Zastava M70A - opinions ?

From my limited time ownership of about 1-1/2 years, I'd summarize it as an enjoyable inexpensive range pistol.

Fit & finish are not great, but reflect typical if a mass produced military side arm. I had to replace the take-down pin clip (original one worked loose during firing), and drift the front sight to center it up. Personally, for the price I don't mind having to tinkering on it.

The sights are typical military style, meaning not adjustable and smaller than I'd like. After front sight adjustment, it shoots well (offhand 4"-6" group at 25 yards -- that can likely be improved by a better shooter than me) and had a decent SA trigger. I only have shot FMJ and it had no feeding or ejection issues. The slide safety/decocker is good quality although stiff out if the box. I need to shoot it more, having only about 500 rounds through it, so I'd still consider that I'm in the break in period.

I got one because: 1) of the historical heritage of the design, 2) 9mm is available and cheaper, 3) the slide mount safety matches the manual of arms I prefer. For the price I am satisfied with it, & my son who doesn't shoot a lot really likes it.

I'd pop for 200.

If you disregard potential "ruining", they respond well to sight replacement, high blue finish, removal of import stamps (they're universally hideous on these) and become very cool project guns.
Reliable? Yes
Safe? Yes
Accurate? Can be
Finicky? Haven't known them to be though there are some absolutely garbage mags out there.

They're perfectly fine guns, especially for the price, but I'd encourage you to look at the M57 instead if you want a current-production Tokarev-pattern gun. The real fun in shooting these guns is the loud, fireball-throwing 7.62x25mm round (also soft-shooting, if you're not a fan of recoil).

"How hard was it to move the front sight ?"

Drifting the front site was not easy. I have no special tool, and using punch and bench vise took some effort; it was tight in the dovetail. But I'm sure it will not move or shift with regular recoil!

Understood on 9mm. And I don't care for the looks of the M88 either. It's either the M57/M57A or the M70/M70A.

I paid just a tad over $300 for my Zastava M70A when they first came out, including delivery and transfer. I like it a lot. For $200 I would be at least 50% more fond of it. At that price, you can hardly go wrong. It is a nice shooting pistol, especially for folks with small hands, although the tiny combat sights are hard for me to use out past 15 yards or so.

I also have a thread going about this same gun. I just bought one from JGS recently. Only a minor problem that I was able to fix myself. So far, I'm loving my Zastava. It looks like a real gun and it shoots good too. The fit and finish is very good. I like the trigger has a lot of take up; it's a factor of safety. The trigger is crisp. Not bad for a $200 gun.

I'm concerned about the safeties, however. It doesn't appear to have the half notch safety like the
original Tokarev. And there's no firing pin block. So, there's no easy and safe way to bring the hammer down on a live round (e.g. going from Condition 0/1 to Condition 2). If your thumb slip, the hammer will hit the firing pin and then it will go bang. Although the thumb safety appears to be robust, I still would trust it to carry locked-and-cocked.