Zastava’s Red ZPAP M70 Underfolder AK Rocks

There is something incredibly enticing to me about an AK rifle with a classic underfolding metal stock. I’ve always wanted to add one to my personal collection, so I naturally jumped at the chance to test drive the ZPAP M70 underfold AK hosting Serbian red furniture and a metal stock.

With roots dating back to 1851, Serbian gunmaker Zastava Arms was pumping out quality firearms long before Mikhail Kalashnikov began tinkering with the concept of the AK-47. Yet, over the last several decades, the company has carved out a decent space in the competitive AK market with its reasonably priced line of quality Yugoslavian-pattern M70 AK-type rifles and pistols.

I purchased an older M70 years ago, and it’s still one of my favorite guns in an increasingly crowded firearms safe. Now, I think I’ll be adding this classy red underfolder to my own collection. Here’s why.

Table of Contents

Range Video
Pros & Cons
Specs & Features
Shooting + Ballistics
Suppressor Test
Final Thoughts

Range Video

Pros & Cons

Zastava ZPAP M70 Underfolder AK — That folding stock cuts the total length down to a mere 26.5 inches. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

Let’s hit the highlights first for the ZPAP M70 underfolder AK sporting Serbian red furniture. Here are my top pros and cons for this rifle:

Pros:

Very reliable, even with cheap ammo
Accurate
Compact with a nice folding stock
Quality construction
Beautiful color scheme
Accepts most AK magazines
Optics rail on receiver
Extra fun to shoot

Cons:

Thin stock makes accurate shooting a bit harder
Basic AK iron sights are just OK
Somewhat heavy
Optics rail is higher than standard AK rails
Suppressor ready, but 14x1 LH threads need an adapter
Price tag is higher, but the quality reflects that

Bottom Line Up Front: Zastava’s ZPAP M70 with the underfolding stock and red furniture is a reliable tank on the range, beautiful, and plenty accurate for practical shooters. It’s also fairly priced for a quality AK in an increasingly inflated AK marketplace.

Specs & Features

I’ve come to love Zastava’s ZPAP M70 line of AK rifles. As upgrades to the old NPAP family, the ZPAPs still offer quality construction and parts.

In fact, the construction on the newer ZPAPs is even better these days. The new M70s offer standard cold-hammer-forged barrels with chrome lining for corrosion prevention, a 1.5mm receiver, and a bulged trunnion. You can compare that to the non-lined NPAP barrels that host non-bulged trunnions and 1mm receivers.

ZPAP M70 Parts — Here you can see how the receiver has been beefed up on the ZPAP on the right compared to the NPAP on the left. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

ZPAP M70 Handguard — The three-hole handguard on the left is from this Yugo M70, and the one on the right is from a Century Arms VSKA. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

These guns stand out in some subtle ways from traditional AK rifles. The most notable feature on all Yugo/Serbian-style AKs is the elongated three-hole handguard. Most guns patterned on the AK-47, AKM, and AK-74 wear shorter, fatter two-hole handguards with a palm swell. I prefer the larger hand space on the Yugo AKs, but it does change the guns’ profile slightly.

Here’s a quick look at the basic specs for this ZPAP M70 underfolder:

Weight: 8 pounds
Length (Unfolded): 35 inches
Length (Folded): 26.5 inches
Barrel Length: 16.3 inches
Length of Pull: 12.9 inches
Sight Radius: 15.5 inches
Tread Pitch: 14x1 LH (left-hand twist)
Caliber: 7.62x39mm
Capacity: Standard 30-round AK mags (options from 5 to 75 rounds)
Trigger Pull: 4.56 pounds

AK-pattern guns are not known for having great – or even mediocre – triggers, but the stock trigger on the ZPAP is decent by AK standards and breaks at 4.56 pounds on my scale. It is clunky. While you can stage the trigger, it really wants to just jump to the next step on its own. That makes it fast but not great for precision work.

Here are some other standout features.

