M53/MG-53 konekivääri kal. 8x57IS DEKO

M53

Yugoslavia license-built the MG 42 at the state-owned Zavodi Crvena Zastava company as the M53, retaining the 8x57mm IS caliber. By doing so, the Yugoslavians retained the original weapon's design features, making the M53 a nearly exact copy of the German MG 42. The only major difference is a slower rate of fire. The aiming range of the M53 is 2000 meters, and the terminal range of the bullet is 5000 meters, the same as the MG 42. MG 42s captured in Yugoslavia at the end of World War II were put into reserve of Yugoslav People's Army as M53/42s. The last military use of M53s in Yugoslavia was in 1999. Some quantities of M53s were exported to Iraq in the 1980s and saw extensive action during both Gulf wars M53 was known under nickname Šarac.