Brownells BRN-180 Gen 3

[General Geoff]

They did quite a few updates/changes. Non-reciprocating, left side charging handle with a rubber dust boot. Ejection port dust cover that reciprocates with the bolt carrier. Latching retention mechanism for the bolt carrier and recoil springs so it doesn't all sproing out when you tilt the upper up and off the lower. Looks pretty cool. Would like to see them build a variant with a longer 18 or 20" barrel eventually.

 

[Crosshair]

I'd like to try one, but I want at least an 18" pencil barrel. 20" if they can.

 

[valnar]

I've been following the development and I'm one of the purists that don't like the changes. I just bought a gen "2.5" and love it.

 

[General Geoff]

I've been following the development and I'm one of the purists that don't like the changes.

I was fairly ambivalent toward the BRN-180 up until this Gen 3 dropped to be honest. There's been so much development and focus on the AR-15 platform over the past 50 years that the 18 was largely forgotten, and even Armalite's reintroduction of it in the early 2000s couldn't save it. But it would appear that Brownells did what Armalite couldn't, and are making it a commercial success through innovation and steady improvement.

The irony of what was once a budget-conscious alternative to the AR-15, now costing more than its bougie older sibling, is not lost on me

 

[CapnMac]

Well, gee, that could be a nice match to my spare lower. Mind, the BRN-180 begs to have a folding stock (where permitted by law)

 

[Crosshair]

The irony of what was once a budget-conscious alternative to the AR-15, now costing more than its bougie older sibling, is not lost on me

The AR is only cheaper in the US. Outside the US, in many parts of the world, they're generally expensive.

 

[chicharrones]

The AR is only cheaper in the US. Outside the US, in many parts of the world, they're generally expensive.

Would the BRN-180 be more expensive than an AR outside the USA?

 

[Crosshair]

Would the BRN-180 be more expensive than an AR outside the USA?

With a sheet metal upper and lower, almost certainly no.

 

[General Geoff]

With a sheet metal upper and lower, almost certainly no.

None of the BRN-180s use stamped steel receivers, they're all aluminum machined billet or forgings now (depending on the generation and choice of lower).

 

[lysanderxiii]

I should have taken my brother's advice and patented the idea of a removable steel cam guide for a AR-18 style bolt carrier back in 2014 . . .

 

[someguy2800]

I wish they would make one that took standard AR barrels and bolts. I want to build one in 458 socom.

 

[lysanderxiii]

I wish they would make one that took standard AR barrels and bolts. I want to build one in 458 socom.

There are two issue with that, first is the AR-18 bolt locks in the clockwise direction, the AR-15 locks in the counter-clockwise direction. The chamfer on the back of the lugs is on the wrong side. the second issue is the cam pin on the AR-18 is at the 9:00 o'clock position, the cam pin on the AR is at 12:00 o'clock.