So the Century M92 PAP pistol arrived from via my friend and FFL, Scott Igert, of Modern Antique Firearms. The cool thing about this pistol is that it is actually made in the Zastava factory and is imported here. Zastava originally designed the M92 to be a 7.62x39mm short barreled rifle (SBR) based on the proven Kalashnikov design that could pack a lot of firepower in a small package. To do this, they gave it a short barrel and an underfolder stock.
To make it legal for importation, Zastava opted to go the pistol designation route with the ATF and thus did not install the underfolder plus they spot welded a muzzle nut over the large 26×1.5mm threaded muzzle. Because the muzzle nut was spot welded, they didn’t bother installing the detent pin either.
After getting mine out of the box, I have to tell you that I am very impressed by the quality. This is my second Zastava AK – my first was a Yugo M77 – and both are very well made.
This pistol has received a lot of good attention over the last few years because of its reliability and heritage but it also got negative marks for its weight and being unweildy. Really? I always found those comments funny because of course you are trying to hold a stripped down SBR that weighs about 5.7 pounds empty with one hand!
Now the fun part. The whole reason I am writing this blog post is because these pistols are still available at a reasonable price and there is a very active aftermarket including the grips, handguards and dust cover pin that we make. We’ll have a series of blog posts to step you through how to install the various parts we selected including some wicked parts from CNC Warrior.
Time permitting you will see a few blog posts each week that step you through what I bought, tools and installation.
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AK rifles use press-fit barrels wherein the barrel is pressed into either the forged trunnion (if it is a sheet metal receiver) or the receiver and then held in place by the 7mm barrel pin. As part of this, the barrel must be headspaced to the bolt to help ensure the cartridge is properly seated. A challenge that commonly happens is that a builder inserts the barrel using whatever method ranging from a big hammer to a hydraulic press but when they try to use their headspace gauges, they find they have gone too far. Alternatively, folks trying to insert a barrel back in that was already headspaced notice that they overshot the barrel pin groove when looking through the holes across the groove in the barrel. Regardless of how the mistake is identified, the question becomes “what do I do now?”
There is a relatively quick and easy solution – use a long shaft to drive the barrel back out. These tools are generically called “barrel back out tools” and you can make one many ways. They can all be summarized as having a long shaft to reach through the receiver to the chamber end of the barrel and then either a copper or brass fitting to protect the chamber from being damaged by the rod. I have seen everything from guys using socket extensions, to pieces of round steel, to custom purpose built tools.
One time, I pressed in a Yugo M72 barrel too far and had to press it back out so I came up with a quick and easy tool that I kept in my tool box and even sold for a while until I stopped because the profit margin just wasn’t sufficient. With that said though, it’s worth sharing with folks just in case they wind up in a jam.
Here is what you need:
One 1/2″ grade one or two bolt that is about 12″ long (or however long you want to make it)
One 1/2″ grade one or two steel nut
One 1/2″ brass nut
For my first tool, that I still have, I just went to my local Ace Hardware store and bought the parts.
Basically, the long bolt allows you to reach into the receiver to the chamber end of the barrel to apply pressure. I used a really long bolt because a Yugo’s rear trunnion is solid and you have to go down at a long shallow angle to press the barrel back out. With AKMs or other AKs with open rear trunnions, you can simply go straight from the back to the front. Note that you need to clear the ejector without damaging it. I purposefully used a low grade bolt as I did not want it brittle from hardening.
The steel nut needs to be ground down enough so that the combination of it and the brass nut can fit in the area where the bolt normally locks up. You want as much brass as possible to be in front of it and the brass nut should protrude from the bolt. You don’t need a great deal of the brass nut threaded on the bolt as the steel nut is backing it up to provide much needed support. I would grind and test repeatedly until the timing was such that the two nuts matched up just right when I tightened them down.
Use the bolt to hold each nut and sand them down. The steel nut is there to reinforce the brass nut.I don’t have exact dimentions so you can experiment. The steel nut is about half it’s original thickness and the brass is about two thirds. You need enough steel for strength, enough brass to be able to deform yet the assembly must fit in the pocket area inside the trunnion just before the chamber.
Note, I used to grind the brass nut to match the extractor notch in the barrel but have stopped doing so as the brass simply deformed anyways. The following photo shows how the brass simply bends and conforms to the extractor notch plus you can see that the brass nut extends well forward of the steel bolt.
I just let pressure form the end of the brass nut however it needs to. I just grind the brass nut flat. Very important note – the brass nut must extend past the end of the bolt by about 1/4-3/8″ thick. The longer the better. You do not want the steel bolt to contact the chamber even when compressed – just the brass. I talked to guys who used to put two real copper pennies on the end of the barrel to press it out so I used that as my minimum thickness.
