Romanian versions of the AKM have long been among my favorite variants in the AK world.
The foregrips are a real aid to shooting full-auto models, and they help control the semi-auto Romanian rifles better in rapid-fire, too.
The original Romanian AKs were the Pistol Mitraliera model 1963 (PM md. 63), with a fixed stock, and the PM md. 65 with an under-folding stock. Operating the PM md. 63 and PM md. 65 is basically the same as using an AKM. But the PM md. 63 and PM md. 65 differ subtly: The foregrip slants forward on the PM md. 63 but rearward on the PM md. 65 to allow the folding stock to full collapse. Another distinctive feature of these rifles is the lack of a muzzle brake, though the muzzle is threaded and usually has a muzzle nut. Always an important feature for rifles chambered in 7.62x39mm, the bore, chamber, gas piston and gas cylinder’s interiors are chrome plated. Though non-corrosive 7.62x39mm ammunition is readily available nowadays, remaining stocks of corrosive ammo are large and turn up on the surplus market. PM md. 63 and PM md. 65 rifles often came with 20-round magazines to make it easier to reload with the foregrip in place. This was especially true with the PM md. 65.
Many parts kits for the PM md. 63 and PM md. 65 have been imported into the United States. Many of those were from the version of the rifle produced for Romania’s Patriotic Guards, who were issued semi-autos. Reportedly, those rifles were produced after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, when the Patriotic Guards were formed in case the Soviets turned their attention to Romania. The rifles were designed to give the paramilitary force a weapon without a select-fire capability.
