Personal Guns – Page 6

December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

AR-180B Shorty Project Pt. III

The next part that had to made were the hand guards. I first mocked them up to find the approximate length then cut them off with my bandsaw. I left them a little long and figured I could trim them if I had to.

I then trimmed a small piece of the front end of the cut off part and fitted them into the hand guard. This will allow me to use the existing end cap.

Here you can see that I didn’t get things exactly right as there is a small gap at the front of the hand guards. They will work for function testing but I intend to build a set of new end caps that encapsulate the entire hand guard.

Here she is ready to head to the range and dial in the gas port size.

Featuring a Stormwerkz mount and Primary Arms Micro Red Dot.

Stormwerkz.com

Primary Arms Micro

I would also like to ask if everyone could help me test out the site by leaving comments so I can see if it is working.

November 20, 2014

Armalite AR-180 Accessories: Sharp Shooter Kit

The Sharp Shooter Kit is an incredibly hard to find accessory that was available for the Sterling AR-180.

I believe these may be the only pictures of said kit on the internet.

Not much is known of these and I am still searching for more information as we speak.

I first heard about the Sharp Shooter Kit in a few forum threads but didn’t even know what it consisted of. In fact I received this kit and didn’t know what I had. I assumed it was some aftermarket accessory that the seller threw in with my gun when he shipped it.

It was only after seeing this scan of an old Armalite hand out, that I put it all together.

The Armalite Sharp Shooter Kit consists of a neoprene/nylon cover for the hand guard and butt stock. Perhaps you too have had one of these and didn’t know what it was.

Here you can see the overall view, please note that the velcro strips have been added after the fact. I’m not sure I can remove them without damage to the sleeve.

The next picture shows the butt stock or “Cheek Pad” as Armalite calls it.

The final picture shows the vent holes that are cut in the top of the hand guard sleeve. There is also one hole in the bottom.

One of the points made in the hand out is that it “Increases shooter comfort”. Although I have not had this gun to the range yet I can tell without a doubt, that is true. I shouldered this rifle a few times while shooting these pictures and with the cold temps outside, the cheek pad made for a much warmer place to lay my face.

Please let me know if you have one of these kits as I would like to put up more pictures and compare them to mine.

November 19, 2014

AR-180B Shorty Project Pt. II

Another updated series of pics from John over at Retro Arms Works.

It will be heading back soon and I will start on the hand guards.

Then it’s off to the range to dial in the gas port and play!

November 18, 2014November 20, 2014

AR-180B Shorty Project Begins

This project could not be possible without the new NoDak Spud NDS-18S lower receiver and the fine gun-smithing skills of John Thomas at Retro Arms Works. Links at the end of the article.

The first thing that crossed my mind when the NDS-18S lower receiver was released was the possibility of building a pistol. I immediately ordered one of their lowers and started looking for an AR-180B.

For those who are unfamiliar, the AR-180B was a new version built by the new Armalite Inc. starting around 2001. Again it didn’t meet sales expectations and was dropped. Dropped too soon in my opinion.

I found a likely candidate on gunbroker and like one of my earlier Sterling guns, it was like new, unfired. My daughter and I quickly remedied that problem.

After I made sure it functioned properly I pulled the lower apart and build my new NoDak lower.

http://youtu.be/Mg636loh6zo

I then sent the upper off to John at Retro Arms Works. He jumped right in and after a little hick-up removing the barrel, he sent me pics of the progress so far.

Unfortunately the front sight base on the AR-180B is larger than the barrel so it had to be sleeved.

It still needs the barrel parkerized, barrel installed,gas port drilled, and the operating rod made and fitted.

Updates to follow soon.

http://retroarmsworks.com/

http://www.nodakspud.com/NDS-18S.htm

November 18, 2014

Sterling AR-180, The Most Common

Anyone who searches out their own, will most likely encounter the Sterling AR-180. With three times the production of either the Costa Mesa or Howa guns, this makes perfect sense.

However, there are three distinct finishes that were produced. Parkerized, Blued, and Painted.

The subject of todays post is the painted variety. This finish is also known as Stoving.

My research indicates that this finish was done to the vast majority of the guns from the beginning of production ,S15001, to approximately S20000. This gun is actually the latest serial that I have found featuring the stove finish. S19827

It is unfortunate that many of the Sterling guns with this finish will show many scratches and handling marks as the stove finish does not hold up well to abuse. To the collector condition is everything. Finding a clean example of a painted Sterling can take some doing, or in my case, a little luck.

I purchased this example from gunbroker mainly for the accessories that came with it. The pictures were horrible and I was sure it was going to look like all the other low grade examples. I was looking for a truck gun and was pleasantly surprised to find it was in very good shape. It has some markings from a scope being mounted but is in otherwise fine shape. It has been fired and will make a great range gun. The search for a truck gun continues.

This gun did however, come with a broken lower hand guard. I was fortunate that one was available, although the price would probably scare you.

While AR-180 collecting is not for the faint of heart, it is surly less expensive than Colt Python collecting. I did that for awhile but I just can’t justify paying the prices anymore. I also think that they are vastly overpriced considering that over 150,000 were produced over 50 years. Contrast that with just over 20,000 AR-180’s produced in the span of 16 years. Several thousand of which were never brought into the country or were exported after the fact.

Rick