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To say that I really like and enjoy 7mm cartridges is a truism :)
A .280 Rem. in a Win. Model 70 (post 64 and an actual 1964 manufacture dated receiver) with a 25" Shilen #3 barrel profile, a 7mm Rem. Mag. in an Interarms/Zastava Mauser with a 24" Shilen #2 barrel profile, a 7mm WSM in a Savage with a 26" Criterion Varmint barrel profile, another 7mm Rem. Mag. in another Savage with a 26" Criterion Varmint barrel profile.
And now this one will be joining the lineup, a Charles Daly/Zastava Mauser in 7x64 Brenneke with a 26" #2 barrel profile. And with the exception of the Win. Model 70 I only use the Mauser(s) for hunting. The Savage's could be used for hunting easy enough but I've built them for long range precision shooting.
That is a pleasing line-up - but still a gap for either a Musgrave or BRNO ZKK 600 in 7x57...
I miss my Ruger M77 Mk. II .280 Remington.
Once you get that Zastava post some photos please.
It is not a 7x57 but I did own, and may soon own it again, a ZKK 601 in 243 Win.
There is a 7x57 in my future. I do not know what it will be or when but it is coming :)
I will post pictures of that Zastava soon after it arrives and I get replacement camera.
If that ZKK 601 had not been tampered with since you sold it you will again enjoy it. That one of my son shoots smaller than 3/4" groups off a field rest at 220 yards. Have not found any difference between a BRNO and the Musgraves regarding accuracy - and both have pressure points under the barrel and not free floating.
Wow! I just located a CZ ZKK-600 7x57 for sale. I have sent the seller a couple of questions. We'll see where it goes from there.
If I see that here for under $1,000 and the photos look good my name will be on it immediately - and if it is closer than 200 miles I shall drive out to look at it.
In the USA my first question would have been: "Did you put a hacksaw to the barrel"? And then: "Is the pop-up aperture sight still installed?"
A 24" barrelled (in fact 600mm) BRNO ZKK 601 with a 150 gr Peregrine at 2,750 ft/sec is an impressive performer on elk size game out to 300 yards. With a 168 gr Peregrine VRG-3 at 2,550 ft/sec the penetration through eland shoulder bone is impressive.
This is a later model without the pop-up sight. No matter as my shooting now requires a scope beyond anything past 50, or less, yards.
$600 and some change is the asking price.
Rifles are expensive here and one reason why we hold onto them for four generations at least. I have not seen a ZKK 600 series that was built without he pop-up rear aperture sight.
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/725466878
It sure is a BRNO but I have not seen one like it before. Removing the varnish and spending good hand rubbed oil time on it will render it very nice. I would ask whether the under barrel pressure support is still intact. Like most European rifles we also do not really like free-floating barrels - in the end there is no accuracy difference between the two though.
The CZ ZKK-601 .243 that I had, and hope to have again, was also without the rear pop-up peep.
No accuracy difference between a free or non floated BRNO barrel?
Indeed - no accuracy difference if the barrel-up pressure point is at the correct position and supplying the correct pressure. All European and South African made rifles sold here have the pressure point. Very rare to see a free floated barrel.
Every Musgrave rifle off the shelf is a better than 1/2 MOA shooter - no free floating but a pressure point. So is every European stocked SAKO, CZ 550 and every BRNO ZKK I have seen in my life.
Action bedding is a very rare thing out here too - perfectly de-stressed wood that makes perfect contact with the action with nothing added is the best. Musgrave lets the wood lie idle for 3-4 months after having cut the rough hollows before final inletting so that the wood can settle after the stresses of the hollowing.
Any new rifle off the shelf which does not shoot less than 1 MOA will be returned by the buyer for fixing, so local manufacturers take pride in their work and do not want to be named and shamed in the gun media .
The 7x57 went to someone else. But I did get the 601 in .243 back.
I will be sending it out for some chamber work.
The BRNOs are just such pleasing rifles - never any mechanical or wood issues. The Eastern Europeans are very strict on themselves when it comes to quality materials and metallurgy.
The .243W is mostly a varmint chambering here and not really used for hunting edible game - the latter starts at 6.5mm calibre.
Do you simply fireform for the AI chamber?
Yep that is all I will do to get the brass.
I never handloaded for this rifle when I owned it and never had a problem with it. But after seeing the brass that my friend and previous owner saved after shooting it I am surprised the brass wasn't sticking or the primers weren't popping/blowing. The chamber is that worn.
Regarding the BRNO's, well about the only thing I do not like is that the safety is backwards from any of my other bolt action rifles-I can live with that :)
Just got in a box of 140 gr. and 175 gr Remington Core Lokt ammo for the Zastava. I got them from Selway Armory http://www.selwayarmory.com/remington-express-7x64mm-brenneke-175-gr-core-lokt-pointed-soft-point-box-of-20.html for $20.00 each box. I have bought ammo and even firearms from these folks. Never been surprised or disappointed.
They show six boxes of 175 gr left. I suppose I better get a couple more coming. I like the Remington Core Lokt ammo and the brass is pretty decent for reloading too.