#BRN180
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BRN-180 Part 2
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.
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Piston or Direct Impingement? My Thoughts…
This debate of direct impingement gas system versus piston system for your AR style firearm has been raging on for decades now. It’s very akin to the Ford vs. Chevy debate, 9MM vs. 45 ACP debate or even the Revolver vs. Semi auto debate. Other than AK style firearms, up until recently I had not yet dipped my toes into the piston driven AR firearm world. Having had enough time with a couple of piston driven AR style firearms, I figured I’d give my overall thoughts on the piston vs direct gas impingement debate. Who will win? Which one is the best?
Direct gas impingement AR firearms have been around since the original Stoner design. Over many decades, there have been some slight changes, but the original concept is still in play today. Those that argue that the direct gas impingement system is superior will say that it has less moving parts to wear out. With direct gas impingement, after the bullet has travelled past the gas port in the barrel, the gas is pushed up into a gas block and directed back towards the upper receiver by way of a gas tube. This gas pushes against the gas key on the bolt carrier. As the carrier moves rearward, the bolt lugs rotate and free from the chamber, and extract the spent shell casing. The rearward travel is slowed down by the buffer and buffer spring, then pushes the bolt carrier assembly forward, stripping a fresh round out of the magazine and chambering that round. One argument against direct impingement systems is that all of that gas is poured back into the receiver and over time can have an affect on the firearm in a negative way. With regular cleaning, this is less of an issue, but when running suppressed, this build up of carbon from these gases can be accelerated.
Piston driven AR style firearms are also not a new thing whatsoever. Instead of a gas tube, they will have a piston that’s driven by gas from the barrel that will travel rearward, pushing the bolt carrier rearward, ejecting the spent shell casing and stripping/chambering a fresh round. Typically the piston will have it’s own spring to push the piston back forward and the bolt carrier will either have a buffer spring or some other systems will have a shorter carrier with smaller springs such as the ones found on the Brownells BRN-180 piston driven system. The arguments against a piston driven system typically are that the front end can seem heavier, there’s more parts to wear out and they can be more complex to disassemble. The argument for a piston driven system always seems to be that they are more reliable and smoother felt operation than their direct gas impingement counterparts.
So my thoughts are this…both are great and proven systems. The piston driven AR styler rifles I own are Brownells BRN-180 in both .223 and .300Blackout. These are extremely smooth shooters and there is definitely less carbon buildup inside of the receivers. For me, the disadvantage is that replacement parts aren’t nearly as common to find than a run of the mill DI AR firearm will be. Either system is a proven firearm system when properly maintained and quality parts are utilized. I also don’t notice the BRN-180 systems being any more front heavy or unbalanced when compared to my DI firearms. So in my opinion, there is no clear winner…I like them both! Which system do you prefer?
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AKB-23 (BRN180)
AKB-23 Lower compatible with Brownells BRN180 upper receiver
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My Brownells brn180 and why I think you need one.
Obviously with a sentence like that you can tell that I really like my brn180 rifle. This post is going to be a overview of how I have my 180 setup and the pros and cons to the brn180 rifles.
First I’ll start out by giving you a complete breakdown of my rifle.
Brownells brn180 complete upper
Brownells forged lower receiver
Seekins precision ambi safety
Cmc 3.5lb flat trigger
B5 systems type22 p grip
Vseven mag release
Midwest industries folding stock
Mean arms take down pins
Slate black industries mlok covers
Magpul afg
Flatline fiber tiger stripe sling
Midwest industries iron sights
Modlite 18350 okw light on a cheap mount
Eotech 512
For magazines I tend to run various metal mags from brownells,duramag, and d&h.
Let’s get the cons out of the way first since there aren’t that many in my opinion. First is the price, as I’m typing this the same 16” upper is on sale right now for 879. The non sale price is 969, luckily you can find these on sale fairly regularly. That is a pretty steep price for a lot of people to justify buying one. I know it was for me when I got mine but I am very glad I did.
Second is going to be the barrel length selection. I understand why they have the barrel lengths that they do but at the same time it seems like everyone that owns a rifle of any kind has a certain barrel length that they like for a certain reason.
Third is going to be the weight. Again I understand with the brn180 being a short stroke gas piston operated upper it’s going to be a little front heavy and there’s nothing that can really be done about it.
The biggest gripe I have about my particular brn180 is the lack of a dust cover. It’s my fault I didn’t realize it when I ordered mine that I had ordered the brn180 sport. So make sure you pay attention to make sure you order the correct one.
