My new old Armalite AR-180!

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nwilliams

nwilliams

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So today I picked up a new toy and I'm pretty excited about it.

It's an Armalite AR-180 and it came with one original mag and the scope mount. It's a very early Cost Mesa which means it was produced sometime between 1969 and 1972 and it has a three digit serial number!

Now that I have this gun I suddenly have the urge to go watch the original Terminator movie:D

The gun is in excellent condition but there is some scuffing and scratches on the finish which really showed up under the bright lights when I was photographing it. Overall I think it was fairly priced at $1100 so I decided to snatch it up, I figured it would be a neat addition to the collection.

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A friend who immigrated LEGALLY from England years ago has a Sterling built AR18. Sweet doesn't even start to describe it.
 
Now go have it refinished.
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No way! It's got character the way it is:D

I think the AR-18/180 is one of those guns that no matter how shiny and new you make it look it will never win any beauty contests, it's one of those guns that's beautiful because it's not supposed to be.
 
Nice score for a very nice rifle. I agree that you shouldn't re-finish, as it will never be the most beautiful rifle. I always thought it appeared to be a cross between a AR-15, Thompson sub-machine gun, and FN FAL.

Have you field stripped it yet? That massive hunk-o-steel that makes up the bolt carrier sure inspires confidence doesn't it? Makes those little AR-15 bolt carriers look all wussified. :p
 
It reminded me of an FAL where maybe a G-3 had hidden "in the woodpile".

Should such a wicked-looking gun be modified? It creates a very serious, no-nonsense impression.
Being attracted only to classic (WW2-Korean) military rifles, both your AR-180 and FALs have begun to change my views.
 
that rifle IS the largest piece of history,between
the AR-15,M-16, and AR-18.the M-16 was picked over the AR-18 for reasons only Colt and Stoner
and MacNamara and God only knows.
you could make 4 AR-18s to 1 M-16,the AR-18 is
all steel,it uses M-16 mags and it doesnt need a
damned bolt assist,
and why wasnt it used in vietnam?
and with some dremel work and welding, you can have a select fire weapon, not saying break any laws.where that C clip is just above your safety is
the secret, most M-16 parts will fit in at the sear.
I allways thought the AR18 was better rifle than
a M-16.
 
The M16 was in service before the AR18/180 was in production.After Armalite sold the rights to the AR15 to Colt,they invented the AR18/180 and attempted to market it with little success.It doesn't use M16 mags,although they can be altered to work easily.Sweet rifle though,and definitely military grade.My Costa Mesa example is my pride and joy.
 
..."how must different are the new fangled ar piston guns to the action of this thing? "...

other than the bolt lock up configuration, entirely different.

gunnie
 
I have been thinking of adding one to my collection, but all those welds on the reciever just makes me think it's a cheap/shoddy weapon.
 
I have been thinking of adding one to my collection, but all those welds on the reciever just makes me think it's a cheap/shoddy weapon.
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Fear not, despite it's ugliness, it is one robust rifle, and is very well designed. Armalite designed it after the AR-15, and used a similar design, but made improvements were necessary. Like I said earlier the bolt carrier is a beast, and truly makes an AR pattern look like a dinky prototype.

:)
 
I have an AR-180 made by Howa. It rode under the head rests in my Highway Patrol car back in the 70's for many many miles.
I modified a bunch of M-16 magazines, and I also have the scope mount.

When I left LE and returned to the ranch, it rode in a rifle rack in my pickup for another 20 years. We even scooped up a couple of poachers.

Now it hides behind the door in the bedroom. I've never had a hiccup or a glitch in nearly 40 years with that rifle. You can keep your M-16's and such, I'll be just fine with my old time odd ball.
 
The AR-18 was made as a cheaper alternative to the AR-15/M16 platform rifles. It was meant to be sold to third world countries and U.S satellite states during the Cold War. But, the U.S just started handing out M16s, and the rifle never really took off. But still, a very beautiful rifle and robust system.
 
wayne thanks for info,ar-15 designed in 59,ar-18 63.
The AR-18 was designed at ArmaLite in California by Arthur Miller, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an improved alternative to the AR-15 design, which had just been selected by the U.S. military as the M16. While the AR-18 was never adopted as the standard service rifle of any nation, it has influenced many later weapons such as the British SA80, the Singaporean SAR-80 and SR-88, and the Heckler and Koch G36. It gained some notoriety through its use by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), who allegedly christened it the "Widowmaker."[1][
wierd, I thought Stoner designed all AR designs.
 
Well I took the gun out for it's first range session on Monday.

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that it went through 80 rounds of ammo without a hiccup.

The bad news is that I only needed to pull the trigger about 30 times to go through 80 rounds of ammo:uhoh:

Let's just say I'm glad the place where I was shooting was deserted and there was nobody around to ask me any questions.

I won't say it wasn't fun but the truth is I'm not going to risk owning this gun anymore, I'd like to keep my gun rights and so I have no problem saying goodbye to this gun. I suppose I could try and have it fixed but to be honest I don't know if there are any gunsmiths out there that could even work on it and if it needs new parts then finding them would probably be next to impossible.
 
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:-( Good choice nwilliams, I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. The gun store hopefully should bend over backwards to make this right, or they could probably get in trouble for having sold it. Good luck to you
 
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