Dave Markowitz
Member
I finally got the chance to get out to the range today with the ArmaLite AR-180B I bought last month. Results are promising, although a little mixed.
I shot the rifle at 25 and 50 yards. The sights were right on for elevation and needed just a couple left clicks of windage.
With my two GI 30 round M-16 mags (made by Okay) the rifle functions 100%. No failures of any kind, and the bolt locks back on an empty mag. I need to pick up some more GI 30s.
With a Chartered Industries/Singapore 30 rounder, the rifle feeds flawlessly. However, the bolt does not lock back after the mag is empty. This mag seems to sit just a leetle bit lower in the mag well, and as a result, doesn't actuate the bolt stop. Since I can get these mags for around $15 a pop I was a bit bummed out about this. To be fair, ArmaLite advertises the rifle as being designed for USGI mags.
I also brought 3 GI Colt 20 round M-16 mags with me. These are the olde style with the aluminum followers and two are marked "Colt AR-15 CAL .223" on the bottom, while the other is marked "Colt AR-15 CAL 5.56MM." I prefer 20 round mags so I was really hoping these would work out. Unfortunately, I had several bolt-over-base failures to feed with 2 of the 3, and only 1 actuated the bolt stop. I mixed up which one works ok so I need to retest them, but it looks like I'll rely on GI 30 rounders with the rifle.
I fired a mix of ammo today, somewhere around 200 rounds. About 50 - 60 Ultramax 55 grain FMJ commercial reloads, 100 rounds of Winchester value pack 55 grain FMJ, and 40 rounds of Wolf 55 grain JHP. I had no ammo related failures. However, the Wolf ammo is the most inaccurate ammo I've ever shot through a rifle. At 50 yards from a rest, I couldn't keep them all on a pie plate. This ammo seems to shoot better in my Mini-14 (go figure) so that's where I'll use up the remaining 960 rounds that I have. (It may be a matter of rifling twist. The AR-180B has a 1:9 twist, while my Mini-14 has a 1:10 twist.)
One thing that I found REALLY annoying is that unless I adjusted my cap the right way, I got pinged on the right side of my face or on my head with the empties being ejected from the gun. (I am left handed.) I have a bunch of unsightly red crescents on my face near my right temple from the brass. OUCH. A friend's AR-180B that I shot before didn't do this, so it sure came as an unpleasant surprise. I startedthinking up designs for a brass deflector to attach behind the ejection port on the drive home.
The rifle needs a trigger job. Badly. I guess I didn't notice how crappy it was when I dry fired it before, but it's very heavy and this greatly increased my group size to minute of pie plate. The AR-180B uses AR-15 fire control parts, so this shouldn't be too difficult. With a decent trigger pull this rifle should be as accurate as an AR-15, as I've read in other reviews. Perhaps I just drew a rifle with a crummy trigger.
Aside from the trigger and getting hit by brass, it's a very nice gun to shoot. Muzzle flip is nearly nonexistent due to the straight-line stock and the integral muzzle brake. As a gas operated .223, recoil is mild, although a little more than most current AR-15s with heavier barrels. Still, there's not much. I put about 200 rounds through the rifle in about an hour to an hour and a half. The handguards got warm, especially the upper handguard and the end of the lower handguard nearest the muzzle. The rifle was in strong sunshine during this entire time, so that also contributed to the furniture getting warm. So, unless you're into just hosing ammo downrange as fast as you can pull the trigger, the lack of heatshields isn't a major problem, IMO.
After I got home I field stripped the AR-180B and cleaned it. The gas system keeps almost all the fouling outside of the receiver, so cleaning the action is a snap. All you need to do in the receiver is wipe off the bolt face and front of the bolt carrier. You could probably get away with going 1000 rounds before cleaning the action, it's that clean.
Even the area under the handguard where the gas is released into the atmosphere wasn't too dirty. The gas cylinder and piston cleaned up quickly. The inside of the upper handguard is where I noticed the greatest accumulation of soot, and that quickly wiped off with a patch wet with Hoppe's No.9.
In a nutshell, I recommend the ArmaLite AR-180B for EBR fans and plan to hang onto mine. However, I have the following to-dos before it becomes a "SHTF" or "go-to" gun:
1. Get more USGI 30 round mags, preferable made by Okay or Colt (Okay made the mags for Colt).
2. Fabricate and attach a brass deflector to the receiver behind the ejection port. Maybe make this #1.
3. Do a trigger job.
I shot the rifle at 25 and 50 yards. The sights were right on for elevation and needed just a couple left clicks of windage.
