AR-180-S upper unit
I have an AR18/180s complete upper. It has a 10 inch barrel w/flash hider. Made by Pete Fleis. It is in excellent condition. What is it worth in todays market? Ball Park figure. Thank you. [8D]
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OK about 50 people have looked but no one has a clue as to what its worth might be? 0 -
The only examples of Ar-18/180 shorty uppers I have ever seen were those produced by Sterling Arms on the AR-180S Police Carbines and the AR-18AS Combat Carbines. There were around 125 of the semi autos produced and 327 of the selective fire shorty rifles, with production ending in 1983. I have no clue who Peter Fleis is or what his products might be worth. 0 -
Try www.defensereview.com/armalite-re-introduces-the-ar-180 and scroll down to the Peter Fleis link. 0 -
A year later, I know, but fyi for enthusiast of this fine rifle, a few points from my own experience:
I have bought several AR-180s over the years, first ones Howa's which had a more military "phosphate" finish than my later Sterlings and Costa Mesa.
As a lad I reloaded 5.56 mm and discovered that re-using some cases over and over without trimming them to length can result in a "blow-out" near the base of the brass casing since it doesn't chamber all the way. When the round fired, it blew a nice little slot about 90 degrees around the base of the casing at the head. Even through this small slot, the pressure blast was enough to blow about twenty rounds out the bottom of the 30-rd. magazine (including the floor plate) and bend the extractor claw outwards. What impressed me about the rifle from this incident was its durability. I was able to put the extractor in a vise and bend it back straight with a hammer, and it is still working fine after hundreds of more rounds to this day.
In the early 1970s, when Armalite was still in business, I was interested in the AR-18S myself. Around that time, an annual Gun Digest or Shooters Bible had an article on the AR-18 including a picture of an AR-18S which had a pistol grip at the fore end.
I phoned a rep at Armalite in Costa Mesa, CA back then. He informed me that they had sold AR-18 rifles including the AR-18S to the Philippine government, and also a few of the AR-18S "shorties" to the US Secret Service.
I remember seeing AR-18/180 parts for sale back then in The Shotgun News for a brief period, including the short barrel. This ad did not last very long, however.
I am not familiar with Pete Fleis' work but my guess is that his short-barreled model is a custom job rather than a factory unit. His web site appears to be gone. A "shortie" could be made with a factory barrel or by cutting down a rifle barrel, drilling a new gas port and installing some type of short hand guards, and optionally a pistol grip.
Of course, in the US a shortened version would legally be a pistol, like other short-barreled (anything under 16") rifles (e.g., 12" Bushmaster and AR-15).
I also don't know if the twist ratio was different, but I believe that short barrels usually have a higher twist ratio that longer rifle barrels.0
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