Zastava M83 357 Magnum Surplus Revolver Review

The Zastava M83 revolver. Let’s check it out. (Available Here)

 

The Zastava has been making firearms for over 165 years. They’re known for their AKs, a lot of other different firearms that they make for military and police. This is the Zastava M83. It’s a .357 Magnum revolver, 4-inch.

We’re also going to be taking a look at the 2-inch as well. Coming out of Europe, this is pretty much an anomaly, except for the Korth and the Manurhin, which are very expensive. These served in the Yugoslavian military and in police forces, but these are made in Serbia.

They are a solid, high-quality, all-steel revolver, really made with Old World tradition. Now, these are coming in as police trade-ins and military surplus. And I’ve just started seeing them, and guys, I have been very interested in checking these out.

Now, guys, I got this from Aim Surplus. I really appreciate those guys sending me the 4-inch and the 2-inch for this review. And guys, with surplus firearms, they’ll come into the country and the price is right.

But once they dry up, the price goes up to the value of the firearm. So a big thank you to Aim Surplus. All right, guys, we have something a little bit different today, a little special.

This is the Zastava M83 or M1983. These are .357 Magnum revolvers, and obviously they’ll shoot .38. And we’re going to look at some reasons why a revolver is cool. I recently did a video about how revolvers have made a huge comeback.

I mean, they’ve been around for a long time. People love revolvers. I’ve carried them, but there has been a surge in popularity.

A lot of people are picking up revolvers. One of the things I love though is getting these revolvers as a military surplus or police trade-in or even used revolvers. Revolvers have really risen in price over the past few years because of the workmanship and just the labor it takes to put these together.

Now, one of the things I love about these, number one, they’re from Europe, which is kind of an anomaly. There are revolvers made in Europe. Typically, they’re fairly expensive.

The Manurhin, the Korth, there’s a number of different ones. And honestly, I did not know much about the Zastava revolvers. In fact, I came across it on Aim Surplus and I was like, wow, that’s pretty cool.

And it’s a police trade-in or military surplus. And when these come into the country, it’s the best time because once they dry up, the price goes up to meet the actual value of the gun. Now, it does come in a four-inch model.

It comes in a two-inch model. And one of the things about revolvers, again, is it’s so versatile. Now, let’s go ahead and check to make sure the guns are unloaded.

We push forward just like with our Smith & Wesson, six-shot revolver, and then we’ll check out the two-inch, same thing, push forward, and we have a six-round revolver. These are actually very reliable. They’re safe to carry, and that’s one of the pluses of revolvers.

And guys, I’m talking about versatile. 357 Magnum gives you a lot of power. Considered one of the best manstoppers on the planet.

I mean, it’s just an excellent round. It’s been around for a long time, but you can jump in with your .38 Special, which gives you less recoil, less power, and actually typically less expensive. And you can get self-defense loads in .38. Then you have shot shells.

And one of the problems with a semi-automatic is they don’t always feed shot shells. You can get a round off, but then you have to rack the slide. With a revolver, you just pull it and you’ve got shot, you’ve got power with .357, and you’ve got your training ammo or just less recoil.

And there are a ton of different ammo choices when it comes to .38 and .357. And again, you have two different barrel choices. So we have that smaller, more compact size, and then we have that longer barrel, which is going to give you a little more velocity, a little more sight radius. And so that actually helps.

And these are very enjoyable to shoot. We shot them in .357 and in .38. And one of the things a lot of times about .357 especially, if you have wood grips, it can get kind of rough. It’s according to how they fit.

One of the things about these grips, and we’re going to start out with the grips, the wood grips are rounded off and actually very comfortable to shoot. Now, these are not compatible with any other grips that I know of. There’s some differences to it.

I think the Smith & Wesson L frame, K frame, you can modify those grips possibly, but overall, this is the grip. Now with the surplus guns or trade-ins, sometimes the grips can have little cracks and things like that. So it might be something to consider.

But overall, these grips are extremely comfortable. There are some used grips out on the market, but they’re going to be probably fairly difficult to find. I know on Amazon, they did have some custom grips.

And one of the things about 3D printing is that a lot of different offerings can be coming for these revolvers. There’s quite a few that came into the country from a number of different sources. So hopefully we’re going to see that.

Now, one of the things about holster fit is these typically fit in a K frame or L frame Smith & Wesson holster. Another thing is the screws in the side plate. They are very different.

Now, they don’t really require a special tool. You can use a standard flat head, very thin blade screwdriver, and it will work, and you can pull the plate off. It does have a coil hammer spring, so it’s not the leaf type.

