9 minute read
RELOADED GE AMD-65
BLOC ON A BUDGET!
BILL IS ALWAYS ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR WELL-PRICED YET UNIQUE REPLICAS TO ADD TO HIS AK COLLECTION AND AFTER MUCH SEARCHING HE FINALLY FOUND ONE THAT HAS BEEN EVADING HIM FOR SOME TIME, THE HUNGARIAN AMD-65! AFTER GIVING THE POOR THING SOME REAL ABUSE HE NOW REPORTS BACK ON THE AEG VERSION FROM GOLDEN EAGLE AIRSOFT.
Okay, I make no bones about the fact that I’m an AK “fanboi” and when it comes to playing OPFOR there is, in my opinion, nothing better than an AK-variant to distinguish yourself from BLUFOR. I’m also a fan as in its base form (and here I’m looking at the wood-furnitured AK47, AKM/S and the 74 SU specifically) it’s a classic piece of functional military design that rightfully deserves a place on anyone’s gun wall!
The “Automat Kalashnikova” of 1947 created by Mikhail Kalashnikov was a genuine, 100% “game changer” in the world of military firearms, allowing the humble infantry soldier access to a fast-firing, durable, and above all
reliable battlefield tool. The humble AK has come in many variants during its long service life, even within Russia, but when you take into account the number of models “based” on the AK but built under licence in different Soviet Bloc countries the variations can become somewhat mind-boggling!
The AK, including all of its variants, has truly become one of the most widely manufactured and used firearms in the world, of this there is little doubt. Interestingly though one of the first licence agreements after the initial Russian-only manufacture
of the AK-47 was with the Hungarians! By 1957 the Magyar Nephadsereg (Hungarian People’s Army) decided it was high time to replace their aging and outmoded bolt action Moisin Nagant rifles with a modern AK-47-style battle rifle. The Hungarian AK was designated the AK-55 and it was simply a direct copy of the Soviet AK-47; it came with a cleaning rod and lacked a bayonet lug, but a barrel-mounted bayonet was available. Manufacturing quality was very good.
Femaru- Fegyver- es Gepgyar (FEG) based in Budapest started re-tooling for the AK in 1957, and the first AK-55 left the factory in 1959. The receivers, which were machined from steel blocks, were made by Danuvia Gepgyar initially, as that company boasted better machining facilities than FEG, and the stock, checkered pistol grip and fore-end were made of locally-sourced wood. The AK-55 shared a basic form and structure with the AK-47 but differed slightly due to the shift in manufacturing from a forged and
machined receiver to a lighter sheet metal receiver. This alteration to the design made the AK-55 twothirds lighter than its predecessor, and it was adopted in every evolution of the Hungarian AK afterwards. This modification has been left out of many historical accounts of the rifle, with the initial forging and machining process, which was so revolutionary in the creation of the AK-47, almost lost from the story.
The AK-55 served until 1963 until the introduction
of the AKM-63 with its sheet metal receiver, and all parts were made by FEG. The AKM-63 proved to be a highly functional and reliable rifle, popular with the troops, but of course development never stands still and the AKM-63 was duly replaced in 1966 by the AMD-65 (Automata Modosított Deszant of 1965); this was a shortened (by 98mm) “paratrooper” variant of the AKM-63 with a simple folding tubular butt and rubber butt plate in place of the heavier wooden version; the butt could be folded by pressing a catch under the receiver behind the rear pistol grip, and the shorter length reflected the increasing use of helicopters, vehicles and especially AFVs by the Eastern Bloc Armed Forces in general.
The short barrel had a distinctive large twoport muzzle brake, and the early pattern wooden pistol grips were replaced later with dark-coloured plastic ones. The front handguard area was made of perforated sheet metal which incorporated the black or grey plastic vertical foregrip (this was attached to assist in controlling fully automatic fire from a shorter weapon) and the vertical foregrip was canted forward to lessen interference with the early “banana-style” magazine changes.
UNIQUE AND SPECIAL
So why, you might ask yourself, has someone gone to all the trouble of producing an airsoft replica of what was essentially a rather obscure AK variant? Well, the fact is that the AMD-65 is a bit of a “grail gun” for many of us AK-fans, and it’s actually a model that has appeared somewhat bizarrely and regularly throughout the more recent conflicts in the Middle East! While it is undoubtedly a model that any “period” airsofter would wish to own, it was also used by the Afghan National Police and has been seen in the hands of many private contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Online research from “Tactical Life” tells me that “the Afghans started receiving them around 2006, when they went out of Hungarian service. I have seen figures to the effect that the Hungarians “donated” 39,000 AMD-65s and the U.S. purchased 45,000 more for the Afghan Police”.
