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American-180

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The American-180 is a submachine gun developed in the 1960s which fires the .22 Long Rifle or .22 ILARCO cartridges from a pan magazine. The concept began with the Casull Model 290 that used a flat pan magazine similar to designs widely used prior to World War II. Only 87 Casull M290s were built, as the weapon was expensive to manufacture.[5] The American-180 is an improved version. A semi-automatic only variant called the American SAR 180/275 is still produced on a custom basis by E&L Manufacturing of Riddle, Oregon.[6]

American-180
TypeSubmachine gun
Place of origin United States
Service history
Used bySee Users
Production history
DesignerRichard J. Casull
ManufacturerVoere
Illinois Arms Company, Inc.
American Arms International
Producedearly 1970s to mid-1980s[1]
No. built~10,000
Variantssemi-automatic variant
select-fire variant
Specifications
Mass
  • 5.7 lb (2.6 kg) empty
  • 10 lb (4.5 kg) loaded with 177-round magazine
Length
  • 35.5 in (900 mm)
Barrel length
  • 14 in (360 mm) (select-fire variant)
  • 17.5 in (440 mm) (semi-automatic variant)[2]
Cartridge.22 Long Rifle
.22 ILARCO (.22 Winchester Short Magnum Rimfire/.22 American)[3][4]
Actionblowback, open bolt
Rate of fire
  • 1200 round/min (.22 Long Rifle)
  • 1500 round/min (.22 ILARCO)
Feed system165, 177, 220, or 275 round detachable pan magazine
SightsFixed open sights, Factory-installed laser sights

Operation

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The weapon operates through a conventional blowback mechanism. It uses an open bolt with a flat pan magazine. It fires at a very high rate of fire of approximately 1,200 rounds per minute. The American-180 was purchased mostly by private parties prior to the Hughes Amendment in 1986, which banned the production of automatic weapons for the American civilian market. The A180 was adopted by the Utah Department of Corrections to arm prison guards.[7][8]

Despite the low power of the .22 Long Rifle round, testing demonstrated that automatic fire could penetrate even concrete and bulletproof vests from cumulative damage.[citation needed] However, the target would have to remain still for some amount of time to allow the cumulative damage to amass in the same area to achieve this.[citation needed]

Variants

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American 180 Rifle System with Laser LOK Sight
  • Twin-barrelled variant: The ILARCO company manufactured the American 180 in a twin-gun configuration. The two receivers were mounted on a single stock that weighed more than 14 lb (6.4 kg), with a rate of fire over 3,000 rounds per minute.[9]
  • Quad-barrelled variant: The ILARCO company manufactured the American 180 in a quad-gun configuration. Each of the individual guns could be fired in a variety of combinations. The guns could be fired one at a time, or one on the left and one of the right, or all at once. It was mounted on a large tripod, with a rate of fire from 3,000 to 12,000 rounds per minute.[10]

Users

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ The cartridge collector. (n.d.). https://www.oldammo.com/january16.htm
  2. ^ E&L Manufacturing, Inc. - american 180 parts and accessories - history. (n.d.). https://elmfg.com/am180/history/history.html
  3. ^ Phil West (March 2014). Survival Weapons: Optimizing Your Arsenal. p. 141. ISBN 978-1291460988.
  4. ^ W. Todd Woodard. Cartridges of the World. Gun Digest Books. p. 617.
  5. ^ .22LR Casull Model 290 Carbine from the 1960's. Bigshooterist. June 23, 2016. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "American SAR 180/275". 2015. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  7. ^ "The American 180". Machine Gun News. Archived from the original on April 21, 2023. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  8. ^ a b Mendenhall, Monty (March 1998). "Cheap Thrills—22 Rimfire Machine Guns". Small Arms Review. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  9. ^ American 180 dual Mount. (n.d.). https://elmfg.com/am180/history/dualmt.html
  10. ^ American 180 quad mount. (n.d.). https://elmfg.com/am180/history/quadmt.html
  11. ^ Report no. 85 of the French Senate, 1982. (Archive)
  12. ^ Steyn, Douw; Söderlund, Arné (2015). Iron Fist From The Sea: South Africa's Seaborne Raiders 1978-1988. Helion and Company. pp. 96, 102. ISBN 978-1909982284.
  13. ^ Special Weapons on Rhodesia by Dana Drenkowski, A Wide Variety of Unique Weapons are used in Rhodesia's fight against terrorism, Soldier of Fortune
  14. ^ a b "Stille Vuurkrag:-Documented Combat Usage of the American-180 by SADF/Rhodesian SAS". TheFirearmBlog. 11 July 2017. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  15. ^ "History of the American 180". Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
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