My friend has 1 of the original T65 in the US. It was brought in by Colt to investigate if it violated Colt's patents. I have pictures in high detail if you want to see markings.
I noticed that one lacks a part every other T65 I've ever seen has, it screws into the front sight base basically under the night sight when it's flipped down. Does he know what it's missing? Does it shoot reliably? It's a very tight screw thing, definitely not adjustable gas in my opinion.
@superfamilyallosauridae6505 It's the gas hole screw. The ROC military issued a combination tool to each of these rifles. You can use this tool to take down the gas hole screw and use a scrapper to clean all the carbon residuals. Also the gas tube can be taken down with the tool.
Add a little information. The Taiwanese Army did a test to compared the AR-18 with the AR-15. They believed that the AR-15 was more accurate and easier to shoot, but the AR-18 was more reliable (considering the ammo at that time used corrosive primers, etc.), so they finally made the decision was to transplant the gas system of the AR-18 to the AR-15. The looseness of the old handguard was never resolved on the T65 rifles, as the design required frequent removal of the handguard to clean the gas system. (The same goes for HK416) The T91's gas system is designed to can be taken out for cleaning without dismantling the hand guard, which is to completely solve this problem. A comparison can be made to the Wolf A1 Upper which is available in the US.
Was it really for reliability or to dodge the problem of licensing production? Colt actually had a T65 imported to sue for patent violation, but Colt lost because of the gas system being different. That one T65 transferable machinegun is out there.
They copied AR-18 first, but switched to T65 prototype without giving any reason. Only later we learned that AR-15 style rifles, piston or not, aced in mud tests. Mud is plentiful in Taiwan.
Yeah, during my military service, we have to like loosen the handguard screw so that the gun won't jam up so frequently. But it jams anyway, and our ammo is still corrosive ( BTW, we are still using the T65K2 Even with the improved handguards with heat shield, they burns after a mag, and we have to share guns at the range, so when I got the rifle, the handguard immediately vaporize my sweat on my hands
It’s a love and hate feelings for me - I used to hold this gun for at least 6-7 hours a day (2 watches per day, if not 3) for 2 years when I served the army in Taiwan. I was also trained with M14 (type 57) for the boot camp. They are like my missing limps and I can still feel the weight of these rifles in my hands😂
Like in the song "Karavan" by russian musician Aleksandr Rozenbaum, when talking about going back to civilian life during the Afghan conflict: "You'll never get used to the feeling of your shoulder being free from the weight of an AKM"
Not really if you are willing to fish out $1200 for a kit, which you will have to pay extra to fix and put it together. IMHO, the ROC Bureau of military equipment should just make sporterized Type 57 with forged receivers and cold hammer forged, chromelined barrels and sell them to the US.
You can petition it to the bureau of military equipment to host a visit, but you know they'd rather have one less task to deal with unless there's some money to be made. Maybe Chris from Small Arma Solution has better access, since he seems to have done some industry consulting jobs before.
@matchc0635 Except you don't get the CHF chronelined barrel made by Arsenal 205th. Some Wolf A1 upper had some headspace issue as demonstrated by CRS firearms. Definitely barrel and barrel extension issue cuz I encountered it myself when sourcing cheap AR parts. Never buy cheap in-house brand barrels and BCGs again.
I'm not Taiwanese. The farthest thing from it geographically: I'm Paraguayan (Paraguay is one of the few countries on earth that still recognizes taiwan as the "real" china). This is our main assault rifle as well. It did it's job well AFAIK. I'm glad it has been finally covered in this channel.
Glad my country can help your country out, and we do talk a lot about Paraguay being one of the very few allies we have, every time we talk about allies on the news, we have to mention you guys, we are proud of it.
@@4tomic5hark Likewise friend, likewise. Hopefully we can all live in peace with our true nationalities without fear of persecution of being threatened by another nation someday.
@@superfamilyallosauridae6505 Both. Assault rifles were too rare (Edit: Too rare HERE) and we basically took all we could. The idea was bringing K2s, but we took some "normal" T65s as well. Case of beggars can't be choosers.
I'm a Taiwanese and did my service with this rifle(K2 ver). Though we moved to T91 recent years, still T62K2 is more accurate in the field and largely used. Cheers from Kaohsiung, nice shirt btw.
Cheers！歡呼吧！ 台灣人來報到啦！ I used to held this rifle once in my military service, but then I was using t65k2after that and never touch this type of rifle. Thanks for Ian who introduce this gun! 歡呼再一次喔！
I have served compulsory military serive for almost two years as a Staff Sergeant in an infantry Devision in Taiwan's Army. It was from 1989 to 1991 and the Battalion was one of the battle-ready units always ready for action within hours. During that time, my unit's standard personal weapons were this exact T-65. The flimsy hand guard, and the worn out pistal grip in the video brought back a lot of old memories! During some training /testing sessions, I had some chances to use US made M-16 for target practice. Main impression for me is that the cross section of the US made M-16 is tri-angle and lighter in weight. Personally, I think the M-16 is well made and had less feel of recoil. On the other hand I consider the T-65 is a rugged rifle perfect for a conscripted army. It shoots as good as a M-16 in my personal opinion. In my company's armory, there are also some US made M-14s (all with synthetic stocks), Taiwan made M-14 clone (all with wooden stock, called T-57). M60 machine gun, the one used by Rambo, were equipped for every infantry platoon. The officer's side arms were US made 1911 45 cal. Since I am in command of a platoon in Battalion HQ company, we got a Browning 50 cal for both airdefense and fire support. That was a blast to shoot 8-).
As a Taiwanese myself, I really thank you for taking a look at this gun, living in Taiwan, we tented to think the T65 series of guns are just big ol pile of junks, but your detailed look at this thing really shed a new light on it for me. By the way, T65s are still largely use in Taiwan til this day in training purpose and reserve, the medical school I studied in even has its own stock pile of deactivated T65s for national defense education class, to teach students the basics of how to operate an AR pattern rifle.
52 years later, I have now learned why my M-16 in Basic Training had that stupid "carry handle". Which we were strongly discouraged from using by that description.
Yeah, it's a very military thing to do. It's like when I was in the Marines and we weren't allowed to carry a pen in the built in pen pocket in our BDUs. Instead, we could only carry a pen clipped to the inside of the blouse on the strip of fabric where the button holes are.
@@ajeje1996 I have no idea, it was just something that we were told early on, maybe as early as boot camp. I've always suspected that it was to be contrarian because maybe the Army allows their people to put their pens in the pen pocket. The Army rolled their sleeves up with the outside showing so we roll them straight up with the inside showing, they tuck their pants into their boots so we blouse them on the outside. I don't know if we or the Army actually did these things to be different from each other, but it sure seemed like it to me.
