View source for AMD-65

{{short description|Hungarian assault rifle}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox weapon
| name               = AMD-65|
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = 
| origin             = [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]]
| type               = [[Assault rifle]]
<!-- Type selection -->| is_ranged          = Yes
<!-- Service history -->| service            = 1967–present
| used_by            = See ''[[AMD 65#Users|Users]]''
| wars               = *[[Vietnam War]]<ref name="Nam">{{cite web|url=http://looserounds.com/2019/11/22/amd-65-in-the-vietnam-war/|title=AMD-65 In The Vietnam War|date=22 November 2019|author=Shawn|publisher=Loose Rounds|access-date=16 December 2020|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027132718/http://looserounds.com/2019/11/22/amd-65-in-the-vietnam-war/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Rhodesian Bush War]]
*[[Angolan Civil War]]
*[[South African Border War]]
*[[Somali Civil War]]
*[[War in Afghanistan]]
*[[Iraq War]]
*[[Lebanese Civil War]]
*[[Croatian War]]
*[[Second Sudanese Civil War]]<ref name="Sudan">{{cite journal|date=August 1998 |volume= 10|issue= 4|title=Sudan - Global trade, local impact: Arms Transfers to all Sides in the Civil War in Sudan|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/sudan0898%20Report.pdf|page=25|journal=Human Rights Watch Report}}</ref>
*[[Russo-Georgian War]]<ref>{{cite magazine|first1=Stéphane |last1=Mantoux|title=Jours de tonnerre : L'Armée russe au combat en Ossétie du Sud et en Géorgie|trans-title=Days of thunder: The Russian Army in combat in South Ossetia and Georgia|magazine=Batailles et Blindés|language=fr|date=December 2012|publisher=Caraktère|issn=1765-0828|issue=52|pages=68–82}}</ref>
*[[Militias-Comando Vermelho conflict]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/06/25/another-look-at-brazils-crime-weapons/ |title=Another look at Brazil’s crime weapons}}</ref>
*[[Libyan Civil War (2011)|Libyan Civil War]]
*[[Syrian Civil War]]
*[[Gaza war]]
<!-- Production history -->| designer           = 
| design_date        = 1965
| manufacturer       = [[Fegyver- és Gépgyár]]<ref>[http://www.sunblest.net/gun/AMD65.htm Kalashnikov AMD-65 Machine Carbine.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822140855/http://www.sunblest.net/gun/AMD65.htm |date=August 22, 2008 }} Retrieved on August 25, 2008.</ref>
| production_date    = 1965–1980
| number             = 
| variants           = <!-- General specifications -->
| weight             = 3.2 kg (7.1 lbs) empty<br>3.8 kg (8. lb)
| length             = 847 mm (34.4 in) stock extended/ 648 mm (27 in) stock folded
| part_length        = 317 mm (12.5 in)
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->| cartridge          = [[7.62×39mm]]
| action             = [[Gas-operated reloading|Gas-operated]]
| rate               = 650 rounds/min|
| velocity           = {{convert|731|m/s|0|abbr=on}}
| range              = 
| max_range          = 
| feed               = 20-round detachable box magazine
30-round detachable box magazine
Also compatible with 40-round box magazines and 75-round [[Drum magazine|drum magazines]] from the [[RPK]]
| sights             = [[Iron sight]]s
| image              = AMD-65M behajtott válltámasszal.jpg
}}

The '''AMD-65''' ([[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]: ''Automata Módosított Deszantfegyver 1965''; Automatic Modified Paratrooper Weapon 1965) is a [[Hungary|Hungarian]]-manufactured licensed variant of the [[selective fire]] [[AKM|AKM rifle]]. 

== Usage ==
The Hungarian Defence Forces issued the AMD-65 to the [[Mechanized infantry|armored infantry]] and [[paratrooper]] ("descent") units.

The AMD-65, along with the earlier AKM-63, have been largely replaced in Hungarian military service by the [[AK-63]], a more traditional AKM copy with a lower manufacturing cost.

==Features==
The AMD-65's operating mechanism does not require a gas expansion chamber at the [[Muzzle (firearm)|muzzle]], as in the [[AK-74#AKS-74U|AKS-74U]] to ensure reliable functioning, but does use a specially designed [[muzzle brake]].

Compared to the [[birch]] [[plywood]] [[Lamination|laminates]] that are used on the AKM's buttstock, lower and upper handguard, no wood is used in the manufacture of the AMD-65. 

