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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 437
Campfire Member
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OP
Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 437 |
What are your feelings and thoughts of the old school Armalite 180. My best friend did me a huge favor so I wanna get him a cool gift. One of his favorite movies is The Terminator. The iconic rifle was used in it.
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,667
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,667 |
A very cool rifle from back then. I liked the design philosophy from the get go. E
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 67,554
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 67,554 |
of course, they don't make them any more, so they are difficult to find, and spendy. Even the more modern AR180B was discontinued years ago. I have one of those, that I bought NIB. Even now, I think it's as good or better than any AR15.
Sam......
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 24,634
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 24,634 |
I've always been a 180 fan. Bought another one about a year ago (Sterling).
The most collectible one is the Costa Mesa The Best one is the Howa The cheapest are the Sterlings (and they're still pretty darned good).
You don't want a Costa Mesa for a shooter, they're just too darned expensive, and they had some issues with broken hammers. Get a Howa (if you can find one) or a Sterling.
It's a slick design, but they're a little homely looking...I love mine.
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 19,495
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 19,495 |
Had one. Like it a lot. There is the potential problem of finding parts.
Retired cat herder.
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46,965
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46,965 |
I had one for several years about 40 years ago. Great rifles if hitting something aimed at is not an issue for you. At that time they were known for poor accuracy and it was a well deserved trait. Colt (the only prevalent maker at that time) AR's were the most accurate, Ruger Mini 14's next, and then the 180. HK's were available, too, but very pricey. I'd never thought of this before but maybe that's how they got their name. Fire a round it it will hit somewhere within 180 degrees of the muzzle
We may know the time Ben Carson lied, but does anyone know the time Hillary Clinton told the truth?
Immersing oneself in progressive lieberalism is no different than bathing in the sewage of Hell.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 24,634
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 24,634 |
I had one for several years about 40 years ago. Great rifles if hitting something aimed at is not an issue for you. At that time they were known for poor accuracy and it was a well deserved trait. Colt (the only prevalent maker at that time) AR's were the most accurate, Ruger Mini 14's next, and then the 180. HK's were available, too, but very pricey. I'd never thought of this before but maybe that's how they got their name. Fire a round it it will hit somewhere within 180 degrees of the muzzle Never had a problem hitting anything I was aiming at with mine. This article seems to agree with my experience: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/02/18/historic-pre-ban-assault-rifles-the-ar-180/As does this one: http://www.tactical-life.com/firearms/armalite-ar-180/No problems here: http://www.cruffler.com/review-January-02.htmlMAC has no issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aXUVjRvKRoI personally found my 180 to have very similar accuracy to my Colt SP1. The SP1 may have had a slight edge, but nothing that would ever matter in the field. Both of the 180's that I have owned were solid 2-2.25 MOA rifles.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 24,634
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 24,634 |
The AR-180 was evaluated by the US military, but they were already well in bed with the M16. The Marines were very interested and probably liked it better than the M16 and they pressured the Army into taking another look at it in 1969…but again, by then we were all in with the M16 and it just didn’t make sense to go back. Stoner took the AR-18/180 design, made it modular and came up with the M63 which was utterly brilliant. Colt did everything they could to kill the AR-18 and were quite successful. Congress passed a law banning sales of military hardware to foreign nations unless it was hardware that is in use by the US military; that killed the AR-18. By the late ‘60’s Fairchild aircraft was in deep debt and not looking good, and started closing down/dumping companies under their umbrella. They had no interest in manufacturing the 180, so manufacturing moved to Howa in Japan. But Japan soon passed a law disallowing the sales of military hardware outside of Japan. So the AR-18/180 was still-born again. However, the Japanese really liked the rifle, and further developed the design into what would become the Type 89 which is still in service today. So the 18/180 found it’s third home at Sterling in England. Problem was, Sterling really had no money and really was a company that would spend the next decade faltering. So when various nations showed real interest in the AR-18, the deal was killed because Sterling couldn’t afford to setup their customers with manufacturing facilities.
Use by the IRA-Provo’s in the late ‘60’s & early ‘70’s made a big impact on the British Army who nicknamed the rifle the “widowmaker”. The Brits really liked the rifle, but they didn’t want to deal with Sterling so they actually had someone steal several receivers from Sterling so the Brit government arsenal could begin building their prototype new rifle. The SA 80 is essentially a very poorly manufactured, bullpup AR-180. Eventually the Brits hired H&K to get the SA 80 squared away and they’re pretty solid rifles today.
So the AR-180 had a tough road. But it would end up being the most influential rifle in the post-WW II period when you look at all the rifles that are greatly inspired by the AR-18/180. SA 80 SAR 80 Type 89 Australian Bushmaster 17 Leader Dynamics Mk V H&K G36 H&K 433 FN SCAR CZ Bren 802 Radom FB MSBS
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46,965
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46,965 |
Mine didn't shoot worth a hoot. Glad you had a better experience.
We may know the time Ben Carson lied, but does anyone know the time Hillary Clinton told the truth?
Immersing oneself in progressive lieberalism is no different than bathing in the sewage of Hell.
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