July 29, 2011
By George Spafford
George Spafford is building a replica of the Yugo M70B rifle using a stub parts kit. A new installment will appear here every Friday.
Finding the Parts
Our goal is to take well-worn parts and refurbish them into our own version of a M70B1, utilizing a standard AKM-style receiver that looks and shoots great. The top is a front milled M70 rifle stub that is covered in cosmolene. The bottom rifle is the result of some ingenuity and elbow grease.
As with other AK-type rifles, a number of demilitarized Yugo kits were imported into the USA. With the advent of the 2005 barrel importation ban plus the demand for AKs by the USA for arming local forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, there are now far fewer kits available at a low cost--in particular the Yugos.
However, there have been some recent releases into the market of M70, M70B and M70AB milled rifle ìstubs.î These are partial milled rifle kits where the front portion of the receiver is still intact and connected to the barrel assembly.
The milled rifle stubs we will be discussing in this web series are now largely available on the Internet auction boards, such as www.gunbroker.com , and AK enthusiast marketplaces at www.theakforum.net and www.akfiles.com . Parts for the AK and M70 rifles are available from suppliers including Apex , CopeÃs Distributing and Centerfire Systems .
While this article is about the M70 series, the M72 RPK is essentially a heavier version and the method of building the receiver will still apply. While not all parts are interchangeable between the M70 and M72, many are-ñespecially within the receiver. This gives you more options essentially.