The front handguard area is made of perforated [[sheet metal]] and typically has a gray plastic vertical [[foregrip]] attached to assist in controlling [[automatic rifle|fully automatic]] fire from this short weapon. In addition, the vertical foregrip has been canted forward to lessen interference with magazine changes. 

The vertical foregrip is physically identical to the rear grip, with the former mounted backwards with respect to the rear. 

Hungarian manufactured t-nuts used to attach both the forward and rear grips feature a slot cut into the top of the nut, this slot allows the rifle cleaning rod to be inserted through the handguard when the t-nut is used too attach a forward grip.

In Hungarian service, the weapon is mainly used with [[Magazine (firearms)|magazines]] which can hold 30 rounds (standard magazine) but a special variant is also available, which can only hold 20 rounds. The 30-round magazine does fit with some slight interference and it can be also fitted with the 40-round magazine.

==Users==
<!--READ FIRST: This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->
[[File:Afghan border police aiming a weapon.jpg|thumb|An [[Afghan National Police]] officer in September 2010, equipped with a modified AMD-65 with an attached hybrid [[telescopic sight]] that has the [[EOTech]] [[Holographic weapon sight]].]]

*{{flag|Afghanistan}}
**[[Afghan National Police]].<ref name="Ellison">{{cite book|last1=Ellison|first1=Graham|last2=Pino|first2=Nathan|title=Globalization, Police Reform and Development: Doing it the Western Way?|date=2012|pages=95–96|publisher=Palgrave-Macmillan|location=London|isbn=978-0230581029}}</ref>
* {{flag|Georgia}}
** 1186 rifles were delivered in 2008.<ref>О военной помощи Грузии со стороны иностранных государств // "Зарубежное военное обозрение", № 6 (735), 2008. стр.94-95</ref>
* {{flag|Hungary}}<ref name="Small">{{cite book|page=207|title=Tactical Small Arms Of The 21st Century: A Complete Guide to Small Arms From Around the World|year=2006|author=Charles Q. Cutshaw|isbn=087349914X|publisher=Krause Publications|url=https://www.scribd.com/book/368483956/Tactical-Small-Arms-of-the-21st-Century-A-Complete-Guide-to-Small-Arms-From-Around-the-World}}</ref>
*{{flag|Libya}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_africa/wiw_af_libya|title=World Infantry Weapons: Libya|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005200329/https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/wiw_africa/wiw_af_libya|archive-date=5 October 2016}}</ref>
* {{flag|Morocco}}
** [[Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Forces Armées Royales القوات المسلحة الملكية |url=https://www.facebook.com/moroccanFAR/photos/bc.Aboy4gkSHbi2uphQEE6wyeaKrYUutfaqrkPOwzPf14r2berycsZgwjWtyDLRp7yBj69-6Ux3duIZzs0rAdRLJ6H4UWVFOzqIYGnmuKHSkCAwonGE4Szq9Ol5cdM-TCkn--eQg6JqpHjwi2TCKFnuncFy/654669057919683/?type=1&opaqueCursor=AbpmJzKb5gdwPqeW_i3XHilGKqUMowRI6N-bbvr7TuQljYuvFK_M6LiJHrZ4IG8HdRzePl1bvfi6orp6QobvhZ7OnsuXMR5OFimaiZ3tmcn1TvD8skZ7yjiNfeObeUE1KSZHq0McSXyUM1w5KoA1WnrkN0iRbZA81K3eWwXdiDK5neA9STw_LDQ2WfbN_oxRg_F4NUZ5ie3Lm8236y7dlTxZdBkz1OjzCFsxmxSLv64Na62M9ipHsoXpTTLXORUtiEIUE17xfXcMwj0NIZkBi0TzsDx9saXwqWoorEbbFNJO8Pzs131oZsGPH75ICpIaCQmB_VtdHnBzi4Ums7m98EEr1z5SLumTy_7lOIrN2afcAJSk5XjxY0V9TwKBHrRWxGIHNdFvyU7U9c32Af0WDqpvlBItzqxsRetPGaFkC4DUOOesPoQPkej--9wbaURUP0UD-XvxyBeDZw2dm8FejOHieGfidEm7e0ZAF7o021uo4oIROccOcbWO_95P15aDv8o&theater |website=facebook.com |access-date=26 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
* {{Flag|Myanmar}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=War Noir |url=https://x.com/war_noir/status/1909466005710970890 |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=twitter.com}}</ref>
* {{flag|Slovenia}}<ref name="Janes1">''[https://books.google.com/books?id=h6xDAQAAIAAJ Jane's Defence Weekly, Volume 16]''. Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd, 1991, Collected Issues 1990-91. pp. 48–49.</ref>
* {{flag|Sudan}}<ref name="Sudan"/>
* {{flag|South Sudan}}
** [[Sudan People's Liberation Army]]<ref name="Sudan" />
* {{flag|Syria}}<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Syrian War Trophies of the Russian Armed Forces|url=https://silahreport.com/2019/09/13/syrian-war-trophies-of-russian-armed-forces/|access-date=2021-08-19|website=Silah Report|language=en-US}}</ref>
* {{flag|Tanzania}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/https-sites-google-com-site-worldinventory-wiw_af_tanzania |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124204010/https://sites.google.com/site/worldinventory/https-sites-google-com-site-worldinventory-wiw_af_tanzania |archive-date=2016-11-24 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* {{flag|United States}}
** [[United States special operations forces|American special forces]] such as the [[United States Army Special Forces|Army Green Berets]] in Vietnam and Afghanistan.<ref name="Small" />
* {{flag|Vietnam}}
** Used during Vietnam War.<ref name="Nam" />

