I recently just shot a full auto Vz 58 and amd 65 both wires stocks like these back to back it was so cool to see and feel the differences the vz had so much bark and fireball
Indeed, the whole dynamic of the Warsaw Pact was ambivalence. Nations like Hungary were aware their armies were basically just cannon-fodder for the USSR, and so they were torn between paying the bare minimum to satisfy the USSR while paying enough to have a proper army the people of could be proud of and count on to serve them if the USSR's grip ever loosened.
While I was in Afghanistan, a local turned in a AMD65, a Greek leand leased M1 Garand, and 2 really rusty Martini-Henry rifles. It was a real suprise when we realize what he had.
AMD65 came most likely from the Afghan National Police contract; M1 Garand probably walked across the border from Iran, Martini-Henry rifles undoubtedly from the British era.
I was a conscript in 2002. We were issued AK-63D during basic training and AMD-65 on duty. It didn't matter much to anyone as everyone was convinced that we won't ever have to use them under the umbrella of NATO. Anyway we pronounce the manufacturer as "fayg" instead of spelling out the initials. Too bad they've been bankrupt 20 years ago without any hope of revival. The new rifles are sourced from CZ now.
@@williamromine5715 They went private in the 90s (formerly a state owned company) and -as far as I am aware - when export possibilities were limited by the 2004 firearm law (don't recall the official name), the company lost many export markets and went bankrupt.
@@williamromine5715 the armed forces required more modern weapons that they were not able to provide so the government orders seized. Domestic civilian market is non-existent due to strickt gun control. Meanwhile the US restricted foreign imports to protect its domestic firearms production and that was the end of it. The factory always produced natural gas powered home appliances like space heaters, furnaces and water boilers besides firearms, they were spinned off as different companies and still producing.
@@williamromine5715 In 2004 the Hungarian goverment orders a complete ban of gun-exports. Coupled with it, that between 2002-2014 the military expenditure was minimal& shrinking. Furthermore, MoD spent that minimal resources on a very stupid way, f.e. required an extended air-refueling capacity for fancy Gripen jets in the Air force, but forsake any modernisation of the Army. Furthermore, in 2004 it was a huge (by hungarian standards) embezzlement at FÉG about USD 8 million. The main part of the FÉG holding was bought out from bankrupcy by MPF Industry Group, but no longer produces rifles. But not the whole FÉG went bankrupt. FÉG was a kind of industrial holding, manufacturing not only weapons, but different kind of gas-appliances, even some sewing machines as well. The gas-appliance parts of the company survived. VARA-FÉG Kft. (VARA-FÉG Ltd.) produces gas-aplliances for homes, and FÉG-VESTALE produces industrial appliances.
Greetings from Hungary! My father used this type of assault rifle during his military services in the 70s.(He had to go another 6 months in the late 70s.) He was the only guy in his platoon to use it with a 20 round mag, the others had to use theirs with a 30 round mag. In fairness,he was a radio operator so he also had to carry the radio. Unless he had to be the driver for the battalion commander, BC(rank Lieutenant Colonel), on his side, which happened often, considering my father's bad behaviour, then 30 round magazine, since the radio stayed inside either the GAZ 69 jeep or the command truck. The officers,including said BC got 20 round mags, because they often carry their leather map (holding) bags and the 30 round mag almost always catched the strap of the bag.
My grandfather server in the People's army from 1976 to 1978 as a conscript and later from 1979 till 1989. All throughout his service life he used the AMD and he adored it, although he was in an air defense radar unit so it is understandable. He always tells me that the rifle was accurate enough, compact and light enough to be used my everyone and still says that no automatic rifle more accurate will be ever produced other than AK style rifles. He loved it and has fond memories of it.
my granddad was working on the machine that made the "long grater" handguard as he called it. his factory was one of the first to begin making these, he was always proud of the work he did with his friends back then. when I was in Egypt with him decades ago we managed to meet one of these old guns. I have never seen 2 men who speak no common languages be soo friendly that fast ever.
Probably you know that already, i just wanted to write it down. Simple fact is, that's quite cheap standard gun part, also being made in quantity... so it's not big of a deal to make few hundreds thousands more and screw them onto the handguards. And it looks better than improvised grips out of drill handles, witch tend to look out of place on the gun. In the matter of fact, pretty much everyone did that at some point. I saw video about Gulf War L85s with second pistol grip screwed on, polish wz. 96 Beryl had vert grip grinded out of standard pistol grip, Vietnam CAR 15s... If only StG 44 had separated pistol grip it would've also being screwed onto the handguard, ha ha.
I remember seeing this gun in Metal Gear Solid 3 and thinking the devs just came up with their own fictional tacticool AK variant. Was surprised to learn it was an actual gun shortly after.
I LOVE my AMD 65. It is super reliable, never had a jam, FTE/FTL with it and with the built-in muzzle brake, it is super easy to handle. There were 2 for sale, about 10 years ago… brand-new… at $600. I should have bought both!
A couple of additional comments - If you carried these in a right-handed carry ready position for any length of time you would soon hope to have a glove as the stock release button will dig into the knuckle on your thumb. Additionally, if you did a mag dump the unprotected gas tube would get really hot and since there was no handguard you need to be careful how you handle it afterward. I've fired thousands of rounds of blanks through these as OPFOR. Just a note - the issued sling for these was a leather version (at least that's what came with the ones we imported in 1999) along with spare 20-round magazines, vinyl mag pouch and std cleaning accessories. Still have some AMD 65 marked shipping crates...
It's my favorite gun in peace walker as well. Super awesome at close range in those many lame "take out the vehicle and the infantry support" boss fights.
When my father was conscript they used AMD-65s so they did when he was a prison guard. Once I was able to shoot with it, not gonna lie the 7.62×39mm packs a punch...altough the stock itself a bit uncomfortable. I'm happy to see it mentioned
AMD-65 built on a nodak spud receiver was the first rifle i ever bought when i turned 18. Bought it from a tech on his lunch break at an exotic car dealership called Foreign Cars Italia in NC for $600.
I recently saw a picture of my dad reading the soldier's oath for the other conscripts after basic training with such a gun slung on his shoulders. I really did not expect to see a video about it here. While these were, let's put it mildly, not universally beloved guns, they have quite a distinctive look and it is somehow both surreal and very cool to hear their story from you, an American gun expert speaking in English. Thank you!
