The First American Goulash Kalash at 55
Republic of Vietnam, 3 May 1969: “Offical caption: Historical Arsenal– Captain Anthony F. Milavic (Miami, Fla.) examines the first Hungarian AKM rifle to be captured in Vietnam. The weapon is the latest development in the AK-47 rifle used by the North Vietnamese Army. Also displayed are 20 different enemy weapons captured by Leathernecks of the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. The long-barreled rifle (center) is an enemy sniper rifle that was manufactured in 1953, but it is of the Mosin Nagant design that dates back to the 1890s.”
U.S. Marine Photo A193022 by CPL. Dennis Randolph.
Manufactured by the Fegyver- és Gépgyár (FÉG) state arms plant in Hungary, the central European People’s Republic got in the Kalashnikov game around 1963 with the AKM-63, followed by the AMD-65, and after 1977, by the AK-63 (AMM/AMMS) and AMP-69.
The AMD-65. Notably, the Hungarians were one of the first AK makers to go with plastic furniture rather than wood.
Of course, many Americans outside of AK nerds know FEG better for their excellent PJK Hi-Power copies that flooded the market in the 1990s.
One interesting thing to note about the Marine officer in the top image, Anthony F. Milavic (born 1936) enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1953 and, by 1966 was a warrant officer, then shortly after earned his O-1 commission. He earned the Legion of Merit for his 1968-69 Vietnam tour working in the 3rd MARDIV’s G-2 shop. Retiring from the Marine Corps in 1978 as a major, he was a very prolific writer for several years on military intelligence and firearms subjects, founding the old MILINET bulletin board.