AR-180 Round Up

[gunnie]

..."but that's probably because a careless previous owner"...

i wonder how many of the other problems could be traced back to the original owner(s)?


have known 5 different sterling owners, and only one had probs with their's. the extractor broke. upon looking at the nearly new weapon, it was painfully obvious it needed cleaning. this, some 800-1,000 rounds downstream, ~never~ cleaned.

it had also been fed undetermined amounts of SS 109 his father in law had given him. it is worth noting that his father in law ruined a mini 14 with the same ammo before they found out the heavier bullets didn't play nice with the older M-193 set up weapons. as much as i like the 18 system over the ruger mini, i feel safe saying that action would endure more abuse than the armalite....

gunnie

 

[Maverick223]

as much as i like the 18 system over the ruger mini, i feel safe saying that action would endure more abuse than the armalite...

I have to agree with you on that, the bolt is the weakest link in a AR, in my opinion the Mini is a little stronger in that area and generally a little beefier all around. That said the AR-18(0) is a great platform that beats the snot out of the AR-15 IMO.

 

[Iggy]

Thanks Gunnie.

I have 3 original mags and modified some M-16 mags to work.

Never had a problem at all.

 

[carbine85]

[HTM..."and trigger job. Mine originally had a god awful 12 lbs trigger pull and now it's around 5.5 lbs."...

was it return spring tension modification? if not, how was this done?

gunnie L][/HTML]

I cleaned up the notch in the hammer and the nose of the trigger. I used a very fine carbide wheel in a dremmel tool on slow. I removed a very small amount at a time and checked as I went until I got it down. I didn't change anything with the springs.
Everyone that shot it the first time thought the safety was on, know it's nice and smooth.
The surfaces where very rough from the stampings when the parts are made.

 

[gunnie]

carbine85,

thanx, know some kids who will likely follow suit....guess i shouldda heeded the use of high grade steel info in the magazine article mentioned in previous posting. but upon looking at the thin engagement surfaces it never seemed like a polishing would hold up to me. approx how many rounds downstream from the action job is the weapon now?

gunnie

 

[carbine85]

[/HTcarbine85, 

thanx, know some kids who will likely follow suit....guess i shouldda heeded the use of high grade steel info in the magazine article mentioned in previous posting. but upon looking at the thin engagement surfaces it never seemed like a polishing would hold up to me. approx how many rounds downstream from the action job is the weapon now?

gunnie ML]

I 'm guessing around 300-400. I don't shoot it that much. The trigger pull was the only thing I disliked about it ever since I bought it some 25 years ago.
I only removed a very very smsll amount of material and didn't change the angles. It sure made a difference with rapid firing.
I also used a digital fish scale to check it as I went.

 

[Beagle-zebub]

Wasn't the current British bullpup based on the AR-18? Why was it so unreliably?

 

[gunnie]

never saw the insides of the brit's iron, but would guess it was a close bolt carrier to reciver function. the beef in the sandbox was dust contamination stoppages. there is plenty of room in the 180 around the bolt carrier for crud to escape to.

gunnie

 

[Maverick223]

Wasn't the current British bullpup based on the AR-18? Why was it so unreliably?

I believe that it was, but I don't believe that the SA-80 platform had many malfunctions, mostly parts that were of dubious quality. There was also the issue of the change of cartridge early on which didn't help feeding and extraction (when converted to 5.56NATO), but all of those faults were corrected by HK in the L85(86)A2 version. By all accounts it is now a fairly robust, accurate rifle in a compact package.

 

[carbine85]

The Brits copied the bolt / carrier and gas system and the idea of stampings. The best thing about the AR180 / 18 design that everyone likes to copy is the piston gas system and bolt carrier group. It's been copied a few times with success.

 

[AmEngRifles]

Still a Good Choice

I see so many people wondering what gun to buy. Across the board, the Century Arms "put togethers" can be dicey, BUT, I have and have onwed several and have not had much problem with them. On long term, I can not say, I have decided to take the mindset I have seen verbalised elsewhere here.

