Hey guys, the whole thing about chromium deposits was off of memory and impressions. We’ll do some more research and hopefully get to talk to some older yugo industry guys to see if we can get a good answer to whey chrome was used in select locations. Prior to publishing I’ve already reached out to @polenartactical to help research on-ground.
I've got a Yugo M72B1 RPK with a mint barrel 25 years ago. You are welcome to borrow it if you need one for testing. I even put new tritium vials in the night sights.
Holy Mother and Jesus!!! You have MY RIFLE frođ 1993 ( ,,Nirvana" to the right handle side)😂😂😂😂 I dont remember right, its lomg, long time, but rifle nuber have triple number 8, or 712 im not shoure😂😂😂😂
I don't think anyone was able to dig up the real reason the yugos didn't chrome line their 7.62 guns. Its all speculation at this point. My speculation is the 7.62 guns weren't considered to be as in need of the chrome so it just wasn't used, easier for the state to rebarrel overtime than to add the extra steps and materials to the manufacturing process. Probably the same with the bolt and carrier
I served for one year in the Serbian army. We cleaned rifles, especially the barrels, every single day, whether we used the weapons that day or not. At the shooting range, rifles were cleaned immediately after shooting and once again in the barracks. There was no need for chrome plating; the barrels were in perfect condition. Each rifle had its own 'health' record, where the rifle's condition was documented. If the armorer found during inspection that you hadn't maintained your rifle, especially the barrel, you would be penalized, and you would have to pay for the damage
Chrome lining isn't for corrosion resistance it's for barrel life. Im not saying you didn't clean your rifles but it's not to act as protection from corrosion. it simply increases barrel life. You misunderstand why they do that to rifle barrels all together
While serving JNA 88/89 I used M70B1 and M70AB2. During the 90s, my favorite rifle was the M70AB2 (Bosnian Army). During that period, I had the opportunity to meet almost all AK models. The M70AB2, although heavier than most other models, had another advantage, which was the ability to fire AP and AT grenades (thromblon). All in all, it is a weapon that can withstand all possible tortures from irregular cleaning to falling out, hitting and throwing, and it has never once failed. An excellent weapon with one flaw and that is the folding stock.
Non cromed barrel need to be cleaned regulary because yugoslav military used corosive ammo. Fun fact: back in the time I have no idea that AK is supposedly so resilient to the dirt, because in the yugoslav military we cleaned that thing basically every day
@dexm2010 No, we didn't have a shooting range at 300 meters. It all depended on which branch of the army you served in and the military barracks itself. My unit had a shooting range at 100 and 200 meters.
Hi Henry, i work in Central Africa and our Park Rangers all carry AK variants in various states of wear. I looked at one that one of the guys was carrying and it is a Zastava AK., i noticed that grenade sight first which stood out. I have now learnt a bit about the Yugo's Thanks.
Serbian Zastava sold rifles to Central African military already decades ago!!! I think they recently took the new generation Zastava M-05E3 rifle to renovate the firearms a little!!!
Hi I spent 22 years in Croatian 4th brigade. First 5 in war than as professional soldier. Used that gun for years . Not the same but all from Zastava was great. For range up to 300 meters you need just to keep at start notch. That is same elevation as 300. All you need to adjust by riseing barrel. Difference is from 100 and 300 around 15 cm. But you have to use Yugoslavian bullets. It is pure brass cartridges. The green has more gun powder and at 100 meters shooting 25 cm higher than brass ammo. There is several ammo using during my service but for after war army championship I always had those brass ammo for accuracy. Manny people survive our war because mixing ammo and not adjusting sites at new gun. After adjusting front site at 100 meters you can shoot even fared targets with regular sights. Regards
Great video as always. One note: The “lack of chromium deposits” theory has been pretty thoroughly debunked as an explanation for why the Yugos didn’t chrome line bores. They were using huge amounts of chromium in other applications during the same time period, much of which was mined domestically near Skoplje or Mitrovica. A more likely explanation is that they simply determined chrome lined small arms weren’t essential, and preferred to save that additional time and expense. And as annoying as it is for modern collectors, it’s not obvious that they they made the wrong decision. The weapons seem to have worked perfectly fine for their intended application, for their intended service life. EDIT: Later in the video you guys talk about the unfinished carriers, I think it’s the same issue. As good as the Yugos were at making guns, they would still cut corners wherever they thought they could get away with it. As a more professionally trained army, I just don’t think they were too worried about corrosion prevention measures, which really only start to pay for themselves if the weapon is neglected.
