A few years back they were just another $400 Ak from CAI.
Kinda an interesting variant sure. But a non chromed barrel, heavier than your average AK and nothing special to put it on the sexy meter.
Now they seem scarce and seem to have no problem commanding prices in the $650-700 range (especially fixed stock models).
I suspect that the Yugo variant being nearly identical to the Iraqi “Tobruk” has become a substitute war trophy for Iraqi veterans. Is that what is going on here?
it seems most AKs now days are commanding prices equal to low grade AR-15s but if some one were to give me a choice on a 762. type ak I would go m70 every time.
I don’t know why anyone would pay more than 350$ for any of the centuries.
The Iraqi AK’s are known as the Tabuk. I don’t know why anyone would want the Yugo AK’s either. The furniture isn’t compatible with other AK’s, and as you noted they are heavy and do not have chrome lined barrels.
Never been a fan of them either. Not from experience, I just think they are ugly. Let my opinion hold no weight.
And what’s up with them not having chromed bores? (Ditto for Yugo SKSs). I never understood that.
I suspect that Templar will chime in with better accuracy on this, but…
I believe that the Yugoslavians, having gone communist at bayonet point of their own people rather than at Soviet bayonet point, did not get along real well with the Soviets. The Soviets controlled most of the nearby chromium mines, so the Yugoslavians decided that they shouldn’t tie something so important as their rifles into a potential rival (either NATO or WP).
While they are not the ideal carbine, they have some upsides.
The stock is comfortable for me - again, NOT something to shoulder quickly with gear on, etc.
They are lighter than a milled AK, and generally more accurate than a stamped AK.
My CAI Yugo can put 10 rounds (Wolf) into 1.5" at 50 yards with stock sights and my old eyes. My SA 85 and VZ 2008 have yet to do that.
But… if someone wants to give me $700 for it,…
Original bbl AK prices have steadily risen since the import bbl ban. The Yugo “Kits” dried up long before the bbl ban went into effect, this also contributes to the increase in value.
The Yugo “Kits” came from stored captured weapons from the Balkins war of the 90s, although there were a lot of kits on the market the supply was limited as with the other variations. The only thing that slowed the price increases of the AMD 65 were the additional imports from FEG in Hungary.
You also have to remember, every year a new batch of legal age shooters join the ranks and want the same guns we do.
There’s an increased demand for AKs in general.
In my opinion - it’s a cost factor.
Yugo’s were some of the cheapest AK’s you could buy for quite some time. For me all the non-“standard” stuff kills any desire for them.
I’d rather have a Romanian than a Yugo.
As far as being more accurate than a stamped gun - I’ll cry fowl all day long. First off they ARE stamped guns. Secondly take 100 guns of each and shoot them all and I would bet serious money they would be identical or even skewed to the “stamped” guns.
Bottom line - they were cheap and especially cheap compared to buying another shorty Krink type.
No one really knows why the Yugoslavians didn’t chrome line their bores, they certainly could have. There are two guys who I know who have spent time at the Zastava factory, Dan Shea and Eric Kincel…they might have gotten the word as to why the Yugoslavians decided to not chrome their bores. It’s interesting that when they started producing 5.56mm AK’s for export, the M90 and the M21, that they started to hard chrome their bores.
As far as an up surge in demand, you’re seeing that across the board on stuff.
The vast majority of rifles that made it to the US to be turned into parts kits had crap bores. They were captured from Serb militia in Bosnia. The lack of a chromed bore + use of corrosive ammo by thugs who were too busy ethnically cleansing their neighbors to provide routine maintenance on their rifles = sewer pipe barrels. They had time to carve up their stocks with a lot of Serbian propaganda though. Lots of those kits came in with “trench art” on the stocks.
The Century guns were built with a Green Mountain barrel made at a very low price point. I’ve seen some with out of spec chambers and an issue where the rifle will discharge when you engage the safety. I’d avoid the Century builds.
