In my last review, I provided detailed photos of a M70 with maple furniture [click here for that review]. I bought this M70 at the same time and it came with a Polymer furniture set. In taking the rifle apart, I saw the same extensive tooling marks.
In this post, I’ll provide photos and observations for this rifle. In case you are wondering about the setting, it was 15 degrees outside so I did the review in our kitchen – my shop didn’t suddenly grow appliances 🙂
Conclusion
I thought about doing a big blog post with a ton of photos showing all the machining marks but decided against it. The rifle and furniture are solid but the metal working lacks refinement. If you’d like to see the detailed photos from a M70 ZPAP with a maple stock bought at the same time as this one, click here.
Zastava turned out a rifle probably to hit a price point and could have done better but at a higher cost. I didn’t expect to like the polymer stock set but I do – the buttstock, grip and handguard all feel solid and feel good when you shoulder the rifle.
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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I had a chance to get an up close look at a couple of the new Zastava ZPAP M70 rifles recently. The subject of this post arrived wearing a maple furniture set and quite a bit of heft that one would expect from a larger M70 AK vs. an AKM.
To give a bit of background, the ZPAP rifles are based on the military M70B1 rifle with some changes.
A smaller commercial buttstock is used
No grenade launcher gas block
No night sights
A commercial wood grip was used instead of the very ergonomic traditional black polymer model
No bayonet mount
Semi-auto fire control group
A fire control group retaining plate vs. a retaining wire
For whatever reason, when I got “bit” by the AK bug, I really dove into Hungarian, Romanian and Yugo AKs initially. I always liked how the Yugoslavs took the Russian design, made it their own, and turned out some exceptional AK variant rifles. The fit and finish of the Yugo rifles always impressed me.
Well, let’s fast forward to today. I field stripped the rifles, wrote down some notes and took a ton of photos. If there was one general disappointment I found across the rifles it was the abundance of tooling marks. Rather than coming across as a refined AK, the ZPAPs come across as capable bruisers that are rough around the edges.
In terms of cycling, the finish is very smooth and the trigger feels like a typical AK. However, the lack of refinement was disappointing to me. I actually thought about taking it apart and redoing it but don’t have the time.
Now don’t get me entirely wrong – from everything I have read the ZPAP M70s are capable and nothing I saw or felt made me doubt that.
So, let’s get started at the rear and work our way forward on this photo heavy post:
In Conclusion
This review dove into details that most AK buyers will not notice. There are tons of reviews and videos of these rifles that show how reliable they operate plus how durable they are by shooting tons of rounds [Click here for Rob’s review at AK Operators Union – he does solid reviews]. I did not have a chance to take this rifle to the range but it felt solid when I function tested it. Honestly, it cycles very smoothly – the tooling marks did not affect function.
The rifle appears solid and has the heft to go with it. While the woodwork was very well done, I honestly found the fit and finish of the metal parts pretty rough. Zastava could turn out a far higher quality weapon if they chose to – I’ve seen it in my military surplus kits. I have to assume they built these rifles with a lower price-point in mind and let the cosmetics issues happen. I hope they choose to turn out a higher end product in the future but in the mean time one of these rifles will give you a big bruiser at a reasonable price.
I hope all the photos give you some food for thought.
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.
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 in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
11/28/2020 – This is an old post. Please note that both kits are sold out at PSA. I would be highly surprised if they get more in but who knows.
Hi folks, I’m a fan of Yugo AKs and have been for some time. I wanted to do a quick post to let you know that both fixed stock (M70B1) and underfolder (M70AB2) kits have hit the market at a good price. You will need to build/buy a receiver, barrel and 922r parts to complete them.
If you are interested in building a Yugo AK, you might want to consider snagging one of these. I suspect they will sell pretty quick.
As a reminder, PSA has their own line of AK rifles and accessories in case you want to check them out.
4/24/2020 Update: I received my M70B1 and it was in pretty good shape and the numbers matched. In other words – it’s not all rusted together. All the parts are in one bag and the wood is dinged up but it’s buildable. I hope to get some photos later — let me put it this way, I’m debating whether to buy a second or not.
PSA AK Webstore Links
Interested in an American made AK? Consider Palmetto State Armory (PSA) as a source. Click on the following links for the associated webstore categories for AK-related rifles, pistols and parts at PSA:
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This is John’s Zastava O-PAP. You can tell because it notably does not have the flip up grenade sign on the gas block. It definitely has clean lines and you can see the bulged trunnion that is another clear indicator that this is the heavier duty O-PAP and not the N-PAP.
John’s rifle has one of our Yugo M70 grips on it. The Yugoslavians and Zastava saved money by using this unique ergonomic grip on a number of their models including the various favors of the M70, M72, M85, and M92.
John’s grip is colored black and has our matte/blasted finish for a sure “hold” even when wet.
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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 in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
We make a recoil pad for the military Yugo M70, M72 and M76 rifles [click here for the listing]. The original was rubber over a steel pad and was often very beat up when guys bought kits or rifles made from kits. So, I hunted down pristine original recoil pads and made molds to cast rubber replacements.
Here are the approximate measures for the stock this pad fits on:
Screwhole centers are about 3.25″ apart
From top inside lip of butt of the stock to bottom inside lip is: 4.20″
Top to bottom of the butt outside or overall height is 4.48″
Left to right inside lip edge of the butt at the widest point s 1.29″
Outside edge left to right at the widest point is 1.63″
The lip that the recoil pad sits on all the way around is about 0.17″
Starting in mid-2017 we started getting word from our customers that our military-sized pads were not fitting the new commercial PAP M70 rifles being imported into the US. It would appear that Zastava has changed the buttstock — presumably to cut cost. It is smaller and the telltale for consumers is that it has a solid steel stamped butt plate. The following photo is of an original Yugo M70 military-style recoil pad next to the new commercial PAP steel butt plate:
This next photo just shows an edge view – the white box is just propping them up:
Bottom line is that the stocks are different and our recoil pad will not fit the PAP M70. I’m hoping to get the word out to reduce confusion.
Please note that at this time, I do not have plans to make a commercial PAP-sized recoil pad as there has not been sufficient demand thus far.
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I like Zastava firearms – notably their rifles – M70, M72, M67, M77, and M92. I’ve owned variants of all of those at one time or another and think highly of the designs and the quality of manufacturing. I ran across this short 160 year commemorative video released in 2015 and thought I would share it:
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and here it is with our handguard and a Magpul Zhukov-S stock:
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 in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.