Also with the hammer, it does not have the firing pin on the hammer. It has the floating firing pin. That is very safe, and it has a transfer bar.

So again, these are fairly modern firearms that have those safety features. So if you drop this, it’s not going to go off. You’re going to have some protection.

We have a chrome-plated hammer and chrome-plated trigger. There are ribs in the trigger and nice serrations on the hammer. It has a vent rib at the top, which gives it a nice look, but it’s not too big.

Sometimes they just seem to be very bold. I like this kind of minimalist rib. Then right here at the underlug, there is just a groove inside, and that just lessens a little bit of the weight.

Then you have a protected ejector rod, and that’s going to be important as these come back. Of course, you just eject your shells. In the cylinder, it has been recessed.

In fact, they made some of these to go with nine millimeter, and you could use moon clips, but I think you have to actually replace the cylinder. But here at the back, near the loading gate, it has a very thin back right here, but very well done. It’s actually a little sharp, so it’s just a little different.

We have line serrations at the top and across the barrel. It’s just going to help cut down on glare. A little bit of a ramp, and then we have a dovetailed front sight that’s just black.

So there’s obviously replacements that you could possibly put in there. The rear sight is one of those gutter sights, but actually it has a little bit of shape to it. Guys, a little spoiler alert.

These are very accurate. In fact, I was really surprised. We have a little bit of a crown at the end of the barrel, and it has that weight at the end of the barrel.

Again, you had this cut out, but it definitely gives you a little bit of heft on it. Cylinder locks are a little bit large, which I like that. It’s very positive.

They’re definitely larger than a lot of the other revolvers, and of course, it is fluted. Serrations on the cylinder release, and again, it just goes forward. It looks like, honestly, a Smith & Wesson with some style differences to it.

A little hook here at the front of the trigger guard, and then it rounds off. Back strap is smooth and the front strap, but overall, just a really well done revolver. As far as lock up, they’re pretty solid.

Now, with the two-inch model, same thing, all the same controls. The only difference is, of course, you have a shorter barrel. It even has those divots that start at the beginning.

Ejector rod, really smooth, easy to bring out, and also recessed, and the lock up, very minimal. Now, one of the things about surplus firearms is they come in in a lot of different conditions, and so sometimes can be the luck of the draw, but according to Aim, when these are coming in, they will be in good mechanical condition. Now, with the four-inch model, it only comes in the hot salt bluing or the blue finish, and then when it comes to the two-inch model, there are some nickel-plated versions, one that’s matte, and it really looks nice, and then they have a polished version, and then, of course, they have the blued version as well.

Different type grips on some of these. These are the original factory grips, but there are some really cool, unique grips on some of the other models, but it’s luck of the draw. Now, obviously, both of these revolvers, these samples, are in top condition.

I mean, the bluing looks beautiful. There’s very little wear on these. That may be different if you’re ordering these, and according to where you order them, but from what Aim Surplus is showing, they look like they’re in really good condition.

There could be some grips cracked. Again, that may be a possibility, but overall, these have been really smooth. Now, one thing inside, and I’m not going to pull the side plate off, but I will have a video annotated right above where a guy does take the side plate off.

He looks through it and talks about the differences, and he’s really into revolvers, so it’s actually a really cool video. I’ll just have it annotated, and he also shows you how to take these off with just a flathead screwdriver, but I love those screws. I mean, that is so unusual.

I love the cut here. The vent rib on top really looks nice, and this top, I mean, there’s a lot of quality and workmanship that goes into these, and that’s one thing that revolvers are typically known for. Again, these grips are very smooth, and they fit good in the hand.

Again, that sight, I mean, it is sort of a combat sight with that low trough, but it does come up somewhat, and again, when we were shooting for accuracy, I mean, I was really surprised. Now, when it comes to trigger pull, typically, these are double action, really heavy, and there’s no difference here, and that is your safety, but it’s super smooth. Here with a little closer look, there is nothing but just smooth pullback.

You feel the tension. It’s fairly heavy. We’re going to check it with our Lyman trigger gauge, but with single action, very nice and crisp.

Just a touch of hesitation, but really nice. Then with the two-inch model, again, super smooth, a little heavier, actually. Single action, really nice single action.

Let’s check out our Lyman trigger gauge from Brownells. We’re going to see if we can get a double action read on it. 11 pounds, 11.8 ounces.

It’s right near the 12-pound range, but we’re going to try it again. 11 pounds, 14.7 ounces. It is heavy.

