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Posted: 12/27/2010 5:06:34 PM EDT
| Local shop has these for a little over $400. My son and I are interested in getting a few if they are worth it. Are they any more or less reliable than a standard AK? Can it use drums? We'd be selling his Norinco MAK90 and my Saiga 12 to fund this new project. |
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Quoted: I have one and it is great... watch out for the flash hider though as the weak welds will lead to it blowing off the end of the barrel at an inopportune time...  I didn't have a chance to take one down and look at it. Is this a common problem with the system in general or to a specific manufacturer? |
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My favorite AK over everything you mentioned. The only AK I have two of––an FEG and a Century. Never had the muzzle device blow off. Neither have two of my buiddie's––and the one is a screw build (he bought it at Knob Creek when the kits first started getting built years ago).
I would keep my AMD 65's over my Arsenal in 7.62....I might sell one to keep my Arsenal in 5.45––but only the one! 
They are accurate, handy, and great fun to shoot. |
| I never heard of any blowing off. they are still held on by the threads and detent pin like a factory non-US import AMD. Also I wouldn't recommend getting rid of a Chinese straight cut MAK90 to get a AMD. I got rid of my MAK and been thinking of trading off my AR to get another Chinese AK (preban of course). |
| There were three yesterday, one today. I might be going back tomorrow. I handled the one available, an FEG. FSB was straight, no perceivable wobble or looseness of the brake. The folding stock was really stiff and the impossibility of a cheek weld was something I hadn't considered. Finish seemed much better than my last Romanian. The pistol grips were some kind of crappy rubber or rubber coated. |
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I just got a pair of birch ones here off a GB auction. Nice wood, flush to receiver, no ferule. At 38.00 for (2) you cant beat 2 new.
Company Name: TG International Inc Name: Ryan Jones E-mail: [email protected] |
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Quoted:
I have one and it is great... watch out for the flash hider though as the weak welds will lead to it blowing off the end of the barrel at an inopportune time...  I read multiple Gun Boards daily and while this may have happened to YOU - I cannot recall
Anyone else mentioning such a problem. OP - The FEG marked guns and the TGI made guns have the best rep. 
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Quoted:
I have one and it is great... watch out for the flash hider though as the weak welds will lead to it blowing off the end of the barrel at an inopportune time... Um, most AK muzzle devices are not welded on, so this makes absolutely zero sense. My SGL31's brake has no welds in sight and it stays on just fine. The AMD brakes are threaded on, held in place by the spring-loaded cylinder shaped thing, and welded on. Even if the weld broke, the other two elements of retention are more than capable of keeping the brake on the muzzle. |
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Here's the problem with the original flash hider/ 2" extension that the assemblers usually use; the FH is pinned and welded, which is fine. Then the extension is screwed onto the barrel, and if the FH indexes right is welded. If the FH does not index, they unscrew the extension until it does, then they weld it. The problem is when they loosen it to index the FH, they allow a slight deflection because the extension isn't screwed down tight anymore. When they weld it like this, vibrations from firing eventually break the weld. If the deflection is severe, the muzzle attachment could be struck by the bullet.
The best set-up is the one-piece Tapco unit that is an exact copy of the Hungarian FH with an extended tail. It should be screwed on and checked for indexing. Either set-up is adjusted by sanding material off the back end and re-installing until the FH indexes, at which point it can be pinned/welded. If the assemblers did this correctly with the two-piece set-up, there would be no deflection and everything would be great. Some of these 'AMD-65s' have several problems. The above deflection, along with canted gas block, trunion set crooked in the receiver, poorly-converted mag well from the single-stack SA2000M, impossibly stiff stock release button. You really should read the Hungarian section. My TGI build had every one of those problems and still has the crooked trunion and canted gas block. However, it shoots great and I actually like it. I guess i wouldn't be so hard on the thing if I didn't also have a factory-built SA85M to compare the build to. If you get one with the sticky grey grips, you can usually find FEG wood grips for sale to replace them with. 
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I have a FEG made, it's pretty difficult getting a cheek weld on the wire folder. I put a cheek riser on, but others don't seem to be as picky as I am and can shoot the rifles just fine. I think it's a pretty good rifle, I've put about a thousand rounds down range so far. The action is smooth, the accuracy is.... umm, welll, uhh, the action is smooth, the rifle is pretty well built, and the price was right at $400.