And the yugos (at least what it is now Serbia) were issued with brass cased (probably also brass jacketed bullets) ammo made by Prvi Partizan (PPU). Brass is less harsh on chambers and bores. They were proud on the quality of they ammo and firearms. Also, chrome lining takes a bit of definition aways from rifling, thus decreasing accuracy, although not by a long margin. Also, 7.62x39mm, and 8mm Mauser (used on M76 marksman rifles) aren't as fast as 5.56x45mm and 5.45x39mm, thus not as abrasive on bores, specially if using bullets with brass jackets. Americans had to chrome line their AR-15 because the fast 5.56 NATO round ate bore rifling away, and soviets for the AK-74, while chrome lined bores, they had to switch to a 90° gas port and gas block because the original 45° port will shave bullets and erode easily.
@@Dominik189 Having served recently in the Serbian army, I can confirm this. Sometime we would clean our guns multiple times a day, without even firing them. After shooting the gun, you would thoroughly clean it, one part at a time.
Memories. Late 80s, old Fudd at the range with a No4 Enfield wearing a bandoleer of FN 303 on clips, made fun of my Norinco underfolder. Dared me to try to hit the 9in gongs at 300yds with a real man's rifle. I took the 303, loaded 5 rds. Proceeded to punch the gongs 5 times in a row. I smiled. Thanked him. Went back to my underfolder and proceeded to ring the same gongs 5 times in a row. Haha. I got a nod of approval I will always love & remember.
"Yugoslavia isolated itself from much of the world" - not sure where you got this idea from, but Yugoslavia was actually one of the most open countries of the era. It was a country that cooperated extensively with both east and west - in addition to being one of the founders and leaders of non-aligned movement. It had visa-free regime with most of the European countries, and most of the world counties as well. Maybe you mixed it with Albania, they were the ones who isolated from the rest of the world?
People dont understand the country YU was, especially in western brainwashed world. War crimes, yes but show me a was US wemt into without war crimes. Coming back to YU as a country, western countries today 30 yrs later dont have nor will they ever have that freedom and life. Free schooling, free healthcare, freedom on streets with minimum crimes, free vacations within a country, etc etc. But its western brains we are talking about. No disrespect but their knowledge of anything in the world is pretty minimal and comes off of CNN.
After 1948 "feuds" with Comrade Stalin, most of the equipment was obtained from the US, tanks like M48, vehicles, tank destroyers, 8 in/203mm howitzers and even F-86. After the establishment of the non-aligned movement and the normalization of relations with the USSR, cooperation with the US was terminated and further arms procurement was from the Soviet bloc. Ex Yu was never a member of the Warsaw Pact and always bakanced between the two sides. It is interesting that after 1948 the border with the countries of the Eastern Bloc was mined 2 km deep, while Austria and Italy were never mined.
Greeting. I served in the JNA (Yugoslavian Air Force), I used to shoot AB 2 with a folding butt, the results on fire were always excellent, we always practiced up to a distance of 400m and the results were always excellent, we had hits over 400m with a little more shooting practice . The rifle has always been very reliable. Your test confirmed that, thank you for that.
M70ab2's are absolute tanks. I don't know why these aren't more popular. The barrel is thicker, thicker receiver, bulged trunnion, grenade sight/gas shut off, and night sights. Don't forget CHF barrels (no chrome).
I bought a Century imported Zastava NPAP underfolder in 2018 and I can hit anything out to 400 with no issues. It has about 4500 rounds thru it and it’s been super reliable.