Single action, 5.36 pounds, so a really nice single action trigger pull. Not featherweight, and it may be able to be reduced somewhat, but that’s what you’re going to get. Here on the side plate, it does have M83, and there’s a slash 93.

From what I understand, I believe this is the year of manufacture. These were made for a considerable amount of time. There’s a number of different models, and some that are military will have the military proof marks on them.

These are, I’m pretty sure, just police trade-ins. 357 Magnum in English on the side. Really, the numbers are fairly easy to decipher.

Of course, Zestava right here on the side plate, and import marks with the serial number right at the top. With the two-inch model, it’s the same thing. It’s the M83-93.

As far as speed loaders, the HKS number 10 works really well. This is really made for Smith & Wesson model 10 or your L-frame K-frames, but it works great. Then when it comes to even Kimber’s K6S, this is a really nice speed loader.

Of course, we have 357 in this. It just fits like a glove. One thing I’ve noticed is right here with this little lip that comes out, if the cylinder’s not all the way out, they can get a little hung up, but bringing it out, man, that thing is smooth.

Now, one thing I really like are the Safariland speed strips. You can put them in and you can load really quickly that way. Really, that’s not really proprietary to any certain revolver, just caliber.

While the revolver is fairly slower to load, you can get options and get really fast. All right, guys, we’re going to be shooting .38 Special and 357 Magnum in the M83s. We’re going to give a big thank you to Fiocchi for sponsoring our ammo, all made in the USA, one of the biggest suppliers of ammunition in the country, and really excited about getting these out.

Well, guys, the M83, what a cool revolver coming out of Europe and the Zastava plant, which is really known for their arms, especially their AK-47s. But here we have a wheel gun that’s European, and right now these are surplus coming back. Some of them are military surplus, some are police trade-ins.

So you’re getting a lot of different conditions, but we got two really excellent ones from AIM Surplus. A big thank you to those guys. The 4-inch, we’re going to shoot it first.

We also have the 2-inch. Six shot, all steel, and of course, we’ve been showing the tabletop so you know it has a lot of cool features. One thing about it is that double action trigger pull is pretty heavy.

So we’re going to shoot some six rounds of .357 Magnum, just see how it functions, and then we’re going to go to .38 Special in the 2-inch. Once you kind of figure out where it’s going to break, it makes it actually pretty easy to get on target. The grips, they’re wood grips, and a lot of times wood grips, especially with .357 Magnum, can kind of, you know, rock your hand a little bit.

These are rounded off very well. I really like these grips as far as for recoil. Now they’re worn a little bit, which you’re going to get, but I love the Smith & Wesson forward mag latch catch.

Of course, it drops out those six rounds. Again, 4-inch barrel, like that vent rib on there, but it’s understated. It’s not standing out, so I really like it.

Just looking at it, it looks like maybe a Smith & Wesson, but there are some details to it that kind of really differentiate it. And the 2-inch model, it’s just 2 inches less, but you’re getting a little less velocity, a little less as far as your sight radius, and we’re going to shoot .38s in this one. This is a double single action, so we’re going to shoot this one single action.

Man, the single action is nice, and with the .38, it makes it really soft to shoot. Sights, even though these are embedded into the frame, you have a post at the front. Actually, you can see them pretty well.

I mean, these are definitely combat sights. It does have that rib, even on the 2-inch model. It has serrations along the top strap, just to cut down on glare.

Chrome-plated hammer and trigger. Again, the grips really make a big difference. We’ve been shooting .357 out of this as well, and it’s very shootable.

So, if you’re looking for a really cool revolver that’s surplus, but yet definitely different, I mean, these little Zastava revolvers are just top-notch. Well, guys, we shot one group single action right here. I don’t think the camera was on.

If it is, of course, we’ll show it. Then this was the double action. That first shot was kind of crazy, but I mean, really not bad for that double action, especially how heavy the trigger pull was.

So, extremely pleased with single action, and honestly with double action. Now, obviously, when it comes to cleaning, there’s not any real disassembly. You don’t really need to take the side plate off.

That’s something that really gunsmiths need to look at, unless you’re very familiar. But because of the way the barrel’s set up, you’re not going to be able to enter a rod from the back. You can use a bore snake.

That works out well. But if you’re using a rod, one of the tricks I use is to take a cloth and put it back here against the back where the firing pin is in that back plate. That really keeps you from damaging anything when you’re bringing that rod through.

So, try that. That’s one of the tricks. Plus, you can set this in a vice and get the handle in a vice and then be able to clean it that way.

