Yugo-Albanian "Marksman's" Mystery AK
Added 2023-08-03 00:00:01 +0000 UTChis rifle was brought back to France from the Balkans (probably Kosovo) by a French military team in the late 1990s. It's a neat example of a mix-master build (what is "bubba" in Albanian?), with several cool elements. The base gun is an Albanian AKM, with its bayonet missing. The front sight block has been replaced by a Yugoslav M70 or M72 type, and a Yugo M72 bipod added. To allow the bipod to fit on the short barrel when folded, the handguard has been relieved to accommodate the bipod feet. The rear sight is a windage-adjustable PRK type, but this is not useful thanks tot he taller integral rear sight on the top cover. That top cover is from a long-action Finnish Valmet, made with a Weaver scope mount rail. The scope used on this rifle is a ZRAK ON-76, a 4x optic form an M76 rifle, and it still has the 8mm Mauser BDC cam installed.
Many thanks to the French IRCGN (Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie) for generously giving me access to film this unique specimen for you! They maintain an extensive firearms reference collection as part of their mission to fight crime and international terrorism.
Comments
What a conglomeration of parts. Thank you for the great info.
2023-08-06 16:56:26 +0000 UTCnot bad but the rear sight see through. wonder how far off the scope was.
Guido Schriewer
2023-08-03 14:38:01 +0000 UTCI love to see this stuff .
2023-08-03 10:47:33 +0000 UTCThe IRCGN just like to keep this stuff around to remind their colleagues of the various characters their operations teams have 'processed' over the years. Fascinating example, thanks Ian!
Charles Easton
2023-08-03 00:21:46 +0000 UTC
