Overview
I really dig AKs in 5.56, and they are seeing a lot more love these days, especially as 5.45 is growing harder and harder to get in quantity for cheap. I've been chasing this dream for well over a decade, going back to my original Century-imported Zastava-made, Krinkov-style M85NP pistol picked up in 2014 (serial number 81!), and even longer if you consider the Galil an AK.
While Century and Zastava long ago broke up, and the latter is running its own operations stateside now (albeit with on-again/off-again export issues) since 2019, the M85 is still around but without the option to run AR mags – which is what I love about my old M85 NP.
So why not run the new ZPAP M85 – which has been extensively updated – for a bit and show how it stacks up?
For full disclosure, Zastava provided this ZPAP M85 pistol for review purposes. All testing was done on this one gun, which has been under evaluation since December.
The Specs
Overall length (no brace): 19.3 inches
Barrel length: 10.5-inch cold radial hammer forged, chrome-lined, threaded (26x1.5mm LH)
Width: 2 inches across the forearm at the thickest, 1.5 across the receiver at the trunnion
Height without magazine: 7.5 inches (no optics)
Height with magazine inserted: 10.56 inches (no optics)
Magazine capacity: 30 rounds 5.56 NATO; ships with one plastic Z-Mag
Sights: Twin dual-aperture metal sights, 3.9-inch M1913 Picatinny top rail installed
Sight radius: 13.5 inches
Trigger pull: 6 pounds (10-pull average).
Weight: 6.6 pounds, unloaded, sans optics
Weight outfitted: 10.1 pounds with 30 rounds of 62-grain FMJ in loaded magazine, Vortex Crossfire red dot on a tall 1/3rd mount, Midwest Industries folding M1913 stabilizing brace, and Crimson Trace CMR-301 Rail Master Pro light/green laser.
Features
That oddball 26x1.5mm LH pitch is a bummer when it comes to utilizing suppressors if you don't want to run a Zastava Vuk or Dead Air Wolverine, as it leaves you searching for something like a JMAC muzzle device (which are $100-ish) or some sort of funky thread converter that adds length and a bunch of tolerance stacking. It’s not impossible to run a can, just a bit of a pain.
Trigger
Reliability
We ran the M85 on a ton of 5.56 rounds that we had around, pulling from over a dozen different loads. This leaned more toward bulk pack surplus ammo, primarily German 55-grain MEN loads. We only suffered two issues over the course of 1,000 rounds, one a misfire with a dimpled primer on some LC-stamped Winchester greentip, the other a FTE while running a box of old Tula green case.
Very short 10-inch 5.56 PDWs lose a lot of ballistic umph, but with the right ammo choices, that can be mitigated. Rounds that are SBR-optimized and designed to tumble and expand at lower speeds, such as Barnes' 70-grain TSX copper solids, Hornady's Black-series 75-grain Interlock HD SBR, 77-grain Black Hills Mk262, et al., are widely available, though a bit expensive. Greentip ball is cheap and plentiful and is going to shoot through it, but if using the M85 in a "people with guns" gone wrong situation, it’s probably going to be good to have a few mags of really nice SBR-friendly self-defense rounds on tap.
The polymer ZPAP 30 magazine runs $25 and has a BHO (bolt hold open) and follower that are steel reinforced and run $25-ish while the ZPAP 5.56 steel mag, which gives strong Galil vibes, runs about $40.
On aftermarket rock-and-lock non-Zastava mags, we had an AC Unity 45-rounder that would not seat, but an AK19-style Gen 3 AC Unity 30 would and ran just fine. We also tried two $12 Bulgarian AK74-style fakelites. One worked while the other one didn't, so that's a 50/50 option in our experience.
The biggest problem we had was the fact that the gun was super stiff, with the magazine release in particular needing lots of actuation to smooth out.
Accuracy
The M85 is not a tack driver. I mean, you have a choice of a short sight radius and kinda funky irons when using fixed sights, or a dot mounted on a hinged top receiver cover. Add to this a 10.5 barrel, and you do not have a recipe for sub-MOA shooting. Still, the gun was very usable and able to achieve and maintain a 2-3-inch group at 50 yards while shooting off a barricade with the Midwest brace, roughly doubling that group at 100. When shooting offhand, standing, 25-yard A-zone groups are still overly simple, especially when using a dot. That is fun all day on a short range, with an obvious dual application in harvesting medium-sized game or controlling nuisance critters in brush, or in a close-in self-defense scenario.
Adding an LPVO and running it off a benchrest with match ammo could shrink that group, but why? Doing so misses the point of this one, Brate.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Overbuilt
- Reliable
- Chrome-lined barrel
- Quad rail
- Accurate for practical use
- Lots of factory options
- Magazines are available
Cons
- Suppressor mounting is complicated due to the thread pattern
- Furniture options are limited
-
Heavy at 6.3 pounds unloaded and over 10 outfitted.
Conclusion
I love my original M85 NP that I've had for over a decade, and the newest batch of M85 pistols continues that love affair. It’s a solid (and I do mean solid, at 6.3 pounds right out of the box) entry into the 5.56 AK pistol market. The old NP allowed use with an AR mag, but the newer models, sans magwell adapter, run the more traditional rock-and-lock setup, and AK556 mags are becoming better and more available than they were 10 years ago.
Whether you Form 1 it into an SBR or just roll with a brace and keep it in the pistol zone, the M85 has lots of options and provides joy.
Compared to Romanian-made Dracos, M85s have a lot of "ups," including a barrel that is more likely to be concentric (important for use with cans and muzzle devices), a better fit and finish, and a lot of potential factory add-ons such as a quad rail, rear M1913 rail, and the giant Night Brake as shown. The other AK556 pistol on the market is the Polish WBP Rogow Mini Jack, which often doesn't have a brace attachment on the rear but does allow users to add an under-folder AKSU-style stock to their SBR build and, like the Dracos, accepts AK furniture.
You are a bit more limited on furniture options on the M85, as pretty much just Zastava's M92 pattern stuff interchanges. Even with their other guns, M70 (7.62x39), M77 (.308), and M90 (5.56) handguards and stocks interchange among themselves, but none will fit the M85. Nonetheless, there are some aftermarket options out there for the gun, and it can even accept an ALG AKT trigger (although with the use of an AK body, pin mods, and roll pin safety). Plus, Midwest Industries is marketing M-LOK drop-in handguards for the M85, so there is hope.
In the end, the Zastava ZPAP M85 line just seems to keep getting better. It's an all-around "NATO AK" package that is getting lots of attention for all the right reasons.
And it is a literal blast to shoot.
