Leave a comment and tell me what differences you see between the early Howa and the early Costa Mesa in these pictures.
Early Howa AR-180 Part 2
One feature of early Howa AR-180 rifles that is unique is the flash hider, or recoil compensator as it is referred to in the factory documentation.
These were of a different design and had serial numbers stamped into them. What I did not realize was that the barrels were also different. As you can see in these two pictures, the contour of the barrels is not the same between this early Howa shown first, and the early Costa Mesa shown second. I plan to remove the flash hiders to see if the threaded sections are the same. I suspect the Howa will have shorter threads because a lock nut is not used. Late Howas also have the same contour (the step up at the muzzle end) so this may not be true as they use lock nuts.
The fact that no lock nut is used means that special care had to be taken to get the flash hiders to be timed properly. I believe that the flat washer behind the lock washer must have come in different thicknesses to accomplish this.
Finally, one of the fantastic guys over at the AR15.com Retro Forums (isplice) reports that where the flats ended up and where the serial numbers were stamped was not consistent.
If viewed from the firing position my example has the flats at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock with the serial number stamped at 9 o’clock. On gun 96x, the flats are in the same orientation but the serial is stamped at 3 o’clock. Guns 34x and 82x, the flats are at 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock and the serial number is stamped at 6 o’clock.
Reader and AR-18 Guru, Pete points out that he has noticed a difference in the windage knobs on Howa guns and all the others. I looked through the picture I shot this weekend and sure enough, he was right.
Howa – Knurled
Costa Mesa – Lines
I have found the earliest incarnation of the extra cut out on the bolt carrier as seen in my last post.
This picture is of the very first AR-18 serial number X001. It was scanned from an early AR-18 manual. If you look closely you can see that the cut out is along the full length of the bolt carrier.
The first AR-18s did not have a dust cover, it was a later improvement after military testing found fault with the opening allowing dirt and debris to get into the action. When the dust cover was added the cut out was shortened so that the second cut could be made. This second cut is there to cam open the dust cover.
More updates will be coming soon so please comment and subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.
Early HOWA AR-180; One of the First 1000
As luck would have it, after writing the article about The First 1000 Howa AR-180 I came across one and it has now joined the collection. Special thanks goes to one of my readers (you know who you are) that stayed out of the fray and let me take a run at it. I certainly could not have competed against him for this rifle.
Other than sling swivels and original Howa magazines, this Howa AR-180 is complete. Condition leaves a lot to be desired for many. For me it is perfect. Everything rattles and is loose. There is a slight hint of rust in a few places. It has “Patina”. I love it. Best of all, I can shoot it and have fun with it.
In addition to having one to help round out my collection, I wanted it because I was curious about the differences between these rifles and later versions.
This is the picture that first caught my eye.
If you look closely you will notice a difference in the bolt carrier compared to any others that I know of.
Here is the bolt carrier next to the one from my early Costa Mesa rifle. (The one shown on the splash screen at the top of page and in your emails from me)
Both of these early 180 bolt carries started life as AR-18 carriers but there are differences. The most striking and the reason I wanted this example, was the extra machined cutout on the right side of the carrier.
The left sides are very similar with only a few distinctions. A radius on the cam pin and the quality of the machine work, with the Howa coming out on top.
The firing pins differ as well. The early Costa Mesa using an AR-18 firing pin and the Howa using what I think is a modified AR-18 pin.
This is just one of the unique features of these fine weapons. Stay tuned for more in-depth articles soon.
Now some more pics for you, the Early Howa and the Early Costa Mesa.
Update: Mystery Bolt: Reader Needs Your Help
Some of you may recall a post some time back with a mystery bolt that a reader was trying to identify.
He just sent me an email and said he found out what it was.
A Bushmaster Assault Rifle.
A very interesting rifle with concepts taken from the AR-180 and the long stroke piston design most commonly seen in the Kalashnikov rifles. I particularly like the captured recoil spring. It looks like something I could build in my shop at home.
A fantastic dis-assembly post over on AR15.com can be found here.
For anyone who might be interested, there is a new in box one for sale on gunbroker for a very reasonable price. Click Here
These rifles never caught on and like the AR-18/AR-180, they never got the years of refinement needed to make them truly great rifles. They both however, show many of the design elements found in modern rifles like the SCAR 16, the HK G36/SL8-6, and the Magpaul Masada/Bushmaster ACR.
Photo above showing the SCAR 16 and SL8-6 was found in an excellent article on The Truth About Guns.
Photo above showing the Bushmaster ACR bolt carrier group. Credit unknown.
What’s Been Happening at AR180S.com
What’s been happening at AR180S.com?
Just busy as all get out.
Shipped out the first batch of AR180 Lower Parts Kits. I hope that leads to more AR-180 enthusiasm as more NoDak lowers get sold and more Stormwerkz adapters get sold, and finally uppers begin to come out of the GunLab. I’m sure that there will be a time soon that you will be able to build your own AR-180 from scratch.
Chuck has a few extra Bolt Hold Opens and I will be posting those up for sale individually after I get them in my hands.
Work has me traveling all over since one of our trainers left to teach at a community college and I am filling in for him in the Pacific Northwest. Hopefully we will get a new person to take over that territory and I can stay closer to home.
New AR-180S
I am looking to build a second shorty upper and I hope to bring you details as the build continues.
I have a 180B stripped upper and found an HBAR AR15 barrel as a starting point. This will allow me to turn the profile to exactly what I want and not have to sleeve the barrel under the gas block like my first one. I will also be extending the hand guards a fraction of an inch to match the original AR-18S lower hand guard that I have. This will become the standard length an will allow me to design an endcap and they won’t have to be custom made for each gun.
You can see in this picture how the hand guard is long enough to retain the reinforcing rib.
I am also toying with the idea on an even shorter version with hand guards cut off at the first rib.
This matches the description of the AR-18K but I have never seen a picture of said weapon.
If anyone has any info about these short versions, please drop me a line. I would love to chat about it.
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