Now that the cons are out of the way we can get into the reasons why this has became one of my absolute favorite rifles to shoot.
First of all as we all know any gun that folds is ten times cooler than if it didn’t fold. When running a 16” upper being able to fold that stock makes transporting in backpacks or even storing it folded to save room in your safe.
Second the ar18/ar180 action is very very smooth. It’s a very soft and manageable recoil impulse that makes follow up shots extremely easy.
I like that pretty much all your standard ar15 lower parts will work with the exception of some grips. As you can see in the pictures if you run the retro style lower then you’ll need to run a grip without a beaver tail or you’ll need to modify the grip.
The upper comes with a easy to use adjustable gas system so if you want to throw a suppressor on it’s as easy as turning a dial to switch from unsuppressed to suppressed.
So like I said in the beginning, I really enjoy my brn180 rifle and I plan on doing a 10.5” pistol version here in the near future. These are very cool guns and if you are thinking about getting into one I highly recommend it.
With all that being said, happy shooting!
Adam Jagger gun blog post #3 9/23/22
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Honestly, I acknowledge a need in my arsenal and emergency preparedness plan for an AR platform, or at least something in .223 as my M70 runs the close runner up 7.62x39, but my RENLENTLESS PRETENSE forbids me from getting a bog standard AR. Considering holding out until the Poles start sending out that whacky STANAG using Kalash or getting a BRN180 upper. Although, a M90 is also very appealing.
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Just found out today that the light on my brn180 really scratched up the stock on my .22 I’m so upset I should have been more careful
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Retained the side folding ability on this @brownellsinc BRN-180 (300blk) build. . The @bigrix pistol grip is perfect for this build as it closely resembles the original. Aside from that, it’s just more comfortable to me. . The sights on this sucker are the @worldoftroy low HK styled sights. Perfect for the BRN-180 series. . The handguard is covered by a @subtaccovers American Flag suppressor wrap. Perfect for keeping your hands from getting toasty with rapid fire. Using the code: theaverageshooter will save you 15% on your order. Awesome covers and they’ve got several options in sizes and colors. . #bop #bureauofpropaganda #brownells #brn #brn180 #brn180s #300blk (at Fort Bragg, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRFLaovjnrS/?utm_medium=tumblr
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Bureau of Propaganda Field Agent @pnw_pew got all the parts in to finish his @brownellsinc BRN-180s build. He said "With all the 'AR’s' out there, it’s really cool to build something actually different! Recoil system is completely contained within the upper, so I can use a Sig stock with a @knsprecisioninc adapter." Check his IG for the finished setup ✊🏻
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@brownellsinc BRN-180s upper
@vortexoptics Sparc red dot
@sigsauerusa Stock
@knsprecisioninc Pic adapter
@elftactical trigger
@vg6precision Gamma brake
#brownells#guns#gun#brn180#vortexoptics#sig#elftactical#knsprecision#ar15#ar18#rifle#pistol#handgun#gunsmithing#gunsmith#2a#freedom
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The Retro-Modern Rifle: Part 1
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!
https://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/receiver-parts/receivers/upper-receivers/brn-180-gen-2-complete-upper-receiver-assembly-prod137282.aspx
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BRN-180…Retro or Modern?
Brownells took the world by storm with the introduction of their Retro line of firearms and parts a number of years ago. They specifically saw the market wanting more and more of the retro styling for their AR rifles. As they say, what is old is new again. The introduction of their BRN-16A1, XBRN16E1, XBRN177E2 and BRN-601 got things off to a groovy start. With some very well known personalities in the firearm media, Hank & Lola Strange, MrGunsNGear and RapidFire Rachel they put out a short series of videos with this group acting as personalities from the 70’s down to the clothing and actions. It was a super fun way to introduce their new line of Retro parts and went off very well.
A bit of time had passed and Brownells wanted to continue their Retro line into something else truly ground breaking. Taking the design cues of the original Armalite rifle 18 or AR-18 that was developed in the 1960’s and later a civilian version the AR-180, the BRN-180 was born. Brownells worked in conjunction with the well known AR-15 rifle manufacturer Primary Weapon Systems (PWS) to create a short stroke piston design similar to the original, but with some modern amenities such as a railed handguard with M-Lok slots instead of a normal handguard. Back in the 1960’s there wasn’t much interest in attaching everything but the kitchen sink onto the forearm of a rifle, but in today’s age of firearms, everybody wants the ability to attach a light, forward grip and IR illuminators. Brownells makes this all possible on their BRN-180. The BRN-180 also sports a side charging handle shaped much like the original AR-180. One of the most unique features is the absence of a standard AR buffer tube assembly. Instead, the BRN-180 utilizes a short bolt carrier with dual recoil springs. The entire recoil setup is contained inside of the upper receiver allowing the end user to fix folding stock or pistol brace assemblies. Brownells recently introduced a folding stock the is a spitting image of the original AR-18 stock design. This in of itself is quite the game changer!