In the next photo, you can see the shallow angle I used to press the Yugo barrel back out. Again, you would not need the same if you could go straight through the receiver:
I actually have a few of these pushers made and ready to use. I have a long 12″ one to be able to reach down at an angle in Yugos (their rear trunnion is solid) plus a much shorter one – maybe about 6″ that I have when I am just working with a barrel in a trunnion.This is actually under load. Only the brass nut is touching the end of the barrel.
Historically I did all my barrel work with my 20 ton press but now I mainly use air tools except for really stubborn parts. When I originally did this post in 2014, I used my press.
With the M72, I was able to very simply move the barrel back out a bit, turn things around and then press the barrel in until the proper headspace was achieved. The tool worked so well that I have it in my tool box still and have used it a few more times plus I did make a dozen or so and sold them to guys who had good luck as well.
As a caution, make sure the trunnion is well supported – you can see I have it resting on the press plates in the photo above. Make sure everything is set up, stable and that you are clearing everything else before you apply pressure with the press.Â
If you apply pressure and nothing happens, stop and carefully inspect what is going on – the tool may be sitting on something other than the barrel. More force may damage parts and you do not want that.
Lastly, be safe – take your time and play it smart. A press can develop massive pressure. Wear safety glasses and do not dream of having your hands anywhere in, on or around the parts being pressed. All things considered, backing a barrel out should take very little force but you do not want an accident to happen. If you are tired and frustrated, stop and wait until the next day or when you have relaxed and calmed down. Most of my personal accidents have happened when I was in a rush, tired or angry – don’t be me 🙂
In closing, I hope this helps you in your building efforts!
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
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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 KALASHNIKOVÂ 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
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.
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.
One of the challenges with older AKs is to figure out what kind of shape the barrel is in. Yugos especially are famous for shot out bores. The slang term is “dark bore” meaning the barrel is so corroded that it is no longer shiny and usually they are pretty shot out but not always – it pays to do some testing.
One quick way to check is known as the “bullet drop test”. Basically, you put the bullet end of a cartridge into the muzzle and if the cartridge stops on the bullet then there is still some life left. If it drops in such that the case is hitting, the barrel is pretty well worn out. It’s not a perfect test but it is quick and easy.
Pass on a Yugo M72 barrel
Fail on a Yugo 72 barrel – notice how the bullet can’t be seen at all. The rim of the case is sitting in the bore. This isn’t too bad – I have seen some that drop in all the way into the shoulder of the case!
With that said, I have known tons of builders who went ahead and built battlefield pickup style rifles or just “fun guns” where they could more or less hit a man sized target at 100 yards. Personally, if I am going to all the effort to do a build, I’d rather have an accurate rifle vs. one with a worn out bore.
Now, there are new “endoscopes” that are 5.5mm and can let you look into the bore of rifles. I reviewed a $17 GiraffeCam that connected to my Android phone and was pretty amazed and what I could see especially given its low cost. Click here for the full review.
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This is my personal Romy G rifle. It has a Midwest Industries rail, Magul CTR stock with cheek riser, Ace modular stock adapter and our custom AK Galil grip. The optic is a Primary Arms red dot. In the Mil-Spec tube is a C&H mercury recoil suppressor to split the recoil impulse plus it adds weight to the rear shifting the balance point further back.
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I regularly am asked about how to moisturize or condition a horn handle. This is important because if horn shrinks then it will likely split because it can’t shrink uniformly due to all the glue, different moisture levels, etc. With that said, there is a very easy fix. You can use hoof conditioner for horses to impart oils back into the horn. I gently warm the horn slightly and the conditioner and then rub it into the horn by hand. It’s important to use a bare hand so the warmth of your body is helping keep everything liquid. I will work the conditioner in for about 5-10 minutes and then let it sit until it looks dry and depending on the temperature that might be 10-15 minutes or even just when I get back around to it.
I then repeat the above 2-4 times depending on how fast the conditioner is being absorbed. I then buff the horn with a cloth handle and let it sit. That’s it – mission accomplished.
I would recommend to khukuri owners to do this a couple of times per year if possible – especially in the fall and spring when the temperatures and humidity are changing.
I like Hooflex but just about any will do. This may just be a personal preference but I was told to use thicker conditioners years ago vs.
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As you may well know, I am more of an AK guy than an AR guy but I must admit that I really like collapsible stocks. A few years back when I built my personal M92, I opted to use a Yugo M72 rear trunnion an Ace modular adapter and their M4 stock adapter so that I could use a collapsible stock.
I liked the Ergo F93 because I had seen it back when Magpul owned it and bought it on sale. Now, I have to admit that I bought the stock and really liked the feel. I never did a drop test and it never occurred to me to do a drop test. I have never done any real stress testing of it in terms of carbine courses, etc. — mainly a lot of range sessions and never a problem … until someone told me about a test done on the F93.
In reading this review, the F39 broke on the first drop – according to the author, even Ergo knows they need to overhaul the design to reinforce the latch mechanism.
I’m very happy with my Magpul AR stocks and will continue to use the ACS, CTR, and PRS stocks.
So, with no further a do, check out this cool stock review:
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