When did he say it was a replica? This is a real T65, the only things not original are the lower receiver, barrel, and trigger pack. It's a parts kit gun from South America.@@garrysekelli6776
Taiwan gave a bunch of these to the Haitian National Police in the late 90s, early 2000s. They're still in service to this day, with the M14 and the newer Galil ACE. Funny enough, I've NEVER seen them with a carry handle. I didn't think they had one.😮
@ReinKayomi Phillipines Police uses them too? That's pretty cool. There's getting very popular here in Latin America. They're standard issue in the Colombian and Chilean Armed forces now, I know Honduras and El Salvador uses them too.
Back in early 2000s when I served in Taiwan military, my unit was equipped with M-16A1/AR-15, they were pretty old since they were replaced from front line troops, and my unit only handled logistics, no facing immediate combat for our missions. Yes, some "M-16s" in my unit did marked as "AR-15", but in general we just referred them all as M-16. And rumor has it that some M-16 in my unit was shipped to Taiwan right after Vietnam war, they had probably killed enemies in the battlefield.....
Great video. When I went through basic in '85, lefties used clip-on brass deflectors at the range. Lefties who didn't...ended-up with hot casing burns on them!
A clip-on brass-deflector sounds like a very clever idea, doesn't require any alterations to the existing tooling, or permanently modify an existing item, and could be made of thinner and cheaper material than the rest of the upper.
He would just happen to have a Taiwanese marine corps camouflage outfit. I like to imagine he has a huge wardrobe with big swing-out doors. Does he have a redcoat uniform? When he inevitably reviews laser and plasma rifles, will he have XCOM gear?
In any case, he would have a suitable "hat" in his collection in case he doesn't have enough equipment for a "full cosplay": ua-cam.com/video/pvi1u1U_h1g/v-deo.html It always made me laugh when he said he was gifted a few Irish Army hats, but didn't have a chance to wear them on screen because he didn't have an iconic Irish firearm to pair with it... except the AR-180. Which would be too spicy of a choice lol
Didn't Ian dress up as a wastelander when he was doing cross-promotion with the one UA-camr who was talking about the fallout series? it wasn't a vault suit but he put in the effort.
Props to Ian for sacrificing his cheek to demonstrate left-hand shooting . I really appreciate Ian's knowledge and respect for Chinese cultural history..
Finally, some Taiwanese guns! I'd been searching for some historical videos on the type 91 and realized Forgotten weapons hadn't covered either the t65 or t91. What a nice coincidence for this to show up on my feed right after.
I'm hoping that he can cover a T91 soon. T91 upper receivers are actually being imported into the United States directly from the original manufacturer now, so T91s are now a lot easier to find.
Yeah, Ian really needs to get hooked up in East and Southeast Asia. Probably not mainland China for various political reasons, but places like Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore all have some interesting small arms that aren't well-documented outside their countries.
I'm Taiwanese and had to do mandatory service like many others my age at the time. We did months of basic training with these T65s. Compared to the T91 that we got later on after boot camp, T65s are heavier, harder to clean and disassemble, and would jam a lot more often. Safe to say I do not miss this gun, doing the bayonet drills with this thing was a real pain lol.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket That's exactly what I mean, the ROC being the true China. That's why I distinguished my wording by using the term culture. Also, long live the Kuomintang.
@@saurelius5217 I dunno, I sort of take issue with the idea that there is a "true" and "not true" country. "True China" is the Chinese people. Neither the Communist Party not the Nationalist Party get to decide that. And it would be pretty iffy to declare that Taiwanese government, even if acting with the full support of its people, has any reason to decide what's best for the rest of the Chinese people.
@@DawidKov Yep, so people in Taiwan wanted to be Taiwan but not R.O.C , but the name R.O.C means a lot to the former generation,so we're still struggling....
Yeah Ian seems like he really knows a lot about Buddhist philosophy and literature. That part in the video where he quoted Lao Tze particularly stuck out to me.
I'm from Taiwan, my father used the early production of T65 in his service, says it was too easy to break stock during exercise, but didn't mention about heat problem。 And I used the T65k2 as high school shooting training, there are still a lot of T65s (most of them are k2) operating in the police and logistics forces。
I'm so glad this rifle made the review schedule! I went with an 80% A2 lower because I couldn't find an A1( Thanks for selling out Nodak) I did get it engraved in Mandarin, and it looks cool. I replaced all the parts ( except the bolt carrier group), repainted inside the hand guard with metallic paint, and added an anti tilt buffer.1 in 7 pencil barrel let's me shoot MK 262 and she groups around 2 MOA All in all, it's a great rifle!
YES! Thank you for shedding light on this rifle! As someone who calls Taiwan a second home, it gives me great joy to see an indigenous design being featured. Appreciate your work on this video. Please tell me there is a T-91 video in the works. Oh and Ian looks SWAGGY in them Taiwanese camo.
Thanks for that detail, I figured that there was a reason for it. Especially since another company that made rifle stocks made their stocks similar, "Choate" if I'm not mistaken.
Great thanks to Ian brought back my bittersweet memory!! This rifle was my best friend during military service from 1989 till 1991. Not bad to shoot comparing with Type 57 but I heard from the gunnery sergeant that many of them suffered from accuracy issue because of unqualified gun barrel material been used (corrosion of rifling). But looking back today, most of it should be caused by incorrect maintenance.
My unit found quite a few of these at Ft. Cimarron ( Battalion 2000 ) in Panama during "Operation Just Cause". Our unit snipers liked them because of the full auto feature.
Thanks for posting this review Ian. I had a close service relation with the T65 system, more precisely the T65K2 variant. It does the job successfully in harsh environment of extreme high temperature/humidity/dirt low on maintenance. I found It some drawbacks of wich the most important the bore life, a mere 10.000 roundd, after that, the chamber starts to fail loosing its chromed lining. Also the buffer rubber I used to makeshift/replace with old tire manufacture. Well accurate with NATO SS109 bullet 1/9 twist. You actually can use standard M16A2 zeroing target with the system. Nevermaind dirt dust debris water mud, it will work from time to time neediing just a couple of drops lube on the piston tube. The loose handguard may be fixed with just a couple of plastic/tire tube rubber makeshifted washers. I keep the best memories of a dependable tool ready to do the job when required with almost none care.
I really hope this means you'll be taking a look at the other AR derivatives made in the ROC/Taiwan. The T65 was the first in a series that currently culminates in the T91 rifle, the upper receivers of which are being exported to the US nowadays. They're a really fascinating little offshoot because they split off from the regular AR so early on, and I believe were the first military to adopt a piston AR.
So soon as Ian brought up the Colt 703, I had to do a quick search to make sure I wasn't mixing it up with another model. I get to the site and low and behold, I've not seen this model before! Sweet, I start checking it out, the first thing I notice is the sling cutout in the stock like the WWSD one piece lower. Did you folks derive that design piece from that furniture?
