Category: General

Reader Ken shot me an email the other day and asked some questions about his newly acquired Sterling AR180. Turns out, I had more questions for him than he had for me, and more questions remain unanswered.

His question was simple enough, “I’m trying to find info on my Sterling AR180, would you by chance know anything about this serial No. A101XX?”

If you know much about the AR18/180 platform that should raise some questions, 180 serial numbers don’t have an “A” prefix, they have an “S”.

AR18’s start with an “A”.

I asked for some pictures.

Turns out to look like a legit, unfired, Sterling AR180 Semi Auto, but the serial starts with an “A”. They even used an AR18 hammer.

Here are some pics. Let me know what you think.

Just wanted to drop you all a line to let you know that there is a coupon code you can use for your orders at AR180Parts.com.

Type in the code Monsoon into your cart and it will take 10% off your order.

We are getting hammered by our Monsoon season here in Tucson so I thought that name would be appropiate.

Just like our summer rainy season the code will go away at the end of August.

FYI it might be a little confusing when you order because I don’t take credit cards. You can mail your payment or email me for details about my only electronic payment method.

AR180parts AT protonmail DOT com.

The more you spend the more you save!

I picked up what was sold as an AR180 trunion but I could tell from the pictures that it wasn’t exactly that.

AR180 trunions are not flat on the side. They are forged into a rough shape that leaves the sides with a relief.

Photo courtesy of GunLab.net

This newly discovered trunion is built like the ones used in the AR180B.

What made the AR180B trunion unique was the fact that they turned down a regular AR15 barrel extension and pressed it into the trunion shown above. This was obviously a cost savings measure.

What is so cool about the newly found trunion is it proves that they didn’t start off with that in mind. They were going to make them one piece.

The final piece of evidence that shows this was not built for the AR180 but instead the AR180B is that it will not head space with an original barrel but will with an AR180B barrel.

It’s too bad that this wasn’t used in the regular production AR180B. It certainly would be more durable when barrels needed to be swapped out.

I’m getting a couple table and setting up in the SAR building this year. I’ll be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I’ll have lots of stuff to show and to sell so come find me if you happen to be there this year.