AK & Related Rifles, Reviews, Serbia

Zastava USA Confirms They Will Import the M91 and M93 Rifles

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I am definitely a long-time fan of Zastava rifles. I’ve owned a number of their Kalashnikov variants over the years including the M70B1, M72B1, M76, M77 and M92. When Zastava announced prior to the 2019 SHOT show that they were forming Zastava USA to handle importation instead of Century Arms, I was cautiously optimistic that we would see at least the introduction of the M91 rifle to the US market.

Zastava USA has a website and they have a PDF catalog with some great looking firearms. What caught my eye were a number of tactical models including some I didn’t expect – the M07, M12, M91 and M93 rifles.

Here are some screen captures from their catalog so you can see what I am referring to:

In mid-March, I emailed them to ask about importation plans and they did confirm that both the M91 and M93 are planned for importation in “early summer” of 2019 but the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) has not been set yet.

They did not mention the other models to be clear so I must conclude they are not planning to import them at this time.

I know a lot of us would like to see the M91 come to the US and I’m hoping they price it in an affordable manner. I would really like to see how it performs next to my M76 (8mm Mauser) and M77 (7.62×51) rifles. So, let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Folks, here are online sources for Zastava firearms including the M91 and M92:

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

India, Russia and also USSR, Video

India Will Make 75,000 AK-203 Rifles, But Is It Better Than the Traditional AK?

In March, the Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Indo-Russian Rifles Pvt Ltd factory that will manufacture 75,000 of the AK-203 assault rifles. The AK-203 is the current model of the AK service rifle chambered for the 7.62×39 cartridge.

A common criticism is that AK rifles aren’t very accurate. Vladimir Onokoy, a technical advisor to the Kalashnikov Concern assembled this video to demonstrate how the 203 can accept modern optics, has a repeatable zero and can deliver acceptable accuracy at 100 meteres.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Hungary, Video

Forgotten Weapons Reviews the Hungarian AMP-69 Grenade Launching AK

Until I watched this video, I’d only seen the very unique Hungarian AMP-69 in books. Ian McCollum did one of his impeccable reviews of this very interesting AK. He calls it the ugliest AK he’s ever seen but I think it’s pretty cool.

One of my first AKs was an AMD-65 it ran like a top. Like the Yugoslavs, the Hungarians had no issues with producing some very uniquely designed rifles based off the Kalashnikov design.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Serbia, Video, Yugoslavia

Ian at Forgotten Weapons Does a 2-Gun Match With a Yugo M76!!

Two Rivers Arms recently built a Yugo M76 8mm designated marksman’s rifle for me. I’ve wanted one for years and it was a long but worthwhile wait until it arrived. So, once Tim called and said it was almost ready, I started reading up in earnest and watching videos as well.

That’s where Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons enters in. I am a fan of Ian at Forgotten Weapons and both subscribe to his Youtube channel and support him via Patreon. Ian published a video of him using a Yugo M76, or as it is formally known, a Zastava M76, in a 2-Gun match. It’s a quick fun watch to see Ian swinging around the big rifle.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

AK Smithing / BIY, Yugoslavia

8mm Mauser “Realistic Snap Caps” Are Great For Testing

I’m tuning a bunch of Yugo M76 magazines so they no longer nose dive when the bolt hold open (BHO) follower is hit from behind. It involves welding a small tab of 20 gauge sheet metal behind the follower and is straight forward – I’ll write a post about it shortly. The challenge I ran into was the need to reliably test ammunition feeding safely.

I had to add in the “safely” comment. I would tell you to never use live ammo when you are doing this kind of work because an accidental discharge could happen for a ton of reasons. There are a number of companies that make dummy rounds to enable folks to safely test their weapons. You’ll hear these rounds called things like “dummy rounds”, “snap caps”, “action proving rounds”, and probably tons of other things.

They tend to be made either from machined aluminum or from real components – such as real brass cases and jull metal jacket (FMJ) bullets – that are asssembled without powder and usually something rubbery in the primer pocket to protect the firing pin during dry firing. Assuming you are using a reputable vendor who is making the rounds to accurate dimensional specificaitons, either will work. The issue is longevity – especially in a big semi-auto rifle.

Aluminum is inherently soft. I’ve used a number of makers’ products over the years and some get chewed up real fast by heavy actions that slam rounds into the chamber with force. I’ve literally had chips/shavings of aluminum fall out after soft aluminum met hardened steel.

So, in order to safely test the feeding of the M76, I knew I could not go with aluminum rounds. I did some searching around and found “Realistic Snap Cap” brand and they take the route of producing an inert round (meaning not “live” because there is no powder and primer).

