Tag: AR180 Bolt Carrier Group

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Project SA80 L85A2

Project SA80 L85A2

Working out of town all week had me chomping at the bit with this project. I was digging up pictures on the net and making crude drawings in my note book.

These were from a guy on Facebook that goes by the name The SA80 Man. A message has been sent his way and hope he can help me with this project.

Some screen caps from Ian at Forgotten Weapons

Does anyone else get bored when I’m traveling by plane? I have taken to putting my thoughts down on paper.

I was feeling confident and all was well and fine till I got home and hit upon my first major snag.

I had to work out the relationships between the magazine, hammer, and barrel exiting the front of the receiver. In order for all those things to line up I realized that the 180B bolt carrier is not going to work. It places the guide rods too low ( The receiver is upside down  in the above pic) and they will not allow room for ejection. Several thoughts crossed my mind at this stage like cutting out and lowering the ejection port or raising all of the components to work with the existing port. I believe the first is still on the table but the second most definitely is not. The amount of work that would be required is considerable, including raising the barrel. Do that and the hand guards would no longer fit.

I think the simplest solution is to make a new bolt carrier. The SA80 bolt carrier guide rods are spaced further away from the bolt centerline and as a result, would solve all my problems. I am not sure how I would go about cutting the cam pin slot. I envision myself drilling a few well placed holes and finishing it off with hours of hand filing and fitting. Oh goody. Nobody said this would be easy.

The other option is to find more original parts.

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New Project: SA80 L85

Those who took a close look at the pics in my last post may have identified them as original SA80 parts. Those have prompted me to try my hand at modifying an Airsoft version to work as a real gun.

I ordered a WE L85 gas blowback from Evike and it arrived in a couple days. By the way if you sign up for their email list you get a code for 25% off your first order. I also got a coupon in the box for 20% off another order.

Click Here

My plan is to start by taking it apart and seeing how the original parts as well as an AR180B bolt carrier assembly would fit.

Starting with the magwell I noticed this gun was different than the electric airsoft versions. The magwell was bigger. A standard AR15 mag fit. It’s actually a little loose. I may have to work the existing magwell a bit to tighten that up but I don’t see a the need to weld in a new one at this point.

Next I wanted to see how thick the steel was on the receiver.

Looks like the lower is thicker than the upper.

Lets start taking it apart and see how the parts compare. Plenty of room for the bolt carrier and fire control group.

Speaking of the fire control group, would you believe it drops right in like it was made for it!

Lets get an idea how the bolt carrier lines up with the lower.

Pulling the remaining guts out of the upper I can get an idea how everything might fit.

My plan is to make a trunion like the AR180B that just has a large hole in it and the AR15 barrel extension is pressed into it. I need to find pics of an original selector so I can wrap my head around how it changes from semi to auto. I can then figure out how to make it semi only. The auto sear has already been removed but there is something going on with the disconnector.

Let me know if you think this will work and if you have advice or pics or drawings please let me know.

 

 

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AR-18 Upper For Sale

Well there was what was described as an AR-18 parts kit for sale on gunbroker. When I first saw it the seller had an F rating. The description also mentioned that the parts were in Europe.

I still am confused about what part of the AR-18 actually is the “Machine Gun”. The parts kits that Numrich sold some years back were first sold with the uppers cut and the lowers intact, not unlike the current SAR-80 kits. The ATF changed their minds and had Numrich recall them to cut the lowers up.

I invite your comments and speculation about whether an AR-18 upper is legal to own or if it could be imported into the country?

I saved the sole picture from the auction so after it goes away this post will still have some value.

Buy it now price was $995 and the auction was ended early. Who knows what happened behind the scenes?

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New Record Auction for an AR-180?

Possibly. It’s the highest I’ve seen and I follow them pretty closely. $4026.01 Wow!

See It For Yourself

It is about as close to new as you are likely to see. A true safe queen. Early gun, Three digit serial number. Obviously highly desirable, especially by the two that went at it at the end. What a fight.

Imagine what it would have brought if it had the original box!

I hope one of my readers got it.

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Backing Out of the Upcoming AR-18S Auction

RIA Auction

Just wanted to thank all those that contacted me with well wishes and to buy a few things but I am announcing that I no longer plan to go after this gun. I have learned a lot about this gun including the fact that it is somewhat famous and several people with deep pockets will be pursuing it.

I want to let my readers know first so that they may put their hat in the ring if they so wish.

Here is what I know about the gun in question.

It was sold from Armalite in 1985 as an “S” model and was either a mule or part of the companies collection.

It was became somewhat famous when it appeared in the Small Arms Review article “The Lost Armalites”

The black and white photos make it hard to tell if the upper on the gun is the same as when it was sold in 1998 but I think it is. Is the upper the same as when it was sold in 1985 is the real question. One can never be sure.

While this gun surely belongs in my reference collection I can not justify the expense at this time and I intend to pursue a “Normal” AR-18 as my first machine gun.