Zastava M72B1: The Serbian Slapper

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Am I the bad guy now?

[00:00:37]Heat up here.

[00:00:50]HEAT.

[00:01:14]HEAT.

[00:01:17]HEAT.

[00:01:34]HEAT.

[00:01:52]HEAT.

[00:02:06]>> Hello and welcome back to another episode of PSR. Today we have the M72 B1 RPK out of Yugoslavia. Right now I got a little bit of different mask. You're seeing a little bit more into my soul and into my mouth with this mask. But we are covering the M72B1 RPK from Sustava Arms. We'll call it Serbian for right now. But it is a Yugoslav design, a very similar design to the Russian RPK, but there's some cool distinct differences.

[00:02:34]Of course, you saw in the intro, this is the Texas Triggers FRT for AK platform rifles. So, if you've been watching the channel, you probably saw my Polish battle video, which I use the Texas Trigger battle specific FRT, which is a little bit different than this one, but this one is a standard pattern AKFRT that works in most AKs. Sustava didn't send this to me. This was actually sent to me by Texas Triggers themselves. So, huge shout out to those guys. So, before we get into the overview of this gun and kind of how it is to shoot, I got to thank the channel sponsor, and that is Atrius Development Group. Atrius Development Group makes the F FRS. This is a selector that goes in your AR platform rifles and allows you to go into three positions of fun. Never in a million years use PSR for 10% off your entire order from Atrius. Just don't do it. And I got to give a big shout out to Atrius because they are totally cool and fine and supportive of me doing videos on other companies, FRTs. They just want this category to keep growing. So, big shout out to Atris and thank you to them for sponsoring this channel. Also got to give a big shout out to HSL ammo. We didn't use their ammo in this video because they don't make 762 by 39, unfortunately. Quality ammo at affordable prices. So, definitely check HSL out and a huge thank you to them for sponsoring the ammo on this channel. All right, so before we talk about this whole setup we got and the RPK with the FRT, which I think is a very good use of an FRT, I got to thank LBE Unlimited.

[00:03:51]LBE Unlimited makes the actual trigger shoe and the trigger components that are used in the Texas Triggers FRTs for AKs.

[00:03:58]So, a big shout out to them for helping out with this video and getting me the RPK. And if you guys are interested in the Texas Triggers FRT for AKs, you can use PSR, that's PSR, for a discount on that trigger system. I do want to talk a little bit about the history of the M72.

[00:04:12]So, if you're not familiar with the Yugoslavian AK variants, during the Cold War era, Yugoslavia was maybe the most reluctant to be super tight with Moscow.

[00:04:21]And as a result of that sort of separation they had from Moscow, they weren't allowed to get the plans for the AKM, which the Soviets had just developed. So, they said, "Fuck it, we ball. We're going to make our own." They decided to re-engineer the AKM basically from the ground up. And that became the Zestava M70. This development started in the early 60s. They had some prototypes and eventually it led them to their military rifle for many, many years, the M70. The M70 has a couple differences to the AKM. Mainly, you can tell by the handguard. Obviously, this is different because this is the RPK version, but the handguard on the M70 has three of these holes, whereas the AKM just has two. The M70 was a little bit different in that it was set up to fire rifle grenades.

[00:05:00]And so, they added a little uh detent and spring to keep the top cover from blowing off because of the pressure on those rounds. And they also were equipped with night sights, which this one also does have, which is kind of cool. These guns never had chrome line barrels, which is a little bit different than the AKM. Most likely a cost-saving measure why they didn't include those.

[00:05:19]Although some of the new Zestavas do have chrome line barrels. So, the early development of the RPK version happened right around the same time as the M70.

[00:05:27]They said, "Well, we're going to need to have a companion to the M70 in a light machine gun platform." Now, the Soviets were coming from the SKS and the RPD when they developed the AK and the RPK.

[00:05:38]Similarly, the Yugoslavs ditched their SKS's for the M70. I don't know if they had RPDs, but it just made a whole lot more sense to have the same magazines.

[00:05:45]Now, the interesting thing about these guns and the M70 in particular, these guns originally were designed to have a bolt hold open and a bolt release.

[00:05:53]However, the magazines for them were proprietary. You could not use AKM magazines in the early M70 prototypes.

[00:06:01]These are probably pretty rare at this point, but I think it's really cool and forward thinking that they decided they were like, "Why don't we develop a bolt hold and a bolt release?" And eventually those plans got scrapped, however, because they realized having all these proprietary mags and having to make them, it was just a lot easier to go with AKM mags. So, they ended up going with no bolt hold open. So, it's similar to a regular AK in that regard. The early M72s were actually mil receivers.

[00:06:24]This is a stamped receiver, however.

