Taiwan’s Retro Gas Piston AR: the Type 65

Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! When Taiwan decided to move from the M14 platform (the Type 57 in Taiwanese service) to a rifle, they decided to develop a domestic gas-piston version of the AR. Development began in 1973, with prototypes ready in 1975 and the system formally adopted in 1976. Using the Chinese calendar based on the revolution of 1911, this made the new rifle the Type 65. It is essentially a short-stroke-piston M16A1, sharing the same barrel length, profile, and rifling (1:12“) as the early M16, but using an SVT/AR18 piston system. Significant numbers of the T65 were made both to equip the Taiwanese armed forces and also for a variety of export contracts, mostly in the Middle East and Latin America. The rifle we are looking at today is a clone made from a kit brought in by HK Parts (I think from