My first AK build was one of these when Tapco was selling parts kits for like $100 with the 922R compliance parts and 3 mags.Oh the good old days of cheap parts kits with the barrels.
@@Pattamatt1998 I bought a Ingliss 1944 Bren parts kit in 2001 for....... 109.99 I now have a beautiful semi auto bren. Now I am doing an MG42. One of two kits that were gifts from way back when they were cheap.
I actually believe the grip aids in mag changes. Everyone over sweeps the mag insertion. Just stick the mag against the grip and sweep it in and it becomes an aid. (Your doing it wrong kid)
The main designer at FÉG was Zala Károly (Károly Zala or Charles Zala in english). It worth to mention, that there is some variants of AMD-65 --- the AMP-69 is the most notable. AMP-69 was specially created to fire rifle grenades.
They wanted to make a short gun, but it didn't work out. The barrel became shorter, but the weapon remained almost the same length due to the muzzle brake installed on it. I would have just put a compensator on it, like on the AK-63 and cut the front grip shorter. Anyway, I loved it. I have had 6 AMDs in my years of service, never had a problem with any of them. Greetings from Hungary.
The AMD-65 is to me the best looking out of all the AK's. The black and dark grey parts and the simplistic design makes it look so sleek and cool. Plus it helped Sly used it in Rambo 3 in the first infiltration of the Russian base.
The issue with the longer barrel was that was the expensive part, because rifled barrels are arguably the most difficult thing to make. If you can shave 100mm off a ~400mm barrel, you save a fortune in production time, raw materials, and more. That muzzlebrake is complicated in its own right, but can be made with softer steel, cut with simpler tools, and worse comes to worst, be left off the gun entirely. If you keep your full-length barrel, you must have that extra 100mm of high-quality steel, must pay to cut it precisely, and so on. Making AMD65 with the full-length AKM63 barrel would have raised the price considerably!
Thanks! I was wondering where the nearly 50% savings came from. Wooden furniture can't be that expensive and the muzzle brake looks expensive. Looks can be deceiving? Speaking of the cost of wood. I wonder how much they saved by using the folding metal stock instead of a wooden buttstock. For regular infantry I'd think a proper hold would be pretty important. Also important for hand to hand fighting, rare as that is.
@@donjones4719 I think the main argument was that all the tooling and manpower could be focused on just making the folding-stock very well instead of keeping two things going with divided manpower and resources. Communists loved arguments based on Economy of Scale. Of course, the AMD65's stock would become notorious, as Ian mentions, for being very ill-suited to the common riflemen and they said so loudly. They also might have just been shouting so much because they were deafened by the muzzleblast, but I can't prove that. 😁
It's for durability. Most of the Soviet Bloc couldn't into plastics but in case of the AMD-65 they really didn't try anything drastic. On the other hand field experience showed issues with the heat melting the foregrip and temperature differences wearing them out. So it was less about economics and more to fix a quality issue. So yes, exact opposite as the reason for the bakelite parts in later AKs.
This was the first AK I owned and built myself. And I absolutely love it to pieces. The only thing I modified on it was I had AMD-65TECH weld a cheek riser onto the original stock. Super fun gun to shoot.
Back in the early 2000s a bunch of those Hungarian 20 round mags came to the US in really nice shape. Think they were around ten dollars each. Never knew they were purpose built for the AMD-65.
I built mine from a beautiful unissued parts set, numbers matching, factory barrel. I used the short barrel but pinned and welded a slightly longer replica muzzle brake so i would not need to sbr it. It is loud!
This has been my favorite style of AK ever since Medal of Honor 2010 That very specific handguard setup, foregrip, and folding stock, all just looks great.
It honestly makes the most sense for a rifle you are planning on exporting. "0" for Safe, "1" for Semi, the number for the burst size for guns with Burst, and "∞" for full Auto. Even if you also have bullet icons like later HKs.
About time you've done a review, on one of my favorite AK variants. Although I'm not a huge AK rifle fan, Finnish, Hungarian, Israeli, & Romanian made AKs are the COOLEST in my opinion. First time seeing this gin, was in Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater, & then in 80s action films like Rambo 3 & Red Scorpion. The AMD-65s design is incredibly recognizable, from it's forward/reverse pistol grip, unique muzzle break, and the infamously uncomfortable folding wire buttstock.
This gun and 35 years of service it is the reason why my father is half deaf, he said they used to put spent shell casings in their ears when it started to hurt but it was considered g@y lol
One of my favorite rifles. Thanks for doing this video. Did a brief conscription service with this rifle. I now own 3 of them in the US as SBRs and I also own a gas version in Hungary, called the Keserű gorkíj 65. They are fun rifles to shoot and their are ways to make the stock comfortable to shoot.
TY Ian. I think Romanian AK style systems also had the forward pistol grip as well. Good job Hungary ! 50% cheaper, losing only the' cheek weld" sounds a good compromise.
Back in 2010 I purchased a CAI AMD 65 from JG Sales which had the same set up as this model. Unfortunately after removing from the box and starting the cosmo clean up the finish literally peeled off as I took a solvent filled rag and wiped the muzzle break leaving bare metal. Apparently CAI had used spray paint to finish the unit I purchased. Thankfully JG took it back, but in hindsight I could have just paid extra and had a gunsmith refinish it properly. At the time I knew a gunsmith who offered Parkerizing and he did a great job on my Bulgarian Makarov. 😢 I still wish they were available today at reasonable prices. I think I paid $375/400 at the time.
When I was in Iraq in 2010 the contracted guards carried those. The contract company was American, the guards were from Sierra Leone. I always wondered how that variant of the AK came to be there. I don’t know if they belonged to the US government or the company.
@@juanignacioflores3820First Iraq bought them (to supplement the Yugo clones Iraq was producing under license), then after the US invasion, when we went to go reestablish the Iraqi Army (that State Department "experts" stupidly insisted we disband, thus dumping a bunch of military trained - for certain values of "trained" - young men into the unemployment lines and pissed off at the US for firing them, and thus ripe for recruitment by bad guys), we ended up having to buy a bunch MORE AKs from everywhere, because the Iraqi Army AKs they had bought before the invasion were worn out from years of abuse.