For reasons I’m not clear on, the firm makes two 8mm mauser snap caps – one with a blunted nose and one with a full size FMJ bullet that is the normal length. I did not know this when I ordered a package of five off Amazon because I mistakenly assumed the product photo shown accidentally did not show the top of the bullet.

You can see the blunt snap cap vs. a full size one. Do not use the blunt rounds to test a M76.

I really do not know why they made the blunted rounds. It might have been for people wanting to test hollow points, soft points or maybe wanting an even more positive identifier that it was a test round. Whatever the reason, they work horribly in a semi-auto M76.

I couldn’t blame the maker or Amazon because I knew better that to try a shorter than spec round that had a blunted nose vs. the curvature of a FMJ round that assists with feeding. I was too caught up in the “let’s get this done” mindset so it was my own fault.

The short rounds were made well so I did some digging and they did make a full size 8mm Mauser model described as “Advanced Tactical 8mm Mauser” that I ordered. Ok, now these work great.

They are well made and the patina is a pretty quick visual indicator that they are snap caps but never ever have live ammo anywhere near a firearm you are working on or you are risking an accident especially if you are tired.

Thanks to the right snap caps, I could then test all of the magazines and the snap caps held up great. Just be sure to get the full size snap caps and not the blunted ones if you are testing an M76.

Amazon has stopped carrying them unfortunately but you can get them off eBay.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Automotive, Cars, Tools, Trucks

The EZRed MR34 Extendable 3/4″Socket Wrench is a Beast With Two Quick and Easy Tweaks

I have both SAE and Metric 3/4″ socket sets that come out once or twice a year when I am working on big bolts on cars and trucks. As you may know, the longer the wrench, the more torque you can apply. Back when I was younger would would slide a piece of pipe or heavy wall tube over a ratchet or breaker bar to get even more mechanical advantage. We definitely snapped some socket wrenches while doing this as we exceeeded their design specs.

You see, a ratcheting socket wrench has limits as to how much torque the mechanism can handle before something either bends or breaks. Quite often, the rathchet pawl would bend/crumple and no longer be able to engage the teeth of the gear. When that happens, we’d toss the cheap wrench.

This is why breaker bars were made by the way – they have no ratcheting mechanism and, thus, can handle more torque. There’s one problem though, there are times where you can’t get the breaker bar into position because you can’t turn the handle relative to the socket. So, what is a person to do when they need a ton of torque and a ratchet mechanism?

The short answer is to get a wrench with a long handle that is designed to handle a ton of torque. A ton of companies make socket wrenches with longer handles. I have a couple of these but what I find really handy are wrenches with extending/telescoping handles. When you are working in a relatively tight space, you may not have room for the fully extended handle or you have need to work it into position before you can open the handle.

The EZRed MR34 Wrench

So, when I need a ton of torque and mechanical advantage to help me get there (I’m at the age where I need to work smarter because my body doesn’t support harder any longer 🙂 – I break out the wrench I affectionately call “The Beast”. It is a beautifully made and chromed giant 3/4″ ratchet wrench.

The wrench is sold in the US by a firm called “EZRed” with a lifetime warranty and, like many things, is actually made in Taiwan. When you do some digging around, there are a lot of guys using this wrench for heavy equipment, farm equipment, trucks, steam pipes and more. After reading about the real world experiences with the wrench, I ordered one in.

Here is the wrench closed and you can see it is about 24″ overall.
Here is the MR34 fully open and about 40″ long overall.

The first things I noticed was that it’s a big wrench even without the handle extended. Next, it’s a heavy wrench and weighs in at about 8.5 pounds. I have to be honest, I don’t usually pay much attention to looks but the chrome finish is gorgeous.

Pull the collar down and a detent is released that allows the handle to telescope out. The handle then locks into position in the next available hole. The locking feature is definitely nice.

I use this for 3/4″ sockets and also have a SunEx 3/4 to 1/2″ reducer for those times I want to apply a ton of torque to a smaller bolt.

Here’s the wrench with a SunEx 3/4 to 1/2″ adapter.

So far, I am very happy with the wrench. As you can tell, I haven’t used it a ton yet but for the few quick jobs so far, it worked great.

Two Big Tips

A fellow recommended apply Blue Loctite to the head screws and grease the wrench while it was open. He was spot on – the screws were surprisingly lose. Even though they have blue thread locker on them from the factory something seems odd and guys have reported losing the screws. I really think if Ihad not followed the fellow’s advice I would have already lost mine as well – they are that loose.