With my two GI 30 round M-16 mags (made by Okay) the rifle functions 100%. No failures of any kind, and the bolt locks back on an empty mag. I need to pick up some more GI 30s.
With a Chartered Industries/Singapore 30 rounder, the rifle feeds flawlessly. However, the bolt does not lock back after the mag is empty. This mag seems to sit just a leetle bit lower in the mag well, and as a result, doesn't actuate the bolt stop. Since I can get these mags for around $15 a pop I was a bit bummed out about this. To be fair, ArmaLite advertises the rifle as being designed for USGI mags.
I also brought 3 GI Colt 20 round M-16 mags with me. These are the olde style with the aluminum followers and two are marked "Colt AR-15 CAL .223" on the bottom, while the other is marked "Colt AR-15 CAL 5.56MM." I prefer 20 round mags so I was really hoping these would work out. Unfortunately, I had several bolt-over-base failures to feed with 2 of the 3, and only 1 actuated the bolt stop. I mixed up which one works ok so I need to retest them, but it looks like I'll rely on GI 30 rounders with the rifle.
I fired a mix of ammo today, somewhere around 200 rounds. About 50 - 60 Ultramax 55 grain FMJ commercial reloads, 100 rounds of Winchester value pack 55 grain FMJ, and 40 rounds of Wolf 55 grain JHP. I had no ammo related failures. However, the Wolf ammo is the most inaccurate ammo I've ever shot through a rifle. At 50 yards from a rest, I couldn't keep them all on a pie plate. This ammo seems to shoot better in my Mini-14 (go figure) so that's where I'll use up the remaining 960 rounds that I have. (It may be a matter of rifling twist. The AR-180B has a 1:9 twist, while my Mini-14 has a 1:10 twist.)
One thing that I found REALLY annoying is that unless I adjusted my cap the right way, I got pinged on the right side of my face or on my head with the empties being ejected from the gun. (I am left handed.) I have a bunch of unsightly red crescents on my face near my right temple from the brass. OUCH. A friend's AR-180B that I shot before didn't do this, so it sure came as an unpleasant surprise. I startedthinking up designs for a brass deflector to attach behind the ejection port on the drive home.
The rifle needs a trigger job. Badly. I guess I didn't notice how crappy it was when I dry fired it before, but it's very heavy and this greatly increased my group size to minute of pie plate. The AR-180B uses AR-15 fire control parts, so this shouldn't be too difficult. With a decent trigger pull this rifle should be as accurate as an AR-15, as I've read in other reviews. Perhaps I just drew a rifle with a crummy trigger.
Aside from the trigger and getting hit by brass, it's a very nice gun to shoot. Muzzle flip is nearly nonexistent due to the straight-line stock and the integral muzzle brake. As a gas operated .223, recoil is mild, although a little more than most current AR-15s with heavier barrels. Still, there's not much. I put about 200 rounds through the rifle in about an hour to an hour and a half. The handguards got warm, especially the upper handguard and the end of the lower handguard nearest the muzzle. The rifle was in strong sunshine during this entire time, so that also contributed to the furniture getting warm. So, unless you're into just hosing ammo downrange as fast as you can pull the trigger, the lack of heatshields isn't a major problem, IMO.
After I got home I field stripped the AR-180B and cleaned it. The gas system keeps almost all the fouling outside of the receiver, so cleaning the action is a snap. All you need to do in the receiver is wipe off the bolt face and front of the bolt carrier. You could probably get away with going 1000 rounds before cleaning the action, it's that clean.
Even the area under the handguard where the gas is released into the atmosphere wasn't too dirty. The gas cylinder and piston cleaned up quickly. The inside of the upper handguard is where I noticed the greatest accumulation of soot, and that quickly wiped off with a patch wet with Hoppe's No.9.
In a nutshell, I recommend the ArmaLite AR-180B for EBR fans and plan to hang onto mine. However, I have the following to-dos before it becomes a "SHTF" or "go-to" gun:
1. Get more USGI 30 round mags, preferable made by Okay or Colt (Okay made the mags for Colt).
2. Fabricate and attach a brass deflector to the receiver behind the ejection port. Maybe make this #1.
3. Do a trigger job.
