Cyrillic script on the woodwork of a Zastava M72B1

[Willmore]

Hello everyone.

I normally lurk in and around the ww2 German documents section, but today I am making my first post in this section of the forum.

Basically I have a deactivated Zastava M72B1 with Cyrillic script carved into the fore grip and shoulder stock. I have always wondered what the inscriptions actually say, or if they are legit or have been added to ‘enhance’ the look. A friend of mine from kazakhstan said that he thought PCKA (from the fore grip) means ‘machine gun’, but apart from that, he couldn’t understand any of the other script.

Information on the Zastava M72 -
Zastava M72 | Military Wiki | Fandom

Any help would be most appreciated.

Kind regards,

Will.

[Kohima]

A literal translation is Dinarska Divisia, though I cannot say if that refers to a unit.
The slogan over the skull is akin to Freedom or Death.

[Willmore]

Hello Kohima.

I really appreciate your help with this!

That gives me something to look into.

Once again thank you for your help.

Kind regards,

Will.

[Kohima]

The Dinarska Divisia (Dinara Division) was an irregular Chetnik formation that operated during the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, largely serving as auxiliaries to the occupying forces and fought the Yugoslav Partisans.

Just found the above online (Wikipedia), but cannot explain its use on this weapon.. presumably used by someone with a taste for history! Perhaps even a family connection.

[Willmore]

Thank you for the additional information Kohima.

It is strange for sure. I agree there must be some kind of link to the past with whoever decided to add the script.

I had a search and it seems that ‘Динарска дивизија‘ appears in tattoo designs and even on clothing today.

Kind regards,

Will.

[meyerse]

When these Yugo AKs were surplused (I think more than a decade now) came on the market several years ago now (back in the golden day's of AK parts kits) many many were carved or marked with various embellishments, carvings and otherwise. They had been rounded up from irregulars during the Civil war. If you look up the more common M70 carved stock Yugo, you will find LOTS of examples of how these kits were sent out from the Balkans......interesting history. You can find reference to various small civil war units.

Also the barrels are not chrome lined, so when kits came into the US it was a crap shoot if you would get a decent barrel after that hard life.

[Willmore]

Thank you for the information.

I had a search and found some very interesting examples!

[Kamuflaza]

This was probably used by the serb rebels during the war in Yugoslavia (Croatia and Bosnia), like as the other forces, Serbs found their inspiration in ww2, so many rebel units and paramilitary serb units wore names inspired by ww2 Yugoslavian kingdom forces - chetniks.

[Willmore]

Great comment and thank you for the information!