Surplus .32acp pistol

Steel Hayes said:

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Picked up a Zastava M70 on a whim(revolver guy),
Possibly the the easiest shooting(and accurate) pistol I’ve owned.
The trigger pull isn’t anything to brag about.
How long has this surplus pistol been available? I wish I had found it sooner.

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Nice catch!

I've almost bought a M70 several times over the last decade, but somehow my .32 ACP money went elsewhere.

The M70 was originally designed in 1970 if this info is correct.

I was looking for one last year about this time, and a coworker that also is a gun guy offered up a different .32 acp that I ended up buying. I still haven’t shot it, and still need to do some work on it. I probably should have skipped it and just bought a m70

One of those calibers you should be able to find ammo for at the moment. I think aim sent me an email the other day showing relatively inexpensive boxes for sale.

found it

https://aimsurplus.com/norma-32-auto-73grn-fmj-ammunition-50rd-box/

Steel Hayes said:

View attachment 944471 View attachment 944470
Picked up a Zastava M70 on a whim(revolver guy),
Possibly the the easiest shooting(and accurate) pistol I’ve owned.
The trigger pull isn’t anything to brag about.
How long has this surplus pistol been available? I wish I had found it sooner.

Click to expand...

These have kind of a funny history in the US. They started coming in about 15 years ago, give or take 5, and they got really cheap. Then they dried up, and after quite a while prices on them drifted up. Two or three years ago, you could find people and stores asking $350 or more for them. (That's when I bought mine! I thought it was a good deal for about $300. At least it had a holster and spare mag.)

Then they began showing up again and now they are all over the place and prices have dropped, although not down to where they were the first time around. A few in 380 have also showed up, plus some 32s with big plastic adjustable sights. I can't remember if I have seen any in nickel or chrome this time.

I still haven't gotten around to shooting mine, because it doesn't feel good in my hand, the trigger pull is lousy, taking it apart is a pain, and the safety catch is too easy to move by accident. Other than that, it's great! I'm glad you like yours. They seem very durable, and the "packaged" firing mechanism is interesting. That's what I bought mine for.

The last ammo shortage I didn’t want to burn through my stash of primers, powder, ammo etc, and there was plenty of 9x18mak available. Bought a Polish P-64. After about a box I decided it and my xl meaty hands would never get along. And reaffirmed my understanding of why we won the cold war.

Still sitting on 2950 rounds of crappy silver bear 9x18mak

Dan-O said:

The last ammo shortage I didn’t want to burn through my stash of primers, powder, ammo etc, and there was plenty of 9x18mak available. Bought a Polish P-64. After about a box I decided it and my xl meaty hands would never get along. And reaffirmed my understanding of why we won the cold war.

Still sitting on 2950 rounds of crappy silver bear 9x18mak

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Well, I'd say give the Poles another chance and get a P-83 Wanad, because mine is great, but they seem to have dried up. I guess a CZ-82 would be my next suggestion. They have a wide grip and a first-rate reputation. I don't know anything about the Bulgarian Makarovs; they might be a bit small for you.

Monac said:

Well, I'd say give the Poles another chance and get a P-83 Wanad, because mine is great, but they seem to have dried up. I guess a CZ-82 would be my next suggestion. They have a wide grip and a first-rate reputation. I don't know anything about the Bulgarian Makarovs; they might be a bit small for you.

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I may have to look. It gave me slide bite like there was no tomorrow. I even got some nice custom wood grips from Marschal grips. Swapped out the springs and it made the (stock) two finger double action pull manageable. Single action actually wasn’t too bad. Had too many other projects i was working on and kinda forgot about it.

Think I paid extra to get one that was made in the same year I was.

You should have gotten a Beretta 81.
Refined action, impeccable manufacturing, profoundly reliable and accurate.
Only thing mine needed was the sight drifted .005” right to zero POI. Mine looks almost new. $229.
As far as ammo goes, one of my progressive presses is set up for .32. It’s like a reloadable.22rf. I have assorted bullet molds...

GooseGestapo said:

You should have gotten a Beretta 81.
Refined action, impeccable manufacturing, profoundly reliable and accurate.
Only thing mine needed was the sight drifted .005” right to zero POI. Mine looks almost new. $229.
As far as ammo goes, one of my progressive presses is set up for .32. It’s like a reloadable.22rf. I have assorted bullet molds...

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These were a steal. Right around $200.

GooseGestapo said:

You should have gotten a Beretta 81.
Refined action, impeccable manufacturing, profoundly reliable and accurate.
Only thing mine needed was the sight drifted .005” right to zero POI. Mine looks almost new. $229.
As far as ammo goes, one of my progressive presses is set up for .32. It’s like a reloadable.22rf. I have assorted bullet molds...

Click to expand...

WVsig said:

These were a steal. Right around $200.

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I got one of those, too. But that was 9 months ago or more. Which means pre-pandemic, no Supreme Court justice situation, or looming election. Might as well be talking about SKS availability and prices in 1990.

Aim Surplus had these for a really low price around 2 years ago. Mrgunsngear has a good video on the M70.

Anything Zastava is going to be a good firearm.

Got mine 2months ago. Aim, Classic, and MidwayUSA all had them. Classic has extra mags. Got two of those...

chicharrones said:

I got one of those, too. But that was 9 months ago or more. Which means pre-pandemic, no Supreme Court justice situation, or looming election. Might as well be talking about SKS availability and prices in 1990.

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True but compared to the Zastava it is like driving a Ferrari vs a Yugo

I have the M70 and a Beretta 81 and between the two it's hard to say which is better. I mean, the Beretta feels like a modicum of engineering and manufacturing, but the Zastava is rugged simplicity. Both shoot well, both handle well. I like the way the Zastava feels in my hand, I feel I have a good grip with it and it's a slimmer pistol, but it has a good heft to it. The Beretta has an excellent trigger and sights and is light, almost too light given the width of the grip.

Given the prices both can be had for it's not gonna break the bank to own both. One thing I don't care for with the Zastava's is the magazines aren't drop free and the takedown is more difficult than the Beretta.

I bought this one from a local store only because it was new, never fired and was just over $200. I wasn't expecting Beretta quality, but also didn't expect to see such poor machining on the internals. Like Fred Flintstone with a bastard file poor.

Last I checked the surface finish of the internals isn't indicative of whether a gun works well or not. They're not heirloom quality pieces, they're tools, and Zastava has been making guns for a long time.