Very nice video & history. I wasn't aware the Garand & M14 had rotating sling swivels, and now I'm mad it was omitted on the M16A1. During Marine training, we were required to surmount several obstacles, and run some courses with the M16 slung over our backs. A number of us developed semi-permanent sores on the upper left back from friction with the forward assist. Rotating swivels? Yes, thanks!
I might send this video to my folks. My dad was in the ROC military just before this was adopted. I’ve wanted an in-depth look at this weapon for a long time. Taiwanese Florida man approves!
Seeing this rifle made me smile. The handgurad of the rifle was terrible and it often fall apart when we were crawling on the ground. Many of these rifles have to use duct tape to make them stable. The corrosive ammunition also made things worse, with many barrels rusted and eroded to the point where the rifling was gone (This we call it 麻膛). It is also very hard to install the underbarrel grenade launcer on it because the connecting parts and screws are quite hard to tighten. Nevertheless, I think it is a good rifle, it can shoot well, it operates well. If you replace the handguard with a better one and put on a non-corrosive ammo, it can be a good rifle. A side note, we also tested the Steyr AUG. It was a courtesy from Steyr when one of the minster was visiting Austria. The Austrians let us produce the rifles for testing at a low price and we produced several thousand of them. It was called the T68 and was used by military police, special forces and airborne units. Some of the generals in the High Command wanted to replace the T65 with the T68 because it was not only more reliable and accurate, but also easier to maintain. The bullpup was welcomed and loved by the soldiers who could use it. However, we couldn't make a deal with Steyr and couldn't get a licence copy from them, which led to the cancellation of the T68 project.
Reminds me of the Taiwanese T91 but in a 20in barrel. Ian have you looked into one of the tape on brass deflectors. I know that some are designed to use the modern brass deflector that is part of the upper receiver but it appears that some are conical in shape that will allow you to tape it onto a "slab" side thus creating a non permanent solution to left handed shooting.
A helpful mod to the AR's rear take down pin, to better retain, not lose, or damage, the spring & detent when changing stocks is to thread/tap the hole where the spring & detent slide into so its 100% captive when removing stock/stock plate... Tap, then blow out with compressed air, lube, cut the spring down matching the depth of the threaded area, then screw in an allen head plug w/same thread pitch (Cant remember off the top of my head @ moment, but they're pretty small, not much larger, or same in diameter than the original hole. No additional drilling required to tap, just tapping itself. Maybe 5-44/.125 Fine thread or +/- one screw size up or down?) Youll figure it out...
18:10 Ian was super laid back about burning his fingers... when that happens to me, the first thing out of my mouth is something my kids shouldn't hear lol.
I'm left handed and left eye dominant. I've always shot long guns right handed. At this point I've got enough muscle memory for it to not be a big deal and I've figured out how to manually adjust my eye dominance on a rifle. I did retrain myself to shoot pistols left handed though, that made a strong and immediate difference in my shooting.
@@wes11bravo #1 daughter is very right-handed, but left-eyed. She shoots everything lefty from muzzleloaders to competitive pistol. Her sister is exactly the reverse. Their brother is very right and right-eyed (he giggles a little). Dad's mixed-dominance, right-eyed, shoots righty unless weak-hand is specified. Mom would just shake her head at the whole bunch of us.
7:03 and the carry handle was added back on T65K2 with a proprietary scope mount for night vision scope that I have only heard of its existence in my service.
I am pleased to finally see it in your channel. I heard a lot of complaints from the Panamanian military that after two mags the pencil barrel begins to twist and accuracy begins to abandon you. I have seen the furniture in dark green and brown. I have heard that some of them came with the Panamanian crest but I have never seen one with the crest. Ian keep doing your excellent job, congratulations!!👍
I really appreciate you letting us know what country/armed force the camo is from. Camo may not be a weapon, but it is a wonderful tool in the history of warfare, and I find the various patterns and their uses fascinating.
As of 2023, the T65 is still used for bootcamp marksmanship training for the conscripts. I definitely remember there being a carrying handle though. The fire selector was marked S, 1, 3, A. Great video!
I've been to Taiwan four times so far, it's a beautiful country with great sceneries and a wonderfully friendly people. It's also small enough that you can see most of the sights in a couple of weeks. Its political scene is occasionally rowdy but vibrantly democratic and very progressive. In short, a great place to visit. Not to mention that while they ruled the place, the Japanese built a bunch of hot spring resorts that are very nice for relaxing in.
Ohh, this rifle brings back memories. It's brother, the T65K2 was the first ever firearm I've shot and also the most common one we've practiced on. I've also have the pleasure to try the T57, but in my mind the T65K2 was a lot easier to handle.
I thought this was going to be one of the wolf import uppers but it looks like you have the real, full thing in front of you. COOL! (edit: f*ck, I was wrong lol. cool clone build though! even the markings look nice)
It is so exciting to see my father's standard issued service rifle when he was in serverd of the ROC Marine Corps Though myself was ueing the T-91 which is now you can by in US named Wolf A1 uppers
I was pretty surprised he used military factory as a source, listed off a bunch of countries, some of which there is evidence for using T65K2s, some T65s, some neither, and didn't talk about the existence of the T65K2. The T65 saw extremely little use in the ROC. I'm surprised he didn't talk about T65K1, given the rattly, terrible handguards on his rifle, and mine!
It has a stupid, proprietary scope mount that only interfaces with TS75 night vision scope. Maybe some Taiwanese airsoft companies made an picatinny adapter.
Look up "Prelude T65K2"@@ChaohsiangChen there's a Taiwanese guy in the US who owns a T65K2, and he has a pic adapter for the T65K2 carry handle screw. Are those available in Taiwan?
I read about the Taiwanese T65 AR-15 clone in a gun magazine over twenty years ago. The article's writer took the Taiwanese to task for cutting corners like omitting heat reflector shields inside the handguard and substituting silver paint. Ian shows the consequences of no heat reflector shields when he nearly burns his fingers touching the forward sight base after shooting three magazines. Ian also remarked on how warm the hand guard was becoming towards the front. It's clear that Taiwan made a number of foreign sales because their AR clone was far cheaper than the Colt M16A1. I don't know the actual dollar figures but I wouldn't be surprised if the T65 cost only half of the standard Colt M16A1. For customer nations, the T65 looking much like a M16A1 and functioning much like one plus the big plus of using M16 magazines made the T65 financially attractive. Even the AR18 lost out to Taiwan's T65 sales. At the time the AR-18 used a magazine that was identical to the M16 magazine but had a different catch notch so that the magazines were not interchangeable. I think that played a big role in countries turning down the AR18. The AR18 originated as a cheaper, easier-to-manufacture assault rifle that competed directly with the M16. The metal-stamped AR18 was America's direct counterpart to the metal-stamped AK-47.