I would rather have an ORIGINAL build by a manufacturer like Colt, Armalite, Galil, Valmet, etc., than a cobbled together like Century, ORF, etc. The one exception that I am personally aware of would be Arizona Response. They seem to make quality rifles in small quantities.

That being said, the AR-180 is still a very good choice if you want an assault type rifle, with magazine feed, folding stock, compact light weight, robust, straight forward design, good sights, reliability, scope mounting capability, etc., etc., I think the 180 STILL has plenty going for it.

We all pretty much know the mechanism is simple, straight forward, copied and reliable. I very seldom hear of or have experienced broken parts in the things. The bolt hold open lever can be broken if careless, but under normal use, it shouldn't cause concern. The butt stock is the one weak point of this rifle. But as long as you don't beat someone over the head with it, or use it to give a man a "leg up" climbing over obstacles, it should give good service.

I consider myself the judicious one by making sure a rifle has a minimal acceptance of quality and efficiency, along with reliability, but after that, why spend 2 extra grand for a rifle throwing the same bullet? i.e., the Mini 14 will do all of this (sans mount a bayonet) for less than 600 dollars.

The AR-180 will do it for between 700 and 800. More if you want a special one or one with a package of accessories. Sometimes a little less if you find a beat up one.

AR-15. Guesssing between 650 and 800.

Valmet, just under 2G up to 2,500.

Sig 556 for 1,500.

AR-70 between 2G and 2,500.

Microtech AUG copy, what, about 1,400 now?

I know there are more examples they just don't come to mind.

By the way, DO NOT buy a Leader Dynamics T5 or whatever they were called. Those dogs came in in small quantity ans while they may function OK, you can't get squat for them as replacement parts. I see guys listing them for thousands because they say how RARE they are. Yeah, rare and way over priced. When they came in to the country, they were competively priced with AR-15s and AR-180s. How the heck did they become 2 to 3 grand riffles!?

 

[AmEngRifles]

Still a Good Choice

I see so many people wondering what gun to buy. Across the board, the Century Arms "put togethers" can be dicey, BUT, I have and have owned several and have not had much problem with them. On long term, I can not say, I have decided to take the mindset I have seen verbalized elsewhere here.

I would rather have an ORIGINAL build by a manufacturer like Colt, Armalite, Galil, Valmet, etc., than a cobbled like Century, ORF, etc. The one exception that I am personally aware of would be Arizona Response. They seem to make quality rifles in small quantities.

That being said, the AR-180 is still a very good choice if you want an assault type rifle, with magazine feed, folding stock, compact light weight, robust, straight forward design, good sights, reliability, scope mounting capability, etc., etc.

We all pretty much know the mechanism is simple, straight forward, copied and reliable. The butt stock is the one weak point of this rifle. But as long as you don't beat someone over the head with it, or use it to give a man a "leg up" climbing over obstacles, it should give good service.

I consider myself the judicious one by making sure a rifle has a minimal acceptance of quality and efficiency, along with reliability, but after that, why spend 2 extra grand for a rifle throwing the same bullet? i.e., the Mini 14 will do all of this (sans mounting a bayonet) for less than 600 dollars. The mini's drawback is less than AR type accuracy.

The AR-180 will do it for between 700 and 800. More if you want a special one or one with a package of accessories. Sometimes a little less if you find a beat up one. And it can be a very accurate rifle.

Here is a partial list of other choices.

AR-15. Guesssing between 650 and 800. I know you can drop double that easy, but you don't have to!

Valmet, just under 2G up to 2,500.

Sig 556 for 1,500.

AR-70 between 2G and 2,500.

Microtech AUG copy, what, about 1,400 now?

I know there are more examples they just don't come to mind.

By the way, DO NOT buy a Leader Dynamics T5 or whatever they were called. Those dogs came in in small quantity and while they may function OK, you can't get squat for them as replacement parts. I see guys listing them for thousands because they say how RARE they are. Yeah, rare and way over priced. When they came into the country, they were competively priced with AR-15s and AR-180s. How the heck did they become 2 to 3 grand riffles!?

By the way, if it isn't cool to be critical of a rifle or product, let me know. I ain't into political correctness, but not sure if this is what called a "flame" or not!? lol.