=== Non-state users ===

* {{flagicon|Palestine}} [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO)<ref name="Katz1985">{{cite book|title=Armies in Lebanon 1982–84|url=https://archive.org/details/armieslebanon00katz|url-access=limited|series=Men-at-Arms 165|first1=Sam|last1= Katz|first2= Lee E|last2= Russell|date=25 Jul 1985|isbn=9780850456028|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/armieslebanon00katz/page/n29 30], 44}}</ref>

==Availability in the United States==
Many AMD-65s were exported to the United States and sold in kit form following the destruction of the receiver, which legally rendered the weapon to the status of a non-firearm. In order to be legally reassembled, the parts must be rebuilt on a US-made receiver which lacks the provisions for certain parts which would make it capable of [[Fully automatic|automatic]] fire. 

In its original short-barreled form the completed weapon is regulated as a "[[short-barreled rifle]]" (SBR) under the National Firearms Act in the United States. The addition of a permanently attached barrel extension of the correct length will render the firearm legal for general use, subject to additional stipulations. These include a certain number of US-made parts in the finished rifle. 

This count is required in order to comply with [[United States Code|U.S.C.]] [[U.S.C. 922(r)|922 (r)]]; a statute which regulates imported rifles with certain features that the [[BATFE]] defines as not being suitable for sporting purposes. 

Some individuals choose to build AMD-65s without a buttstock, thus legally classifying the resulting new firearm as a "pistol" and eliminating the need for a muzzle extension (as well as the parts for 922r compliance). 

However, this route requires the removal of the forward grip, unless the gun is registered under the NFA as an "AOW" (any other weapon) or has an overall length greater than {{convert|26|in}}.

In summary, the semi-automatic version of the AMD-65, when re-manufactured as detailed above, is now legal for civilian use in most states.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:AMD65training.JPG|[[U.S. Marine Corps]] Cpl. Cory J. Becker, of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, shows Afghan National Police recruits different firing positions using an AMD-65 assault rifle on Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, June 3, 2008.
File:Female Afghan police officers qualification 2010.jpg|Afghan National Police women qualify on the AMD-65 rifle during the tactical training program portion of the police basic training course at Kabul Military Training Center, April 13, 2010.
File:ANP shooting range-2009.jpg|A group of Afghan National Police (ANP) train on the shooting range with the AMD-65 at Camp Shouz in Herat Province of Afghanistan.
File:Female Afghan National Police Cadets Train (4790009464).jpg|An [[Afghan National Police]] officer training with shooting using an AMD-65, in July 2010.
File:AMD-65 Postie.jpg|Select fire AMD-65
File:AMD-65.jpg|Modernized Custom Built AMD-65
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[AK-63]]
*[[AMP-69]]
*[[IMI Galil]]
*[[List of assault rifles]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050205160329/http://kalashnikov.guns.ru/models/ka212.html The AK site]
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0880296011 Small Arms of the World, 1983]
* [http://www.hungariae.com/AMD65.htm Description, photos]
* [http://www.kalasnyikov.hu/index.php?page=cikkek&proba=1&story=64 True history of AMD-65 from the Hungarian AK site]

{{AK47 derivatives}}
{{Weapons of Hungary|state=autocollapse}}

[[Category:7.62×39mm assault rifles]]
[[Category:Rifles of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Hungary–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Infantry weapons of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Kalashnikov derivatives]]
[[Category:Assault rifles of Hungary]]
[[Category:Fegyver- és Gépgyár firearms]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]]