The good thing about T65K2 is user-friendliness and accuracy. Pretty much every high school students will go to the range to shoot T65K2, for only once and six rounds at a target 175m away, iron sight only. For us, it was our first time shooting a real weapon and the only time for the girls since they don't need to participate in the national service. To our surprise, most of my classmates still get at least four shots on target (I got five, if my memory is correct).
Yup, I had the early Rhino piston AR back in the early 1980's and many more piston AR rifles since then, which is why I use the D.I. (internal piston) today..Piston AR rifles suck and is a regress, not progress of the Stoner rifle....
they both have their pros and cons piston rifles are generally cleaner and more reliable in sandy environments while DI rifles tend to be lighter and have shown to be more reliable in mud tests
@hackerbot809 also piston designs don't require you to dismantle the entire bcg to keep it clean. Nothing like the risk of losing a tiny little firing pin retainer in the mud to ruin you day.
They both require cleaning and the internal piston will run a very long time with out cleaning if you add oil to the gas rings through the exhaust ports..Both systems use the cotter key (firing pin retainer).. @@JaenEngineering
Having a T65, I must agree. But by far the biggest flaw is the handguard. The Taiwanese never developed a really good handguard, and the best they ever got was T65K2, back before lasers were common. Was terrible before, and downhill since.
Thanks Ian, that was fortuitous timing for me. I showed my young southpaw son who was asking why I tell him shoot (off bench) my BRN 601 with the right sholder when I yell at him to shoot his rifle off his left. Brunion bump good, brass to face bad.
I used to be a Taiwanese Soldier in Army. I retired from it for almost 24 years. Thank you for sharing this video, cause you recall my rookie period of the military career, which is an tolerating experience. The Type 65 rifle was a standard equipment of a rookie soldier at that time.
It's actually crudely made and machine marks everywhere. Some have the FSB installed canted, and you can see the piston rod not aligning with the barrel. The only thing good about it is that I didn't see a major malfunction with it. But we didn't shoot that much back in early 2000. T65K2 rifles are wayyyy better.
Cool ar pattern. If you want to renew the night sights on it I have some "Europium" (it's non radioactive). I have had great success with it in other restorations. Brad Casa Grand AZ
Good to learn the details of the service rifle of my neighbor company, as a medic, we were issued M1 carbine and M16A1 instead. Heard a lot of complain about the build quality and accuracy of T65, but hey, whining is a way to drag you thru service time, maybe it's not all that bad.
My friend has 1 of the original T65 in the US. It was brought in by Colt to investigate if it violated Colt's patents. I have pictures in high detail if you want to see markings.
I noticed that one lacks a part every other T65 I've ever seen has, it screws into the front sight base basically under the night sight when it's flipped down. Does he know what it's missing? Does it shoot reliably? It's a very tight screw thing, definitely not adjustable gas in my opinion.
He doesn’t.
@@dmoney8602 "Gun enthusiasts don't know other gun enthusiasts, nothing ever happens"
It's been one hour since OP posted his offer, too early to know. On top of that, private messages also exist...
@superfamilyallosauridae6505
It's the gas hole screw. The ROC military issued a combination tool to each of these rifles. You can use this tool to take down the gas hole screw and use a scrapper to clean all the carbon residuals. Also the gas tube can be taken down with the tool.
Add a little information.
The Taiwanese Army did a test to compared the AR-18 with the AR-15. They believed that the AR-15 was more accurate and easier to shoot, but the AR-18 was more reliable (considering the ammo at that time used corrosive primers, etc.), so they finally made the decision was to transplant the gas system of the AR-18 to the AR-15.
The looseness of the old handguard was never resolved on the T65 rifles, as the design required frequent removal of the handguard to clean the gas system. (The same goes for HK416)
The T91's gas system is designed to can be taken out for cleaning without dismantling the hand guard, which is to completely solve this problem.
A comparison can be made to the Wolf A1 Upper which is available in the US.
Was it really for reliability or to dodge the problem of licensing production? Colt actually had a T65 imported to sue for patent violation, but Colt lost because of the gas system being different. That one T65 transferable machinegun is out there.
They copied AR-18 first, but switched to T65 prototype without giving any reason. Only later we learned that AR-15 style rifles, piston or not, aced in mud tests. Mud is plentiful in Taiwan.
@@superfamilyallosauridae6505read the comments. the guy who (claims he) has it is there
It's conceptually similar to the BRN-180 upper from Brownell's. Mate an AR-180 upper to an AR-15 lower.
Yeah, during my military service, we have to like loosen the handguard screw so that the gun won't jam up so frequently.
But it jams anyway, and our ammo is still corrosive (
BTW, we are still using the T65K2
Even with the improved handguards with heat shield, they burns after a mag, and we have to share guns at the range, so when I got the rifle, the handguard immediately vaporize my sweat on my hands
The design gently encourages left-handed shooters to be right-handed shooters.
"gently"
"encourages"
It's clearly designed to give that healthy red glow on your cheek.
Is that because there's no case deflector?
@@george2113 The left-handed shooter's face is deflector enough.
taiwnese here, we still use t65 for education in schools and bootcamp as part of the basic training
Based
It’s a love and hate feelings for me - I used to hold this gun for at least 6-7 hours a day (2 watches per day, if not 3) for 2 years when I served the army in Taiwan. I was also trained with M14 (type 57) for the boot camp. They are like my missing limps and I can still feel the weight of these rifles in my hands😂
Like in the song "Karavan" by russian musician Aleksandr Rozenbaum, when talking about going back to civilian life during the Afghan conflict: "You'll never get used to the feeling of your shoulder being free from the weight of an AKM"
Holy cow. I've never imagined Ian reviewing this one because how scarce it is outside of TW. Cheers from Taipei!
Not really if you are willing to fish out $1200 for a kit, which you will have to pay extra to fix and put it together. IMHO, the ROC Bureau of military equipment should just make sporterized Type 57 with forged receivers and cold hammer forged, chromelined barrels and sell them to the US.
Lol we have 6 at work.
@@ChaohsiangChenm14 production tooling somehow went to china. I suspect treason
@@ChaohsiangChen Why the hell would we want it sporterized?
@@superfamilyallosauridae6505
We don't. It has something to do with stupid US laws, called 922r compliance.
As a Taiwanese, I hope Ian can also review T86 and T91 to see the improvement of our rifles. Or maybe even our T85 underbarrel grenade launcher
You can petition it to the bureau of military equipment to host a visit, but you know they'd rather have one less task to deal with unless there's some money to be made.
Maybe Chris from Small Arma Solution has better access, since he seems to have done some industry consulting jobs before.
T91 uppers are being exported to the US, so it's definitely possible he could get his hands on one of those.
