Yugoslavia - Forgotten Weapons

Yugoslav M92: The Serbian 7.62x39mm Pseudo-Krink

January 14, 2026 Ian McCollum 15

The Yugoslav M92 rifle is most often compared to the Soviet AKS-74U “Krinkov” – it is a compact, folding-stock version of Zastava’s M70 AK, just as the 74U was the compact version of the AK-74 […]

Zastava M51: A Compact Yugoslav Prototype SMG

October 18, 2023 Ian McCollum 2

The Zastava M51 is a prototype Yugoslav submachine gun developed before the adoption of the M56. It uses elements of the Beretta M38 (namely the captive recoil spring system) and PPSh-41 (the selector switch and […]

Yugoslav M57: Tito’s Tokarev

August 7, 2023 Ian McCollum 10

Yugoslavia purchased both 1895 Nagant revolvers and TT33 Tokarev from the Soviet Union after World War Two, but this was only a holdover until domestic pistol production could begin. While Yugoslavia was formally communist, Tito […]

Yugo-Albanian “Marksman’s” Mystery AK

August 2, 2023 Ian McCollum 10

This rifle was brought back to France from the Balkans (probably Kosovo) by a French military team in the late 1990s. It’s a neat example of a mix-master build (what is “bubba” in Albanian?), with […]

Yugoslav M72: The Early Balkan RPK

February 3, 2023 Ian McCollum 29

When the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army began AK development, they produced the M64 infantry rifle and the M65 support weapon. The M65 had a longer and heavier profile barrel and a bipod – and in its […]

Marko Vukovik’s Prototype Machine Pistol: the V.M.18

January 11, 2023 Ian McCollum 24

Today we continue our series on the development of Croatian pistols towards the XD line. Last week we saw Marko Vukovic’s first design, and today we are looking at his second. This was the V.M.18, […]

Kordun 7.62: A Double-Stack Tokarev Pistol from Yugoslavia

January 4, 2023 Ian McCollum 26

The “Kordun” (named after a region in Croatia) was the first pistol design from Marko Vukovic, lead designer for IM Metal and later HS Produkt. It was made in 1985 for the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army, […]

Yugoslav M70A: The AK With a Real Magazine Holdopen

September 26, 2022 Ian McCollum 15

Yugoslavia began development of a Kalashnikov pattern rifle in 1959. The Yugoslav rifle would be distinct from the standard Soviet model, as evidenced by features like the gas cutoff for grenade launching and the early […]

Nicer Than It Looks: Yugoslav M56 at the Range

May 18, 2022 Ian McCollum 33

The Yugoslav M56 is a hybrid of the MP40 general design with the Soviet 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge, and a gun whose practical shootability is surprisingly better than its looks would lead one to expect. This […]

Serbian/Yugoslav Ruby Pistol

March 2, 2022 Ian McCollum 11

The Serbian Army was essentially destroyed in 1915, and lost a massive amount of equipment. It was rebuilt with French assistance and reequipped with French arms in 1917, including about 5,000 Ruby pistols. These were […]