AMD-65 (AK-47 Variant type rifle) |
Barrel: Chrome-lined Muzzle including barrel and permanently attached break extends 16.25" barrel extends only 14"
Receiver: FEG Made in Hungary
Handgaurd: UTG MTU010 Quad Rail
Grip: Magpul MOE AK pistol and fore-grip
Muzzle break: Custom order from member of a firearms forum
Magazine Release: TAK Latch (ambidextrous)
Cheek Rest: Customized added by me onto side folding stock. This was necessary because the side folding stock on an AMD-65 just doesn't give a good cheek weld. Was cut from steel tubing and mounted using stainless steel pop rivets.
Worthy Mention: I pinned some East German military surplus night sights on it. They are basically glow-in-the-dark sights that can be put on and off when needed.
Intended Use/Purpose: This is a relatively inexpensive rifle for SHTF, Home defense, Bug-Out, Survival or WROL type scenarios. It is reliable, shouldn't break the bank and fun to shoot.
The overall cost when purchased was around $900. It is worth mentioning that some of the accessories added to this setup are unnecessary for a functioning reliable rifle, although they do make it nicer. Unfortunately, the prices are trending upwards on rifles like these and with today's market, even shortly after this rifle was put together, costs will probably be significantly higher.
It may also be used for hunting medium to small sized game such as white-tailed deer. For this you would need expanding type bullets. I use Hornady 123Gr SST and have taken two white-tailed does with excellent performance. Both deer were shot in the vital area from 40-60 yards and fell shortly after the shots. Stopping power is more than adequate with a well placed shot. Though one deer did require a second shot to dispatch. I would caution against using this rifle on larger game. For white-tailed deer sized game and smaller it should work just fine at reasonable distances, which brings me to the next point.
Accuracy: Accuracy on the AMD-65 leaves a bit to be desired. Though it is worth mentioning that if used for it's original military designed purpose it works just fine. Engaging targets past 150 yards would be difficult at best. You can expect about 5-6" MOA shooting from and upright position. From a rest 4" MOA was the best I was able to accomplish once or twice out of about 1,000 rounds... which is more than adequate to make the firearm useful but definitely not a tack driver. Considering most white-tailed deer shots in Wisconsin are shorter than further away it's not a huge loss to use an AMD-65 while hunting.
Reliability: 99% no failure to fires in over a 1,000 rounds of surplus steel cased wolf ammunition and 19 rounds of Hornady SST ammunition. We had one or two failure to fires, more than likely because of the cheaper ammunition we were using and was nothing out of the ordinary not attributed to the overall function of the rifle.