In Half 1 of this text, I talked concerning the first prototypes of Yugo AKs, in Half 2 we dived into the historical past of M70 rifles with milled receivers. On this article, we’ll check out the stamped receiver M70B1 rifles.
AK Historical past @ TFB:
Moreover the milled M70 rifle, Zastava produced a light-weight machine gun referred to as M72 that additionally had a milled receiver within the early years of manufacturing.
Usually, it intently adopted the idea of Soviet RPK however had distinctive cooling fins on the barrel proper underneath the fuel tube. The fins are nonetheless there on the present manufacturing M72s, and earlier this yr Zastava introduced that they plan to convey M72 to america.
Whereas I’ve seen loads of trendy M72 gentle machine weapons, I’ve by no means seen an early, milled M72. Fortunately, after the earlier article, one TFB reader from Slovenia contacted me and generously shared an image of an early M72 from his private assortment. Thanks very a lot, GŽ, I actually admire that.
Uncommon early M72 gentle machine gun. Photograph offered by GŽ.
As I beforehand established, Yugo AKs weren’t a direct copy of a Soviet AK, nonetheless, Yugoslavian engineers nonetheless adopted weapon design developments that originated within the USSR. First, Zastava began urgent and pinning the barrels, and in a while, someday within the 70s, they determined that stamped receivers had been the best way to go.
The stamped receiver model of the Zastava M70 was referred to as M70B1, however the identical gun with the folding inventory had two totally different names: M70AB1 and M70AB2. Why?
Zastava design engineers determined to experiment with the receiver design. The primary weapons had a comparatively skinny 0.9 mm receiver, the thought behind that was to make the weapon lighter. Only a few weapons with fastened inventory and skinny receivers had been ever manufactured, so these unicorns don’t actually have a separate designation.
Extraordinarily uncommon M70B1 with skinny receiver and grenade-launching muzzle gadget from the gathering of the Artillery Museum in St.Peterburg
Nonetheless, loads of folding inventory Yugo AKs with skinny receivers had been produced. Yugoslavia even taught Iraqis tips on how to make two various kinds of receivers.
The folding inventory M70 with the skinny receiver known as M70AB1, lots of these had been bought to the US as components kits. Afterward, most mil-spec Zastava AKs had been made with thicker 1.5 mm receivers. Why so thick? Nicely, to elucidate that, we should look into probably the most distinctive characteristic of Yugo AKs.
RIFLE GRENADES
Not like many different AKs, each Zastava AK had grenade-launching capabilities. To make use of a rifle grenade, you needed to screw on a particular muzzle gadget and raise up the grenade sight on the fuel block, which blocked the circulation of fuel into the fuel tube.
Then, you load a clean spherical within the chamber, connect a grenade and there you go – your AK is now a grenade launcher. You may see your complete course of on this classic video.
Nonetheless, within the video, the trainer forgets to make use of the grenade launcher sight, however with sufficient observe, you possibly can nonetheless hit the goal with out it, and the circulation of fuel remains to be sufficient to launch a grenade.
This grenade has a reasonably violent recoil impulse, so the Zastava engineers determined {that a} 1.5 mm metal and strengthened RPK-style receiver would make sure that the gun survives any abuse life throws at it.
The bulged strengthened trunnion of the M70AB2
One of many TFB readers who reached out to me after the earlier article shared his expertise:
Soviet period Yugos are tanks. Roughly double the trouble to demill relative to an ordinary japanese bloc AKM. Barrels/barrel components with a lot increased interference, and so forth. And most OG barrel weapons I’ve had shoot rather well.
The one downside with these stamped Yugo AKs was precisely the identical as milled ones. Till 2020, barrels of Zastava AKs weren’t chrome-lined. Nonetheless, one encounter I had in Afghanistan compelled me to replicate on this downside.
It was my first contract in Afghanistan, and I picked up a Zastava M70B1 from the pile that got here from storage. I began the inspection and seen that the barrel was blocked with one thing, which is widespread – many troopers within the Center East stick little patches into the barrel to maintain the sand away. Nonetheless, once you shoot, the barrel bulges, however no less than you saved the sand away…
The gun with a “blocked” barrel
I cleaned the barrel and realized it was not blocked, it was simply full of cosmoline. As soon as I cleaned it out, the situation of the bore was completely good.
It signifies that an unknown Afghan soldier a few years in the past singled out this AK from a pile. Someway this man knew that Yugo AKs don’t have chrome-lined barrels. Not solely did he know that, however he cared sufficient to guard the bore with cosmoline.
The place did he study all that? What occurred to him? Was he an armorer for the Taliban? Did he serve within the Afghan military? I want the rifle might inform me his story, but it surely couldn’t.
I used to be so shocked to see a wonderfully preserved barrel. I took an image of the comb coated in Cosmoline. Sorry for the standard.
Now, when somebody complains a couple of rusty barrel on a Zastava, I say: if an unknown Afghan soldier can maintain his barrel clear and rust-free, anyone else can.
Within the subsequent a part of the article, I need to speak about variants of Zastava AKs manufactured through the Yugoslav wars
