Zastava M70 (assault rifle)

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The Zastava M70 (Serbian Cyrillic: Застава М70) is a 7.62×39mm rifle developed in Yugoslavia by Zastava Arms. Due to political differences between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia at the time, namely the latter's refusal to join the Warsaw Pact, the M70 was an unlicensed derivative of the Soviet AK-47, specifically the Type 3 variant. As such, Zastava was unable to directly obtain the technical specifications for the AK and opted to reverse engineer the weapon. The M70 has unique in-built features that enables it to fire rifle grenades. These include a thicker receiver, a new latch for the dust cover to ensure it would not be jarred loose by a grenade discharge, and a folding grenade sight bracket over the rifle's gas block, which also shuts off the gas system when raised. The M70 became the standard issue infantry weapon in the Yugoslav People's Army in 1970, complementing and later superseding the Zastava M59/66. The M70 was also used by factions such as Republika Srpska in the Bosnian...

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