@@juanignacioflores3820 There is a fun anecdote in Hungary, that during the Iraq-Iran war, there were cases where the Iraqi transport plane have been loaded at one end of the runway at the Budapest International (it only had one terminal and one one runway back then), and the Iranian one at the other end with rather heavy crates. Go figure. Also post-2003, the Hungarian government sent a bunch of surplus weapons to Iraq, including old T-72Ms.
I remember, when I was high school student in the early eighties, I learned the field strip of the AMD-65. It wasn't a regular high school training, I attended to special afterschool class organized by MHSZ (Hungarian Defense Association, a communist military & technical sports organization), we used Soviet .22LR guns (TOZ-8) and Hungarian FÉG-68 standard rifle on a range for 50m (164 ft) shooting competitions. Then one of the trainings was about the AMD-65, they probably brought it from the "Munkásőrség" (kinda militia of the communist party).
yep at 80's there was a "honvédelmi ismeretek" class in a secondary scool ~"homeland deffense knowledge" and i got trainig for amd65 and pkm too and basic squad tactics.
Damn, why didn't I make this connection… probably because my mind wanted to go 6502 from 65 ("too much" 6502 in my early IT stages). And somewhere in the back of my mind there was the AIM-65 rattling around which I just fully remembered.
This is one of the most well-done variants of the AK-47, the AMD-65 really is a specialist weapon that got a lot of attention regardless of its reputation among regular infantry units and it fascinates me how the Hungarian Armed Forces essentially had a "all or nothing" mindset in case World War 3 broke out when it came to firearm production.
The hungarian armed forces was relatively underfunded by the standards of the warsaw pact. While the hungarian economy was considerably strong compared tot he rest of the eastern block, most of that output was channaled beck into sociel welfare and infrastructure development, most likely as a way to prevent further evolutionary sentiment after '56. This ment the army frequently had to go without the latest and greatest of soviet equipment, and often relied on cost cutting measures, and some cheaper domestic alternatives. FOr example many of its heavy trucks and jeeps up until the 60s were domestically produced Rába models. Same with light armour, the APC of the Honvédség was a domestically designed and produced vehicle called PSZH, roughly comperable to a BRDM-2, but still had a squad of 8 dismounts somehow crammed in it. The idea didnt really occure to the defence ministry that cutting down on the size of the armed forces and making up the difference with better equipment might actully be cheaper until the 80s.
My father served in the Hungarian People's Army Air Force, and hated the thing, during the few times they had to use them on a shooting range. The muzzle brake directed the sound more to the sides of the shooter than forward so it was a pain in the ass to do range practice.The muzzle rusted quite often and was a pain in the ass to clean. The forward grip can also be uncomfortable. But that's what you get when you make the cheap gun, even cheaper.
I remember seeing them at gun shows many many years back around the really early 2000's. At the time I didn't know that there were so many different variants of the AK and I thought it was just some knockoff thing because of how different looking it was. Really wished I had picked one up, among so many things that were way cheaper back then lol.
I built an AMD-65 built off a very nice parts kit back in around 2005 and it's been a great little gun. Other than changing over to the wooden grips for aesthetic preference and using a slightly longer muzzle break that's pinned/welded it's all original.
The stock was OK for what it was. One of my AMD-65 parts kits I built into a pistol (which is now a registered SBR) with standard AK handguards, and the stock I used on a romy build because I liked the AMD stock better than the other wire folders that are available. I used that as my beater rifle to throw in the Jeep for camping trips, etc for many years until I finally sold it. I have built several others on AMD-65 kits over the years. All using different furniture and none in the original configuration, mostly because the Hungarian parts are just better made than what the third world Romanians produced.
A ton of Hungarian aks ended in Honduras, the US purchased those from a third party $$$ And supplied to the Contras based there. Difficult times the 80’s
I'm not sure of the veracity of the claim, but I have seen people mention that the increased blast and flash of the muzzle brake was an intentional addition to the rifle as it was thought that for paratroop operations it would have a psychological effect and make an attacking force of paratroopers seem larger and more heavily equipped than it was, due to the increased flash and sound signature
I have an AK55 myself and it just looks and feels amazing at the range, would love to see more info about that one, despite it being a very normal type 3 milled ak.
Easily one of my all-time favourite AKs, it just strikes that perfect balance of badass and classy. It also feels decades more modern than mid-'60s, both in aesthetics and function (shorter barrel, foregrip, folding stock, etc), especially in the context of mass-use standard issue rifles.
I joined the US ARMY in 1976 and in 1999 i did a tour in Hungary and Croatia doing MSR patrols, we landed in Tzar Hungary and we were getting off the plane i saw a platoon of Hungarian soldiers marching by all carrying AK's, now all my military career i was told the guys carrying the AK were the enemy so needless to say my butt tightend up just slightly.
@@foldvarimarton yep just forgot how to spell it, that was in 99-2000, Thanks for the correction, I still chat with a Hungarian soldier that I know Tomas Horvath, again thanks
The end of the cold war made for some strange bedfellows. But for us, the view of the west was one of envious fascanation during the cold war, rather than fear. At least from a civilian perspective, can't quiet speak for the military. But most soldiers were conscripted.
Had kit back in 2005 or so. Built it and had to put a barrel extension on it to keep it legal. Used the original brake. With that brake it was one of the loudest guns on the range. First time I fired it I got crowd around me with WTF is that questions. It was also a tankers gun in service. For what it is, it works. But it's no tack driver for sure.
Interesting, that most of the "elite" units like long range reconaissance battalions and the border guards (who were under the MoI command) kept their AK-63F (with fixed stock AKM) and AK-63D (AKM with Russian type folding stock) instead of switching to the AMD. When Hun SOF were founded they also chase the AK-63 family not the AMD. AMD was nicknamed the "conscript rifle" since most of the conscripts received it instead of the AK-63. 20 round mags were rarely seen (mostly the staff officers used them). When the HDF received the US made woodland LBE vest that could fit the 20 round mags so they used them again. Usual soldiers in my point of view liked the AK with a folding stock instead of the shorter barreled AMD. Afghan police liked them because they were "easy to carry and conceal AKs"... many went to Libya, Egypt and many other Middle Eastern countries where they still serves. It was a cheap and easy to produce rifle for its age.