Military Arms Channel has already done T91 in depth... ua-cam.com/video/lQQBo0LDpII/v-deo.html
I believed someone did clone the whole ass upper+lower receiver of T91 along with the marking, or just get a wolf a1, they are the same stuff.
@matchc0635
Except you don't get the CHF chronelined barrel made by Arsenal 205th. Some Wolf A1 upper had some headspace issue as demonstrated by CRS firearms. Definitely barrel and barrel extension issue cuz I encountered it myself when sourcing cheap AR parts. Never buy cheap in-house brand barrels and BCGs again.
it's kinda funny that at the same time the mainland also adopted a short-stroke AK
Convergent evolution.
And now a short stroke AR too, the QBZ-191
With lots of neat internal features. 191, QJS161 are very cool guns.@@Nathan-jh1ho
Chinese love short stroke for some reason.
QBZ-03?
I'm not Taiwanese. The farthest thing from it geographically: I'm Paraguayan (Paraguay is one of the few countries on earth that still recognizes taiwan as the "real" china). This is our main assault rifle as well. It did it's job well AFAIK. I'm glad it has been finally covered in this channel.
Glad my country can help your country out, and we do talk a lot about Paraguay being one of the very few allies we have, every time we talk about allies on the news, we have to mention you guys, we are proud of it.
T65K2s, or plain jane no carry handle T65s?
@@4tomic5hark Likewise friend, likewise. Hopefully we can all live in peace with our true nationalities without fear of persecution of being threatened by another nation someday.
@@superfamilyallosauridae6505 Both. Assault rifles were too rare (Edit: Too rare HERE) and we basically took all we could. The idea was bringing K2s, but we took some "normal" T65s as well. Case of beggars can't be choosers.
I'm a Taiwanese and did my service with this rifle(K2 ver). Though we moved to T91 recent years, still T62K2 is more accurate in the field and largely used. Cheers from Kaohsiung, nice shirt btw.
Cheers！歡呼吧！
台灣人來報到啦！
I used to held this rifle once in my military service, but then I was using t65k2after that and never touch this type of rifle.
Thanks for Ian who introduce this gun!
歡呼再一次喔！
新訓的槍大部分都還是65k2連打靶也是,我是陸戰隊的
Most training center still using 65k2 even shooting practice ,I was serving in marine
A man from Taichung come here to report！
新北的來簽到
我當兵都是用65，上成功嶺用過57
I have served compulsory military serive for almost two years as a Staff Sergeant in an infantry Devision in Taiwan's Army. It was from 1989 to 1991 and the Battalion was one of the battle-ready units always ready for action within hours. During that time, my unit's standard personal weapons were this exact T-65. The flimsy hand guard, and the worn out pistal grip in the video brought back a lot of old memories! During some training /testing sessions, I had some chances to use US made M-16 for target practice. Main impression for me is that the cross section of the US made M-16 is tri-angle and lighter in weight. Personally, I think the M-16 is well made and had less feel of recoil. On the other hand I consider the T-65 is a rugged rifle perfect for a conscripted army. It shoots as good as a M-16 in my personal opinion.
In my company's armory, there are also some US made M-14s (all with synthetic stocks), Taiwan made M-14 clone (all with wooden stock, called T-57). M60 machine gun, the one used by Rambo, were equipped for every infantry platoon. The officer's side arms were US made 1911 45 cal. Since I am in command of a platoon in Battalion HQ company, we got a Browning 50 cal for both airdefense and fire support. That was a blast to shoot 8-).
As a Taiwanese myself, I really thank you for taking a look at this gun, living in Taiwan, we tented to think the T65 series of guns are just big ol pile of junks, but your detailed look at this thing really shed a new light on it for me.
By the way, T65s are still largely use in Taiwan til this day in training purpose and reserve, the medical school I studied in even has its own stock pile of deactivated T65s for national defense education class, to teach students the basics of how to operate an AR pattern rifle.
I prefer T65 over Norinco M16
@@Lonewolf-930 the only norinco gun I would consider is the sks they made
52 years later, I have now learned why my M-16 in Basic Training had that stupid "carry handle". Which we were strongly discouraged from using by that description.
Yeah, it's a very military thing to do. It's like when I was in the Marines and we weren't allowed to carry a pen in the built in pen pocket in our BDUs. Instead, we could only carry a pen clipped to the inside of the blouse on the strip of fabric where the button holes are.
@@Riceball01 Why was that?
@@ajeje1996 I have no idea, it was just something that we were told early on, maybe as early as boot camp. I've always suspected that it was to be contrarian because maybe the Army allows their people to put their pens in the pen pocket. The Army rolled their sleeves up with the outside showing so we roll them straight up with the inside showing, they tuck their pants into their boots so we blouse them on the outside. I don't know if we or the Army actually did these things to be different from each other, but it sure seemed like it to me.
@@ajeje1996Because walking around with a Pen sticking out of your Cammies looks like sh*t.
6:18 No the radioactivity is still there but the paint degraded and is not producing light anymore. Radium226 is still producing gamma rays.
You never really know unless you lick it and check if it stings.
@@radomaneexactly
He said at the beginning of the video that this was a replica, so I think it is self explanatory that it does not contain radium paint.
@@garrysekelli6776 If it's a parts kit, then it likely was if radium is what they originally used.
When did he say it was a replica? This is a real T65, the only things not original are the lower receiver, barrel, and trigger pack. It's a parts kit gun from South America.@@garrysekelli6776
Taiwan gave a bunch of these to the Haitian National Police in the late 90s, early 2000s. They're still in service to this day, with the M14 and the newer Galil ACE.
Funny enough, I've NEVER seen them with a carry handle. I didn't think they had one.😮
You beat me to it
@@aregularperson7573 I jumped on as soon as I saw the notification. 😅
I remember looking at videos of Haitian cops using the ACE, it reminds me of our cops in the Philippines using them
有哦! 後來生產的型號就有加上提手唷!
尤其是被第一線部隊的使用者痛罵「這是那個蠢貨設計的爛槍」後....
@ReinKayomi Phillipines Police uses them too? That's pretty cool. There's getting very popular here in Latin America. They're standard issue in the Colombian and Chilean Armed forces now, I know Honduras and El Salvador uses them too.
Props to Ian for sacrificing his cheek to demonstrate left-hand shooting 😊
When I was in Taiwan in 1988, I saw them carrying what I thought were M-16s. I see I was wrong. Thanks for sharing. 😎👍
Though some Taiwan Army troops did use M-16 rifles, though the quantity was not a lot compared to Type 57/65 rifles.
The M16 rifle were used by the Airborne and special forces in the 80s
Back in early 2000s when I served in Taiwan military, my unit was equipped with M-16A1/AR-15, they were pretty old since they were replaced from front line troops, and my unit only handled logistics, no facing immediate combat for our missions.
