New toy - M76

rotarymike · Mar 26, 2013

Finally (and I mean FINALLY) got the rifle I paid for last year sometime: Assault Weapons of Ohio rebuilt Yugo M76. As in, Yugo parts except for receiver, barrel, and the trigger group. If you're not familiar with the M76 it is essentially a Yugo designed 8mm Mauser PSL DMR rifle. Receiver has more in common with an AK than a dragunov, semi-auto only, 10 round mags.

Looks nice, even if the wood is over-polyurethaned. I don't know enough about AK-based rifles yet to speak to interior quality but, BOY will I be having questions.

Still having some teething issues with the bolt hold-open and the scope.

I will post pics when the wife's out of the house

rotarymike · Mar 26, 2013

Midnight Raver · Mar 26, 2013

Woah, very spiffy!!! :ugeek:

beerman · Mar 27, 2013

That looks like it would be fun to shoot!

Avtomat-Acolyte · Mar 28, 2013

AK pattern rifles don't have a natural bolt-hold-open feature after the last round is fired. Was one cobbled into this gun by the guys that built it from parts?

Also, what issues are you having with the optic?

rotarymike · Mar 28, 2013

The m76 has a bho built into the magazines. So when you drop the mag the bolt closes.

On my rifle the bolt will stick to the rear when cycled by hand. I think there's a burr on the rail or its hanging up on the hammer.

As for the optic, I'm trying to figure out how to replace the dead tritium inserts with something. I think I've found a solution to that one.

thebrasilian · Mar 28, 2013

Nice!!

rotarymike · Mar 28, 2013

anyone know of a place that can re-vacuum and nitrogen fill a scope?

Avtomat-Acolyte · Mar 29, 2013

rotarymike said:
anyone know of a place that can re-vacuum and nitrogen fill a scope?

Contact Trijicon and see if they will do all that you want, including recharge the isotopes. They do all that for their own products and might do it for third parties, too. It's worth a shot and at the very least maybe they could point you into the right direction.

rotarymike · Apr 16, 2013

No joy from Trijicon or from ZRAK Usa. I can understand, the scope was made in the 70s after all. I'm talking with a tritium vial supplier on CandlePowerForums about getting the proper sized semicircular vials, to see if it's economically feasible in any way.

I'm actually debating selling the scope as-is (they're worth about half the rifle, apparently) and getting a decent Leupold or Nikon 10-40 power with the money. The scope base is M76 specific, but the rings are relatively standard 1". I'm not sure I really need the built-in BDC, and 4x is a bit light in terms of magnification - hell, I have a 4x on my .22 that I use at around 25 yards...

While I've always wanted one of these, it was as a shooter and not as a collectible. I haven't shot it yet, but the ergonomics of the thing are suggesting that I might want to build an AR-10 based DMR instead.

BuellRider · May 28, 2013

Little late in the game now.

The bolt/carrier is most likely hanging up at the rear because the bolt catching on the hammer. The profile of US made trigger groups tends to cause this. You can re-profile the top angle on the face of the hammer slightly with a flat file and it will cure this issue. Of course, its only an issue if you are hand cycling. If it hangs up during live fire, you have bigger issues!

rotarymike · May 28, 2013

BuellRider said:
Little late in the game now.

Not as much as you'd think. I still haven't had time to go to the range with it, so it remains unshot.

The bolt/carrier is most likely hanging up at the rear because the bolt catching on the hammer. The profile of US made trigger groups tends to cause this. You can re-profile the top angle on the face of the hammer slightly with a flat file and it will cure this issue. Of course, its only an issue if you are hand cycling. If it hangs up during live fire, you have bigger issues!

I had wondered if this was the issue. AWO uses Tapco G2 trigger groups and I'd seen a few remarks on der interwebs regarding the hammer profile. I'm assuming we're talking about making the top part of the hammer face more parallel to the travel of the bolt when cocked?

rotarymike · May 29, 2013

Also - still not sold on the ergonomics of a stretched AK. I'm considering selling and using that to build or buy a properly configured AR-10 variant.