In my honest opinion though, I would not get rid of a MAK90 for an AMD-65. Everyone has their own opinions on which rifle is better, but in my opinion, the MAK trumps the AMD-65 by a long shot. I don't think I'd get rid of a Saiga 12 for an AMD either because the Saiga is worth way more than the AMD. Edit: Forgot to mention, my barrel extension welds broke off after three shots like everyone elses. I have a mig welder at home though, so it doesn't matter, I just put another spot on the bottom and went back to shooting. This is a common problem, but it's not really a biggie. If you don't have a welder, I'm sure you could stop by any mechanic or bodyshop and have them give you a quickie spot weld for free or less than ten bucks if your weld breaks. |
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Quoted:
In my honest opinion though, I would not get rid of a MAK90 for an AMD-65. Everyone has their own opinions on which rifle is better, but in my opinion, the MAK trumps the AMD-65 by a long shot. I don't think I'd get rid of a Saiga 12 for an AMD either because the Saiga is worth way more than the AMD. THIS is spot on info !!!!! |
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Quoted: Quoted: In my honest opinion though, I would not get rid of a MAK90 for an AMD-65. Everyone has their own opinions on which rifle is better, but in my opinion, the MAK trumps the AMD-65 by a long shot. I don't think I'd get rid of a Saiga 12 for an AMD either because the Saiga is worth way more than the AMD. THIS is spot on info !!!!! |
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MAK 90 is great, and so is the S12––but I sold two of my S12's (one a very expensive conversion, and one a non-converted), as well as a MAK 990, and I'd have to say that i'm fine with the cheaper AMD65.
AMD65 is the only folding stock AK I think is actually comfy to shoot; I'm sure the big muzzle brake helps that a lot. You would only need to sell ONE of your other AK's to buy the FEG AMD65's on sale at SOG for $360 this month only. Even at today's reduced prices. TN guns said they only imported/converted 18000 of these FEG AMD's with no more coming as of now. AND, they are all sold out of them...so distributors have all of them now. Just get an AMD from SOG before the end of this month, and have them give you the "15 days of Christmas" sale price, and then decide what you want to do with your other rifles. I honestly believe you will not be sorry. |
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Quoted:
I have heard that 30 round mags will not work with the amd due to the front grip. I am a non owner. Does 30rnd mags work with the amd? JCS A 30-rd mag may hit the front grip when trying to lock it in, but surplus steel mags usually work. On a polymer mag you may have to sand the back of the feed lip area and possibly file on the front lug to make it lock in reliably. You could also use 20-rd mags. I have several 'special' 30-rd mags fitted up for mine, consisting of a Bulgarian 'waffle' body with USA follower and floor plate (for compliance). I also have some Tapco mags fitted for it. They just needed the top back corners of the feed lips sanded. |
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I have heard that 30 round mags will not work with the amd due to the front grip. I am a non owner. Does 30rnd mags work with the amd?
I had an earlier one that I sold that was from Century that had the wooden grips, and it was very difficult to fit a 30 round mag in. I ended up sanding off a corner of the front grip. the one that I have now was made by FEG and has the plastic grips. I believe the front grip is further forward, because any mag fits in it fine. It even takes the 30 round Tapco mags, which are fairly bulky. I love the AMD. nice and compact with the folder, and the stock locks absolutely tight. I've also never heard of the muzzle brake flying off before. never had any problems with mine (or the first one, either). the only downside to the build/design is that it doesn't have a rear sling swivel, but there are some easy fixes for that. the easiest is to take off the rear grip, put the grip screw through a loop of para cord, and then put the grip back on. you can hook your sling to the loop of cord. for $400 or less, the opportunity to get a non-Century built AK is hard to pass up. |
| The 30 rounders will fit, but they can be a little tricky to get in- even with the plastic grip. there isn't a ton of clearance on the gun for them. doable, but imho its not worth the work every time. it's smoother and easier for me to just use hungarian 20 rnders. i like being able to reload cleanly without any scuff. |
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