Yugo M70 AK – The NEED List

Photo courtesy of Zastava-Arms.rs

My love for the AK-47 pattern rifle has been VERY well documented. And one of the best things about AKs, much like AR-15 pattern rifles is that there is a whole herd of different variations that are just begging to be picked up and added to my AK arsenal. One of these such rifles is the Yugoslavian M70 pattern rifle. The M70 is most notable and easy to pick out because of its thicker stamped receiver (or milled if you get an early one), an underfolding rear stock and the grenade launcher sight which fits neatly over the front gas tube.

A Yugo M70 shown with Grenade Launcher Attachment. Image courtesy of Zastava-Arms.rs

These Yugoslavian M70 rifles were made stouter than standard AKs (most of the Yugos anyway) with a stouter and lengthened front handguard  for the purpose of being able to have and handle the stress from grenade launcher use. They also stand out because of a thicker and ergo friendlier pistol grip which if kept stock is friendlier than the puny stump of a pistol grip most other AK-47s can be found with.

So why do I have a Yugo M70 (or Zastava M70 named after the arms company that held the primary government contract to produce these rifles) on my “NEED” List? Why not? I don’t necessarily want to trick out ALL of my guns. Believe it or not I like to keep some of them as shooters in their original form for the historic pleasure of shooting them as they were intended to be used. The Yugo M70 as it sits is my favorite bone stock AK-47 rifle. I’ve only fired one, but thanks to its heft and flexibility with the folding stock (not to mention it looks totally B.A.) it’s made my NEED List as the bone stock AK I just have to have.