Thread: Zastava M85 jam

A mate's just-bought M85 in 7.62x39 is not extracting the spent cartridges. It happened with two different factory rounds today, both steel and brass. The bolt feels quite heavy on closing as well.

Wondering if this is a known issue.

New or second hand rifle.

Second hand but not that old by the look of it.

I saw another post about this but had so much back and forth I couldn't figure out if it was a typical issue or not.

Give the chamber a real good scrub out with a bronze brush and some bore cleaner. If it’s had loads of lacquered steel cases through it, the chamber could be lined with lacquer, and tight.

Originally Posted by ishoot10s

Give the chamber a real good scrub out with a bronze brush and some bore cleaner. If it’s had loads of lacquered steel cases through it, the chamber could be lined with lacquer, and tight.

I concur, clean the arse out of it

bolt SHOULDNT be heavy on closing......you arent perchance single loading are you???
definately give chamber a plurry good dung out...have a look with a torch before you do so....any marks of dings on spent cases when you did get them out??? cleaning rod down the bore I assume???

It is a mauser style action and thus needs to feed from the magazine. The claw extractor will not "pop" over the rim, the rim needs to lift into the extractor as the round rises from the magazine and the rim clicks into the extractor. If it has been repeatedly forced to single feed and forces the extractor over the rim then one of two things can happen. 1) the extractor wears or breaks prematurely resulting in poor grip on the fired empty shell, or 2) the rim is damaged in a way that the extractor does not always manage to grip it to pull it out.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

bolt SHOULDNT be heavy on closing......you arent perchance single loading are you???
definately give chamber a plurry good dung out...have a look with a torch before you do so....any marks of dings on spent cases when you did get them out??? cleaning rod down the bore I assume???

The shots fed from the the magazine, but no idea what happened in the previous '30 or so shots' with the previous owner.

Originally Posted by timattalon

It is a mauser style action and thus needs to feed from the magazine. The claw extractor will not "pop" over the rim, the rim needs to lift into the extractor as the round rises from the magazine and the rim clicks into the extractor. If it has been repeatedly forced to single feed and forces the extractor over the rim then one of two things can happen. 1) the extractor wears or breaks prematurely resulting in poor grip on the fired empty shell, or 2) the rim is damaged in a way that the extractor does not always manage to grip it to pull it out.

You are clearly the Zastava Doctor @timattalon All this sounds about right and thank you.

Originally Posted by YosemiteSam

You are clearly the Zastava Doctor @timattalon All this sounds about right and thank you.

No problem. The wee Zastava's are a great wee rifle. And worth looking after. My dad had one.

I thought the 7.62x39 Zastava was the mini action which is a faux Mauser action?

The one I had didn't have the controlled feed with a full length extractor... Looked like it had a full length an extractor but was just the bolt guide. Seem to recall it had a M16 style claw? like others have said I'd start with a good clean of the chamber. Could well be laqure build up from steel cased ammo.

If it is a true Mauser controlled feed @timattalon is spot on with his advise!

The 223 versions definitly are the claw style and the only time ive had trouble is due to a dirty chamber, reclosing, and a sharp yank on the bolt to open has fixed it then an ar 15 chamber brush when back home.

You sure @Marty Henry? My 223 zastava is push-feed. the bolt guide looks like an extractor but doesn't touch the round, it has a separate extractor that hops over the rim on closing. There could well be a couple of different versions about I imagine.

223 is as above,,,,a push feed with bolt guide...the .308 is controlled feed....now a 7.62x39mm is sort of an inbetween size so anyones guess...

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

223 is as above,,,,a push feed with bolt guide...the .308 is controlled feed....now a 7.62x39mm is sort of an inbetween size so anyones guess...

In that case, it will be far more like the 223 than the 308. It should be the same action as the 223 with a different bolt face/ barrel and chamber but all design should be the same. So I am happy to stand corrected as it would mean the likelihood of permanent damage is almost removed from single feeding. (I will confess it has been quite a while since I saw dads rifle up close)