Yes, some "M-16s" in my unit did marked as "AR-15", but in general we just referred them all as M-16. And rumor has it that some M-16 in my unit was shipped to Taiwan right after Vietnam war, they had probably killed enemies in the battlefield.....
Great video. When I went through basic in '85, lefties used clip-on brass deflectors at the range. Lefties who didn't...ended-up with hot casing burns on them!
I thought we all use brass capture because stooopid orders to collect all brass.
A clip-on brass-deflector sounds like a very clever idea, doesn't require any alterations to the existing tooling, or permanently modify an existing item, and could be made of thinner and cheaper material than the rest of the upper.
He would just happen to have a Taiwanese marine corps camouflage outfit. I like to imagine he has a huge wardrobe with big swing-out doors. Does he have a redcoat uniform? When he inevitably reviews laser and plasma rifles, will he have XCOM gear?
We all know he's got a suit of USCM armor for when he gets to play with an M41A pulse rifle or an M56 Smartgun.
In any case, he would have a suitable "hat" in his collection in case he doesn't have enough equipment for a "full cosplay": ua-cam.com/video/pvi1u1U_h1g/v-deo.html
It always made me laugh when he said he was gifted a few Irish Army hats, but didn't have a chance to wear them on screen because he didn't have an iconic Irish firearm to pair with it... except the AR-180. Which would be too spicy of a choice lol
Probably has a deerskin for when he reviews the Mk 1 Bow.
Didn't Ian dress up as a wastelander when he was doing cross-promotion with the one UA-camr who was talking about the fallout series? it wasn't a vault suit but he put in the effort.
I can send him one but he will have to pay me.
As a lefty who's had hot 556 mm brass hit me in the face and go down the front of my shirt I salute Ian for being willing to do that for the camera.
Props to Ian for sacrificing his cheek to demonstrate left-hand shooting . I really appreciate Ian's knowledge and respect for Chinese cultural history..
Finally, some Taiwanese guns!
I'd been searching for some historical videos on the type 91 and realized Forgotten weapons hadn't covered either the t65 or t91. What a nice coincidence for this to show up on my feed right after.
I'm hoping that he can cover a T91 soon. T91 upper receivers are actually being imported into the United States directly from the original manufacturer now, so T91s are now a lot easier to find.
Yeah, Ian really needs to get hooked up in East and Southeast Asia. Probably not mainland China for various political reasons, but places like Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore all have some interesting small arms that aren't well-documented outside their countries.
Bang - OW
Bang - OW
Bang - OW
Bang - OW
Bang - OW
As Ian's beauty mark gradually grows more defined. Quality programming. A+ no notes
I'm Taiwanese and had to do mandatory service like many others my age at the time. We did months of basic training with these T65s. Compared to the T91 that we got later on after boot camp, T65s are heavier, harder to clean and disassemble, and would jam a lot more often. Safe to say I do not miss this gun, doing the bayonet drills with this thing was a real pain lol.
The “ two China” description is really precise in my opinion as a Taiwanese
I really appreciate Ian's knowledge and respect for Chinese cultural history.
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket That's exactly what I mean, the ROC being the true China. That's why I distinguished my wording by using the term culture. Also, long live the Kuomintang.
@@saurelius5217Are you really live in Taiwan ....? KMT is just the worst choice to vote for, they're just sucking what china tell them to
@@saurelius5217 I dunno, I sort of take issue with the idea that there is a "true" and "not true" country. "True China" is the Chinese people. Neither the Communist Party not the Nationalist Party get to decide that. And it would be pretty iffy to declare that Taiwanese government, even if acting with the full support of its people, has any reason to decide what's best for the rest of the Chinese people.
@@DawidKov Yep, so people in Taiwan wanted to be Taiwan but not R.O.C , but the name R.O.C means a lot to the former generation,so we're still struggling....
Yeah Ian seems like he really knows a lot about Buddhist philosophy and literature. That part in the video where he quoted Lao Tze particularly stuck out to me.
I've been waiting for this video for a long time. So cool to finally learn about this neat AR platform!
I'm from Taiwan, my father used the early production of T65 in his service, says it was too easy to break stock during exercise, but didn't mention about heat problem。
And I used the T65k2 as high school shooting training, there are still a lot of T65s (most of them are k2) operating in the police and logistics forces。
I'm so glad this rifle made the review schedule! I went with an 80% A2 lower because I couldn't find an A1( Thanks for selling out Nodak)
I did get it engraved in Mandarin, and it looks cool. I replaced all the parts ( except the bolt carrier group), repainted inside the hand guard with metallic paint, and added an anti tilt buffer.1 in 7 pencil barrel let's me shoot MK 262 and she groups around 2 MOA
All in all, it's a great rifle!
YES! Thank you for shedding light on this rifle! As someone who calls Taiwan a second home, it gives me great joy to see an indigenous design being featured. Appreciate your work on this video. Please tell me there is a T-91 video in the works. Oh and Ian looks SWAGGY in them Taiwanese camo.
好懷念喔…本人服役期間就是用這把T65步槍
Right cheek brass deflector. Ouch. Thanks for the video and the sacrifice.
Love to see Taiwan been represented. Most of the typical army conscripts of the time don't get enough practice rounds to worry about heat.
2:30 Just a note only Taiwan still uses the "Year of the Republic"
We were taught to grab the stock when doing bayo drills. The reason for the shape of the stock is self-evident.
Thanks for that detail, I figured that there was a reason for it. Especially since another company that made rifle stocks made their stocks similar, "Choate" if I'm not mistaken.
Great thanks to Ian brought back my bittersweet memory!! This rifle was my best friend during military service from 1989 till 1991. Not bad to shoot comparing with Type 57 but I heard from the gunnery sergeant that many of them suffered from accuracy issue because of unqualified gun barrel material been used (corrosion of rifling). But looking back today, most of it should be caused by incorrect maintenance.
My unit found quite a few of these at Ft. Cimarron ( Battalion 2000 ) in Panama during "Operation Just Cause". Our unit snipers liked them because of the full auto feature.
Congrats on the purchase! Super cool piece to own :)
Thanks for posting this review Ian. I had a close service relation with the T65 system, more precisely the T65K2 variant. It does the job successfully in harsh environment of extreme high temperature/humidity/dirt low on maintenance. I found It some drawbacks of wich the most important the bore life, a mere 10.000 roundd, after that, the chamber starts to fail loosing its chromed lining. Also the buffer rubber I used to makeshift/replace with old tire manufacture. Well accurate with NATO SS109 bullet 1/9 twist. You actually can use standard M16A2 zeroing target with the system. Nevermaind dirt dust debris water mud, it will work from time to time neediing just a couple of drops lube on the piston tube. The loose handguard may be fixed with just a couple of plastic/tire tube rubber makeshifted washers. I keep the best memories of a dependable tool ready to do the job when required with almost none care.