Even people here in fmr Yugoslavia hated them and made jokes about them... they are in fact really bad attempt of making cheap and domestic version of vw golf mark i.. one cant help but wonder how the same company which made such a high quality weapons made such a low quality car. Probably done on purpose, with the cost and the time in mind
Lmao. Id love to mod a yugo. A all-time fave of mine. Shit sleeper car. Uncle had two he purchased. Mid 80s. He would use them to drive to central America from Arkansas. He was sleeping in it up n the mexican mountains when it burst into flames. He woke up, jumped out, watched it burn then he just went home and grabbed his second one to continue his journey. Lmao.
I actually saw one at a store years ago someone put it on layaway and then didn’t buy it. I saw it and snapped it up for 650 clams. Still haven’t fired it 🤣. It has that 1.5 mm solid receiver
I've got one. Depending on ammo it's 1.5-2 moa. I've got a 400yrd range and can reliably hit a torso target at that range, with a 4x optic. My eyes don't like the AK sights anymore
Another one that served in the Yugoslav Army (VJ) in 1999. Had one of the AB2`s, hated the folding stock when shooting and loved it while carrying. Also, all of us did clean our gear regularly, rain or shine. Never had any problems with corrosion.
I think this is the most impressive bit of shooting I've seen Henry do yet. I have kit build of one of these that was produced in 1987 with an original barrel with a very good bore on a NDS-4 receiver. I struggle to get hits at 300 and beyond with it. Clearing the course in under a mag was seriously impressive. Well done and keep the Ak underfolder content coming!
So true. I always suspect the rifle's performance when they don't use M67. I really hoped these guys are gonna get it right, but the results were fine in the end. At least they didn't use some steel cased cheap s*.
Good to see an M70AB2 getting a little exposure. I managed to acquire one of these in a trade, and except for the underfolder stock, I really like it. Mine, by the way, was a kit imported by Century, but it was built by DCI - the "DC" in DCI stands for Dan Coonan. Yes, THAT Dan Coonan, The "Ring of Fire" Dan Coonan. The builder of the .357 Magnum 1911s! Two things that you didn't mention, though, was that the front handguard of the M70 was lengthened to make it a little less likely for the shooter to burn his support hand on the hot barrel and gas tube. Also, the stamped receiver is not 1mm thick as are most AKMs, but is 1.5mm as is the RPK, but also the M70 has the additional heavy duty "bulged" front trunion from the RPK as well. Both of these features - the 1.5mm receiver and the bulged trunion - were intended to lengthen the service life of the rifle when used for launching grenades. Fun video to watch, though. And Ialso learned that doing a paracord wrap to the left leg of the stock greatly improves the shooting experience.
Yes, finally! The kabab remover! Zastava makes such great rifle, especially the early aks, they are completely underrated and unappreciated to how well they are made and shoot even better.
When I was in the army, they gave me AB1 (wooden butt stock) and officers said that at the shooting range the rifles with wooden butts did better because underfolders are flimsy; they wobble up and down a bit. The advice they gave to those dudes who got underfolders were: when you put it on your shoulder, before taking aim move your (typically) right hand holding the grip a bit up or down until you get in the position it doesn't wobble. Then try to hold that position as you aim and fire... And to be honest, the saying that rifles with wooden stocks did better were proven right at the firing range...
The trick we used on the range i shot with the M70AB2 where we had basically hollow boxes for rifle rests was to press the gun into the rest, basically up to the magazine. Any wobble in the underfolding stock was eliminated that way. We had to do some adaptions like that with most weapons. For instance, my VHS rifles. I shot those on a different range where we had wooden triangles for rests. When i placed the rifle handguard on the rest (as per instruction) and shot, my accuracy was crap. When i placed my hand on the rest and the handguard on my hand, accuracy improved..
I served in Serbian Armed Forces for 8+ years, we were all issued underfolders because we were a mechanized unit ( although by the time I left the army everyone was issued underfolder AFAIK ), I have over 1k rounds on M70AB2 and M72, what can I say barrel is delicate as hell, guys that didn't clean their weapons well were issued a new one each year because barrels were destroyed. Accuracy I don't have anything else to compare it to as I haven't shot any other assault rifle, but it was fine IMO. Up to 400 meters stationary targets were fairly easy to hit for me, especially with M72 that has longer barrel. I'd say under 5% of our unit struggled with 400m targets, usually female soldiers. Accuracy wise of all the weapons I shot ( M70AB2, M72, M84, M76 ), M84 was a beast that thing is a full auto sniper.