Remarkably if inexplicably a genuine AMD-65 somehow appeared in cult British action show ‘The Professionals’ way back in 1983! The episode is entitled ‘A Man Called Quinn’ and goodness knows how the show’s armourer got hold of one, especially considering the general un-obtainability of authentic Soviet bloc weaponry to western productions at the time… 🙂
1988-ban volt szerencsém 1 évig (sorkatonaság) ilyennel lőni. Jó volt vele lőni. Az én fegyverem pontos volt. A tisztek felhívták rá a figyelmünket, hogy csak rövid sorozatokat lőjünk, mert felizzik a cső. Nálam ilyen nem történt. 🙂 Nem volt fegyver azóta a kezemben, de a lőpor illata még mindig az orromban van. Magyarországon magánszemély nem tarthat lőfegyvert csak különleges engedéllyel. Automata fegyvert meg egyáltalán nem tarthat tudtommal. Sajnos!
Get your copy of "Rifles On The Danube" today!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/headstamp/rifles-on-the-danube?ref=5zte5b
Done! Pledged for a signed Blue, But i really love the green!🇭🇺
I'd love to buy their books, but I really can't justify 100 bucks, ever gonna get a paperback version? 😅
I want one
Hungarian translate from this book?
@@skibur848 quality costs money! I feel you, i would have a very large library if books where not so expensive!
Seeing how the nations of the Warsaw Pact adapted the AK platform to suit their own particular needs is one of my favorite aspects of the AK platform.
Soviets: "Behold **our** rifle!"
Warsaw Pact Members: "**My** rifle!"
@@Hybris51129*Our Rifle*
I recently just shot a full auto Vz 58 and amd 65 both wires stocks like these back to back it was so cool to see and feel the differences the vz had so much bark and fireball
@@Hybris51129
Czechoslovakia: keep your change
Indeed, the whole dynamic of the Warsaw Pact was ambivalence. Nations like Hungary were aware their armies were basically just cannon-fodder for the USSR, and so they were torn between paying the bare minimum to satisfy the USSR while paying enough to have a proper army the people of could be proud of and count on to serve them if the USSR's grip ever loosened.
While I was in Afghanistan, a local turned in a AMD65, a Greek leand leased M1 Garand, and 2 really rusty Martini-Henry rifles. It was a real suprise when we realize what he had.
It must've been painful if you had to leave it behind. Or worse, destroyed.
AMD65 came most likely from the Afghan National Police contract; M1 Garand probably walked across the border from Iran, Martini-Henry rifles undoubtedly from the British era.
@robertmao9390 we looked up the serial number on the M1 to find it was Greek then found evidence that they were sold to Iraq.
@rodeanalfanteforcadela7645 even worse the M1 had all matching serials
@@robertmao9390 I have a AMD-65, its a nice light handy AK
An AMD measured in Megahurts.
Oof size: Mega
You win the internet today.
Of all the gpu jokes yours was the best
I Watched a short where one beat the Hell outta Jim Fuller 😂
Where is the competing Intel version ? (BTW, in modern designs, it’s GigaHurts!)
I was a conscript in
2002. We were issued AK-63D during basic training and AMD-65 on duty. It didn't matter much to anyone as everyone was convinced that we won't ever have to use them under the umbrella of NATO. Anyway we pronounce the manufacturer as "fayg" instead of spelling out the initials. Too bad they've been bankrupt 20 years ago without any hope of revival. The new rifles are sourced from CZ now.
I would have thought that the number of these rifles would have kept them viable. I wonder why they went bankrupt?
@@williamromine5715 They went private in the 90s (formerly a state owned company) and -as far as I am aware - when export possibilities were limited by the 2004 firearm law (don't recall the official name), the company lost many export markets and went bankrupt.
@@williamromine5715 the armed forces required more modern weapons that they were not able to provide so the government orders seized. Domestic civilian market is non-existent due to strickt gun control. Meanwhile the US restricted foreign imports to protect its domestic firearms production and that was the end of it. The factory always produced natural gas powered home appliances like space heaters, furnaces and water boilers besides firearms, they were spinned off as different companies and still producing.
@@williamromine5715 In 2004 the Hungarian goverment orders a complete ban of gun-exports. Coupled with it, that between 2002-2014 the military expenditure was minimal& shrinking. Furthermore, MoD spent that minimal resources on a very stupid way, f.e. required an extended air-refueling capacity for fancy Gripen jets in the Air force, but forsake any modernisation of the Army.
Furthermore, in 2004 it was a huge (by hungarian standards) embezzlement at FÉG about USD 8 million. The main part of the FÉG holding was bought out from bankrupcy by MPF Industry Group, but no longer produces rifles.
But not the whole FÉG went bankrupt. FÉG was a kind of industrial holding, manufacturing not only weapons, but different kind of gas-appliances, even some sewing machines as well. The gas-appliance parts of the company survived. VARA-FÉG Kft. (VARA-FÉG Ltd.) produces gas-aplliances for homes, and FÉG-VESTALE produces industrial appliances.
In todays strange twisted world, Ian may have known the proper pronunciation, but wanted to avoid it to prevent a possible You Tube strike.
I swear with Ian doing all these books I'll finally learn to read
You're a Marine right?
Doubtful. I still can’t read.
so you didn't take the LOTR | harry potter routes to that, apparently (that's more of a millennial trajectory, I suppose).
@@VaronPlateando of course I read them. That doesn’t mean I can read now.
i been sayin that for years
Greetings from Hungary!
My father used this type of assault rifle during his military services in the 70s.(He had to go another 6 months in the late 70s.) He was the only guy in his platoon to use it with a 20 round mag, the others had to use theirs with a 30 round mag. In fairness,he was a radio operator so he also had to carry the radio. Unless he had to be the driver for the battalion commander, BC(rank Lieutenant Colonel), on his side, which happened often, considering my father's bad behaviour, then 30 round magazine, since the radio stayed inside either the GAZ 69 jeep or the command truck. The officers,including said BC got 20 round mags, because they often carry their leather map (holding) bags and the 30 round mag almost always catched the strap of the bag.
Thank you
The GAZ 69 is a cool looking jeep, wish I could own one
I had the same in 1995 We shoot with this 9 bullets at all during the one year...
As a former professional soldier in Hungary I used AMD-65d and AKM-63d and CZ BREN-2. My opinion is the AKM-63d was the best.
