A Swarm of Angry Bees: The American 180 .22LR Submachine Gun

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - A Swarm of Angry Bees: The American 180 .22LR Submachine Gun

Posted: 3/25/2017 4:54:15 PM EDT

A Swarm of Angry Bees: The American 180 .22LR Submachine Gun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J50N5lQoAFw

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:03:51 PM EDT

[#1]

I remember when this thing came out in the early 80s I think? There were multiple reports about it in gun magazines, science magazines, TV news shows, etc... Mostly about the laser site that was promoted with the gun, which isn't in that video...it was one of the first laser sites, a big boxy thing under the barrel. I also remember when David Gerrold used a lightly disguised version of this in his book A Matter for Men.

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:06:20 PM EDT

[#2]

Want

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:07:15 PM EDT

[#3]

Very fun gun to shoot

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:14:02 PM EDT

[#4]

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:15:15 PM EDT

[#5]

shooting full auto 22 is fun

I remember reading about these in the 1970s, they made a big push to get police to buy them

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:15:32 PM EDT

[#6]

A friend of mine had one. Fun to shoot. Drums are kind of a pain to load and you have to be careful shooting it with a short sleeve shirt on. Kind of have to chicken wing it or it will dump empties right in the crook of your elbow.

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:16:10 PM EDT

[#7]

Years ago I bought a huge box of random gun parts from an estate sale for cheap, it had one of the drum mags for one of these and a bunch of uzi and other parts.

I sold most of the stuff off and the guy who got the mag was excited as hell to find one.

They are cool guns and the guy I use for class 3 stuff has one and I have shot it before and they are fun

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:19:39 PM EDT

[#8]

A local PD got one when they came out, and invited the media out for a show and shoot. Awesome little gun.

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:19:57 PM EDT

[#9]

dedicated 22 caliber MGs seem to work a lot better than conversion kits

the 22 kit for the Thompson seems to work great

the M16 22 kits seem to suck ass

UZI is kind of a mixed bag

but these 180s seem to run very well

and so do the FA ruger 10/22s

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:22:37 PM EDT

[#10]

yugoslavia army adopted a cloned version of it called the MGV-176.

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:29:50 PM EDT

[#11]

I'll take one in .17 hmr please.

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:41:33 PM EDT

[#12]

Shot one a few years ago, sick cyclic rate. They supposedly marketed them to prisons because they could chew through bulletproof glass of the era.

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:48:51 PM EDT

[#13]

Watched this earlier today. I want one.

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:51:13 PM EDT

[#14]

I shot one once. I had a STEn, and this guy wanted to try it.
He had an American 180. We swapped for a mag.

I liked the STEn better

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:52:58 PM EDT

[#15]

will the mag indexing just jump the dummy stack

i assume so.

looks fun so shoot and cheap to feed

Posted: 3/25/2017 5:56:13 PM EDT

[#16]

That is cool as hell

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:04:18 PM EDT

[#17]

Federal prisons used them as their tower weapons for a while.
When the company got busted (forgot what for) the lined up the trucks and dumped all the factors guns and parts into a big
truck with side rails and an open top in the rain....ruined em all.

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:05:05 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
I remember when this thing came out in the early 80s I think? There were multiple reports about it in gun magazines, science magazines, TV news shows, etc... Mostly about the laser site that was promoted with the gun, which isn't in that video...it was one of the first laser sites, a big boxy thing under the barrel. I also remember when David Gerrold used a lightly disguised version of this in his book A Matter for Men.

View Quote

I had that laser

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:10:20 PM EDT

[#19]

BTDT

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:15:55 PM EDT

[#20]

Like having a stripper girlfriend. All day getting her loaded for a few minutes of fun.

Mike

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:18:28 PM EDT

[#21]

i almost bought one once or twice.

supposedly there is a vid of it being used in (i think) a hostage situation from across and down the street not very far and it basically chews the guys head off.

i want one of these and i want a colt thompson.

i figured if i got one, i'd shoot it once or twice and then it would just languish some where as i'd be too lazy to reload the mag.

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:20:04 PM EDT

[#22]

Quote History

Quoted:
Very fun gun to shoot

View Quote

I got to put a mag through one. It was a certified blast! Loading mags... not so much fun.

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:32:26 PM EDT

[#23]

I've shot them several times, tons of fun.

Posted: 3/25/2017 6:55:53 PM EDT

[#24]

Quote History

Quoted:
Very fun gun to shoot

View Quote

Sure when you could get them to shoot. I could never get mine to be reliable.

Posted: 3/25/2017 7:26:39 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
i almost bought one once or twice.

supposedly there is a vid of it being used in (i think) a hostage situation from across and down the street not very far and it basically chews the guys head off.

i want one of these and i want a colt thompson.

i figured if i got one, i'd shoot it once or twice and then it would just languish some where as i'd be too lazy to reload the mag.

View Quote

That sounds badass. Anyone got a link?

Posted: 3/25/2017 7:35:02 PM EDT

[#26]

Quote History

Quoted:
That sounds badass. Anyone got a link?

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
i almost bought one once or twice.

supposedly there is a vid of it being used in (i think) a hostage situation from across and down the street not very far and it basically chews the guys head off.

i want one of these and i want a colt thompson.

i figured if i got one, i'd shoot it once or twice and then it would just languish some where as i'd be too lazy to reload the mag.

