AR18 – Page 5 – AR180S.COM

October 31, 2015

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.

October 20, 2015

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.

Mystery Bolt

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.

October 17, 2015

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.

Thanks for hanging out with me for a few minutes and if you are new or have not subscribed to AR180S.com, please drop your email in the box on the right and you will get emails whenever a new article comes out.

September 30, 2015

AR-180B Shorty Project Pt. VIII: The New AR-180S

A quick update on the AR-180B Shorty Project or what I like to call it, the New AR-180S.

I had some time to attend a therapy session in my shop this past weekend and I have to say it was successful.

I have been bothered by the hand guards on this gun from the very beginning and I finally decided to do something about it.

I have tried and failed to make a retainer for the hand guards out of sheet steel like the originals. I’m good with my hands but I am no body man.

I have long thought about machining a retainer from aluminum but a figured in could only be done with CNC, which I don’t have.

I decided that I would throw caution to the wind and try to mill it manually on my mill. Whats the worst that could happen?

For reference, this is the method I am trying to emulate.

My original, and always temporary method, was to take the end of the cut off piece and glue it inside the remaining piece. It has already broken once and was coming loose again.

I started with a piece of 6061 and laid out the shape a needed.

I squared up the sides then drilled out my holes and checked to see if I had my dimensions correct.

I then moved my end mill down to the depth I wanted and followed my layout lines using both knobs at the same time. This is where the therapy came in. It took a lot of concentration but in the end I think I did a pretty good job, if I don’t say so myself.

I made sure it actually fit the hand guards.

I then flipped it over and shaved it down to .035″, the same thickness as the steel retainer.

Then I trimmed up the sides on my porta-band.

And finished up with some flap disc and file work.

A final test fit.

Since I have no way to anodize I shot it with my favorite substitute, Rust-Oleum Dark Grey Primer.

And here she is an all her glory the New AR-180S!

I can’t tell you how much better the hand guards feel. They have always moved a little and never felt secure.

Now they are rock solid.

Fingers crossed that I can get some time this weekend to go shooting. I hasn’t had a round through it since it was a pistol.

September 24, 2015September 30, 2015

The First 1000 Howa AR-180s

In the world of AR-180 collecting one of the top prizes could be considered the early Howa AR-180s.

Several notable features are readily apparent but some subtle clues to it’s origins are hiding just below the surface.

The most obvious feature of the rifles is the placement of the serial number, on the upper receiver as opposed to the lower.

The second is the 180 degree swing safety, which is unique to the Howa.

Some examples show a distinct misalignment of the 0 in the 180. This our first clue that these guns started life as AR-18s.

Further clues can be discovered when looking at the bottom of the upper receiver.

It is obvious when compared to the underside of an AR-18 that the part that held the auto sear has been removed.

The firing pins also look different and it looks to me like these Howas used modified AR-18 firing pins.

The really interesting thing about these guns is when they were actually made. I think the evidence makes a strong case for 1967. Much earlier than many thought.

The first piece of the puzzle is an article in the January 31. 1966 issue of U.S. News & World Report. It states that a provisional agreement was reached and Howa would undertake the first mass production of this rifle.

Japan then, during the Diet session of 1967, introduced the “Three Principles” which forbid the exportation of arms to nations in active conflict. Anyone remember what the US was doing in 1967? In southeast Asia? That’s right the Vietnam War. Howa would not have started production of a rifle they could not export so it makes sense that they were built sometime between Jan ’66 and the passing of the law in 1967.

Yet another clue, and the one first postulated by my friend and mentor, Rich, was that the earliest scopes sold in this country were originally matched up with these first 1000 Howa AR-18s. These particular AR-18s were known to have matching serial numbered flash hiders and Rich speculated that the scopes were matched as well. All the first scopes have serial numbers that start with 67 and do not go above 1000. After the rifles were banned from importation, ArmaLite ramped up production themselves and since there was no ban on the importation of the scopes, there separated from the rifles and sent to the US. These were sold as accessories with the Costa Mesa rifles.

I would like to thank all the generous folks on the retro forum at AR15.com and all those who have helped with the gathering of this information.

Like I said when I started this site, I want it to be a central depository for information about these cool guns.