My grandfather server in the People's army from 1976 to 1978 as a conscript and later from 1979 till 1989. All throughout his service life he used the AMD and he adored it, although he was in an air defense radar unit so it is understandable. He always tells me that the rifle was accurate enough, compact and light enough to be used my everyone and still says that no automatic rifle more accurate will be ever produced other than AK style rifles. He loved it and has fond memories of it.
my granddad was working on the machine that made the "long grater" handguard as he called it.
his factory was one of the first to begin making these, he was always proud of the work he did with his friends back then.
when I was in Egypt with him decades ago we managed to meet one of these old guns. I have never seen 2 men who speak no common languages be soo friendly that fast ever.
It's always a little funny to see front vertical grips that are literally the same pistol grip stapled to the gun a second time.
Makes me think of the South African gas launcher with two FAL pistol grips. The "Stopper" they called it, I recall.
These pistol grips are also part of the gun customization in Call of Duty: Cold War by the way.
The M249 has a specific forward grip as well; it’s literally just the pistol grip that’s had some picatinny mount screwed onto it lol
Reminds me of those American special forces guys in the Vietnam War who would bolt an M16 pistol grip onto the front handguard of their CAR-15s
Probably you know that already, i just wanted to write it down.
Simple fact is, that's quite cheap standard gun part, also being made in quantity... so it's not big of a deal to make few hundreds thousands more and screw them onto the handguards. And it looks better than improvised grips out of drill handles, witch tend to look out of place on the gun. In the matter of fact, pretty much everyone did that at some point. I saw video about Gulf War L85s with second pistol grip screwed on, polish wz. 96 Beryl had vert grip grinded out of standard pistol grip, Vietnam CAR 15s... If only StG 44 had separated pistol grip it would've also being screwed onto the handguard, ha ha.
13:08 the firing modes are "Shoot one bullet" or "Shoot all the bullets". Makes sense to me.
You silly, It's the infinite ammo cheat!
@@peppermillers8361IDDQD or IDKFA
less confusing than safe - automatic - repetition
I am happy to see some attention from you to Hungarian firearms. Greetings from Budapest!
I remember seeing this gun in Metal Gear Solid 3 and thinking the devs just came up with their own fictional tacticool AK variant. Was surprised to learn it was an actual gun shortly after.
This rifle was already featured in Medal of Honor 2010. There were three AK in that game: East German MPiK-MS, Hungarian AMD-63, and standard AKM
@@Cyan_Nightingale already? MGS3 was made way before 2010. Still, that's neat.
@@Cyan_Nightingale I did like that detail about moh 2010. It was cool to see other aks as opposed to just akms
Is it bad that your original assumption seems so right?
@@daltonbecker4494 considering what they did with MGS5, it made sense to me.
This is one of my favorite AK copies. Perfectly encapsulates an oldschool tactical feel
I LOVE my AMD 65. It is super reliable, never had a jam, FTE/FTL with it and with the built-in muzzle brake, it is super easy to handle. There were 2 for sale, about 10 years ago… brand-new… at $600. I should have bought both!
AMD-65: For when you're *really* done putting up with Nvidia's garbage.
"So Nvidia, *fuck you!* "
🤣🤣🤣
took me way too long to get this
"AMD"... Okay I get it...😆😆
AMD - it's time we *heat* things up!
A couple of additional comments - If you carried these in a right-handed carry ready position for any length of time you would soon hope to have a glove as the stock release button will dig into the knuckle on your thumb. Additionally, if you did a mag dump the unprotected gas tube would get really hot and since there was no handguard you need to be careful how you handle it afterward. I've fired thousands of rounds of blanks through these as OPFOR. Just a note - the issued sling for these was a leather version (at least that's what came with the ones we imported in 1999) along with spare 20-round magazines, vinyl mag pouch and std cleaning accessories. Still have some AMD 65 marked shipping crates...
I assumed the same. Just because you’ve got a forward grip doesn’t mean that having hot as hell metal parts won’t be a problem.
Fun Fact: the AMD 65 is the preferred rifle of the Ocelot Unit of the Spetsnaz GRU.
I always wanted to use it in game.
@@TheKruthix you can in MGS: peace Walker.
It's my favorite gun in peace walker as well. Super awesome at close range in those many lame "take out the vehicle and the infantry support" boss fights.
Happy to see someone mention this.
Which is weird because MGS3 takes place in 1964, at least a year or two too early for them.
When my father was conscript they used AMD-65s so they did when he was a prison guard. Once I was able to shoot with it, not gonna lie the 7.62×39mm packs a punch...altough the stock itself a bit uncomfortable. I'm happy to see it mentioned
As a Hungarian im really glad to see this❤
As someone who is hungry, I am glad to see this too.
That is a really cool profile picture.
@thomasbane0 thx man
AMD-65 built on a nodak spud receiver was the first rifle i ever bought when i turned 18. Bought it from a tech on his lunch break at an exotic car dealership called Foreign Cars Italia in NC for $600.
This thing with the suppressor on it gotta be the hottest thing ever for me. Even hotter than AKMS with PBS.
I recently saw a picture of my dad reading the soldier's oath for the other conscripts after basic training with such a gun slung on his shoulders. I really did not expect to see a video about it here. While these were, let's put it mildly, not universally beloved guns, they have quite a distinctive look and it is somehow both surreal and very cool to hear their story from you, an American gun expert speaking in English. Thank you!
Interesting…. I literally had one of these come in my gun shop yesterday. Only difference is the owner exchanged the grips for BakeLite
Bakelite is gooderer.
Price?
$1349 is what he wants for it magazines and all included
@@masoncrossno-ye2rfif its a legit amd you should buy it and put it up on gunbroker for 2500
It's not "bake-lite", its bakeliet or bakelite, named after a man called Baekeland
My first AK build was one of these when Tapco was selling parts kits for like $100 with the 922R compliance parts and 3 mags.Oh the good old days of cheap parts kits with the barrels.
My first was a Romy G kit with the G2 from Tapco for the same price!
Me too! Except mine was about $250.
Kills me to know what I missed out on when I was still too young to buy a gun lol
@@Pattamatt1998 I bought a Ingliss 1944 Bren parts kit in 2001 for....... 109.99
I now have a beautiful semi auto bren. Now I am doing an MG42. One of two kits that were gifts from way back when they were cheap.