That sounds badass. Anyone got a link?

good luck finding one if it even exists. i was very interested in these things in the late 70s/early 80s and there was this story going around about the hostage thing. supposedly, the story was there was a tv crew on the scene and got the vid. but this this would have been around 40 years ago.

they were sold as (sort of) close in precision weapons due the fact of the rate of fire, the lazer and the limited recoil of the 22Lr . the story was you could put the dot on something and literally chew it up. the energy delivered by that concentrated fire was huge, probably more than a win 458 magnum (elephant gun).

couple of things made them not succeed as something that various police and prison agencies bought in to. they jammed and once you were out of ammo, they werent quick to change mags (think about how fast you can reload most mil-spec weapons and even semi-auto pistols). an the range of course was limited, probably realistically to 50 yards or thereabouts.

Posted: 3/25/2017 10:30:53 PM EDT

[#27]

a semi auto version with a bumpfire stock should be made...........

Posted: 3/25/2017 10:46:06 PM EDT

[#28]

Having lived in SLC I googled that address and have been by it a ton of times. I have heard stories of the Utah state prison having some of these and the fun they had with them. Supposed to chew right threw cinder blocks

Posted: 3/25/2017 10:50:46 PM EDT

[#29]

IIRC, the manufacturer used one to saw a car in half, as a way of proving the effectiveness.

Posted: 3/25/2017 10:53:53 PM EDT

[#30]

Quote History

Quoted:
Very fun gun to shoot

View Quote

They are indeed.

Posted: 3/25/2017 10:57:30 PM EDT

[#31]

I know an arfcommer with one. I don't out people, but he might show here.

FYI, long strings lead the barrel badly.

Posted: 3/25/2017 11:01:09 PM EDT

[#32]

Quote History

Quoted:
I shot one once. I had a STEn, and this guy wanted to try it.
He had an American 180. We swapped for a mag.

I liked the STEn better

View Quote

Ironically, of all the machine guns I've been blessed with shooting - having never bought one - the sten and AM180 are at the top for the same reasons. Stupid controllable, cheap to shoot, and pure fun. I'd still get a RR first given the versatility, but for unique sexiness those two win.

Posted: 3/26/2017 1:03:21 AM EDT

[#33]

They are still being made in semi auto. just $1250

http://www.brasscatchers.com/am180/accessor/sar180.html

Posted: 3/26/2017 1:09:08 AM EDT

[#34]

My smith has one in F/A.

Posted: 3/26/2017 1:13:11 AM EDT

[#35]

Quote History

Quoted:
BTDT

http://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/766/American-180-Add-173803.jpg

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Could you imagine that shit today? The news would be able to say "The police fired 900 shots at the suspect" for every shooting

Posted: 3/26/2017 1:19:41 AM EDT

[#36]

I want one bad ...they have gotten to be expensive. 14-17K..

Posted: 3/26/2017 1:25:58 AM EDT

[#37]

Quote History

Quoted:
They are still being made in semi auto. just $1250

http://www.brasscatchers.com/am180/accessor/sar180.html

View Quote

An ar15 upper that used 180 drums would be cool.

Posted: 3/26/2017 1:40:28 AM EDT

[#38]

There's a pissed off former Californian that's working on a Calico drum upper for the AR. 100 rnds of 9x19mm.

Posted: 3/26/2017 1:41:23 AM EDT

[#39]

Quote History

Quoted:
yugoslavia army adopted a cloned version of it called the MGV-176.

http://i.gyazo.com/2a978302c0eaa01c61fe985ad4516c58.png

View Quote

That's fucking rad.

Posted: 3/26/2017 2:44:37 AM EDT

[#40]

Is that a HeNe tube laser?

Posted: 3/26/2017 3:11:11 AM EDT

[#41]

Quote History

Quoted:
yugoslavia army adopted a cloned version of it called the MGV-176.

http://i.gyazo.com/2a978302c0eaa01c61fe985ad4516c58.png

View Quote

Posted: 3/26/2017 8:48:16 AM EDT

[#42]

Quote History

Quoted:
Ironically, of all the machine guns I've been blessed with shooting - having never bought one - the sten and AM180 are at the top for the same reasons. Stupid controllable, cheap to shoot, and pure fun. I'd still get a RR first given the versatility, but for unique sexiness those two win.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
I shot one once. I had a STEn, and this guy wanted to try it.
He had an American 180. We swapped for a mag.

I liked the STEn better

Ironically, of all the machine guns I've been blessed with shooting - having never bought one - the sten and AM180 are at the top for the same reasons. Stupid controllable, cheap to shoot, and pure fun. I'd still get a RR first given the versatility, but for unique sexiness those two win.

I have the Tactical Innnovations AM-15 upper for my RR. Definitely the cheapest full auto ammo to shoot. And good fun.
AM15

Posted: 3/26/2017 8:25:11 PM EDT

[#43]

I've always been told that when you pull the trigger the first time, keep it depressed or it will jam. That means approximately 13 seconds later 275 cases are at my feet. You also have to ensure you mount the drum properly. I head from one person that they didn't and the drum flew off like a frisbee. Not sure if that was true but it is funny.

Posted: 3/26/2017 8:28:53 PM EDT

[#44]

It is one of my favorite machine guns, and an absolute blast to shoot. We loaded one up with Stingers one time, and it absolutely screamed. You had to really keep it clean if you wanted to run a lot of Thunderbolt through it, but most copper coated HV stuff ran pretty well.