[00:06:25]That's why we give it the M72B or the B1. Those were stamped receivers. And this is no different. It's got a bulged trunion which gives it a little bit more durability, a little bit more thickness in the trunion area that is the same as the M70 as well. These things are built to last. Now, as far as this guy goes, this is the red wood variant, which I think looks pretty cool. Kind of fits the Modern Warfare 2 Gorka vibe. By the way, this is the Commando Store Modern Warfare 2 Gorka. If you know about Modern Warfare 2, you know these were the Russians, but I know it's it's a Yugo gun. We're mixing things up a little bit. But this thing just has the heavy heavy drip. Wearing the Commando Store cheeky briaky mask. So big shout out to Commandosur for hooking this up.

[00:07:04]It's perfect for this video. So starting from the back, the stock on the Yugo RPKs is different than the Soviet RPKs.

[00:07:10]This is more of a traditional looking stock. The Soviet ones were a little bit more of a club foot kind of look. And speaking of the stock, we got some really nice Davern leather tape wrap.

[00:07:20]So, this is actual leather that you apply and it's got a sticky side on one side and it just makes it super comfortable and it just looks sick.

[00:07:26]Shout out to Davern. They're making really cool leather goods. So, definitely check them out. Moving forward to the trigger area. The Texas triggers FRT is a drop in FRT system. Is a real FRT. It forces your finger forward. We watched that in the barrel video. It's the same. No different from this. The FRT installs relatively easily in these Yugo guns. It can have different fitment based on the receivers cuz all of these AKs have a little bit different tolerances, but this one should be pretty easy. We just have two positions on this FRT. So, it's not a three-position. On an RPK like this, it kind of doesn't really need to have a single shot non-forced reset mode. So, of all the AKs that should not necessarily need three positions, I'd say the RPK is probably the one. It's an LMG. It doesn't really need a singleshot mode in my opinion. Moving forward, the sights are pretty neat. These are adjustable for both windage and elevation. Moving forward to the handguard. This is actually kind of an interesting little historical fact which I actually learned from Ian from Forgotten Weapons. So, shout out to him.

[00:08:20]Apparently, on the first generation of these guns, when they were developing them in the mid60s, they actually were trying to fit a quick change barrel in this gun. Even though it wasn't a beltfed, they wanted to switch the barrel out quick in case it got hot.

[00:08:32]This handguard was kind of a carryover from that design because they ended up scrapping that design. The reason why it's so short and not like a longer length like the M70 is because they had that quick change barrel system and they needed to be a bit shorter, but then they just said, you know, we made these handguard designs, we might as well just keep them like this. So that's why you got this short, fat, stubby handguard.

[00:08:52]Moving forward, we have a unique way to tell that it's a Yugo RPK, and that is this ribbing right here, which is really, I think, for heat mostly. It's kind of like a heat sink system built into the barrel. Just allows for better heat dissipation. That is my guess. And talking about the barrel itself, I mean, this thing is a chongus, dude. It is thick as [ __ ] I have a Romanian RPK and the barrel on that is nowhere near as thick as this. It's got the girth you need, I think, for an RPK. Moving forward to the front, we got a bipod on here, which folds. Cool thing about the Yugo versions of the RPK. It's actually detachable. Take off the muzzle device and remove uh this little pin, and then you can take it off. You can't do that on the Romanian or the Soviet RPKs. As I mentioned before, we have a flipup night sight. It's got a little dot on it that glows in the dark and you can flip it up and down. This gun came also with this brake. Not all RPKs come with brakes.

[00:09:41]Probably not very clone correct as far as the milspec. Tried to put a suppressor on here actually.

[00:09:45]Unfortunately, it was not concentric, which you can fix with some files, but I just didn't end up doing it because this thing it's kind of just meant to be loud and in charge. On the other side here, we do have a optics rail, but it's the Yugo version of the optics rail. So, you have to get a specific mount for this rail. We did mount an optic on here, but I'm telling you, especially when you have this with a bipod, you could just nail steel.

[00:10:08]It's surprisingly easy to keep on target. We got a little bit of a different situation with the drum. This is a Romanian drum, which I prefer the toploading Romanian drums. It's not a Yugo drum, but maybe they had something similar. 75 rounds. This thing just pisses. And speaking of pissing, how did this shoot? Well, I've put over 1,000 rounds through this thing. In the lifespan of an AK, especially an RPK like this, is nothing. It has been a sewing machine. This thing rips. And the fit and finish on the Zustava, it's dialed. It's perfect. I found that once it got a little bit dirty, started to choke up a little bit after around 900ish rounds. I just took some CLP, cleaned off the bolt. I didn't even clean the barrel, put a little bit of lube on there, especially where the FRT trip is and the engagement in the wire.

[00:10:49]And after I did that, it just kept on pissing. We really didn't have any issues with reliability. Just had to keep it kind of lubed and good to go with the FRT. So, that's some information about the M72B. Definitely check out Ian's video from Forgotten Weapons about this gun. I will leave a link to that in the description if you want more historical background. And I really like the story of the Yugo guns kind of just getting the middle finger from Moscow and then saying, "Fuck you.