@@bad74maverick1 man that's nuts lol, what a great deal. A semi-auto Bren might be one of the few machine gun conversions I'm really interested in.
Never heard of this processor
😂😂😂
It was made exclusively for the Eastern European market by the Hungarian branch of AMD.
It's fire rate is measured in Megahurts.
This comment section is EPIC !!!! 👏
My first thought, too 🤣
One of the most iconic medic guns in Squad. A nice way to add another silhouette to the lineup
I always just figured it was a fairly specialized paratroop, vehicle crew, etc. weapon. Interesting to learn that it was so much more widely used.
It was my service gun.
Thanks Ian, i built one from a like new parts kit about twenty years ago. I m still loving it to this day !
A tgi amd 65 was my first rifle. I believe it was $360 brand new. It was the most fun rifle to shoot ive ever had. I regret selling it
This was my first ak build. What a time. Original barrel kits for 250. I sliced about 2" off of the front grip to allow easier mag changes.
I actually believe the grip aids in mag changes. Everyone over sweeps the mag insertion. Just stick the mag against the grip and sweep it in and it becomes an aid. (Your doing it wrong kid)
The main designer at FÉG was Zala Károly (Károly Zala or Charles Zala in english). It worth to mention, that there is some variants of AMD-65 --- the AMP-69 is the most notable. AMP-69 was specially created to fire rifle grenades.
They wanted to make a short gun, but it didn't work out. The barrel became shorter, but the weapon remained almost the same length due to the muzzle brake installed on it. I would have just put a compensator on it, like on the AK-63 and cut the front grip shorter. Anyway, I loved it. I have had 6 AMDs in my years of service, never had a problem with any of them. Greetings from Hungary.
Attach the PBS-1 supressor and you will see the difference
Hi Ian!
It is an honor for you to present our weapons, greetings from Hungary!
I love Hungary and þe AMD-65, love from America 🇺🇸❤️🇭🇺
Short, cheap, reliable. The true AK spirit. I think Kalashnikov would be proud.
The AMD-65 is to me the best looking out of all the AK's. The black and dark grey parts and the simplistic design makes it look so sleek and cool. Plus it helped Sly used it in Rambo 3 in the first infiltration of the Russian base.
The issue with the longer barrel was that was the expensive part, because rifled barrels are arguably the most difficult thing to make. If you can shave 100mm off a ~400mm barrel, you save a fortune in production time, raw materials, and more. That muzzlebrake is complicated in its own right, but can be made with softer steel, cut with simpler tools, and worse comes to worst, be left off the gun entirely. If you keep your full-length barrel, you must have that extra 100mm of high-quality steel, must pay to cut it precisely, and so on. Making AMD65 with the full-length AKM63 barrel would have raised the price considerably!
Thanks! I was wondering where the nearly 50% savings came from. Wooden furniture can't be that expensive and the muzzle brake looks expensive. Looks can be deceiving?
Speaking of the cost of wood. I wonder how much they saved by using the folding metal stock instead of a wooden buttstock. For regular infantry I'd think a proper hold would be pretty important. Also important for hand to hand fighting, rare as that is.
@@donjones4719 I think the main argument was that all the tooling and manpower could be focused on just making the folding-stock very well instead of keeping two things going with divided manpower and resources. Communists loved arguments based on Economy of Scale.
Of course, the AMD65's stock would become notorious, as Ian mentions, for being very ill-suited to the common riflemen and they said so loudly. They also might have just been shouting so much because they were deafened by the muzzleblast, but I can't prove that. 😁
I love that they started with plastic furniture and later got wood. Most countries did it the other way around lol.
It's for durability. Most of the Soviet Bloc couldn't into plastics but in case of the AMD-65 they really didn't try anything drastic. On the other hand field experience showed issues with the heat melting the foregrip and temperature differences wearing them out. So it was less about economics and more to fix a quality issue. So yes, exact opposite as the reason for the bakelite parts in later AKs.
Wood is more majestic 😃🤷♂️👌
A book on Hungarian AKs. That's just what I need for the niche in my library.
My dad was issued this in 1992 during his mandatory service. I'm proud we designed this nugget.
Got one of these nearly twenty years ago. One of my favorite interesting weapons in my collection.
When I started this video the view count was at 9.7K. I'm not even halfway through and its lept to nearly 12K. Love to see it ❤️
Thanks for the video! The infinity sign is actually the number eight. It shows how much ammunition you could shoot at the "Honvédség". :)
Never knew AMD started business by making guns 😂
AMD was the model not the manufacturer.
Advanced Micro Destructions
@@broworm1 W comment.
@@richardturk7162o rly??
@@richardturk7162Jeez what an anti joke police here
This is the weirdest Linus Tech Tips video they've done yet.
Linus pew pew tips
I've always loved how the Hungarian solution to the "we need a vertical foregrip" dilemma was to just bolt a standard grip to the foregrip.
I absolutely love my amd 65s . They have been my go-to rifle for years .
This was the first AK I owned and built myself. And I absolutely love it to pieces. The only thing I modified on it was I had AMD-65TECH weld a cheek riser onto the original stock. Super fun gun to shoot.
Back in the early 2000s a bunch of those Hungarian 20 round mags came to the US in really nice shape. Think they were around ten dollars each. Never knew they were purpose built for the AMD-65.
I have a bunch of those along with the Hungarian magazine pouch for them.
They are not speciali for the AMD but for the officers
@@akoskovacs6651 Very cool. The mags worked nicely in my Romanian SAR-1.
I built mine from a beautiful unissued parts set, numbers matching, factory barrel. I used the short barrel but pinned and welded a slightly longer replica muzzle brake so i would not need to sbr it. It is loud!
This has been my favorite style of AK ever since Medal of Honor 2010
That very specific handguard setup, foregrip, and folding stock, all just looks great.
Hollywood has been using the infinity sector setting since the inception of celluloid.
It honestly makes the most sense for a rifle you are planning on exporting. "0" for Safe, "1" for Semi, the number for the burst size for guns with Burst, and "∞" for full Auto. Even if you also have bullet icons like later HKs.
