A thread elsewhere in the forum about guns you want to like got me thinking about my brief encounter with an AR-180.
Along about 25 years ago, when I was young (and poor) I bought an Armalite AR-180 from a co-worker for, IIRC, $175. At the time there was no way I could swing an AR-15 so this was my way into the tactical rifle world, And, with it's removable mags, aperture sight, matte black finish and side folding stock, it was indeed (to my eyes) tacticool.
Only problem was the gas cylinder was broken in half, so I had a local gunsmith search around until he could find a replacement. Once repaired, I took it out to a remote desert spot where I could safely see what it could do. We had a big grapefruit tree in our yard at the time, so I had a ready supply of round yellow targets. My wife stood behind and off to one side and proceeded to throw grapefruit in front of me to shoot at.
All was well for a few shots. Then the sear notch sheared off the hammer and the AR-180 was suddenly a rocking & rolling full auto rifle. Scared the crap out of me as I was not prepared to empty a 20 round mag full auto
I had the hammer replaced and traded it to the gunsmith on an SKS (got some cash too) - but you know after all these years I still remember how much I really wanted to like that little rifle.
Along about 25 years ago, when I was young (and poor) I bought an Armalite AR-180 from a co-worker for, IIRC, $175. At the time there was no way I could swing an AR-15 so this was my way into the tactical rifle world, And, with it's removable mags, aperture sight, matte black finish and side folding stock, it was indeed (to my eyes) tacticool.
Only problem was the gas cylinder was broken in half, so I had a local gunsmith search around until he could find a replacement. Once repaired, I took it out to a remote desert spot where I could safely see what it could do. We had a big grapefruit tree in our yard at the time, so I had a ready supply of round yellow targets. My wife stood behind and off to one side and proceeded to throw grapefruit in front of me to shoot at.
All was well for a few shots. Then the sear notch sheared off the hammer and the AR-180 was suddenly a rocking & rolling full auto rifle. Scared the crap out of me as I was not prepared to empty a 20 round mag full auto
I had the hammer replaced and traded it to the gunsmith on an SKS (got some cash too) - but you know after all these years I still remember how much I really wanted to like that little rifle.