Thanks for sharing. I have a Romanian RPK that I’ve put good quality 7.62 through and I can shoot a man sized target at 500 yards decently constantly with it. I know it probably pales in comparison to yours but my experience with eastern bloc weapons has me in love with them
First love from days serving in Army of Yugoslavia. Bore on my rifle was awful. Can't hit anything on 100 meters. M70 have 1,5 mm RPK style receiver, 0,5mm thicker than other AK, Bore wasn't chromelined to cut production costs, our military head have in thought thing about conscripts constantly clean their rifles in free time so there will be no problems with corrosive ammo usage. B2 model was much more accurate, but little heavier
Moja prva zaduzena u hrvatskoj vojsci je bila rumunjka (nista nisi mogao sa njom pogoditi na 100m. Dok oni koji su duzili "srpkinju" imali su 100% nagrizenu cijev i nisu imali problema. Prvo sam mislio da j problem do mene, dok ne ispalis svijetleci i vidis kako metak ode u tri pm 😂😂😂 tek kada sam zaduzio srpkinju, pa nakon nje, neku arapsku, vidio sam da nije do mene, nego do rumunjke
@dobridjordje I actually saw the M16a1 I had at one unit I was assigned to in a weapons storage site in Bosnia about 5-6 years after my unit transitioned to M16a2 rifles. That was during my 3rd time in Bosnia 1999-2000 the first time was 96 then 97.
Henry is a monster with any firearm with his hand hitting at 500 yards with a under folder AK when military doctrine labels them as useless past 300 yards
A Zastava M-70 (fixed stock) was the first gun I ever owned. I bought it the day I turned 18 and loved it. My only complaint was that it was really picky about what mags it would work with. The only mags I could get to run reliably were the Bulgarian mags if I remember correctly. But back when x39 was under 10 cents a round, I'd shoot a minimum of 500rds of tula a week through it. Definitely a fun gun and classic design.
@@Modern_Warrior_Schoolthanks, that 'll very likely be the reason it did not work properly, if i'm not mistaken those receivers didn't match very good with the parts. Allways get the 1,5mm receiver BTW.
Should do a bonus round for fun with the stock folded. I think a lot of us would be interested in seeing how much of a difference the stock makes in shooting at range and if it could even be done. I could see a real life situation with a broken or missing stock, or even being in a shooting position where you can't properly use the stock and it would be interesting to see if you could try to make a long range shot or just save the ammo.
Technically, you could, but it would be more difficult to align the sights and keep them aligned. Would probably lose effective accuracy beyond 200m. That said, if you have enough space to go prone, you aren't that constrained that you can't unfold the stock. The only realistic situation where the stock folded might be used other than while being ambushed is in a tight, close quarters space, like clearing trenches or hallways with instinctive aiming. Even then, you can get the same rough benefit with a regular stocked AK, by just tucking the stock under your armpit.
The factory that makes them (Zastava) is the oldest industrial faciliry in the Balcans, founded in 1853. It was making big guns howitzers and hand granades for WWI There are generations of arms manufacturers with very good knowledge in making guns. No need for reverse-engineering, these guys could make anything from just looking at it.
Regarding doctrine, the use of your left arm/hand as your support arm and actuating the weapon with your right hand/arm was the doctrine I was taught in the infantry school at Fort Benning in 1986. Everything to load and operate the M-16a1 as well as M-16a2 was similar to as described in this video. The doctrine was the same regardless if you were standing, kneeling, or laying prone. When laying prone, you would roll onto your left side and access your magazine pouch for a loaded magazine and load the weapon. I have seen Soviet Red Army training videos where they act similarly. I shoot a lot of milsurp rifles and to this day have not changed my technique. I certainly do on my G3a3 clone, but that is for obvious reasons. I guess the training they beat into just sticks after awhile. Great video. I love my M70 AKM as well as my M72 RPK.
