Serbian Virgin M85 Kit Build.

[FloridaAKM]

Back in 2012, unbuilt Serbian guns were offered as virgin kits by several dealers. I bought a couple of the M85's in 5.56 & one M92 in 7.62 Russian caliber. They actually came with barrels in the white, but no receivers. After purchasing the needed receivers, they were all put in the closet to be built.

Last year, one of the M85 kits was pulled out & started the build. When I got to the milling of the selector plate, that was a total unknown, so the build stopped till last week. After getting some good information on how to do it right, the selector stop was milled & the mag height was correct so that it would feed reliably. The 5.56 guns are very finicky about mag height & I didn't want to screw up an expensive kit. The mag catch also had to be milled out & that went well.

Today, the front trunnion was riveted in along with the rear trunnion & the receiver is complete & ready for a barrel to be installed. The rear trunnion was not milled out for the under folder mechanism, so that had to be machined out also. Before the barrel can be installed & headspaced, it needs to be blued or coated. Most all Serbian military firearms are blued & have different colors, so it is not a matched color rifle.

So I am at a standstill with the build until the barrel finish is figured out. I would post a few pictures, but haven't figured out how to get them off the phone on to the site.

[10-32]

Good luck with it. If you need/want a yugo 5.56 steel mag hit me up.I bought one to try in my VEPR but it doesn't fit. Cost me $50. Its made for the M85.

[FloridaAKM]

Back in 2012 when the M85 pistols were selling for $400, the steel M85 mags were selling for $10.00 a pop, so I bought a bunch. In 2006 when ORF was still in business, they imported M95 & M95a kits & included 1 mag. Additional mags were about $50 each, being poor, additional mags were out of the question since the kits were $600 not including the receiver.

I have plenty for my usage for now, as paying $50.00 again hurts the social security budget I live on.

[10-32]

Back in 2012 when the M85 pistols were selling for $400, the steel M85 mags were selling for $10.00 a pop, so I bought a bunch. In 2006 when ORF was still in business, they imported M95 & M95a kits & included 1 mag. Additional mags were about $50 each, being poor, additional mags were out of the question since the kits were $600 not including the receiver.

I have plenty for my usage for now, as paying $50.00 again hurts the social security budget I live on.

I hear you.

[4thIDvet]

Nice looking little weapon. So many different number designations and it has been awhile since I messed with the AKs I had to look that one up. Looks like a little 'Krink' which I guess? yours is a Yugo Serbian version of?

Zastava M85 - Wikipedia

Have you tried the M70 or M80 mags to see if they might fit?? Years back I bought a Yugo Krink with and under folding stock I tax stamped SBRd. Got it from Project Guns owned by Stan when we were over on Gunco.. He had a shop down in Boca Raton Fla....
They made a nice wood case for it and its buried in my safe somewhere.

[10-32]

Nice looking little weapon. So many different number designations and it has been awhile since I messed with the AKs I had to look that one up. Looks like a little 'Krink' which I guess? yours is a Yugo Serbian version of?

Zastava M85 - Wikipedia

Have you tried the M70 or M80 mags to see if they might fit?? Years back I bought a Yugo Krink with and under folding stock I tax stamped SBRd. Got it from Project Guns owned by Stan when we were over on Gunco.. He had a shop down in Boca Raton Fla....
They made a nice wood case for it and its buried in my safe somewhere.

My Yugo M92 "Krink"
m92.jpg

[4thIDvet]

That is super beautiful thanks for sharing. Hell that is to nice to take out and shoot I would just hang it on the wall for people to stare at and ask what the heck it is.. 😀

[10-32]

That is super beautiful thanks for sharing. Hell that is to nice to take out and shoot I would just hang it on the wall for people to stare at and ask what the heck it is.. 😀

Fuck no bro, it gets shot. And its a shooter. Mainly its my home defense weapon. Inforce light and Primary Arms dot are good to go.

[FloridaAKM]

Well, I got the bluing & the BLO finishing of the wood sorted out, but the BLO is taking weeks to dry enough to handle & complete the build. While the BLO is drying, I decided to blue & BLO finish the wood on a virgin Yugo M72 kit in order to get it in the build que after finishing the M85.

The M72 is a much larger than the M85, but the quality is the same & even the barrel is original Yugoslavian, only the receiver is of US manufacture. It will be another fun build.

[4thIDvet]

Well, I got the bluing & the BLO finishing of the wood sorted out, but the BLO is taking weeks to dry enough to handle & complete the build. While the BLO is drying, I decided to blue & BLO finish the wood on a virgin Yugo M72 kit in order to get it in the build que after finishing the M85.

The M72 is a much larger than the M85, but the quality is the same & even the barrel is original Yugoslavian, only the receiver is of US manufacture. It will be another fun build.

Be real careful when your placing the barrel into the trunnion on those Yugo's. The barrels are good now don't get me wrong but for some reason it is super easy to score it when placing it into the trunnion. Go easy and you will be fine. 👍

[Ashhoe]

Be real careful when your placing the barrel into the trunnion on those Yugo's. The barrels are good now don't get me wrong but for some reason it is super easy to score it when placing it into the trunnion. Go easy and you will be fine. 👍

I believe that was when removing the barrel from the trunnion.
You had to press it out a wee bit and then break the burr off the trunnion or it would gall the beejesus out of the barrel when it was pressed all the way out.
Been there, done that.
More than once.

[4thIDvet]

I believe that was when removing the barrel from the trunnion.
You had to press it out a wee bit and then break the burr off the trunnion or it would gall the beejesus out of the barrel when it was pressed all the way out.
Been there, done that.
More than once.

Yup your right Ashhoe I have not seen to many Yugo's without that gall dig on them.. The burr thank you I was wondering what the frig was doing it. Actually my worst gall was the Krink I bought from Stan down S. Fla. from Project Guns. Hell their good guns good barrels I wonder why they didn't do something about that problem. Oh well.

[FloridaAKM]

A virgin build on a Yugo kit will Not have the galling problem on installing a barrel. Reason is, it is a virgin build & you are not removing/installing a usable barrel or even a cut barrel stub. The virgin trunnion has no barrel pin cut in it yet. When pressing a new barrel in a new undrilled trunnion, just press the barrel into the trunnion to the point that the assembly is headspaced correctly, locate the barrel pin center point & drill completely through the entire assembly with a mill with an undersized end mill or quality drill bit. Follow up with a reamer of the size to be 0.001 smaller than the barrel pin & press the barrel pin home. Be sure to check your headspace after that.

When we were getting cut kits with good barrels before Bush II outlawed them, you had to remove the sharp edge of the barrel pin channel before completely pressing out the barrel, if you forgot to dull the edge, you got a galled barrel. Taking a dremel tool with an abrasive ball bit would grind out the sharp edge & your reinstalled barrel looked great.

Installing a new barrel in a cut up kit took a bit of understanding of what you were doing, or you would screw that up too. AK's aren't meant to replace the barrel, but it can be done as thousands of builders have proved.

[FloridaAKM]

The M85 is complete & since I am not going to go the SBR route, it sports a fake suppressor that is permanently attached to the barrel. It turned out rather well if I may say so myself. Whether I build the last M85 kit is not decided yet as the M72B1 is more so ready to start with the parts all blued & the wood finished with BLO.

Sorry I can't post pictures, but I have no idea how to get them off the phone & into this forum.