I have a pre lower that news something spiffy.

what recomendtions can you give me about the Zm weapons and the olympic oa 93?

are they worth the extra they are asking for compared to conventinal upper recievers?


thanks

I have a ZM on a Colt Pre-ban lower and love mine.  Is it worth it?  Well I only paid $1400 for the complete ZM set-up WITH a TA01 ACOG.  Yeah it was worth that!

 ZM system is nifty, but still has draw backs.  A truly folding/collapsable stock is the only REAL benefit.  Similar gas system as it still blows GUNK all over the bolt....  Just different spring and gas tube.  Mine has the 16.5" barrell, as I don't want to mess with the hassle of SBR'ing it.  If you were to SBR it, then it is a REAL compact mo-fo stowed (nice for a packed patrol car).

 Do you have any specific questions about the ZM?

a couple....

where can i find one? as in who has the best prices on these or is it a factory only deal?

considering the olympicoa 93 is half the price of the Z M Weapons version, is it much less of a rifle?

can either rifle have the barrel cut to 14.5 and add a vortex flash hider or would that be to short for the overall length requirement?

Pictures of either one?

There are actually some benefits to the ZM gas system.

Although it does direct gas into the bolt like the AR. It seems to be cleaner because the gas is specifically directed to the bolt and not into the upper like the AR system.

The Bolt carrier and gas tube overlap each other at all times, which makes for a more reliable system, probably most appreciated on full auto. No bolt gastube misalignment worries.

There is a piece of aluminum between the barrel and the gas tube. Which protects the tube from heat.

The spring seems to be much more powerful, which makes it more reliable. I haven't had a failure yet, even using crappy mags.

The downsides: I think the ZM could still loose a lot of wieght. While most of the wieght is due to the heavy folding stock. A lot of things on the upper are really beefed up and I would bet a lot of wieght could be taken away without sacrificing anything.

I do think they are overpriced, but the price is due to a custom upper that is manufactured  in very small numbers. If a large company could take on the project the price would probably be similar the the OA-93.

The are extremely hard to find. If you order one you will probably wait years to get it. I've been on the list for a year now I think. I finally found a great deal a while back on one on Gunsamerica.net (not as good as William [:D]), $1200, for the 11.5 inch version plus another $200 for the tax stamp. Was it worth it to me?  Yes, I really like it. It's a great design, reliable, accurate, fairly light, and unique. I wish they were cheaper and more available, but what can you do?

To lighten mine up, I put an ACE boom tube SMG stock on. I really like this setup, it's very handy.

As far as the OA-93 goes, I lost all interest when I saw that it had no sights and optics had to be mounted so high. It just looks like someone tried to add a folder to an AR. I have not knowledge of the OA though and it could be a great system. A ZM is a completely redesigned system.

And some pics.

Here it is in original configuration.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/img/047928.jpg[/img]

Here the Boom Tube mod.
[img]http://www.hunt101.com/img/060456.jpg[/img]

Here's the heart of the system.

[img]http://www.hunt101.com/img/078007.jpg[/img]

Hello RIDGE!  

Those are some really good points that Ridge made. I have had no stoppages either, but, I shoot only Q313a, M193 or SS109 out of it.  I did replace the bolt recently with a new one, cause the old bolt had some pitting that was a haven for carbon.  

 When I first got mine, I thought about SBR'ing it, but, the hassles of doing this steered me to be happy with the way it is.  Better velocity with a 16.5" bbl too.

 I did swap out the folding stock with another from ACE stocks and cut it back about 1.75 inches to get a tighter, tucked in stance.