Super cool watching the bullets fly on the target cam. Enjoyed that very much. Definitely had the 2 impacts on the 500y, but its movement was barely perceptible the second time.
There is quite a few left in army stocks of the formal Yugoslav republics. I had a chance to shoot one a few years ago. Never shot a rifle before, let alone a military issue one. It shot and worked like a swiss clock. I had no trouble hitting targets 10x10cm. When the going gets tough, and even after years in storage and forgotten, these still preform admirably.
I have served in 63 para brigade. M70AB2 was issued to us as a primary weapon. Maintaining rifle in a good condition come before our personal needs. We used DRNCH type of detergent to clean the rifle after shooting, followed with the oil. The rifle was always clean, lightly oiled, and ready for use. I remember times when I was bone-soaked and muddy cleaning my rifle first. Before oiling, we would check barrel for erosion. I don't remember corrosion being an issue.
the issue of corrosion came after the fall of Yugoslavia as far as i know. I've heard from so many of you guys who served with the M70 talk about the rigorous cleaning regime while the state of Yugoslavia was still a thing.
That thing is awesome. Love the trench art on it. Even though it shows the frustrations and struggles of a soldier... Most likely... You guys have an awesome channel!
NOTICE: Picture at 9:06 are taken years later after conflict in Bosnia. Judging by the uniforms, those three guys are probably regular soldiers around 1999. 9:29 So called "blood carvings", on the rifle said IVANA which is common girl name in Serbia and other ex yugo republics. Now, i should explain common misconception about those carvings. Until 2011, Yugoslavia (and later Serbia), had mandatory military service, which means that every healthy young man after 18 years old, was obligated by law to serve in the army. Therefore those guys was issued with old well abused riffles such this one, and they are usually have markings like this. So "blood carvings", are nothing more then names of girls left at home, and most of those carving have nothing in common with wars in Yugoslavia... M70 is build to last for several generation and that is main difference between m70 and other AK variants. 13:03 Guys im very flattered because same rifle is made in my town, but if that rifle "smell like a war crime", then AR smell like teen spirit... Pardon my French
The Mosin Nagant and the SKS both had bolts/carrier in the white. If the soldiers properly maintained their rifles, no problem. If not, the corrosion would be an indicator of the need for maintenance.
The wartime made mosins are rough, many don't notice it but they stopped cutting a feed ramp in the barrel but most would bend the follower, you can smooth them out but any mosin reworked in finland especially the M39 they are so smooth and accurate. The SKS is a perfect rifle for a ban state but in another nation I once had the chance to shoot a Chinese SKS that used a rotating bolt and would accept AK mags also a type81 The PLA prefers accurate fire so the SKS and the modified types where preferred over the AK as they are more accurate with slightly more range. A real PLA AK does not have a threaded muzzle Most exports are now ar15 types and brass cased 5.56 to go with them, no idea if they still make 7.62x39 I'm sure they have a lot of surplus but they have their own non export 5.8 assault rifle and bottle necked pistol round. Some private company's make AKs but not state run ones. They are even making what looks like very high quality sniper rifles in .338L it looks like, the. 338 they make is steel case
I have a 1938 Nagant. I ran a tight patch from the receiver slowly. When I felt it get looser, I marked it. Then I got very thin cork sheet and wrapped each place by one inch cork band. I also scoped it. It is now a accurate rifle MOA.