The screws come out and then the head is very serviceable. You can see the two pawls and their springs plus the selector in the middle. What you don’t see is any lubricant! I must say I am a bit surprised.
You can see the faceplate and the 24 tooth geared head.

So, I used a brush and lightly applied SuperLube grease to everything, reassembled the wrench and put Blue Loctite on the two head screws before tightening them down. The whole thing took maybe 10 minutes start to stop including taking the photos.

If you ever need it, the EZRed sells a rebuild kit – part number RK34.

Summary

I really like the wrench. It’s worked great so far but I really haven’t done anything super stressfulso far – just breaking some very rusty 1/2″ diameter carriagle bolts free off my plow. It’ll definitely get used this upcoming summer a lot more.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

History, Reviews, Russia and also USSR

My Cool New Kalashnikov Coffee Cup

Guys, I must confess that I have a coffee addiction 🙂 As most of you know, I am into AK rifles as well. As part of that interest, I have read every biography I could find of Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov to try and better understand what led to the creation of the AK-47 and the eventual family of Kalashnikov designs.

Recently I was searching on Amazon and surprisingly found a coffee cup with a great photo of a young Kalashnikov that was tastefully done and, of courcase, had to order it. I had to wait a few weeks as it shipped from Germany.

When it arrived, I was surprised that the graphic was a different color than what the Amazon ad depicted. I thought about returning it but I do like the cup. The following shows you the cup that arrived – it is pretty cool and the color has grown on me.

My wife’s reaction was “Why did you buy another coffee cup?” To which I answered “But honey, this is Kalashnikov” at which she just turned around while shaking her head 🙂

In case you are looking for a conversation piece, check out this cup. Here’s the listing on Amazon.

7/3/2019 Update: It’s holding up just fine. It does make for a cool conversation piece when people use it. “Who is this guy?” is usually how it starts 🙂

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Shooting in General

The Best Websites To Buy Ammo From

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A common question I’ve been asked over the years is where to buy ammo from online. I can definitely understand the question – there is a bewildering number of online vendors that sell ammo and some offer great deals and service and others don’t – plain and simple. I’ve been involved with firearms since my dad held a .22 for me in the 1970s and have been involved with the Internet since the early 1990s. The combination of the two really took off around 2006 when I got interested in AK rifles and started frequenting the AKFiles, the AKForum and other boards as part of that.

It’s been an amazing ride to say the least. A lot of great guys have helped me over the years and part of my blogging is me trying to give back some. So, back to the topic at hand – where to find ammo? The short answer is that there are a ton of places and it does pay to shop around, wait for sales when you can, sign up for vendor newsletters to get discounts and sales info, etc.

Remember that ammo is heavy. I’m not joking – be sure to look at what the delivered cost will be when comparing vendors. One group might have a great ammo price but real steep shipping charges that nullify the savings. Likewise, a vendor might have a sale one weekend where they have a discount and free shipping and you may only know about it if you sign up for and read their sales emails. I can’t stress signing up for the emails enough – some places will send you a coupon code right away.

What I am going to try and do is list the websites/vendors that I’ve had very good luck with. I’m going to split them between Highly Recommended and Recommended. I’m not going to disparage any vendors but I’ll say that if they are not on my list, just do some searching around and see what others say about them. There are tons and tons of great vendors out there who I have probably never heard of and never will but there are also some not so great groups out there as well.

What follows is my trying to give a bit of guidance about things to consider and sites to go:

Is Buying Ammo Online Legal?

Guys ask me if they can legally buy ammo online – meaning from a website. The problem is that the answer to this question depends on federal, state and local laws. At a federal level it is ok. For most states it is ok. Once you get down to the county and city/town level, it depends. You need to check around and find out the answer to that question. Use the Internet to research, ask your local gun club, sheriff’s department, etc.

Are Websites Always Cheaper Than Buying Locally?

The short answer is a very strong “Not always”. A lot of gun stores can be very competitive. Ammo is heavy and local gun stores can buy in bulk plus they can do a number of things to lower their cost. For example, Modern Antique Firearms in Benton Harbor, MI, is owned by my friend, Scott Igert, and they regularly get great deals on ammo that they then pass along to their customers.  They will also group special orders together to further lower cost for people looking for relatively rare ammo.

Speaking of, if you are in an area that lacks competition or are looking for specialty loads or relative rare calibers, online is probably your better option if not your only option. For example, I had a .50 Beowulf. You aren’t going to walk in a store and find that ammo. The same tends to be true for my .338 Lapua.

One other shout out I want to give to the local gun shops is customer service. Again, pointing to modern antique firearms, you can go in there and get a lot of advice about how to select ammunition and what would work good in your situation. Never underestimate the value of good advice.