In 1989 during Operation Just Cause in Panama, we captured a decent amount of these rifles from the Panamanians.
I'm from Panamá.
And the PDF (Panama Defense Forces) carried a large mix of weapons, like some AKMs, M16a1s, FN FALs and the T65.
Daewoo rifle... I wish those could be imported again... such a wonderful rifle..
I really hope this means you'll be taking a look at the other AR derivatives made in the ROC/Taiwan. The T65 was the first in a series that currently culminates in the T91 rifle, the upper receivers of which are being exported to the US nowadays. They're a really fascinating little offshoot because they split off from the regular AR so early on, and I believe were the first military to adopt a piston AR.
It took me a moment to figure out the "ow!" lol Thank you Ian for taking the punishment.
Great video and very informative. Really like all the historical details.
So soon as Ian brought up the Colt 703, I had to do a quick search to make sure I wasn't mixing it up with another model. I get to the site and low and behold, I've not seen this model before! Sweet, I start checking it out, the first thing I notice is the sling cutout in the stock like the WWSD one piece lower. Did you folks derive that design piece from that furniture?
15:59
射手就位
臥射預備
六發裝子彈
左（右）線預備
全線預備
開保險
開始射擊
Very nice video & history. I wasn't aware the Garand & M14 had rotating sling swivels, and now I'm mad it was omitted on the M16A1. During Marine training, we were required to surmount several obstacles, and run some courses with the M16 slung over our backs. A number of us developed semi-permanent sores on the upper left back from friction with the forward assist. Rotating swivels? Yes, thanks!
that sling swivel's a really nice touch.
18:09 Sorry Ian, but that made me laugh.
Welp, parts kits just got way more expensive…
On a serious note, thanks Ian for all you do for the firearms community!
I like it...The sights and the sling swivels alone make it decent
Ian.. Thanks for taking several for the team.. Nice cheek tat.💪😎
I might send this video to my folks. My dad was in the ROC military just before this was adopted. I’ve wanted an in-depth look at this weapon for a long time. Taiwanese Florida man approves!
Seeing this rifle made me smile. The handgurad of the rifle was terrible and it often fall apart when we were crawling on the ground. Many of these rifles have to use duct tape to make them stable. The corrosive ammunition also made things worse, with many barrels rusted and eroded to the point where the rifling was gone (This we call it 麻膛). It is also very hard to install the underbarrel grenade launcer on it because the connecting parts and screws are quite hard to tighten. Nevertheless, I think it is a good rifle, it can shoot well, it operates well. If you replace the handguard with a better one and put on a non-corrosive ammo, it can be a good rifle.
A side note, we also tested the Steyr AUG. It was a courtesy from Steyr when one of the minster was visiting Austria. The Austrians let us produce the rifles for testing at a low price and we produced several thousand of them. It was called the T68 and was used by military police, special forces and airborne units.
Some of the generals in the High Command wanted to replace the T65 with the T68 because it was not only more reliable and accurate, but also easier to maintain. The bullpup was welcomed and loved by the soldiers who could use it. However, we couldn't make a deal with Steyr and couldn't get a licence copy from them, which led to the cancellation of the T68 project.
However, IIRC, copyright infringement isn't really a big deal in ROCA anyway, right..?
@@tomau0506 We care about it more than the PLA
K1真的材質有瑕疵、瓦斯氣缸跟調整螺絲常繡實。K2改進些。刺刀換短了。
Nice to see one of these. Thank for sharing the breakdown
this rifle is so cool. and the bdu's are pretty awesome too there ian!
Late upload. A suprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
When the brass deflector is your face😨
Ugh. God. Another rifle I didn't know I needed. Thanks Ian
If I remember correctly, at Reed Knight's museum there are several original prototype AR-10s and AR15s and at least one of them was a piston gun.
Yes! I've been waiting for this video
I’ve been waiting for this one.
You have to respect a man who sacrifices his face to hot brass to prove a point.
這把65 K1步槍是我下部隊的惡夢，更早之前的57步槍雖然後座力大，但準度真的值得稱讚
看這款應該是外銷的T65 不是改良版的K1主要要看有沒有夜間覘孔瞄具還有護木內有沒有隔熱片 背帶扣環會不會左右搖晃 前端護木螺絲鎖是不是凸的 如果上述這些沒有那就是元祖的T65
Reminds me of the Taiwanese T91 but in a 20in barrel. Ian have you looked into one of the tape on brass deflectors. I know that some are designed to use the modern brass deflector that is part of the upper receiver but it appears that some are conical in shape that will allow you to tape it onto a "slab" side thus creating a non permanent solution to left handed shooting.
Wow, that bolt carrier and bolt look exactly like my LMT carrier on my r20
A helpful mod to the AR's rear take down pin, to better retain, not lose, or damage, the spring & detent when changing stocks is to thread/tap the hole where the spring & detent slide into so its 100% captive when removing stock/stock plate...
Tap, then blow out with compressed air, lube, cut the spring down matching the depth of the threaded area, then screw in an allen head plug w/same thread pitch (Cant remember off the top of my head @ moment, but they're pretty small, not much larger, or same in diameter than the original hole. No additional drilling required to tap, just tapping itself. Maybe 5-44/.125 Fine thread or +/- one screw size up or down?)
Youll figure it out...
18:10 Ian was super laid back about burning his fingers... when that happens to me, the first thing out of my mouth is something my kids shouldn't hear lol.
*"Rifle 5.56mm"*
Thanks lower receiver. For a moment I thought it was a *"Shotgun 12 gauge"*
I'm left handed and left eye dominant. I've always shot long guns right handed. At this point I've got enough muscle memory for it to not be a big deal and I've figured out how to manually adjust my eye dominance on a rifle. I did retrain myself to shoot pistols left handed though, that made a strong and immediate difference in my shooting.
My dad was this way. Lefty but was taught as a kid to "just shoot right-handed. It'll save you a lot of trouble later..."
@@wes11bravo #1 daughter is very right-handed, but left-eyed. She shoots everything lefty from muzzleloaders to competitive pistol. Her sister is exactly the reverse. Their brother is very right and right-eyed (he giggles a little). Dad's mixed-dominance, right-eyed, shoots righty unless weak-hand is specified. Mom would just shake her head at the whole bunch of us.
7:03 and the carry handle was added back on T65K2 with a proprietary scope mount for night vision scope that I have only heard of its existence in my service.
I am pleased to finally see it in your channel. I heard a lot of complaints from the Panamanian military that after two mags the pencil barrel begins to twist and accuracy begins to abandon you. I have seen the furniture in dark green and brown. I have heard that some of them came with the Panamanian crest but I have never seen one with the crest. Ian keep doing your excellent job, congratulations!!👍
finally got to one of your videos within 10 mins of posting.
