#brn180

A Look at the additional additions and details of my Retro-Mod Rifle.

The idea of retro-mod rifles have really exploded in the last couple of years. Be it for nostalgia, or to make a clone of the equipment used by military or law enforcement of mentioned eras gone by with tasteful modern additions, it’s a market people are interested in. Brownells used this idea of Retro inspired modern rifles with the BRN180. A modern take on a classic. Their vision of what the AR180 would have evolved into, had that platform had the popularity of the AR15. It might seem sorta backwards on this concept, but my idea was to be able to take a platform based of a rifle I wanted and couldn’t afford, and give it the retro styling cues to fill that void. The BRN180 filled the void and need of an AR180, and here are the accessories I used to give my rifle the look I wanted.

“Retroing” a Modernized Idea

Well start with stock. Brownells offers an AR180 style stock that is a nice looking piece. But when Midwest Industries released their AR180 style stock, that featured a trapdoor it was the one I had to have for this rifle.

The Trapdoor and contents I’ve chosen to carry.

Packaged and sold by Midwest Industries, this stock is a joint venture between MI and Manticore Arms. Per the specs supplied by MI on their website, the trapdoor stock features the main body made of a fiber reinforced polymer. The length of pull with a 1913 adapter to an AR15 lower is the same as the original AR180s. The trapdoor as seen above will hold a standard M16 cleaning kit and a small bottle of CLP. The only downside to the trapdoor is, it is advertised as not water-tight, and they suggest if you have something you want kept completely dry during a dunking event, put it in a bag. I haven’t tested it that hard in rain yet, but that is something I have the intent to do in the future.

The Midwest hinge, attached to a KNS adapter for AR15s

The hinge is made by Midwest. Made from 4140 heat treated steel, it attached nicely via 1913 rail to the KNS adapter I have in place of the buffer tube in the UnBranded AR lower I use, and has a nice spring and lockup when in the ready position.

Next up is the optic I chose. The original AR180 scopes used were a 4x, that looked very similar to the carry handle scopes of that day. I opted to go with a Primary Arms GLx 2x prism scope. One thing I love about the PA optics is the ACSS reticle, and this scope to me was a modern update that flowed with the overall mix of modern and retro I was going for. The only thing I’m going to add to the scope, will be a QD adapter. That way getting to the Magpul Gen 3 BUIS will be quick and easy.

The sling is a USGI M16 sling, attached to an A1 grip the same way it was on the M16, and attached to the MLok rail via a GI style MLok sling adapter just in front on the handguard.

And now to what has become my favorite accessory to this awesome rifle.. the Handguard. The part that gives this rifle alot of its retro looks, while keeping the hand protect form heat sustained from rapid fire. The MLok floated handguard is nicely made on the BRN, by Midwest Industries, but when firing a lot of consecutive shots, mag after mag, it heats up. This handguard remedies that. Made and sold by AR180parts.com, it is 3D printed from heat resistant ASA filament. When it comes it’s in two pieces. It’s constructed in a way, that it slides over the rail and is secured via MLok. You can see the faint line where the two pieces meet up. When it comes it also has the layer lines prominent. I ended up researching, and discussing it with the manufacturer, to ultimately “weld” (glue) the two pieces together. I then painstakingly water sanded the layer lines out, using paper ranging from 180-2500 grit in steps, giving it the slick look that Vintage M16 and AR180 handguards have. These come in 3 different lengths, from short all the way to a full rail length. Mine is the AR16 inspired handguard.

Overall this rifle is easily becoming one of my favorites. The addition of the accessories I chose, I feel gave it the more retro vibe I was seeking with modern materials, reliability, and features. If you have any interest in the stuff pictured, Check out Brownells for the BRN180 upper, stock and BUIS; Primary Arms for the GLx 2X Prism; and AR180parts.com for the handguard. I’ll link them below.

A first look and general overview of the Brownells BRN-180

Fighting Rifle Roots-

After the successful creation of the beloved AR15 in the 1950s, in 1963 Eugene Stoner went on to help develop another rifle, that while gaining more popularity today, has become more a forgotten rifle. That rifle came in the form of a stamped steel, easy to produce rifle geared towards the military of more under developed countries. That rifle was the AR18.

Ar180 Rifle, with matching scope. Photo courtesy of @beachballistics on IG.

Originally developed and intended as a selective fire, fighting rifle rifle with a folding stock, it was tested but never officially adopted by any country. The AR18 production rights were eventually sold to Japan and Great Britain, where it is thought to have influenced the design of multiple weapons. The design was later adopted to civilian rifle sales as the AR180, where they were made and sold by Armalight, Sterling of the UK, and HOWA of Japan until 1985. There was also a variation in the early 2000s with the AR180s that didn’t sell as well as hoped during the AWB of the era, and it was dropped after just a couple years of production.

The AR180 of Today:

With the popularity of retro rifles, @brownellsinc introduced their idea of what the AR180 would have evolved into, if it would have stayed into production into todays modern rifle market. Insert the BRN180. They partnered with PWS (a know name in the short stoke piston market) to develop a modern take on the AR180 that would utilize common AR15 lowers, parts, and accessories.

My BRN180, in ODG fitted to an Unbranded AR15 Retro lower with folding stock.

The BRN180 comes in various colors ranging from ODG, FDE, Grey, and standard Black. They also come in a couple different calibers from 5.56, 300 BO, and 7.62x39. As stated above it will pin to a standard AR15 lower and function, as it doesn’t use the buffer or extension assembly, and if one wants there is also a dedicated BRN180 marked lower that takes standard AR15 parts.

So far I’m impressed with the quality of this upper. Stay tuned for the other parts of this series as I take a deeper look at this rifle, preform accuracy tests, and add to this rifle. If your interested in acquiring one for yourself, check out the link below for more details!