About time you've done a review, on one of my favorite AK variants. Although I'm not a huge AK rifle fan, Finnish, Hungarian, Israeli, & Romanian made AKs are the COOLEST in my opinion. First time seeing this gin, was in Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater, & then in 80s action films like Rambo 3 & Red Scorpion. The AMD-65s design is incredibly recognizable, from it's forward/reverse pistol grip, unique muzzle break, and the infamously uncomfortable folding wire buttstock.
I have an older tgi Knoxville gun with original barrel and feg reciever. Its my favorite ak
Yep, I’ve shot maybe too mags out of mine, took the slick tanker grip off and put the paratrooper grip on.
I believe the "off-brand" version of this is called the FEG-47. I bought one 15 years ago for under $300 and it was one of the best AKs I've ever had.
This gun and 35 years of service it is the reason why my father is half deaf, he said they used to put spent shell casings in their ears when it started to hurt but it was considered g@y lol
One of my favorite rifles. Thanks for doing this video. Did a brief conscription service with this rifle. I now own 3 of them in the US as SBRs and I also own a gas version in Hungary, called the Keserű gorkíj 65. They are fun rifles to shoot and their are ways to make the stock comfortable to shoot.
Ian talking about the AMD 65.
"Brandon Herrera enters the chat..."
Old Spitzer Nips built the rifle for Ian.
Brandon did a really great job with this build. He should offer one as an incentive for his campaign donors.
TY Ian. I think Romanian AK style systems also had the forward pistol grip as well.
Good job Hungary ! 50% cheaper, losing only the' cheek weld" sounds a good compromise.
The backwards pistol grip is pretty ghetto. Awesome.
Back in 2010 I purchased a CAI AMD 65 from JG Sales which had the same set up as this model. Unfortunately after removing from the box and starting the cosmo clean up the finish literally peeled off as I took a solvent filled rag and wiped the muzzle break leaving bare metal. Apparently CAI had used spray paint to finish the unit I purchased. Thankfully JG took it back, but in hindsight I could have just paid extra and had a gunsmith refinish it properly. At the time I knew a gunsmith who offered Parkerizing and he did a great job on my Bulgarian Makarov. 😢 I still wish they were available today at reasonable prices. I think I paid $375/400 at the time.
My father was a driver for the ministry and he got issued with the AMD65
I've played with the AMD65 enough to be familiar with its problems, but I still think it's one of the coolest AK's ever made.
The amd 65 is my favorite ak of all time. Remember those 20 rd mags tho. 30s can be clunky to get in and out on a fast mag change.
When I was in Iraq in 2010 the contracted guards carried those. The contract company was American, the guards were from Sierra Leone. I always wondered how that variant of the AK came to be there. I don’t know if they belonged to the US government or the company.
i remember reading somewhere that iraq bought a shit ton of aks from everywhere and they end up with a bunch of old soviet/warsaw pact guns in storage
@@juanignacioflores3820First Iraq bought them (to supplement the Yugo clones Iraq was producing under license), then after the US invasion, when we went to go reestablish the Iraqi Army (that State Department "experts" stupidly insisted we disband, thus dumping a bunch of military trained - for certain values of "trained" - young men into the unemployment lines and pissed off at the US for firing them, and thus ripe for recruitment by bad guys), we ended up having to buy a bunch MORE AKs from everywhere, because the Iraqi Army AKs they had bought before the invasion were worn out from years of abuse.
@@juanignacioflores3820 There is a fun anecdote in Hungary, that during the Iraq-Iran war, there were cases where the Iraqi transport plane have been loaded at one end of the runway at the Budapest International (it only had one terminal and one one runway back then), and the Iranian one at the other end with rather heavy crates. Go figure.
Also post-2003, the Hungarian government sent a bunch of surplus weapons to Iraq, including old T-72Ms.
I remember, when I was high school student in the early eighties, I learned the field strip of the AMD-65. It wasn't a regular high school training, I attended to special afterschool class organized by MHSZ (Hungarian Defense Association, a communist military & technical sports organization), we used Soviet .22LR guns (TOZ-8) and Hungarian FÉG-68 standard rifle on a range for 50m (164 ft) shooting competitions. Then one of the trainings was about the AMD-65, they probably brought it from the "Munkásőrség" (kinda militia of the communist party).
yep at 80's there was a "honvédelmi ismeretek" class in a secondary scool ~"homeland deffense knowledge" and i got trainig for amd65 and pkm too and basic squad tactics.
Finally! A successor to AMD64.
which is a successor to x(termination)86.
Damn, why didn't I make this connection… probably because my mind wanted to go 6502 from 65 ("too much" 6502 in my early IT stages). And somewhere in the back of my mind there was the AIM-65 rattling around which I just fully remembered.
Gun jesus and AK Jesus is the collab we need
Colonel Trautman carried one in Afghanistan in 1988.
It was Trautman that taught Rambo to drive a tank into a helicopter. To eat things that would make a Billy goat puke...
Yes, but without the muzzle brake...🤔
I thought he carried a pig snout sandwich.
😉🤣
I have a parts kit of this gun somewhere in storage I was going to have built for me. I’ve got to hunt it up and do something with it now…..
This is one of the most well-done variants of the AK-47, the AMD-65 really is a specialist weapon that got a lot of attention regardless of its reputation among regular infantry units and it fascinates me how the Hungarian Armed Forces essentially had a "all or nothing" mindset in case World War 3 broke out when it came to firearm production.
The hungarian armed forces was relatively underfunded by the standards of the warsaw pact. While the hungarian economy was considerably strong compared tot he rest of the eastern block, most of that output was channaled beck into sociel welfare and infrastructure development, most likely as a way to prevent further evolutionary sentiment after '56. This ment the army frequently had to go without the latest and greatest of soviet equipment, and often relied on cost cutting measures, and some cheaper domestic alternatives.
FOr example many of its heavy trucks and jeeps up until the 60s were domestically produced Rába models. Same with light armour, the APC of the Honvédség was a domestically designed and produced vehicle called PSZH, roughly comperable to a BRDM-2, but still had a squad of 8 dismounts somehow crammed in it.
The idea didnt really occure to the defence ministry that cutting down on the size of the armed forces and making up the difference with better equipment might actully be cheaper until the 80s.
Gosh, I love Hungarian engineering with totally no bias.
