What the $%^& is with Zastava and 5.56?

**Sergi762** · 08-14-2014, 02:29 AM

OK just to be fair this one is mostly frustration. I know some here are gonna say " Get an AR ". Not the point.

I don't know why 5.56 is such a PITA in the AK world but it is. It sucks harder than Biden on... Never mind. Now as of late Zastava has come out with two pistol Versions of their M85 rifle. On their own they are nice , more toy-like but functioning, but other than that Zastava has yet to bring a full sized rifle in 5.56 to the American gun market. The m90 with the plastic AR magwell is vaporware at this point( despite the manual that Century has on their site) and with all the M85 magazines I just don't ******* get why they can't so much as import M85 or M90 or M95 parts kits. Let alone a fully built rifle of said variations. I just don't get it. With foreign made ammo at risk why not cash in on the 5.56 bandwagon? Sure the 5.56 wasn't on the Yugoslavian's need list but it just frustrates the living hell outta me. The Romanians are no better. I understand the SAR's not coming in but don't they have the Weiger 556 Mag tooling from east Germany? They had the means to make good reliable 556 AK mags like the ewast germans did and damn near nothing seen in ages... Aggghhhhh pardo this but The 556 AK world is Hell so far.
P.S. I ignored the Bulgarian offerings due to cost but they are good rifles, shame the mags cost $40 plus though..

**Tomac yokctep** · 08-14-2014, 05:30 AM

I feel your pain .

**Schuetzenman** · 08-14-2014, 06:11 AM

I don't get the lack of good 5.56 AK variants either. Surely there is a demand for them. I myself have only 1 AK left in my collection and it is the SAR-3. Why? Because it is 5.56 and runs the same ammo as my AR15 rifles.

The reason for the AK for me was they were inexpensive and the ammo was very cheap / low cost. It was fun to build them and shoot them. BATFE shitting on the demilled rifle kit imports by torch cutting the barrels killed kit building for me. Now a kit with no barrel is 2X the price of demilled mint rifle kits. The ammo is 3 to 4x as expensive. Really there's almost zero reason to own a 7.62x39 AK anymore or to get into that caliber if you don't already own one. Domestic sources of the ammo are minimal and the prices are very high.

**FunkyPertwee** · 08-14-2014, 11:53 AM

At 25 cent a round, and coming from one of my favorite rifles, the 7.62x39 still makes sense to me. Its still my primary recreational cartridge.

As far as Zastava goes, they have a lot of weapons I'd like to see imported even more than 5.56 rifles, such as their RPK models, especially the short barrel .308 RPK (M77), and their M91 7.62x54 rifle. And an non-neutered version of the M77 would be nice.