seems to exacerbate the issue. These were also imported by Remington as the model 799 and Charles Daly/Zastava M85.

I was eye-banging one of these in Fleet Farm but after doing some reading I passed, for $500 there are, in my opinion, better options even if the IDEA of a 7.62x39 bolt action is interesting.

Have you looked at a Savage Hog Hunter? Iron sights, accutrigger, threaded muzzle, oversized bolt handle, it's in .308 Winchester so ammo will be widely available... $450-$500 at retail... The Savage 11F is also made with iron sights chambered in 7.62x39 (along with .308, .223, etc..) and last priced out around that $500 mark, might take some hunting around to find one though.

View · by **Squib Joe** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 7:06 pm

The steel 7.62x39 is designed for the sloppy chambers on the AK47. Brass will expand and rapidly contract, but not so much with steel. Put that in the tighter chamber of a bolt gun and you'll find a notable difference in the force required to extract the case. Not a big problem with a CZ, but the Zastava guns are known to have pretty brittle extractors that will chip or snap under the added stress.

Then you'll start looking for an extractor and find out that they're sold out everywhere because a lot of people did the same thing :evil:

And then you'll stick to shooting brass, probably.

View · by **PaperPuncher** on Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:13 pm

I have a couple of extractors. There used to be quite a few available on eBay, its where I got mine. But I see your points and am not disputing them or denying they make sense, they make perfect sense. I just didn't understand is all, which is why I was curious. I appreciate the insight.

View · by **OldmanFCSA** on Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:01 pm

Does it have a 0.310" bore, or a 0.308" bore?
Makes a big difference in ammo intended for it.

My AR-15 in 7.62X39 has a 0.310" bore and works great with steel cased ammo.
Mini-30's work best with 0.308 dia projectiles and brass cased ammo.