@@pd2865 as a teenager my first mosin given to me by my uncle was cherry picked (he was an FFL) it was a really nice early 30s hex with no counterbore and it looked it it was hardly shot, the insides looked new and blueing great even the crown was fine, it shot nice but my uncle wanted it to be out first gun project I was about 13 at the time, wood was good but took so long to get the cosmoline out the hexes I asides where very smooth but he cleaned and polished everything including the bore and it was super smooth bedded the stock and I aren't along time sanding jt but be refinished it, recrowned it and shimmed the barrel as its shlkjsed to have a oressur eokibr like with many all marching numbers, did a trigger job and it was amazing especially with original clips, one day he got an optic I'm sure it was a remake or reconditioned or post war but good quality and what looked like an original mount, he bent the bolt handle but did not buy a new one, I guess he was going to do that as he I letted the stocnsonewhagx I did alit if the work with him checking I'm doing it right apart from the harder stuff. The mount no idea if original but he did a great job the wood looked amazing and he touched up the finish due to all the polishing, he even used tured up the bolt and locking surfaces, he messed around with the barrel shinning for a while and with millsurp ammo it was sujb MOA, did the same an M39 and it was like a different rifle, even found a nice Chinese carbine with a good bore same with a wartime production. You can make them quite accurate but best to go with a finn or early mosin but the wartime ones can be hot or miss no matter what you do. Ex snipers with no coubterbore are a good example. I ha e nearly a dozen, later I got into mausers but did not really care what nation asking as good and swdidhs 6.5 are some of the best but some of the best value are the yugo M48s as they where very cheap and had little to no use l, swisss rifles are fun but the ammo. I have a SMLE, martini Henry and a arisaka T99 (just when they stopped using chrome lining) converted to 54r as the bore size is the same. He was a real ammo hoarder but I feel guilty to dip in but for the good ones I handloadong but after that I got into AK building as he has so many kits he for for 50 to 100 with original barrels, still have a lot of 7N6 and 7.62x54R. Since he had so much 7.62x25 as that was crazy cheap my firs handgun was a new production yugo tok and he helped me get more mags, a trigger job, polish everything, refinish it, nice wood grips and paint the sights, the Bulgarian steel case will pass 3A and and still to this day its my ffaborsge kjstkk cartridge just a shame no double stacks imported into the US, I find the Tok pistols to bbe much nicer than a 1911. We did a 7.62 tok AK bizon build as he had so many AK parts and it's a good way to make use of a bad bolt and trunnion, it took PPS43 mags so ran nice but then the prices went high so changed the barrel and the mags worked just fine assumed would have to mess and use another good curved double feed mag. As for ARs apart from milling out 80s and trigger jobs well they are like legit bur had a lot of fun with siagas, veors and such doing back and front conversions same with Chinese MAK90s and SKS rifles. As for pistols I had a nagant revolver da/SA good fun but they used to be so cheap and so was the ammo, butstill have some then the makarov. As for modern pistols I can't stand striker fired I have a VZ58 that was a kit build with original barrel and an extention to make it to just over 16 great rifle but the stiker acts more like a hammer.. Coukd never stand clocks so single actions da7SA or revolvers and just love hi-powers tyoes and especially CZ75 types so as a EDC I use a CZ P07 geb2 it's like a compact CZ75 but polymer frame. Still carry a makarov sometimes if I want something smaller then if I want something even smaller I have a . 32acp berretta and a .22lr berretta old guns and .22lr is far from ideal but a .32 or. 22 is better than no gun. I don't own a truck but as my "truck gun" for my car I have a nice Draco AK 12.5" barrel that's been tuned with a trigger job, side rail installed KG guncoat and a new surplus handguard with RS regulate mount and a small magnified red dot with a folding trskngle brace that connects to the back of the rear trunnion as it came drilled and tapped with some pic rail and also under the bake lite pistol grip, put some pic dial between the handguard to put a small put powerful flashlight on also a basic sling, use a 20 or 30rnd steel mags that I load with golden tiger for FMJ and some other bullets like hornady plastic tip loaded in barnual with extra powder and some sealant and the same with 8M3, tape the mags together I feel 7.62x39 is great out if a 12.5 barrel as you don't lose that much and with a brace and optic you can't do that much less with it than a standard AKM. Not a fan of AR pistols as they have issues even in. 300 blk Now it must be very expensive to get into shooting surplus as prices are crazy.
