Zastava M-70

The Zastava M-70 is an assault rifle developed and produced in Yugoslavia, nowadays Kragujevac, Serbia by Zastava Arms company. The design of the M-70 was based on modified Soviet AK-47 and AKM assault rifles and it became the standard issue weapon in the Yugoslav People's Army in 1970. The M-70 is an air-cooled, magazine-fed, selective fire rifle.

History
Initial development of a domestic AK variant began c.a 1959, and the first models submitted by Zastava for military field trials were with the early M-64 series of rifles with milled receivers, threaded barrels, familiar Zastava handguards, gas cutoffs for grenade launching, and several other diversities from the mainstay AK design, such as a bolt hold open device on the right side of the receiver, and a charging handle that appeared different from other AK models. Though performances were satisfactory, the Yugoslav military did not adopt the rifle as the standard infantry armament. In 1970, a second opportunity emerged, and Zastava was given the go ahead to begin with army funded mass production of the AP M-70 and M-70A series (Automatska Puška Model 1970, Automatic Rifle Model 1970) of which the M-70A was the folding stock version.

Before the larger models of these rifles were made, cost-cutting measures in production resulted in the removal of the internal bolt hold open, and relocation to the magazine follower. In addition, the usual placement of the barrel through threading into the receiver was replaced by the cheaper method of pressing and pinning the barrel into the receiver. Rifles produced with these new features were known as models AP M-70B (fixed stock version), and M-70AB (folding stock version).

As with the M-70 series of automatic rifles, these models failed to be produced in larger quantities before further cost-efficiency production measures gave way to yet another model. from a smooth 1.0 mm sheet of steel

This time the milled receiver was replaced by a receiver stamped from a smooth 0.9 mm thick sheet of steel, a firing rate reducer was added to the trigger group, and the muzzle brake replaced the muzzle nut that originally came on the two prior models. Yugoslavian AKs produced with these features were named models AP M-70B1 (fixed stock) and M-70AB1 (folding stock).

These models eventually failed to mass-produce as well, before final alterations to the M-70 rifle design resulted with the AP M-70B2 (fixed stock) and M-70AB2 (folding stock) models. These last two models featured a thicker 1.5 mm stamped receiver and bulged front trunnion, which was intended to strengthen the rifle in order to make it more suitable for frequent grenade launching. These two models would become the most widely produced of the M-70 series, and in turn the most widely used model used by the YPA, as well as the various armed groups fighting in the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Parts kits imported into the U.S. however, show markings that appear to contradict the final fixed stock model name. On these kits the bulged, thicker stamped receiver model is actually the M-70B1 model.

All of the M-70 models share the grenade launching ability with gas cutoff, the lengthened wooden handguard with 3 cooling slots, iron sights with flip-up illuminating elements, initially filled with phosphorus and later with tritium (Which is used on the current production M-70's), to improve aiming at night; the plunger that keeps the receiver cover in place during grenade launching, and a non-chrome lined barrel. Fire selectors have R markings for automatic fire (The R stands for "rafalna", "burst fire") and J for semi-automatic fire (The J stands for "jedinačna", "single").

Design and features


The M-70 can easily be told apart from other AK rifles by the three cooling slots on the foregrip, the light-coloured teak furniture and the black rubber buttplate on fixed-stock M-70s. The M-70s also have a grenade-launching sight and gas cut-off on the gas block, and are capable of launching rifle-grenades. To launch them a 22mm diameter grenade launching adapter is screwed on in place of the slant brake or other muzzle device.

The receiver of the M-70 is 1.5 mm thick, compared to the 1 mm thick receiver of the AKM, making it more rigid. Likewise, the barrel is not chrome-lined, making it more accurate than a standard AKM, but at the cost of increased susceptibility to corrosion. The lack of chrome lining is consistent with other Zastava built rifles of Soviet design (such as the Yugoslavian M-59 or M-59/66).

Variants


M-70B3 – stamped receiver, fixed stock,rifle grenade sight removed and replaced with a BGP 40 mm under-slung grenade launcher
 * M-70 – milled receiver, fixed stock
 * M-70A – milled receiver, underfolding stock
 * M-70A1 – milled receiver, underfolding stock, mount for night or optical sights
 * M-70B1 – stamped receiver, fixed stock
 * M-70AB2 – stamped receiver, underfolding stock
 * M-70B1N – stamped receiver, fixed stock, mount for night or optical sights
 * M-70AB2N – stamped receiver, underfolding stock, mount for night or optical sights
 * M-70AB3 – stamped receiver, underfolding stock, rifle grenade sight removed and replaced with a BGP 40 mm under-slung grenade launcher
 * M-92 – carbine, the shorter variant of the M-70AB2
 * PAP M-70 – semi-automatic variant intended for the civilian market

Users

 * 🇦🇫 Afghanistan (imported in 2004-2005 from Croatia or Slovenia stocks)
 * 🇦🇴 Angola
 * 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * 🇭🇷 Croatia (being phased out and replaced by Croatian made VHS riffle)
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus
 * Democratic Republic of the Congo
 * 🇮🇶 Iraq
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan
 * 🇰🇪 Kenya: The weapon was seen being used by Kenyan police responding to the 2013 Westgate shopping mall shooting
 * 🇱🇷 Liberia
 * 🇱🇾 Libya
 * 🇲🇱 Mali
 * 🇲🇪 Montenegro
 * 🇲🇿 Mozambique
 * 🇳🇮 Nicaragua
 * Palestinian Authority
 * Republic of Macedonia
 * 🇷🇼 Rwanda
 * 🇷🇸 Serbia
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia (replaced by FN F2000)
 * 🇸🇴 Somalia
 * 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka (Sri Lankan civil war, a small number of the LTTE rebels operating.)
 * Syria (used by both government and opposition forces)
 * Yugoslavia (passed on to successor states)
 * 🇹🇿 Tanzania