Yugoslavian unloading?

[30cal_Fun]

I have heard the phrase "Yugoslavian unloading" many times, but wonder where it comes from and if many other shooters use it.

"Yugoslavian unloading" means when you are finished shooting but still have rounds in your magazine, instead of removing the magazine and emptying the chamber, you simple keep pulling the trigger until you run out of ammo. So basically you do a mag dump to unload your firearm.
We use it in a joking sense. For example if someone is shooting very fast or if someone hasn't shot a lot of rounds even when he has been on the range for two hours you can shout "just Yugoslavian unload the thing!"

It seems as if this phrase is used only here in the Netherlands since I haven't been able to find it on google or gun fora.

Does anyone here know or use the phrase "Yugoslavian unloading"?
And does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

 

[7mmsavage]

Never heard it my neck of the woods. Too may syllables, it doesn't roll of the tongue. We'd just call that a mag dump.

 

[Davek1977]

A lifetime of shooting in the US, and I haven't heard that phrase ever.....

 

[GBExpat]

Same here, I have never heard that before now.

 

[iLikeOldgunsIlikeNewGuns]

Hmm

Never heard it in New England

Perhaps you could shorten it to "Yugo-clear that thing!" at the range?

 

[Sam1911]

There have always been silly, mildly (or sometimes very) insulting phrases like that for sloppy, slap-dash, half-arsed ways of doing things, that attributed shoddy work or practices to some lesser culture, race, or nationality.

When I worked up in New England, the carpenters would call errant hammer strikes that left a big dent in the woodwork, "French Canadian rosettes." Simultaneously denigrating the skills, intelligence, and taste of their counterparts from north of the border.

Down south I ran across folks who would refer to anything dangerously cobbled together as "'blank'-rigged", wherin "blank" was a very off-putting racial epithet.

Happens all over the place.

Where the "Yugoslavian" aspect came from is hard to say. Some US soldiers noticing a tendency in other troops to waste a lot of ammo maybe, and coining the term as some local unit colloquialism, perhaps?

It isn't the sort of thing I'd want to adopt and start using. First, it could potentially offend someone and that's just stupid. Second, no one is ever going to know what you're talking about.

 

[pockets]

Never heard that one before today.
I've only been shooting firearms for five decades though. I might have missed it.



.

 

[Apachedriver]

I'd say it probably came originated in the military, whether Dutch or other European. I served with a group of Dutch pilots and soldiers in Bosnia in the 90's but I never heard that term.

Anyway, that term may have come from how the ethnic cleansing was conducted…grab a bunch of civilians not of your kind (Croats, Serbs, Muslims), line them up, and just unload your mags into them. Follow up with a mass grave and move on to the next town or farm.

Anyone military here knows soldiers around the world tend to have a gallows humor about things they experience, especially in the Combat Arms.

 

[Ryanxia]

Sounds like it might be a netherlands thing, I've never heard it. I've heard the southern one Sam1911 mentioned.

Apache - I like your signature.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Until Apachedriver proposed a possible dark history for the term -- one I've never heard of until today--I was planning on adapting it for my own use as "Yugo Unload". Yugo Unload has a certain cachet and a nice ring to it. Plus here in the US it would also conjure up memories of the often maligned little cars from the early 80's.

Thanks 30cal Fun ~ something new to talk over with the boys at work.

 

[Dain Bramage]

I was born in the former nation of Yugoslavia. I have never heard the term before, but it captures a certain part of the national essence.

So, I endorse the term "Yugo Unload". Also, a "Yugo Reload" would be unlimbering a second SKS from your off shoulder. Accompanied by swearing. Lots of swearing.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

I think it has something dark to it or at least bigoted given Yugoslavia's unfortunate history going all the way back to their desperate fight against the Nazis.

Never heard of it here in Florida but I don't know many European Ex or Current Pats so who's to say what I know.

 

[au01st]

Have anything to do with an SKS' tendency to slam fire if the firing pin is stuck? I have a Yugo SKS and don't keep it loaded for the possibility of it slamfiring when the bolt is released.

 

[Hurryin' Hoosier]

In the interest of being politically correct, you probably should say "Serbian Dump".

 

[herrwalther]

Never heard it called that before. I did have a friend tell a story about how certain units in the Iraqi army would form a circle and mag dump when faced with a superior force. So he called it "Iraqi unloading."

 

[TennJed]

never heard of it

 

[30cal_Fun]

Seems like this is a phrase only used here. Thanks for thinking along guys!

I think some of you could be right about it's origin being military and it's connection to Yugoslavia's unfortunate history.

Our shooting club's gunsmith is from former Yugoslavia, he knows the phrase but has no clue where it might have come from.

 

[Miked7762]

Have anything to do with an SKS' tendency to slam fire if the firing pin is stuck?

The first thing I thought of was the Yugo SKS as well, but for a different reason. Perhaps quickly emptying the magazine so a blank could be loaded for a rifle grenade, since most Yugo SKSs have the grenade launcher?

 

[tryshoot]

An sks does not have a firing spring pin and I i had one double 1 time. I pulled the trigger one time and the gun firered twice

 

[230RN]

I thought maybe it was because unloading the SKS by unlatching the magazine and then picking the rounds up off the ground was more awkward than just firing them all.

 

[9mmfan]

When I worked up in New England, the carpenters would call errant hammer strikes that left a big dent in the woodwork, "French Canadian rosettes."

As a Norm Abram fan who is a VERY inexperienced dabbler in playing with wood, that is kinda funny. I have never heard that before. Unfortunately, I am all too aware of the southern term you mentioned. I do find it curious that I can be amused by the one and have zero, and I mean ZERO, patience for the kinda talk of the other. But this ain't a sociology forum.

I have not heard the original phrase either. I have gone all willy-nilly rapid fire when I just wanted to make some noise. If I was finished shooting before a magazine was empty, I would just drop said mag then eject the chambered round.

That's only happened once or twice, though. Much like a pint of ice cream, usually one magazine equals one serving. Also like the FDAs' RDAs, one serving usually doesn't sate the appetite.

 

[JHansenAK47]

"Yugoslavian unloading" means when you are finished shooting but still have rounds in your magazine, instead of removing the magazine and emptying the chamber, you simple keep pulling the trigger until you run out of ammo. So basically you do a mag dump to unload your firearm.

Back in the day, GIs would do that with their Garands. Topping off the enbloc or ejecting it can be a PITA.

Does anyone here know or use the phrase "Yugoslavian unloading"?
And does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

AK magazines are usually loaded by hand so "yugo unloading" would have been more likely in a peacetime setting. The SKS may have been "yugo unloaded" in a wartime setting as an expedient way to quickly top off their rifle. The bolt catch only engages when the follower actuates it when empty. So you either have to dump the rounds or top off with a stripper clip while simultaneously holding or resting the rifle with the bolt held to the rear.

Another possibility is they are just making fun of the propensity to not want to carry half empty mags around that chafe and shoot them off instead.