 Here is mine:
Current Config:
[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid93/p033a0edd599b945a57761aef99536245/fa440f56.jpg[/img]


I ditched this long ARMS rail in favor of the #40 buis cause it put the ACOG just too damn high & I didn't really need that rail space.  Then I figured I didn't have much necessity for the bi-pod in 3-gun matches either:
[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid67/p9c74567cb5f9091cc8f3cb24d4e6cfed/fbc92c39.jpg[/img]

Here is a view of the upper and how much BEEFIER it is
[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid93/p16ee05c457349e8badce896e2e603d3b/fa440f52.jpg[/img]

Forward assist is moved forward to accomodate the shorter bolt carrier, but retains the favorable (IMHO) tear drop FA.
[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid93/p7d37dc4d8b5557ebff364cbec65beff0/fa440f55.jpg[/img]


 Shop around all the gun auction sites and post a Want To Buy (WTB) ad here in 'EE' for one.  The holidays are near, and someone may want the cash.  You never can tell.  BTW, I got mine from a woman in Illinois who was selling it on Ebay.  Good-Luck!

Your ZM is looking good, William, I love your foregrip mod. I'll be doing something like that soon.

I forgot to mention that some of the earlier ZMs actually had 14.5 inch barrels. So if that's what you wanted you might get lucky and find one.

I got despirate the other day and bought some of that new WOLF ammo so if I can build up the courage to run it through my $2500.00 (EDIT: crap, I didn't add the boom tube, now its pushin' $3K, yikes, it adds up over time doesn't it) weapon we'll see how it runs.[BD]

Okay OA owners I want to learn about your rifles.[:)]

I own a OA-93 pistol.


It is accurate, reliable (if you do your part), an really mean looking.

Reliability: New gun was TIGHT!!!! Very sharp bolt would get stuck closed. After about 50 rds. and some playing with the bolt it loosen up. Now it pulls back correctly. Other thing, if you slowly close the bolt, letting it go forward very gently, it might not chamber and lock the round completely, resulting in a FTF. You must, let go the bolt open device, or, pull back the bolt handle and let go. No babying this gun. If you know that, it works every time.


Accuracy wise, it does not like UMC yellow box as it has troble stabilizing the bullet probably out of spec. Likes federal 69gr. HPBT Gold Match, American eagle, Korean PMC etc.

Here's another possible option:

[url]http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=218388[/url]

one last question.

is the barrel any different on a ZM weapons than your starndard milspec AR15?

It attaches to the upper in the same way. Except using a 1-1/8 inch hex nut instead of the standard barrel nut.

I'm not sure if the hole for the gas tube is in the same location. I'm curious too, I'll see if I can measure it somehow.

The hole is also a little different in that it is drilled out to accept a gasket type of thing that goes between the barrel and the gas block. If the hole is in the same location. I don't think there would be much of a problem replacing the barrel with a standard AR barrel.

If the 6.8X43mm SPC gets off the ground. I'll be looking into this really hard. I think a 12 inch 6.8mm barrel on a ZM would be way cool.

thanks,

i was wondering if it was a gun that would have a few parts that once broke, you might as well tuck it away or use it as a door stop.

looking on thier site, they didnt list individual parts or any cutaways\diagrams for the rifle.

i personally would like to see a m4 cut barrel on it. but thats just me.

again, many thanks.

Hi, just got home and measured it. The hole in the ZM is over an inch closer to the end of the barrel. So the only way you could rebarrel it would be to order a ZM barrel for $365.00 or get a barrel without a hole and have someone drill it in the right spot (this might end up being cheaper).

It's a good point that parts might become hard to find. Whenever I have talked to Allan Zitta (creater) about replacement parts, he has always had them. They were very expensive though.

From my limited experience so far I would say this is a very robust system that will last a very long time. Especially the parts that are unique. But it's always nice to own a system that has a lot of available replacement parts and accessories.

Sounds like some pretty cool stuff is going to be available in the near future. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Ridge, there is definately a promising future in the AR world!  Hopefully the AWB will all go away and the future will truly be stunning!

 I am interested in the "HiPS-137" that AZ linked to earlier.

 An exotic cartridge in the ZM would be nice!  But, again, at what price....

 Triumph- A ZM is a pretty safe, albeit expensive, tool/toy.  Parts are available (for now), yet expensive.  I also share your concern over parts, as I 'almost' got a Daewoo a year ago, and from what I hear, parts are a real bugger!

 Like I mentioned earlier, I replaced the bolt with a new one, and it is nice getting inexpensive AR parts vs. the  proprietary parts to an individual manufacturer.