I used to have one of the older Century Arms M70 underfolder with the grenade launcher sight bought it back in the day for $400😅 these are hands-down the coolest M70 rifles only underfolder I would buy hopefully they bring in these under folders with the grenade launcher site we all want one give us what we want Zastava 😁
Reverse engineering in AK is really small potatoes in the scheme of things. The Soviets reverse engineered and mass produced a rivet for rivet copy of a b-29 bomber. The most complicated thing ever produced at the time
@@classifiedad1 It wasn't reverse-engineered you muppet. To reverse-engineer something, one must get his hands onto the item itself, which Soviets never got. And no, Manhatten Project wasn't "thoroughly infiltrated" by USSR. Some scientists that worked on that project had realized just what kind of scumbags Truman and successive US governments were, and passed some info to Soviets to speed up Soviet development. But there was no "thorough infiltration".
This gun, the Ariska assembled AR-180, my AR'S, and a Yugo SKS that I had decades ago all prove that quality parts assembled by a good armorer and placed in the hands of proficient and experienced soldiers, sailors or airmen can be very effective in the field out to 500 yards.
I got my ZPAP M70 a few months ago...March/February. For about 900. The thing that sucks was the dealer took my mag. Why? Because Maryland law dictates that I couldn't walk out the store with. Im grateful I live in Virginia. But next day I picked up 5 BHO Croatian mags. I kinda going with a different look than this one. I kept the wood solid red wood. Changed the upper to cheese grater and changed out the pistol with a rubber one. And of course I put a flash hider on it. Oh and I plan on putting a wood foregrip on it as well aka "dong".
Not terribly gun related but in the late 70s/early 80s I was a marine engineer for a well known oil company who were not too fussy who they sold oil to (not narrowing it down I know)! Anyway I server on one their vessels and was warned to be careful where I stood on deck as corrosions was a problem. I commented the vessel wasn't that old and was told this story. Yugoslavia wanted oil but wasn't awash with hard currency. So a deal was made, we would supply them with oil and they would build us a river class vessel
Markings on the hand guard are names and one nickname (both in Serbian Latin and Serbian Cyrillic). Nickname of some guy and the names of three girls (translated to English: Anna, Darling and Nina )
I just picked up a yugo zastava m70 that hadn't been shot in around 20 years. I put 40 rounds through it today and hit every shot at a torso sized target at about 75-100 yards
Actually, in Serbia, to the last day of use of those rifles, that were general issue weapons in the 90's BTW, we were thought to religiously clean those barrels, had daily inspections. And if you forgot to clean the barrel in the field, all that you need to do is pour some oil down the barrel, fire a couple of shots, and when the smoke from burnt oil dissipated, clean your barrel and it would be as new.
I got into AKs a few years ago specifically to get one of these Yugo war crime sticks. I couldn’t find one and next thing you know I’ve got 3 Zenitco’d AKs and 0 underfolders.
Btw, the writing on the handguard, Dragana? Female name. Most probably wife/girlfriend of the soldier that carried that rifle. Other side bears names like Ana, Nena... Which is most probably work of different soldiers that had the rifle issued to. It was common to do that, and you can bet your ass that that piece saw actual combat. Doesn't seem like much, but the rifle was scary effective for the ranges it was made for, especially as a grenade launcher. At 25:45 your demonstration was spot on of how it was done. Oh... Unfinished bolt carrier? Tell-tale sign you were not cleaning your rifle, but it was probably done to save some money, not sure. (there's a male name Milan on top left part of the handguard which goes to show that that guy had only himself to look out for)
I like that AK. I own a couple of them, an Arsenal SAM-7UF milled receiver and one is a Hungarian with wood furniture fixed buttstock. I made some modifications to both. I added a slant muzzle break to both of them so they look much better.
I have a Century Arms M70AB2 made a decade or so ago. These rifles were not actually made by Century, but they contracted the builds out to quality builder (Dan Coonan of Coonan Arms), so these are all well made, unlike other Century products, which can be hit or miss.
One thing Henry didn't touch on.......Military issued Yugos are double marked. They are stamped on all of the major components like trunnion, bolt carrier, bolt, etc. and they are also arsenal inventory marked with "chicken scratch" / electropencil numbers by hand. Unlike Russian variants, these numbers are not just the last three digits of the trunnion, but a totally different and unique inventory number and marked on all the major components. Curious to know if Henry's example has the chicken scratching?