I really appreciate you letting us know what country/armed force the camo is from. Camo may not be a weapon, but it is a wonderful tool in the history of warfare, and I find the various patterns and their uses fascinating.
Great piece of history. Thanks for sharing.
As of 2023, the T65 is still used for bootcamp marksmanship training for the conscripts. I definitely remember there being a carrying handle though. The fire selector was marked S, 1, 3, A. Great video!
but more K2 type
T65K2 has carry handle
The rifle incentivizing Ian to shoot right handed is almost cute. 14:52
best part about this rattly old thing : )
I've been to Taiwan four times so far, it's a beautiful country with great sceneries and a wonderfully friendly people. It's also small enough that you can see most of the sights in a couple of weeks. Its political scene is occasionally rowdy but vibrantly democratic and very progressive. In short, a great place to visit.
Not to mention that while they ruled the place, the Japanese built a bunch of hot spring resorts that are very nice for relaxing in.
Are they scared of the coming Chinese invasion? By 2030 they’re likely to go in
Ohh, this rifle brings back memories.
It's brother, the T65K2 was the first ever firearm I've shot and also the most common one we've practiced on.
I've also have the pleasure to try the T57, but in my mind the T65K2 was a lot easier to handle.
I thank your right cheek for its service, Ian.
Thank you!
One of my favorite rifles from the Cold War era. Honestly only matched by the Daewoo K2
K1A1 even better!
Another good one Ian! Thank you
You nailed the "Au contraire", GG !
I thought this was going to be one of the wolf import uppers but it looks like you have the real, full thing in front of you. COOL! (edit: f*ck, I was wrong lol. cool clone build though! even the markings look nice)
The wolf import uppers are made by the Taiwanese arsenal, though
I wonder how much the value of guns go up when Ian does a review of them ?
It is so exciting to see my father's standard issued service rifle when he was in serverd of the ROC Marine Corps
Though myself was ueing the T-91 which is now you can by in US named Wolf A1 uppers
I own a wolf a1 upper modeled off the t91 I love it. Piston driven ARs rule.
If i'm not mistaken, the K2 version has the carrying handle, which also has a proprietary scope mount.
I was pretty surprised he used military factory as a source, listed off a bunch of countries, some of which there is evidence for using T65K2s, some T65s, some neither, and didn't talk about the existence of the T65K2. The T65 saw extremely little use in the ROC. I'm surprised he didn't talk about T65K1, given the rattly, terrible handguards on his rifle, and mine!
It has a stupid, proprietary scope mount that only interfaces with TS75 night vision scope. Maybe some Taiwanese airsoft companies made an picatinny adapter.
Look up "Prelude T65K2"@@ChaohsiangChen
there's a Taiwanese guy in the US who owns a T65K2, and he has a pic adapter for the T65K2 carry handle screw. Are those available in Taiwan?
The scope Mount interfaces are slightly different from batch to batch…
I am witing for the tactical pm 63 rak
Ian, the human brass deflector. Took a few for the team.
I read about the Taiwanese T65 AR-15 clone in a gun magazine over twenty years ago. The article's writer took the Taiwanese to task for cutting corners like omitting heat reflector shields inside the handguard and substituting silver paint. Ian shows the consequences of no heat reflector shields when he nearly burns his fingers touching the forward sight base after shooting three magazines. Ian also remarked on how warm the hand guard was becoming towards the front.
It's clear that Taiwan made a number of foreign sales because their AR clone was far cheaper than the Colt M16A1. I don't know the actual dollar figures but I wouldn't be surprised if the T65 cost only half of the standard Colt M16A1. For customer nations, the T65 looking much like a M16A1 and functioning much like one plus the big plus of using M16 magazines made the T65 financially attractive. Even the AR18 lost out to Taiwan's T65 sales. At the time the AR-18 used a magazine that was identical to the M16 magazine but had a different catch notch so that the magazines were not interchangeable. I think that played a big role in countries turning down the AR18. The AR18 originated as a cheaper, easier-to-manufacture assault rifle that competed directly with the M16. The metal-stamped AR18 was America's direct counterpart to the metal-stamped AK-47.
The good thing about T65K2 is user-friendliness and accuracy. Pretty much every high school students will go to the range to shoot T65K2, for only once and six rounds at a target 175m away, iron sight only. For us, it was our first time shooting a real weapon and the only time for the girls since they don't need to participate in the national service. To our surprise, most of my classmates still get at least four shots on target (I got five, if my memory is correct).
Yup, I had the early Rhino piston AR back in the early 1980's and many more piston AR rifles since then, which is why I use the D.I. (internal piston) today..Piston AR rifles suck and is a regress, not progress of the Stoner rifle....
they both have their pros and cons
piston rifles are generally cleaner and more reliable in sandy environments while DI rifles tend to be lighter and have shown to be more reliable in mud tests
@hackerbot809 also piston designs don't require you to dismantle the entire bcg to keep it clean. Nothing like the risk of losing a tiny little firing pin retainer in the mud to ruin you day.
They both require cleaning and the internal piston will run a very long time with out cleaning if you add oil to the gas rings through the exhaust ports..Both systems use the cotter key (firing pin retainer).. @@JaenEngineering
Having a T65, I must agree. But by far the biggest flaw is the handguard. The Taiwanese never developed a really good handguard, and the best they ever got was T65K2, back before lasers were common. Was terrible before, and downhill since.
Thanks Ian, that was fortuitous timing for me. I showed my young southpaw son who was asking why I tell him shoot (off bench) my BRN 601 with the right sholder when I yell at him to shoot his rifle off his left. Brunion bump good, brass to face bad.
I used to be a Taiwanese Soldier in Army. I retired from it for almost 24 years. Thank you for sharing this video, cause you recall my rookie period of the military career, which is an tolerating experience. The Type 65 rifle was a standard equipment of a rookie soldier at that time.
Beautiful rifle that Taiwan had built
It's actually crudely made and machine marks everywhere. Some have the FSB installed canted, and you can see the piston rod not aligning with the barrel. The only thing good about it is that I didn't see a major malfunction with it. But we didn't shoot that much back in early 2000. T65K2 rifles are wayyyy better.
Cool ar pattern.
If you want to renew the night sights on it I have some "Europium" (it's non radioactive).
I have had great success with it in other restorations.
Brad
Casa Grand AZ
Very nice! Interesting video as always.
Good to learn the details of the service rifle of my neighbor company, as a medic, we were issued M1 carbine and M16A1 instead. Heard a lot of complain about the build quality and accuracy of T65, but hey, whining is a way to drag you thru service time, maybe it's not all that bad.