Atlantic had some built up with unissued Zastava barrels, which should be very nice, but not cheap either.
As far as being more accurate…that’s going to be an individual case by case basis. The Russian, Bulgarian, and Polish cold hammer forged barrels are really good.
The Yugo AK’s are the ONLY ones that the underfolder variant is more comfortable for me to shoot than a fixed stock. For whatever reason, the Yugo fixed stock M70’s have a very high comb that smacks up against my cheekbone, which does not allow for a comfortable cheek weld when using irons.
Real Zastava produced AK’s that were imported in the 80’s by Mitchell Arms and American Arms are very high quality, and interesting from a collector’s point of view. If I were procuring AK’s for a military unit or a PMC, then they’d be down near the bottom of the list because, as others have noted, they use proprietary parts and have a lack of chrome lining.
These pics are from 2006, I traded off this last real Yugo underfolder a while back to a friend, and I miss it occasionally, but it’s still in the “family”. The pistol grip is a bring back from Iraq, either a Yugo or a Tabuk.
Again, when the Century Yugo M70’s first came out they exhibited a better build quality than we’d expected from Century, but over the years, I’ve come to the realization that while many, many of them work just fine, their is a much higher chance of getting a lemon from them than there should be…and I just do NOT trust the Green Mountain barrels.
Yup. Combination of both using out of spec parts and wholly incorrect parts.
It is notable that the same can be done with any AK, provided one removes the top cover. The problem with the CAI Yugo was that it did it with the top cover firmly in place.
When did this import ban take place, and is it wholly permanent?
As for the second part, that was basically me last year; I started on Mosins. This year, I’m saving up for an Arsenal SGL anyway.
And I’ve never liked the front sight base of the Yugo AKs, but that’s here nor there. But they do make excellent 7.62x54R and 7.62x39 and even 7.92x57 surplus ammo, gotta give them that.
It happened in 2005. Its permanent.
There was a large ATF reform bill in congress that was going to remove the parts kit and receiver import ban but that got dropped when curious george got elected and the democrats took over congress.
1- HD receiver. Non informed will tell you they have a RPK receiver on their AK and that makes it awesome.
2- flip up night sights
3- Granade launcher
4- alot of the fixed stock models have personal things carved into them by the soldiers who carried them, that means alot to collectors.
5- non chromed bore means its more accurate! Well they’ll tell you that at least if you ask.
6- front handguard is different length then everyone elses. People like to feel special.
THIS! Well some of that.
They just feel better in your hands. My personal opinion.
Having owned five Yugoslavian M70 variants, I think I can explain why people would buy them…
I was new to firearms in general, and AK type rifles even more so when I purchased my first AK.
I had just gotten burned on a couple ARs (one was an Olympic…Just goes to show that I didn’t know what I was doing…) and decided to go with AKs for a while, so I went to a gun show and talked with a dealer that I knew. He told me that the chromed bolt and carrier were really good, and that they were better than the WASR rifles…
At the time, I could have bought a brand new milled receiver Arsenal rifle from this very dealer for $800, but stupidly listened to the guy, and bought two wood stocked M70s from him that day for $550 each.
After that, I discovered that there were interchangeability issues between the M70 and other AK varieties, so instead of selling while I was ahead (sort of…) I decided to buy another three M70 underfolders.
After owning these M70s for a couple years (and getting to deal with Century’s “customer service”) I realized their weaknesses and sold them all.
I did my homework, and am now the very happy owner of several Arsenal AK rifles.
Templar: on the out of spec chambers on the GM barrels - how did it manifest itself - stuck casings?
By the way, the bolts and carriers aren’t chromed, they’re steel left in the white…
Yes, tight, out of spec chambers which leads to stuck cases.
I am also leery of the quality of steel used. Green Mt. had to make these at a very low price point for Century to buy them.
Man, I didn’t do much research on the M70s as I knew that I hated them, but…man, the dealer told me…:lol:
Another lesson learned…Do NOT believe anything a dealer tells you…