I love the Yugo. I have a M64 I rewelder with the milled receiver. It's a weird looking receiver because it was made to have a true bolt hole open lever, but I heard all levers were removed to make them compatible with all ak magazines. I really want to make a M70 rpk. I think Yugo ak's have tons of character and can't wait to get a parts kit before they are ungettable
M64s were never produced in series, as they had some unfixable issues. M64s had plenty of differences from M70s, including dust cover mounted rear sight, round SKS-like charging handle etc. What you have is early M70 with milled receiver which was reworked to M70B standard (no bolt hold open). Version of military ones produced until 1999: Regular, underfolder M70 , M70A - milled receiver, BHO M70B, M70AB - milled receiver, no BHO M70B1, M70AB2 - stamped 1.5mm receiver M70AB1 - stamped 1mm receiver underfolder There are also rifles with side rails (for night sights), but those could be any of the above, with exception of M70AB1 and M93.
I really wish you guys would test out some of the lower priced rifles like the PSA GF-3 AK-47and their budget AR-15's. I recently got their GF-3 AK47 and was extremely impressed by its accuracy getting 2.5 MOA (5 shot groups) consistently at 100 yards using just cheap Tula 7.62x39 FMJ ammo. Even much cooler, would be testing out a PSA 7" 5.56mm Marauder upper and a .300 blackout Marauder upper to see how far you can push the ultra-shorties in both those calibers. Before you say that a 7" 5.56mm rifle is worthless, I get 2300 fps using 55 grain PPU ammo on mine. While it will lose velocity quick, at CQB distances, that's still more powerful than a typical 5.7x28 weapon with a similar length barrel. So that's nothing to sneeze at. It also passes the 2200 fps threshold for consistent velocity based tissue tearing (set by the FBI). In .300 blackout obviously it's more effective at that muzzle length. However for home defense you risk sending rounds into the neighbor's house due to massive over-penetration issues regardless of the ammo type used. (Bullets react differently on dry objects than they do on wet targets like ballistic gelatin).
@@EdwardSnortin But seriously, it gets a little boring seeing mostly only rifles shot on this course that most of us can only dream of ever owning. How about seeing something like a low-end Savage Axis .308 rifle with a bottom-end Vortex 3-9x (I have a Vortex Vanquish optic on mine that works quite well). That would be super cool to see what can be done with a budget bolt gun.
@@wigonyou could get a top tier AK or AR15 for just a couple thousand dollars. I don't think that's expensive enough to say you could only ever dream of owning those nice guns. Transferable MGs? Sure, unrealistic goal. Nice semi-auto rifles? Very doable with self-discipline to save.
@@cmiddleton9872 Most working-class gun owners I know who have families, don't casually drop a couple of grand on an AK or AR unless they're earn over a $150K a year. It's not about discipline saving money. It's about all of the other more important things that money can be used for including purchasing other interesting guns. In other words it's about priorities in spending. Personally if I was going to drop that kind of money on a firearm, I'd spend it on an X95 Tavor.
27:02 incorrect! They chromed the barrels of the machine guns. They didn't think it was necessary to chrome the barrels of rifles, because they had literally millions of them and considered them consumables.
I know that in France you could still get NOS M70s and M76s with all matching numbers and basically unfired a few years ago. So it doesn't surprise me that you could get kits with unfired barrels.
Funny you mention Skopje and Yugo Moonshine.....Rakija, plum liquor. I was part of Task Force Able-Sentry, deployed to Skopje as part of UNPROFOR, July 1992. The first USA combat troops put under foreign command. We did a HMMWV mounted patrol along the Macedonian/FYROM -Albanian border, two of the locals who didn't speak a world of English stopped us, one of them came back wearing the Yugo Pilotka cap with red star and offered us shots of the local home made adult beverage....Rakija. Platoon Sergeant said it would be rude and offensive if we did not accept. Except the driver, I took a round for him. They invited us into his yard I go to see his still in operation, had a shot right out of the thumper...smooooth stuff.
I have the same rifle. I ordered tritium glow elements from a seller in Holland to restore the night sights. I also found at a gun show, the black & white practice dummy grenade with spigot launcher adapter & 7.62 x 39 blanks.