Zastava ZPAP M70 Underfolder AK Parts — A button at the rear of the receiver releases/locks the stock. It includes an integrated sling mounting point, which pairs with a forward sling point on the barrel. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

Also, yes, even AK rifles need to be cleaned and oiled for proper maintenance. Zastava has a vintage solution for that as well.

DRNCH Cleaning Oil — Deterdžentski Rastvarač Naslaga Čađior – or simply DRNCH (pronounced “drench”) – is basically the now-defunct Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s equivalent of CLP gun oil. The recipe was actually a state secret during the Cold War, but now it can be had for a few bucks if you’re looking for something historic and AK-specific in the lube and cleaning department. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

I found that the folding stock just takes a little bit of repeated use to get it to unfold and fold smoothly. That’s a result of the tighter fitting work they’ve done over at Zastava, and I have not noticed any additional wobble over time and 710 rounds of testing.

Folding the stock into the handguard will cause some marring to the wooden handguard over time. That’s a well-known quirk of underfolder AKs, and it’s just something you’ll have to deal with if you want both beautiful wood and an underfolding metal stock.

Shooting + Ballistics

First, I’ll just say that I have rarely found AK-pattern rifles to be true tack drivers for accuracy. However, I also generally stick to budget-friendly ammo, no optics, factory triggers, and the cramped standard iron sights.

More to the point, shooting an AK with an underfolding metal stock like this ZPAP M70 leaves very little room for a proper cheek weld for accurate shooting. Regardless, I found I was able to pull off some decent practical accuracy at 50 and 100 yards with this underfolder.

For this testing, I opted to slap on a magnified optic for my 100-yard testing and a red dot for my 50-yard testing.

ZPAP M70 Targets — Using a 1-6x24 Vortex Viper PST Gen II at 100 yards with 123-grain PMC FMJ ammo, I was able to get the 2-MOA group on the left. I had to mount that optic higher than I wanted because the rail on the side of the receiver of underfold AKs is about an inch higher than the standard AK. That pushed my optic mount well over the receiver for testing. The two groups on the right are what I was able to achieve with just the iron sights at 50 yards. They work, but I find them harder to use and prone to stray shots like the one on the top right. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

I am not a fan of standard AK iron sights. They work at closer ranges, but the notch is very small and only offers a total sight radius of 15.5 inches. I popped out the leaf rear sight and added a Midwest Industries AK Alpha Mini Dot Mount directly to the rear sight housing.

Vortex Defender-ST and Midwest Industries AK Mount — Here’s that Vortex Defender-ST 6-MOA dot I was using. Installing the Midwest Industries AK Alpha Mini Dot Mount under it was a cinch, and the precision machining has kept it tight and zeroed without any Loctite. I like the minimalist footprint, and I will be swapping this Vortex dot for a more robust enclosed Vortex optic now that testing of the gun and dot is done. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

Since I’ve been torture-testing a Vortex Defender-ST 6-MOA red dot, I added that to the mini rail mostly to see if it could hold zero on a rifle like this ZPAP. It’s been on this gun for the last 200 rounds and hasn’t skipped a beat despite the rather brutal recoil location just above the bolt and piston. Here’s how that worked for two strings of fire at 50 yards.

ZPAP M70 Target — Keep in mind, this is a 6-MOA dot, and these groups are all inside the non-magnified dot itself at 50 yards. The first string of shots was a tad low and left. I overcorrected and ended up a tad high and right. Regardless, the groups are solid for a dot like this and, just as importantly, they were very easy to shoot. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

I also took this ZPAP M70 to a 100-yard range for my dot testing. Ringing a 10-inch steel plate at 100 yards was no challenge at all, and I imagine the gun would shoot even better with higher-quality ammo. For my needs, it is perfectly fine for my relatively close-range AK-shooting habits.

