Zastava M77
Overview
Zastava M77
Right side view of a Zastava M77B1 battle rifle. Note the grenade launching sight folded over the gas block.
Source: Zastava -
© Copyright lies with original owner
Serbia - Zastava
Description
Introduction
The M77 is a late Cold War era battle rifle of Yugoslav origin. The M77 was developed for export sales, to fill a niche not yet filled by Soviet caliber weapons produced by Zastava. Whereas the M70 assault rifle can be found in several dozen nations, the M77 hardly received any sales.
Design
The M77 is an upscaled M70 assault rifle. It retains distinct Yugoslav Kalashnikov pattern features such as the thicker receiver, ability to launch rifle grenades and longer 3-slot forearm. Reportedly the M77 was available at first with a milled receiver and later changed to the stamped receiver. The light machine gun variant is patterned after the M72. Most notable is the heavier barrel with cooling ribs near the chamber. Also a bipod and carry handle are fitted.
Firepower
The M77 fires the 7.62x51mm NATO round from a 20 round box magazine. It is a select fire rifle with semi-automatic and fully automatic settings. Cyclic rate of fire is about 640 rpm. As with all battle rifles in this caliber its practical use is semi-automatic fire. The light machine gun variant is rather portable and better suited for automatic fire with its bipod and the increased weight. There is no quick change barrel.
Users
The M77 was developed for export sales but did not well in that regard. The demand for these rifles was limited when the M77 was introduced on the market. Competition with surplus batches of FAL and G3 battle rifles was difficult. Cyprus acquired a quantity of these weapons and these were seen in various images. Reportedly batches were acquired by African nations.
Variants
M77B1 battle rifle
Full size fixed stock battle rifle. Folding up the grenade launching sights also acts as a gas cut-off.
M77 light machine gun
Light machine gun variant with fixed barrel with cooling ribs, a carry handle and a bipod.
Details
Related articles
Zastava M70
The M77 is an upscaled version of the Zastava M70 series of Kalashnikov pattern assault rifle.
Zastava M72
The M77 light machine gun is akin to the design of the smaller caliber M72 light machine gun.