Zastava M88

{{Infobox weapon |name= Zastava M88 | image= Zastava M88 9mm Yugo.jpg | image_size = 300 |caption= Yugoslavian M88, early 1990s production |origin = Yugoslavia |type= Pistol  |is_ranged=yes  |service= |used_by=Yugoslavia<br>Serbia |wars=  |designer= |design_date=1987 |manufacturer= Zastava Arms |unit_cost= |production_date= |number= |variants= M88A  |spec_label= |weight= {{cvt|0.85|kg}}<ref name="Zastava1">{{cite web|title=Zastava Arms: Hunting and Sporting Firearms|author=|url=http://omandst.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Zastava-Hunting.pdf|location=Kragujevac, Serbia|publisher=Zastava Arms|date=2013|access-date=2 April 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707034917/http://omandst.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Zastava-Hunting.pdf|archive-date=7 July 2019}}</ref> |length= {{cvt|175|mm}}<ref name="Zastava1"/> |part_length= {{cvt|96|mm}}<ref name="Zastava1"/> |width= {{cvt|29|mm}}<ref name=Kashtanov>{{cite book|last=Kashtanov|first=Vladislav|title=Самозарядные пистолеты|date=2015|pages=957–958|publisher=Litagent Publishers|location=Moscow|isbn=978-5457835177}}</ref> |height= {{cvt|130|mm}}<ref name="Zastava1"/> |diameter= |crew=  |cartridge= 9×19mm Parabellum<ref name="Zastava1"/> |caliber= |barrels= |action= Short recoil actuated, locked breech, single action |rate= |velocity= |range= |max_range= |feed= 8-round magazine<ref name="Zastava1"/> |sights= Iron<ref name="Zastava1"/> }} The '''Zastava M88''' is a Yugoslavian and Serbian semi-automatic pistol produced by Zastava Arms.<ref name="Zastava1"/> It is a compact derivative of the Zastava M57, which was itself an unlicensed variant of the TT pistol.<ref name="Sof">{{cite news |title=Zastava M57: The Yugoslavian-Made Clone of the Legendary Soviet TT-33 Pistol |last=Sof |first=Eric |url=https://special-ops.org/zastava-m57-a-yugoslavian-version-of-tt-pistol/ |work=Spec Ops Magazine |location=Dover |date=7 January 2023 |access-date=16 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205081049/https://special-ops.org/zastava-m57-a-yugoslavian-version-of-tt-pistol/ |archive-date=5 February 2023}}</ref>