My father served in the Hungarian People's Army Air Force, and hated the thing, during the few times they had to use them on a shooting range. The muzzle brake directed the sound more to the sides of the shooter than forward so it was a pain in the ass to do range practice.The muzzle rusted quite often and was a pain in the ass to clean. The forward grip can also be uncomfortable. But that's what you get when you make the cheap gun, even cheaper.
AMD? My AK says Nvidia.
Nvidia-47
@@paleoph6168 Guess mom bought me an norinco. :( Dad already bought me a Krinkov last year... You know how that went.
XAK-4780Ti
The stock is definitelly AMD. No support.
@@XtreeM_FaiL Ray tracer rounds
I remember seeing them at gun shows many many years back around the really early 2000's. At the time I didn't know that there were so many different variants of the AK and I thought it was just some knockoff thing because of how different looking it was. Really wished I had picked one up, among so many things that were way cheaper back then lol.
I love my amd 65 I've owned it for 5 years now one I'll never sell. Although mine has a welded cheak rest.
I like mine too, been wanting to get the cheek weld. The kns piston is a game changer for these.
Been wanting a cheek rest, but everything else is enjoyable.
I built an AMD-65 built off a very nice parts kit back in around 2005 and it's been a great little gun. Other than changing over to the wooden grips for aesthetic preference and using a slightly longer muzzle break that's pinned/welded it's all original.
The stock was OK for what it was. One of my AMD-65 parts kits I built into a pistol (which is now a registered SBR) with standard AK handguards, and the stock I used on a romy build because I liked the AMD stock better than the other wire folders that are available. I used that as my beater rifle to throw in the Jeep for camping trips, etc for many years until I finally sold it. I have built several others on AMD-65 kits over the years. All using different furniture and none in the original configuration, mostly because the Hungarian parts are just better made than what the third world Romanians produced.
Good to see that we got an upgrade to the AMD 64 that I had in 2005.
A ton of Hungarian aks ended in Honduras, the US purchased those from a third party $$$
And supplied to the Contras based there. Difficult times the 80’s
A lot of the ANA guys we trained had those, they were neat. The ak not the ANA
I'm not sure of the veracity of the claim, but I have seen people mention that the increased blast and flash of the muzzle brake was an intentional addition to the rifle as it was thought that for paratroop operations it would have a psychological effect and make an attacking force of paratroopers seem larger and more heavily equipped than it was, due to the increased flash and sound signature
Wouldn’t increased sound and flash signature reveal positions easier though?
The sound is only increased to the shooter.
An outside observer will be unaffected by the addition or removal of a muzzle brake
I just got mine back after my form 1 was approved. It’s way better with the short barrel. Love this gun.
I have an AK55 myself and it just looks and feels amazing at the range, would love to see more info about that one, despite it being a very normal type 3 milled ak.
Well, there is a whole chapter on the AK-55 in the book...
Very nice of the Ocelot Unit to donate one of their rifles for this video.
AMD-65 have this cool uncle energy
Easily one of my all-time favourite AKs, it just strikes that perfect balance of badass and classy. It also feels decades more modern than mid-'60s, both in aesthetics and function (shorter barrel, foregrip, folding stock, etc), especially in the context of mass-use standard issue rifles.
I joined the US ARMY in 1976 and in 1999 i did a tour in Hungary and Croatia doing MSR patrols, we landed in Tzar Hungary and we were getting off the plane i saw a platoon of Hungarian soldiers marching by all carrying AK's, now all my military career i was told the guys carrying the AK were the enemy so needless to say my butt tightend up just slightly.
You probably mean Taszár, Hungary.
@@foldvarimarton yep just forgot how to spell it, that was in 99-2000, Thanks for the correction, I still chat with a Hungarian soldier that I know Tomas Horvath, again thanks
The end of the cold war made for some strange bedfellows. But for us, the view of the west was one of envious fascanation during the cold war, rather than fear. At least from a civilian perspective, can't quiet speak for the military. But most soldiers were conscripted.
Had kit back in 2005 or so. Built it and had to put a barrel extension on it to keep it legal. Used the original brake. With that brake it was one of the loudest guns on the range. First time I fired it I got crowd around me with WTF is that questions. It was also a tankers gun in service. For what it is, it works. But it's no tack driver for sure.
I'm so glad you made this video years after I bought mine, because holy fuck the prices are going to go up because of you.
Good video though.
Interesting, that most of the "elite" units like long range reconaissance battalions and the border guards (who were under the MoI command) kept their AK-63F (with fixed stock AKM) and AK-63D (AKM with Russian type folding stock) instead of switching to the AMD. When Hun SOF were founded they also chase the AK-63 family not the AMD. AMD was nicknamed the "conscript rifle" since most of the conscripts received it instead of the AK-63. 20 round mags were rarely seen (mostly the staff officers used them). When the HDF received the US made woodland LBE vest that could fit the 20 round mags so they used them again. Usual soldiers in my point of view liked the AK with a folding stock instead of the shorter barreled AMD. Afghan police liked them because they were "easy to carry and conceal AKs"... many went to Libya, Egypt and many other Middle Eastern countries where they still serves. It was a cheap and easy to produce rifle for its age.
Remarkably if inexplicably a genuine AMD-65 somehow appeared in cult British action show ‘The Professionals’ way back in 1983!
The episode is entitled ‘A Man Called Quinn’ and goodness knows how the show’s armourer got hold of one, especially considering the general un-obtainability of authentic Soviet bloc weaponry to western productions at the time… 🙂
Got a blue. I will have long forgotten about this by the time it ships. I love surprises. Thanks @ForgottenWeapons
I wonder if that AMD-65 came the remnants of the White Claw can from the test fire.
Greeting form Hungary, thanks for making this video! :)
1988-ban volt szerencsém 1 évig (sorkatonaság) ilyennel lőni. Jó volt vele lőni. Az én fegyverem pontos volt. A tisztek felhívták rá a figyelmünket, hogy csak rövid sorozatokat lőjünk, mert felizzik a cső. Nálam ilyen nem történt. 🙂 Nem volt fegyver azóta a kezemben, de a lőpor illata még mindig az orromban van. Magyarországon magánszemély nem tarthat lőfegyvert csak különleges engedéllyel. Automata fegyvert meg egyáltalán nem tarthat tudtommal. Sajnos!
As a Hungarian,i🎉wholly approve of this content!👍👍👍
40’s and drums work surprisingly well in these