Category Archives: Weapons by Country

Comparison Photos of Yugo M70 vs M72 Lower Handguards

Folks ask me if the Yugo M70 and M72 use the same handguards – in short, they do not.  The upper gas tube cover is the same across all models of Yugos I have seen but the lower handguard on the M72 is very short and rectangular.  This is especially true when it is next to the long sleek tapered M70 handguard that is also used on the M76 and M77 rifles.  By the way, please ignore the green clay and mess – I was making molds when I took these photos:

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The other unique factor is the ferrule.  Yugo ferrules are very hard to find in the US.  With other countries’ ferrules you may find them for sale by a vendor who did a bulk purchase, but that is never the case with the Yugo M70 ferrule.  We actually found a college student with a talent for making dies and an interest in Yugos who makes replica ferrules for the M70, M76, M77, M85 and M92 handguards.  Now here is the rub – the M72 uses a bigger unique ferrule and you will not find them unless someone sells a handguard with the ferrule installed or has pried one off a handguard for some reason.

These photos show the smaller M70 ferrule by the larger M72:

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The latest about the Vepr and Saiga import bans and the Kalashnikov Group Rebranding

gI_60121_Kalashnikov Concern

As you may know, in July 2014 the owner, Rostec, of the Baikal, Saiga and Vepr brands was put on the US sanctions list to punish Russia.  That apparently put a halt to about half of a 200,000 rifle deal being halted that they are now trying to find other buyers for and is hurting them financially:  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30404648

Kalshnikov group is trying hard to improve the brand’s reputation and has approximately 30 different brands in the works.  As of 12/5/2014, they say they are focusing on Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific markets and not the US.  What I would read into that is that they are not publicly pushing to get back into the US.  Given how huge the market is here, I can’t help but feel they are still trying to get back in but there isn’t any public information about their efforts.  The two following stories about their rebranding efforts are interesting:

http://rbth.com/defence/2014/12/05/kalashnikov_targets_expansion_with_large-scale_rebranding_exercise_41991.html

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/12/prweb12365634.htm

Unfortunately, as of today, December 14th, there are no indications that we are going to see the Vepr or Saiga rifles coming back into the US any time soon.  Putin’s friends are still making a ton of money and the sanctions aren’t changing his mind any. The problem with sanctions in general is that they sound good politically but often don’t work very well.

The change in ownership from the huge Russian conglomerate known as “Rostec State Corporation” to the private individuals of Alexei Krivoruchko and Andrei Bokarev hasn’t yielded any changes thus far.  The initial hope was that by moving ownership of the Kalashnikov to someone/or a group not on the named sanctions list would improve the situation but that does not seem to be the case thus far.

Bottom line, no changes or “cracks” in the import ban are visible via publicly accessible news stories and such.  It would look like we are stuck, and will be for the foreseeable future, on the sidelines still unable to import the Russian weapons.

How to Install a Yugo M85 or M92 Dust Cover Quick Takedown Pin from Ronin’s Grips

Years ago, I bought a barreled M92 kit from AK-Builder.com and assembled it.  I then installed a Stormwerkz rail and a Primary Arms M4-style red dot and the dust cover being attached to the rear sight block really got annoying fast.  After some careful examination, I figured out a quick release pin with a ball bearing detent to hold it in place would really make things easier.  It worked great and I have been selling the pins like crazy for almost two years.  I made a mistake though – I didn’t take step by step photos about how to do the installation and people keep asking for a how-to guide.  Thus, I recently bought a Yugo M92 PAP pistol imported by Century Arms from my good friend Scott Igert, who owns Modern Antique Firearms in Benton Harbor, MI, so that I could do some step by step how-to instructions with a lot of photos for folks.

The work will be done with a Dremel tool with a cut off wheel, a few small punches, hammer and a rubber gunsmith block.

SAFETY STEP – MAKE SURE THE WEAPON IS UNLOADED.  NEVER ASSUME THAT IT IS – VERIFY IT IS UNLOADED BEFORE YOU BEGIN WORK.

1.  Look at the hinge pin/rivet.  On the side opposite the charging handle, you will see a big rivet head.  On the right side, you will see an odd looking head it is actually the rivet just slightly peened over into a concave washer.  It is that side that we will grind the peened over portion off with our Dremel.  By the way, it is really a pin but it has one end peened over like a rivet.  A rivet would swell into the hole and lock everything up – a pin does not.