==History==

The M88 was developed to replace the M57, then the standard side arm of the Yugoslavian military and law enforcement agencies, in 1987.<ref name="Slowik">{{cite web|title=Bargain Hunting: the Zastava M88|last=Slowik|first=Max|url=https://www.guns.com/news/review/zastava-m88-zm88-m88a-zm88-101-k-var-eaa-bargain-hunting-review|location=Burnsville, Minnesota, United States|publisher=Guns.com LLC|date=2 December 2001|access-date=2 April 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031191153/https://www.guns.com/news/review/zastava-m88-zm88-m88a-zm88-101-k-var-eaa-bargain-hunting-review|archive-date=31 October 2020}}</ref> The Yugoslavian government charged Zastava with designing a derivative of the M57 chambered for 9×19mm Parabellum that was easier to conceal, more ergonomic, and more suitable for self-defense.<ref name="Police">{{cite web|title=ORUŽJE IZ ZBIRKE MUZEJA POLICIJE|author=|url=https://muzej-policije.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/muzej/izlozbe/2013/Katalog%20izložbe.pdf|location=Zagreb, Croatia|publisher=Police Museum of Croatia (Muzej Policije)|date=2013|access-date=2 April 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250905125156/https://muzej-policije.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/muzej/izlozbe/2013/Katalog%20izložbe.pdf|archive-date=5 September 2025}}</ref> In response, Zastava engineers essentially scaled down the M57 design, incorporating an identical but shorter slide and barrel into the new pistol.<ref name="Popenker">{{cite magazine |last=Popenker |first=Maxim |date=2014 |title=Tokarev's Empire |url=https://www.collezionareexordinanza.it/uploads/downloads/2018-02-17_277130223-military-surplus-2015.pdf |magazine=Gun Buyer's Annual |location=Davie, Florida, United States |publisher=Tactical Life LLC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901005644/https://www.collezionareexordinanza.it/uploads/downloads/2018-02-17_277130223-military-surplus-2015.pdf |archive-date=1 September 2024 |access-date=3 April 2026}}</ref> The M88 was also designed with a proprietary 8-round magazine with a unique flared base; this was supposed to make the magazine easier to change quickly.<ref name="Zastava1"/> The decision to move to the 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge from the 7.62×25mm Tokarev chambering of the M57 was also significant, and was partly motivated by export prospects.<ref name=Kashtanov/> Zastava had already produced an M57 variant known as the M70A, chambered for the 9x19mm cartridge, for foreign commercial sales.<ref name="Borisenko">{{cite news |title=Zastava M57 and M70A: The Yugoslavian Tokarevs |last=Borisenko |first=Adam |url=https://gundigest.com/gun-reviews/military-firearms-reviews/zastava-m57-and-m70a-the-yugoslavian-tokarevs |work=The Gun Digest |location=Appleton, Wisconsin |date=28 May 2021 |access-date=14 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531043140/https://gundigest.com/gun-reviews/military-firearms-reviews/zastava-m57-and-m70a-the-yugoslavian-tokarevs |archive-date=31 May 2023}}</ref><ref name="Sof">{{cite news |title=Zastava M57: The Yugoslavian-Made Clone of the Legendary Soviet TT-33 Pistol |last=Sof |first=Eric |url=https://special-ops.org/zastava-m57-a-yugoslavian-version-of-tt-pistol/ |work=Spec Ops Magazine |location=Dover |date=7 January 2023 |access-date=16 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205081049/https://special-ops.org/zastava-m57-a-yugoslavian-version-of-tt-pistol/ |archive-date=5 February 2023}}</ref> Streamlining production on a single 9x19mm pistol for both domestic and export contracts was seen as cost-effective, and a major factor in creating the economy of scale necessary to make M88 production profitable for the Yugoslavian state.<ref name=Kashtanov/> Serial production of the M88 for Yugoslavian military and police orders commenced in 1988, but was canceled in 1991 due to the country's ongoing civil wars.<ref name="Police"/>

The M88 had an extremely short service life with the Yugoslavian (and later Serbian) military and police.<ref name="Slowik"/> After the end of the Yugoslav Wars, it was replaced in Serbian service by the Zastava CZ99.<ref name="Slowik"/> By the 2000s, Zastava had resumed limited production of the M88 for the commercial export market, marketing the weapon primarily to civilians in North America and Europe for self-defense and sport shooting purposes.<ref name="Z1">{{cite web|url=http://zastava-arms.rs/cms/index.php?id%3D275 |title=ZASTAVA ARMS Kragujevac | M88A |access-date=September 29, 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313054515/http://zastava-arms.rs/cms/index.php?id=275 |archive-date=March 13, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Slowik"/>

==Features== The M88 has a shorter 3.5 inch barrel and a different hammer position than the M57.<ref name="Z1"/> The earliest examples manufactured for the Yugoslavian state contract featured no external safety.<ref name="Police"/> During the early 1990s, Zastava also began producing a slightly modified M88 with an external safety on the slide; this received the designation M88A.<ref name="Police"/>

==Former users==  * {{flag|Croatia}}: Used by the Croatian Police.<ref name="Police"/> * {{flag|Serbia}}<ref name="Slowik"/> * {{flag|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia}}<ref name="Slowik"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100926011757/http://eaacorp.com/zastava-m88-TP.html EAAcorp.com - Zastava M88 pistol]

Category:Semi-automatic pistols of Yugoslavia Category:Semi-automatic pistols of Serbia Category:9mm Parabellum semi-automatic pistols Category:.40 S&W semi-automatic pistols Category:Zastava Arms