Highly Recommended Websites For Ammo

Websites in this category are ones that I have bought from many times and are usually the first ones I check when looking to buy ammo. I have no hesitation in recommending them to you as you start your journey to find ammo.

By the way folks, I get no money at all from any of these places. I’m telling you purely based on my experience. All the vendors on this list are groups that I’ve ordered from at least 10 times.

  • SGAmmo – this is a family-owned business that has been around for a long time. They were recommended to me many years ago and I have ordered a lot of ammo from them over the years. They have very good prices and are quick to ship. When I thought who to list as my number one go-to, it was these folks hands down. You absolutely need to subscribe to their email newsletter. There’s no two ways about it.
  • J&G Sales – I first ran into J&G Sales many years ago. People were recommending them as a place to get combloc ammo from and I bought a lot of 7.62 x39 from them over the years. They have expanded their offerings to include a lot of ammo from different companies such as Wolf, S&B and many others.
  • Midway USA – Midway has a huge online presence selling gun parts, ammunition, and many other things. I have bought so much from these folks over the years my wife knows those boxes on-site 🙂
  • Sportsman’s Guide – this is another big online website. Sometimes they do have good deals on ammunition and are worth checking out especially when they have sales and free shipping.

Recommended Websites For Ammo

Groups in this category I have ordered from a number of times and have been very satisfied.  The websites below are listed in order they came to mind,

  • Palmetto State Armory – Palmetto is a interesting low-cost vendor out there. I have bought a lot of AR parts from them over the years and been very happy. Once in a while they will have a great sale on some popular ammunition in a given caliber. You definitely want to sign up for their sales newsletter.
  • Cabelas – sometimes these folks have good prices on ammunition but they are good to remember because sometimes they will have inventory when other groups do not.
  • Buds Guns – they often have competitive prices and are definitely one place to check. Another good example of a place that may have in unison in stock when others don’t. For example I recently bought some S&B 124 grain 9 mm ammo from them.
  • Able Ammo – definitely one vendor to check. I have bought firearms and ammunition from them over the years.
  • AIM Surplus – they carry quite a selection of ammunition, magazines and so forth.
  • Mile High Sports – these folks are a good source for match ammo. For example, I bought 338 Lapua from them.
  • Gunbroker – if you have never used it, GunBroker is an auction site for all kinds of firearms, ammunition and related items that are for sale from literally hundreds of sellers on their site. You really have to do some research before you bid to know whether you’re getting a deal or paying a fortune. Never assume you are looking at the lowest price just because you are on an auction site. I have gotten some fantastic deals on GunBroker over the years but I have also seen a lot of ridiculously high-priced items as well. One last comment, as I mentioned earlier, ammo is heavy. Find out what your total cost will be before you buy.

A Recommended Ammo Purchasing Strategy

If you are new to firearms, bear in mind that ammo is not all the same even within a caliber or bullet type. Each different type of round is designed for a specific use be it plinking, self-defense, hunting and so forth. Decide what you want the ammo for. For example, you would not want to buy a boat load of very expensive self-defense hollow point ammunition just to go plinking. Conversely, you ought to consider spending the extra money to buy some really well regarded self defense hollow point versus Full Metal Jacket range ammunition.

It is interesting how fireams can still can differ even within a model. For example, you could have to virtually identical pistol sitting next to each other and find that one likes a particular type of ammunition more than the other pistol does.

Certainly it pays to research recommendations on ammo for your particular firearm but bear in mind that you must always test ammunition before you buy a bunch of it. I can’t stress this enough. Your gun may not function at all or it may have horrible accuracy with a particular type of ammunition. Do not leave it to chance. You sure do not want to buy ammo and go straight out hunting or rely on it for self-defense. Test test test test. Also, be sure to test it with the magazines.

Once you have an idea of what you want to buy, then check the various websites listed above.

Ammoseek

Have you ever wished there was a website where you could search across many vendors to see what prices are? I found a service called just that – AmmoSeek.  It’ll help you get an idea of pricing for a wide variety of ammo.  Again, look at total cost – product + shipping + insurance when comparing vendors.

If you see a vendor you have never heard of before, do some searching with Google and see what people see.  Try phrases like “Is vendor X any good”, “vendor X reviews”, and so forth.

Summary

Like I said before, a lot of guys helped me out when I first got started. It began with my dad and his friends, then my friends and their fathers and it just grew from there. I truly hope this helps you enjoy your firearms and be prepared.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at info@roninsgrips.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

When Strength and Quality Matter Most

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