Lost ArmaLite Part 2

The most obvious and interesting thing about serial number 021 AR18S is the hand guard. Lets have a closer look.

The hand guard is made of wood and is the only one I have seen like this. What wasn’t apparent until these auction photos surfaced was that it is made of multiple pieces and different materials.

The upper hand guard is much taller than a traditional AR18 part almost making up the entirety of the hand guard itself. This setup does not use a metal retainer like other 18S models do. No picture are shown of the top but I am going to guess there are vent holes and ribs just like the standard pieces.

The left side shows some damage. The right side has a crack that might turn into a break like this.

The front of the hand guard was the most interesting to me. It looks like a different material was used, possibly fiber board. Hopefully something that can withstand the heat. This piece appears to be pinned and glued to the main hand guard and is retained by a protrusion on the front sight base. we will explore the FSB in another article.

What I can’t be sure about is if this piece is slotted so the hand guard can be removed in a normal fashion or if the front sight base must be removed first and the hand guard slid off the front.

The lower piece looks to be made of yet a different type of material. I’m guessing Micarta.

It is retained at the rear my the lug on the trunion but I can not for the life of me figure out how it is attached at the front. Looking closely at the first picture in this article you can make out ribs cut along the bottom. I first thought it might be held on with a screw into the FSB but I don’t find one.

I welcome any comments about things you see that I have missed.

And if anyone wants to buy this gun and let me inspect and document it for posterity just head over and throw in a bid. I’m staying out of this one.

Morphy Auctions

 

A “Lost Armalite” Resurfaces

I just received an email from a good friend alerting me to a shorty AR-18 that is up for auction but to fully appreciate it we need to check out an article in Small Arms Review titled “The Lost Armalites”

A5689 sold last year Click Here For Details

The Subject of this post is serial number 021.

Check it out Here

I will do a deep analysis of this gun in a follow up article. Stay tuned and subscribe!

 

AR18-S Shorty Upper Project

Work progresses sporadically since I am mostly only able to work on this during the weekends. I formed a thicker front hand guard retainer and tried my hand at silver soldering for the first time. Got a little carried away with the amount of solder but at least the centering sleeve is not gonna come loose.

A quick glass bead to clean it up and off to my tabletop park tank. (stainless bowl from goodwill on a hot plate)

I also modeled up a set of fixtures to hold the front sight base and receiver for drilling and reaming the taper pins. Didn’t quite get it perfect the first time so I adjusted the model and printed another one.

Cut down a set of hand guards and we are almost there. Looking the part now.

Need another flash hider so I better get that modeled up as well.

Having built 5 shorty uppers so far I can say it is getting easier. I’ve worked out the bugs but even now I discover new things. What did I learn this time? I learned that the curves of an original AR180 upper hand guard are different than the AR180B. This is the first time I have cut down an original upper hand guard and now it makes sense why the retainers I have milled out of aluminum do not match pictures I have compared them to.

Quick Update

What’s been happening since I have posted last?

Well I have worked out a multi gun + cash trade for an AR-18. Should be sending the final paperwork off this weekend. Just gotta get my fingerprint cards and photos taken care of tomorrow.

Other than that busy cleaning the shop so I can actually do some work when I get home from work on the weekends, unless I also have to work on the weekends. I think you get my drift.

Since an AR-18 is incoming a shorty upper must be part of the plan as well.

I was lent some forming tools to make a new and pretty close to proper front hand guard retainer. First try is looking not terrible. I used thinner gauge material but I will bump that up for the next one.

And in other news Youtube finally caught up with me and removed my video that shows how to build the Nodak NDS-18S lower.

Not sure where I can host it now but I am looking at options.