AK Ammo — Test 7.62x39mm ammo included 300 rounds of 123-grain steel-cased hollow-point Wolf, 200 rounds of 123-grain FMJ PMC Bronze, and 150 rounds of 123-grain FMJ Ammo Inc. All that falls on the budget side as far as AK ammo goes. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

AK magazines — The ZPAP M70 was not picky about magazines, from polymer Magpul and US Palm mags to old surplus steel mags, Tapco five-round shorties, and some unnamed clear mag I had lying around. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

Test 7.62x39mm ammo included 300 rounds of 123-grain steel-cased hollow-point Wolf, 200 rounds of 123-grain FMJ PMC Bronze, and 150 rounds of 123-grain FMJ Ammo Inc. All that falls on the budget side as far as AK ammo goes.

My only malfunctions with this ammo were two minor stovepipe jams while shooting at a rapid pace with the stock folded. That was likely due to a degree of limp-wristing on my part.

I also tossed in 60 rounds of lead-nosed Remington Core-Lokt for my last range trip. This also ran fine despite the soft lead tip. Since this load is also meant for hunting, I went ahead and shot a 10-percent FBI gel block at 20 yards. Here were the results.

Remington Core-Lokt Ballistic Gel Test — Total penetration was just 16 inches, with the bullet barely squeaking out the end of the gel and stopping against a water jug. That’s a hell of a lot of energy to dump into such a small space at just 20 yards. That suggests the Core-Lokt does a great job of getting rid of its energy up front instead of over-penetrating. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

Remington Core-Lokt ammo — As far as affordable hunting loads go for 7.62x39mm, the Core-Lokt shows promise in its ability to dump energy into a target even at close range. The bullet also mushroomed without fragmenting inside the gel block. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

Reliability and accuracy were both pleasantly impressive for an underfolder AK, and the harshest criticism I can toss at this ZPAP M70 is that the metal stock is thin and only allows for a partial cheek weld that’s really more of a chin weld when shooting. Even then, recoil is very manageable.

Suppressor Test

Since this gun hosts standard AK threads that are 14x1 LH, I had to grab an adapter to turn the left-hand 14x1 threads into a standard 5/8x24 TPI with a right-hand twist for my Banish 30 Gold V2 suppressor. (Photo: Paul Peterson/Guns.com)

AK-pattern guns can be a pain when trying to mount a suppressor. Issues with barrel concentricity, poorly cut threading, and the over-gassed nature of the AK design are all issues to consider.

That’s especially true for older “Combloc AKs” that were imported years ago, but issues like gas persist even with new guns. The Banish 30 Gold V2 did a decent of job neutering the worst of the AK’s legendary cracking noise.

Below, you can see how this gun shot suppressed with a Banish 30 Gold V2.

As expected from a manufacturer like Zastava, this ZPAP M70 had no thread or barrel issues, and getting it suppressed was just a matter of grabbing an adapter to transition from the 14x1 LH threads to 5/8x24 TPI.

That Banish suppressor adds 9 inches of extra length with the adapter. For a dedicated quiet can, I would consider something a bit smaller, but the Banish 30 Gold V2 is handy as a kind of do-all .30-cal hush tube, even if it is big.

Here’s what you could expect without that can on the front end.

Suppressed or not, you’ll want to wear hearing protection when shooting. Most 7.62x39mm loads are supersonic anyway, and the action of the ZPAP can hit decibels as high as 89 dB at the action without shooting. That’s just hand-cycling the bolt with a decibel meter next to it. So, don’t expect to be like a ninja-quiet John Wick just because you added a suppressor.

Final Thoughts

After four months with this Zastava ZPAP M70 underfolder AK, I liked it enough to add it to my own collection. They are not cheap AKs, but that’s also because they are not poorly made AK rifles. I would call them appropriately priced in the current AK market for those shopping for quality but not looking to shell out extra bucks without getting much return in performance or features.

The M70 line has been a solid performer for me, and my personal testing goes back more than a decade with my older NPAP M70. These Zastava guns have been consistently reliable for me, and I enjoy shooting them every time I have them at the range.

Highly reliable, practical accuracy, and an underfolder stock are all wins. The rockin’ Serbian red furniture is just icing on the cake for me.