[00:11:10]Hold my beer." And then making their own line of completely new rifles basically take the AKM and kind of improve on. I think we should show you how this thing shoots. And I kind of want to see if I can do single shots. I think I should be able to do it with this, especially with the lowered cyclic rate. We do have a little buffer in here that just makes the bolt travel a little bit less, which kind of increases the spring pressure, which can help with the FRT. That was also sent by Texas Triggers. So, the buffer definitely a good accessory for the FRT, I'd say. All right, what do you say we let her rip with the RPK? Let's go. Well, it's a beautiful day to rip the RPK. Always a beautiful day, but it's actually really beautiful today.

[00:11:48]So, let's see. Nice. Okay.

[00:11:52]Actually, not hard at all to do to single shots.

[00:12:02]All right, now let's do two.

[00:12:04]Oh, yeah.

[00:12:09]Just slapping it. Slapping the steel. No problem. Two shots. Awesome. Let's do three.

[00:12:20]We're clear. All right. No problem.

[00:12:23]Single shots. Ah, let's just put another mag through it. Dude, there's something about the sound of an RPK.

[00:12:29]Just terrifying. But if you're on the other side, all right, let's give her piss.

[00:12:38]Oh yeah, bud. Holy.

[00:12:42]She rips, dude. Oh, I love it. I love it. I mean, this bipod, you just give a little bit of forward pressure on it and it just stays right where you need it to be.

[00:12:55]Yeah.

[00:12:57]Oh, yeah.

[00:12:59]Wow.

[00:13:04]That target's about to fall over, bro.

[00:13:12]Now, as far as the sensation on your finger, it's not quite as intense as a pistol FRTs, and I showed you the intensity of the Canic one. This is not nearly as as brutal on your finger. You can feel every reset, though. Like, for sure, you can feel it. When you add a suppressor to these AKFRTs, if they're not super overgassed and they actually function, the suppressor, depending on the back pressure, can absolutely rock your finger for sure. just because it's more back pressure. The bolt cycling can really force your finger forward quite hard, but it's nice with the brake on it on the RPK because you don't quite get that intense knock on your finger and it definitely helps to have gloves regardless, but very manageable. Not even really like something that's distracting. This right here is what the RPK was made for. Love the Romanian ones because they're top loading. It's like a D60, but honestly, even easier to load than the D60. Now, they're really expensive, but if you can get your hands on one, these things rock. Oh, yeah.

[00:14:13]Oh, we can get them out. Maybe some hammer follow. Let her piss.

[00:14:24]Holy. Depending on how hard you pull the trigger, if you give it a little bit too much on the uh pull, then sometimes the weight of your finger can slow down the bolt. And I think you saw that there a little bit. So definitely part of the FRT experience on any gun, but the AK is basically the inertia hitting that wire, the bolt, hitting that wire, resetting the trigger every time. So if you do squeeze too hard, you can not really induce a malfunction, but just slow the bolt down. But holy moly, she absolutely rips, dude. Love this thing. All right, so some conclusions on these M70B RPK with Texas Triggers FRT. If there's any use for an FRT, especially in an AK, it's in this gun right here. RPK was meant for sustained fire, quick follow-up shots. This as an LMG is awesome. But with the civilian oriented version with the FRT, out of all the AKs, this is extremely controllable. Of course, going to the range with your AKM or your uh Micro Draco with the FRT is a whole lot of fun, but the use case for a RPK with the FRT, I mean, this is just the perfect application for the FRT.

[00:15:30]Honestly, this thing with its extremely thick barrel, it can take so much abuse, so much heat. We did mag after mag in the intro, but it kept on running like a sewing machine. We did after like eight or nine00 rounds have to put a little bit of lube on that area where the FRT interacts with the bolt, but other than that, absolutely ripped. I feel so confident behind this thing at hitting my target. It's kind of insane. I mean, you saw just now we were shooting it and shot after shot, even the single shots, like no problem keeping them on steel, but when you can just let it dump like and you hear after you let go and you just hear the ringing of the steel, like it's so much fun. Obviously 762 by 39.

[00:16:06]This is the main issue. It has gotten way too expensive. You used to be able to get a gun like this for the whole reason being that it's cheap to shoot.

[00:16:15]That is not the case anymore. So, that is the only downside to this gun, especially with the FRT. We probably load 500 rounds just for today. We shot the other part of the intro a few weeks ago. We put a lot of rounds through the and it just disappears very fast with the FRT. I don't know why. Let me know what you think of this gun. Would you get an RPK? If so, would you get the Yugo one? Would you get the Romanian one? Would you get a kit build? Let me know what you guys think. If you're AK guys, I certainly am, and I love sick AK like this, especially with the Texas Triggers FRT. So, big thank you to Texas Triggers for sending this out to do a little content with. They provided some of the ammo for this video. So, big thank you to them and a big shout out to you for watching the video. Thank you. I will see you on the next one, guys.

[00:16:54]Peace.

[00:17:28]Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey.

[00:17:48]Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm uh not sure about this.