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2.  If you don’t use a Dremel tool, take a few minutes and do some practice cutting with a cut off wheel.  It has a tendency to scoot around and you need to get a feel for it so you can control it.  Please, please, please – do not take your Dremel out of the box and try to do this for the very first time.  I like the cordless Dremel as I can work anywhere and lately I have become very fond of the EZ Lock bits.  Of course you can use whatever tool you are comfortable with but this step by step explanation should make the work required more clear (I hope).

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3.  If you are still learning, put a couple of pieces of tape with a slit over the pin’s head that is peened into the washer.  With some tape in place, if your hand slips you will be less likely to mar your finish.  Folks, the secret tip is to do very light cuts.  Let the weight of the tool or even less do the work.  Do NOT push down hard or you will snap the bit.  I also rest my hands on any surface that I can to have more control.  You’ll notice I have a rubber gunsmith block to support the pistol – you could use a piece of pine, a hockey puck, or another non-marring surface.  You want the weapon to be stable when you work on it and you will need to lightly tape the hinge pin/rivet free once the head is ground off.  I used pieces of wood for years and years before bought the block – the key is to have the support and use something that will not scratch up your finish.

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4.  You are just removing enough metal get get rid of a small lip on the rivet.  The next two photos show you the slightly concave look I put in the rivet and you can barely see the shaft.  I then used a small pin punch and a tap from a small hammer to get the pin moving.  It will take very little force to get it to move.  If it doesn’t readily move, then you may need to grind it a bit more.  The only thing holding that rivet shaft in place is the peened edge – it is not swollen in the hole.

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5.  This is a photo of the removed rivet and the hinge rivet/pin starting to slide backwards.  I then used a small punch pin to push it out.  The fourth photo shows the original pin and washer so you can see the end result.

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6.  At this point, the dust cover hole is clear but do not try to push the new pin in.  The cover cams shut and it will be needlessly difficult to push the pin in.  For comparison, our pin is shown next to the original.  The pin with a groove in it is something you do not want to lose!  The angled portion is face up towards the dust cover and the round end goes towards the gas tube.  When the dust cover closes, the pin slides forward and holds the gas tube is locked in place.  It’s very simple and does the job just fine.  This locking pin is held in the rear block by the dust cover pin so every time you remove the pin, it can come out.  Just keep track of it each time you clean your M85 / M92 as you will need it.

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7.  Now, to install our quick takedown pin, install the dust cover, lift it up and align the holes.  At this point, there is no pressure and our pin will slide easily into the hole.  When the dust cover is closed, the resulting pressures lock everything in place.  That is why it works so well with hinge mounted picatinny rails.  My favorite these days is the hinge mounted frail from CNC Warrior by way and we’ll right up an installation guide for that as well.

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So that’s it!  Again, the key is to use light pressure when grinding the peened over portion of the original hinge pin/rivet away. Then, install the new pin with the dust cover open so it can readily slide in.

If you are interested in buying a pin, please click on this link to go to our online store.

 


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Clarifying What Happened With US Dept of Treasury and KALASHNIKOV

Rumors can generate some real stress so I want to recap what just happened factually.  Yesterday, the US Department of Treasury added certain Russian Firms to the “Specially Designated Nationals” list, which means US firms and individuals are prohibited from doing business with the named people or entities (such as corporations).  Here is the list of military industrial-related corporations they added:

  • Bazalt
  • Sozvezdie
  • NPO Mashinostroyenia
  • Almaz-Antey
  • Kalashnikov
  • KBP Instrument Design Bureau
  • Uralvagonzavod

For those of us into Russian firearms, the kicker is the addition of the holding company known as KALASHNIKOV  and here’s the actual SDN entry:

“SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION IZHMASH JOINT STOCK COMPANY (a.k.a. CONCERN KALASHNIKOV; a.k.a. IZHEVSKIY MASHINOSTROITEL’NYI ZAVOD OAO; f.k.a. IZHMASH R&D CENTER; f.k.a. JSC NPO
IZHMASH; a.k.a. KALASHNIKOV CONCERN; f.k.a. NPO IZHMASH OAO; a.k.a. OJSC CONCERN KALASHNIKOV; f.k.a. OJSC IZHMASH), 3, Derjabin Pr., Izhevsk , Udmurt Republic 426006, Russia; Registration ID 1111832003018 [UKRAINE2].”  — This is from the Treasury’s SDN update page 90 of the PDF:  http://www.treasury.gov/ofac/downloads/t11sdnew.pdf

Now, some people thought this just meant the Saiga line would be banned but the problem is that KALASHNIKOV is a holding company made up of both the Izhmash (Saiga) and Molot (Vepr).  To prove this, the following report is from Rostec who owns KALASHNIKOV, regarding the companies KALASHNIKOV owns:

  • JSC ‘NPO ‘IZHMASH’, Udmurt Republic
  • JSC ‘Izhevski mashzavod’, Udmurt Republic
  • ‘Koshkin Automatic line design bureau’ JSC, Moscow Region
  • ‘Klimov Special Ammunition Plant’, Moscow Region
  • JSC ‘NITI Progress’, Udmurt Republic
  • JSC ‘Molot’, Udmurt Republic
  • JSC ‘Izhevsky Mekhanichesky Zavod’, Udmurt Republic

The source page is:  http://rostec.ru/en/about/company/165

Given my research, it is clear both Saiga and Molot lines of rifles and shotguns will be blocked but the bad news does not end there.

The actual executive order passed by President Obama is far broader and states:

    Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that 
are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United 
States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or 
control of any United States person (including any foreign 
branch) of the following persons are blocked and may not be 
transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
          (i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; 
        and
          (ii) persons determined by the Secretary of the 
        Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
                  (A) to be an official of the Government of 
                the Russian Federation;
                  (B) to operate in the arms or related 
                materiel sector in the Russian Federation;
                  (C) to be owned or controlled by, or to have 
                acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, 
                directly or indirectly:
                          (1) a senior official of the 
                        Government of the Russian Federation; 
                        or
                          (2) a person whose property and 
                        interests in property are blocked 
                        pursuant to this order; or
                  (D) to have materially assisted, sponsored, 
                or provided financial, material, or 
                technological support for, or goods or services 
                to or in support of:
                          (1) a senior official of the 
                        Government of the Russian Federation; 
                        or
                          (2) a person whose property and 
                        interests in property are blocked 
                        pursuant to this order.
    (b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section 
apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in 
regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued 
pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract 
entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the 
effective date of this order.

Source:  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CDOC-113hdoc98/html/CDOC-113hdoc98.htm

It would appear that existing contracts will be/should be honored.  Given the broad wording, this executive order could be used to block *new* contracts for the importation of Russian ammo as well.  In looking around so far this morning (6:30-7am Eastern), there didn’t appear to be price gouging by the big suppliers yet.  For example, SGAmmo still has fair prices for 7.62×39.  I must admit I am a bit nervous only for the reason that Golden Tiger is made in Russia by Vympel, also known as “Federal State Enterprise Production’s Amursk Cartridge Plant Vympel”.  I can only imagine that as word gets out there will be a run on Russian firearms and ammo that will only increase as time goes on until the word is fully spread.  Again, bear in mind that existing contracts should be honored given the above.

In short, Saiga and Vepr are blocked by name due to the KALASHNIKOV reference and the executive order could be used to block any *new* requests to import firearms or ammunition in general from Russia.  Not good news but with that said, there are many other countries with arms and ammunition production capabilities that will clearly exploit this opportunity.  People would be well served to start researching alternatives from Serbia, Romania, Poland and so forth.

Ultimately, only time will tell but I hope this gives people a better understanding of what was signed into law on July 16th.

Converted a Base Zastava M77 .308 DMR

I purchased a base Zastava M77 rifle from Bud’s Guns and had the rifle sent to my good friend and FFL, Scott Igert over at http://www.migunexchange.com. To be imported, the rifle was pretty neutered with a thumbhole stock and a tacked on muzzle nut.  We then went to work – the result has our M70 traditional handguard set (the same handguard style is used on the M70 series, M76 and M77 rifles), one of our Bulgy ARM-9 custom grips (my favorite grip hands down right now), Tapco G2 FCG, US Phantom brake, a Desert Fox PK1025 adapter, and an Ace skeleton stock with a 1″ pad.

The original muzzle nut was tack welded on. I removed it with a Dremel and touched up with Oxypho Blue from Brownells.

The original gas tube cover did not use a handguard retainer spring/clip. My gas tube covers really need them to stabilize so I dug around in my parts bin and used one.

The Phantom brake is one I had handy and rather than bother with the detent pin, I used a crush washer.

The FCG retaining wire self destructed as I pulled it out (I hate those things) and replaced it with a plate.  [We have a new fire control retaining plate that is the proper dimensions for all AKM style fire control groups.]

The fixed stock was secured via a long wood screw that went though the integral Yugo grip nut. I was impressed that they did this without harming the 6mm threads in the nut. I just used one of our full length screws and away I went.

Our next post will show the RS Regulate mount and Vortex scope we bought for the rifle.


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