Zastava M90

Zastava M90
Zastava M90
	Zastava M90 being used by Army of North Macedonia.
Type	Assault rifle
Place of origin	Yugoslavia
Production history
Manufacturer	Zastava Arms
Specifications
Mass	4.9 kg
Length	985 mm (M90)[better source needed]
Cartridge	5.56×45mm NATO
Caliber	5.56mm
Action	Gas-actuated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	650 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	915 m/s
Effective firing range	500 m
Feed system	30-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Adjustable iron sights, optional mount required for optical sights

The Zastava M90 is an assault rifle developed and produced by Zastava Arms in Serbia (formerly the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia). It was developed from the Zastava M70 assault rifle, a modified copy of the Soviet AKM, but with a Western type flash eliminator added on the barrel end, chambered in the Western 5.56×45mm NATO caliber, and with a different magazine design, similar to a STANAG magazine.^[2]

The M90 was intended to replace the M70 in the Yugoslav Army, but the breakup of Yugoslavia disrupted the production and the weapon today remains rare and was never formally used.

Overview

The Zastava M90 is the modified version of Zastava M80, itself a version of the Zastava M70 (chambered in the Western 5.56×45mm NATO round), also comes with a flash eliminator and different magazine design, which means that like its predecessor, the M90 is a modified Soviet AKM. It is gas-operated, air-cooled and magazine-fed, shoulder fired weapon with selective fire capability, and like M70, can launch rifle grenades and has a rifle grenade sight added on the gas tube, instead of under barrel grenade launcher like on most other AK variants. It also incorporates the adjustable gas system from its M76, M77 and B1 cousins, with the third gas position being the gas cutoff for grenades.

Like all Zastava-produced AK variants, the M90 can be identified from the originals by its longer lower wooden handguard design, which has three cooling vents, no bulge and like the stock, is made out of different wood type. Also, due to using Western round, this particular model also has different magazine design, similar to Western STANAG and a Western type of flash eliminator, similar to one used on American M16 assault rifle. Like on the other Zastava AK's, this three-vent feature gives the M90 lower overheating when compared to the originals, but the Western round in this case, slightly reduces reliability.^{[citation needed]}

Variants

Zastava M90 – Standard variant with fixed wooden stock.
Zastava M90A – Variant with a fixed wooden stock being replaced with an AKMS style underfolding metallic one.
Zastava M90NP – Variant with a fixed polymer stock and an added polymer adapter to accept AR15 style magazines.
Zastava M85 – Carbine; shortened variant of the M90A assault rifle.
Zastava USA M90 – Variant designed for import into the United States. Comes with an adjustable gas block, side-folding stock, and new polymer magazines.^[3] Has a barrel length of 18.25 inches (464 mm) and an unloaded weight of 8.65 pounds (3.92 kg).^[4]

References

^ "YUG - Zastava M90"
^ "Zastava Arms". 2009-02-21. Archived from the original on 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
^ R, Austin (17 January 2021). "[TFB GUNFEST] NEW 5.56 AK – The Zastava Arms M90". The Firearm Blog. Archived from the original on 2022-07-28. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
^ "TFB Review: Zastava Arms M90". The Firearm Blog. 2021-03-26. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2021-03-27.