AR-18 – Page 14 – AR180S.COM

November 24, 2014November 30, 2014

Identifying Costa Mesa 30 Round Magazines

In the early days of production and sales in Costa Mesa, Armalite offered their own 30 round steel magazines.

These are often misidentified or overlooked because they have no markings at all.

You will notice that the bases plate shown in the picture below have no markings and feature a hole on one end. These are the ones you are looking for. (The top magazine has the incorrect base plate)

Unlike the Sterling magazines, these have no hole on the side of the magazine.

Right side.

Left side.

They also feature a unique spot weld design that I have seen on no other magazines. Three equally spaced spot welds are more prominent than the rest.

You will also not that these magazines are designed with a full curve and not the partial curve of the Sterling or M16 magazines.

Good luck with your hunt for these highly desirable magazines.

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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 19, 2014November 21, 2014

AR-18S Inspiration for the AR-180B Shorty Project

For those not familiar, the AR-18S was the sub-machine gun version of the select fire AR-18. This was the inspiration for my shorty project.

These two pictures started it all.

Pete Fleis did a handful of these conversions and there are some factory made guns.

There are even a very few semi auto AR-180S guns floating around.

While mine will be a pistol to start, I fully intend to sbr it and have it turn out a close match for these two guns.

I have subsequently found a few more pictures of the cool little guns but have yet to come across any documentation about production numbers.

I believe this to be a factory Sterling AR-18S.

I believe this is a factory AR-180S but the jury is still out.

You will note that there are three types of flash hiders used on these guns. Small conical, Large conical, and standard three prong.

I will leave you with this scan from Small Arms Review that shows the very first carbine prototype. I wonder where this one is now.

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