But revolvers, typically you want to keep this area clean, right around the forcing cone. And sometimes, especially shooting a lot of rounds, this can get a lot of debris and it builds up. So, just keep that clean.

Of course, keep your cylinder face clean. And then when it comes to the ejection rod, don’t oil it. A lot of people tend to want to oil that.

I’ve in the past done that, but really it’s smooth and it should stay clean and dry because it will build up a lot of debris in there. But overall, revolvers are very simple. And so, keeping them clean is also pretty simple.

And then just keeping it wiped down. Obviously, this is blued. It’s a blued steel.

And so, this really protects the finish, but it can have a little bit of rust that appears. And that’s one of the reasons why they kind of went away from bluing. And plus, it took a lot of polishing to get a really good look to it.

These blued finishes just have this deep luster to them that I just love, but they are a little more susceptible to corrosion. Now, keeping your firearms maintained and cleaned is vital. Otis makes some of the best cleaning equipment out there.

They make a number of different kits that are dedicated for different rifles, pistols. They also have Shooter’s Choice, which makes excellent CLP and bore solvent and different cleaning materials. The Ripcord is one of their signatures and there’s a whole system based around it.

They are suppliers to the U.S. military. So, check out Otis Technologies. Highly recommended.

And we want to thank Otis for being a sponsor of the channel. Now, as far as price, on AIMSURPLUS, they’re going for $329.95. Any of the two-inch models, I believe they’re $349. So, a great price for a really nice quality revolver.

Yes, it’s from Europe. There are a few differences, but overall, I mean, our experience has been great and the accuracy was really surprising. So, what are some pros and cons? First off, it’s just a beautiful revolver.

Very well made. And it’s very smooth. The action’s smooth.

The trigger pull is a little heavy. So, that’s going to, that double action. So, that’s going to be a con, but that’s on most of your revolvers.

And really, with just medium hand strength, you should be able to pull those back pretty simply. With the single action, it’s actually just a very nice, crisp trigger pull. I like the vent rib.

That gives it a really nice look to it. The cuts here, just a different styling. And with the screws, these are very cool.

Grips are extremely comfortable. And I really like them. A lot of times, I will switch to a rubber grip if I’m shooting a lot of .357, really hot power loads, but this really worked out well.

In fact, better than the rubber grips because it didn’t rub my hand. Smooth action. And they seem to be in really good condition.

What are some cons? Well, first off is the grips. If you have a cracked grip, you’re going to either have to buy custom grips or there may be some surplus grips out there, but that remains to be seen. The internals are a little different.

So, if you have any issues with the parts or you have a breakage, it might be something that, it may be a little time to find. But a lot of times, a lot of these revolvers come in and they piece out the ones that are subpar. And so, there should be some parts on Gun Broker in different places.

Even eBay, a lot of times, will sell used gun parts. But most revolvers typically are very reliable. And you pull the trigger, it goes bang, and they’re just simple in a sense of operation.

But again, they can be a little more complicated under that side plate. But overall, I mean, this has been a very smooth shooting gun. We really enjoyed taking these out.

And again, while surplus firearms are coming into the country in large quantities, the prices are very reasonable. The price of this, under $350 for either one, is a great price. Why would you buy a revolver? Well, first, it’s a very simple operation.

I mean, it’s just load, pull the trigger, you can fire, you can go single action. Again, we have multiple type rounds that you can use in this, .357 Magnum, .38, and then even shot shells. And there’s a ton of different options in those categories.

It really slows things down a bit, and it gives you six rounds, and then you have ways to reload, but it takes a little bit more time to reload. But there’s something about a revolver, taking it out, that you just enjoy every shot. A little bit different than semi-automatics, where you can kind of do a mag dump before long, and you go through a lot of ammo.

With a revolver, again, it just takes it down to another level. And it’s just that old world styling, that’s just beautiful. And the hand craftsmanship of these guns is really just over the top.

Yes, you could get one that has some damage to it, and some wear, and that’s one of the possibilities. So you want to be aware of that. But otherwise, as far as what I’m seeing, a lot of people have been very happy with these.

So guys, a European .357 Magnum revolver, I mean, this is definitely something that you don’t always see. I mean, obviously with the Korth, and with the Manurhin, which are extremely expensive. It’s great to see a European revolver coming in as a police trade-in, or military surplus, that’s actually made in the 80s, up and through the 90s.

And we really appreciate Aim Surplus for sending the Zastava M83 revolver for this review.

 

Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic.

 

-Don