These are significant numbers in anyone’s book, and the fact is that for police issue the shorter barrelled, folding stock AMD-65 would have been a perfect choice given that fundamentally it’s the same same as other AKs, a design with which the Afghans would have been more than familiar.
A few years back I had the great pleasure of looking at the LCT version of the AMD-65 and it was righteous! However, at the time I didn’t have £UK350 to spare for a new AEG, and as much as I loved it, it was returned following the review and test process. From that point on the AMD-65 has been in the back of my mind, so when I can across the same model from Golden Eagle (GE) I was intrigued, especially given that at UK£150 it seemed a real bargain, so I picked one up with a view to upgrading it later!
I do know Golden Eagle International (HK) Limited, they’ve been around a while so they obviously do something right! Founded in 2007, with experience in developing and manufacturing airsoft guns, airsoft parts and related products under the brand GE Airsoft (Golden Eagle Airsoft) you’ll find Golden Eagle under their own brand name across most of Europe, but if you’re in the USA then no doubt they’ll be offered under the “MATRIX” banner… the same thing basically…
Long story short is that GE actually have a lot of experience and they’ve been quietly making airsoft replicas since they started, often at the more “budget end” of the market. Although they are well priced they are often of quite decent quality externally, and the AMD-65 AEG comes with a solid and durable metal body and barrel and benefits from black plastic grips fore and aft, the tubular side folding stock, and the distinctive muzzle brake; for a rifle that first saw service in the 1960s the placement of the foregrip, which is essentially just a reversed pistol grip, gives the “65” a surprisingly modern “feel”. Everything is put together very well indeed and there are absolutely no creaks, groans or wobbles apparent anywhere; the overall weight loaded fully of 3175g means that you can happily carry this AEG all day long, and at 610/860mm it’s also a great AK for use in both CQB and woodland games.
Internally things are solid enough for the money; there’s a tried and tested (and easily upgraded!) V3 gearbox all driven along by an “okay” short-type motor. Nothing inside really sets the pulse racing but it’s all serviceable to start with, and the fact that everything is compatible with all TM-spec AEG
upgrade components means that with the absolutely rock-solid externals you could end up with a very respectable, uniquely-charactered OPFOR shooter!
DOWNRANGE
Performance-wise the AMD-65 is no slouch from the box to be fair though. The AEG comes with a 600 BB High Capacity magazine which is also of full metal construction; I have tried it with other AK-47 and AK-74 magazines of different capacities and all feed very well with no jams or misfeeds. It seems to work happily on an 11.1V LiPo which gives it a nice trigger response and ROF, and thus far after about 20K BBs nothing has burnt out or spat the dummy… yet!
There are sling points fore and aft should you wish to fit a sling (canvas webbing please!), and the control layout of the AMD-65 is much the same as every other AK variant on the market (I return to that comment earlier about “Afghan use”…). The charging handle cover hides a traditional sliding hop-up adjuster, and the safety lever has three positions; top is “safe”, middle is “auto”, and the lowest setting is “semi-auto”, just like the real thing; you do need to keep the selector arm screwed down tight though as this has a habit of shaking itself loose and interfering with the choice of shooting modes.
With the magazine fully loaded and wound, and a charged TITAN stick-LiPo fitted initially the AMD-65 through the chrono was actually very (surprisingly!) consistent at a site-friendly 0.92 joule/315fps using .20g BBs; rate of fire was also pleasantly “AK”, chugging along nicely on a 7.4, but darn quick on the 11.1. The AMD-65 also has some “legs” in relation to range, and once the hop has been dialled in it happily sends out .28g BBs to the extreme of the 30m “woods range”; at 30m prone I’m able to easily hit a dinner plate-sized target… none too shabby for a “cheap gun”.
However, and this is quite a big “however”, just like the real deal it’s not always perfectly accurate, and you do get a few “flyers” from every mag. I would stress that I am still using the GE “stock” with zero upgrades as nothing has broken yet (it’s actually lasted longer than I thought it would!), and I think that the first thing I will task Jimmy with is to look at the hop-unit and inner barrel relationship. This should be a relatively cheap area to upgrade that would give almost instant performance results!
I’ve always personally fancied an AMD-65 to add to my collection, and I have to say that this model is a real gem of a find given the quality of the externals, and the performance as new is quite acceptable without any upgrades. If you like a bit of an “old school AK” that’s just a bit different, and at a great price, then you really should get your hands on an AMD-65 from Golden Eagle Airsoft.
My thanks go to www.iwholesales.co.uk for supplying the review sample; for more information on the AMD-65 along with other models from Golden Eagle please do pay their website a visit. AA
