American-180 Explained

American-180
Origin:	United States
Type:	Submachine gun
Used By:	See Users
Is Ranged:	yes
Designer:	Richard J. Casull
Manufacturer:	Voere Illinois Arms Company, Inc. American Arms International
Production Date:	early 1970s to mid-1980s^[1]
Number:	~10,000
Variants:	semi-automatic variant select-fire variant
Weight:	5.7lb empty 10lb loaded with 177-round magazine
Length:	35.5inches
Part Length:	14inches (select-fire variant) 17.5inches (semi-automatic variant)^[2]
Cartridge:	.22 Long Rifle .22 ILARCO (.22 Winchester Short Magnum Rimfire/.22 American)^[3] ^[4]
Action:	blowback, open bolt
Rate:	1200 round/min (.22 Long Rifle) 1500 round/min (.22 ILARCO)
Feed:	165, 177, 220, or 275 round detachable pan magazine
Sights:	Fixed open sights, Factory-installed laser sights

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]

Operation

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. 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.

Variants

• 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 14lb, 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

two were used respectively by the GIPN of Marseille and the Research and Intervention Brigade of Paris in the 1980s.^[11]

• : Rhodesian SAS.^{[12] [13]}
• : 4th Reconnaissance Regiment.^[14]
• : Various law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities.^{[8] [15]}

See also

• Calico M100, a weapon of similar design and concept
• MGV-176, modernized version of the American-180 made in the former Yugoslavia

References

External links

• User Manual
• American-180 submachine gun at Modern Firearms
• A Swarm of Angry Bees: The American 180 .22LR Submachine Gun—History and shooting

Notes and References

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. Book: Survival Weapons: Optimizing Your Arsenal. Phil West. March 2014 . 141. 978-1291460988.
4. Book: Cartridges of the World. 617. W. Todd Woodard. Gun Digest Books.
5. June 23, 2016. .22LR Casull Model 290 Carbine from the 1960's. Bigshooterist . . July 6, 2023. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/VEv6o5Cea9I. July 6, 2023. live.
6. Web site: American SAR 180/275. July 13, 2017. 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150214023134/http://www.elmfg.com/am180/accessor/sar180.html. February 14, 2015. dead.
7. Web site: The American 180. 2009-07-05. Machine Gun News. https://web.archive.org/web/20230421214510/https://www.elmfg.com/am180/articles/mgn12-95.html. April 21, 2023.
8. News: Monty . Mendenhall . Cheap Thrills—22 Rimfire Machine Guns . Small Arms Review . March 1998 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20230706040706/https://www.elmfg.com/am180/articles/sar03-98.html . July 6, 2023 . July 6, 2023 . live .
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. https://www.senat.fr/rap/r82-085/r82-0851.pdf Report no. 85 of the French Senate, 1982.
12. Book: Iron Fist From The Sea: South Africa's Seaborne Raiders 1978-1988 . Helion and Company . Steyn, Douw . Söderlund, Arné . Arne Söderlund . 2015 . 96, 102 . 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. Web site: Stille Vuurkrag:-Documented Combat Usage of the American-180 by SADF/Rhodesian SAS. 11 July 2017. 2017-07-11. TheFirearmBlog. https://web.archive.org/web/20230320000448/https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/07/11/stille-vuurkrag-documented-combat-usage-american-180-sadfrhodesian-sas/. March 20, 2023.
15. Web site: History of the American 180. July 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20211207125142/https://elmfg.com/am180/history/history.html. December 7, 2021.