The BRN-180 unfortunately isn’t available as a complete rifle, but rather as a complete upper assembly. Available calibers are .223 Wylde, .300 Blackout and most recently available in 7.62x39. Barrels can be had in 10.5”, 16” or 18”. The remaining components are up to you to decide. You have the ability to utilize a standard lower receiver/buffer tube or there are a number of different BRN-180 specifically designed lower receivers that have an integrated rail on the rear of the receiver. Brownells makes a forged receiver that looks very much like the original AR-180 lower receiver, but other companies such as 17 Design and Manufacturing makes a billet aluminum lower receiver with more modern lines as well as an integrated rail on the rear.
So the choice really is up to you! Retro or modern? Recently embarking on my 2nd BRN-180 build, I’m going to go more modern with this build, a 10.5” .223 Wylde on top of a 17D lower receiver. Parts are already coming in and soon I will be able to start the assembly. If you are someone like me who has a love for the AR-15 platform, but want to try something a little different, I definitely recommend giving the BRN-180 a try!
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AKB-23 (BRN180)
AKB-23 compatible with Brownells BRN180 upper receiver
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What about if you like ARs, but actually want a piston gun that was “designed” as a piston gun...? #kitbadger #guns #shooting #brn180 #ar18 @brownellsinc @scalarworks @sb.tactical @surefire_llc @truenorthconceptsllc @slateblackindustries @magpul @surefeedmagazines @algdefense @b5systems @edgarshermandesign https://www.instagram.com/p/CA3lXrLpGPr/?igshid=1azqtc46yu8mq
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Midwest industries alpha
This weeks product is going to be the Midwest industries, alpha series stock. I was fortunate enough to have one sent out from Midwest to try out and don’t let the name fool you of this alpha series being a AK product line. At least for the stock you can run it on any lower receiver that has a picatinny stock mount. That being said Midwest has released a whole line of AK series parts that are really cool, but this is going to be just about the stock itself.
The particular route that I ended up going with mine is putting it on my BRN 180. Previously I did have a Midwest industries extruded folding stock, so I am familiar with the folder and the way that it works already. These are shipped for a rifle used but they are compatible with the gearhead works tail hook for anyone that for some weird reason would be interested in doing a brace right now. 2/5/23 lol.
So far, I am extremely pleased with the amount of adjustability with this. You have the adjustable cheek piece the adjustable butt pad. The main beam of the stock is a five position locking beam with a super easy to use textured button. The folder like I said I’m very familiar with since I’ve been using one for a while. It is nice you have to get used to it and it is reversible for left-handed shooters. The stock does have 3QD sling point cups which is very nice in my opinion. The whole thing is a mix of different materials with steel, aluminum, and polymer. The overall way is just over a pound so it’s not too terrible which again I was already running a full metal stock prior to this one.
The overall feels really nice I don’t have a ton of time on it so far but having a folder is awesome. Having just tons of adjustment is great. I’ve never had to worry about any of my Midwest industries parts before, but if I do, they do have a lifetime warranty on them. I really like the adjustable cheek piece that to me makes the stock light years ahead of the old one that I was using.
Like I said, in the beginning, this was sent out for me to check out and do a review on. I will have a full video on YouTube of it. These are however, available directly from Midwest industries or I can leave a link down below to brownells, who also carries them. Like I’ve said before, if you use the link down below, it gives me a little kickback, which helps me keep doing things. The only thing I’m going to change with the stock is I have to get a can of brownells Aluma hyde to match the OD green of the rest of my brn180. Other than that I’m just going to run the hell out of it and see what happens.
Happy shooting!
Adam Jagger gun blog post #21 2/5/23
#brownells#bureauofpropaganda#gun review#ar 15 rifle#ar 15s#ar15build#ar15porn#edccarry#edccommunity#edcdaily#modlite#surefire#arisaka#eotech#geissele#geissele everything#unity tactical#odg#odgreen#glocknation
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The BRN 180: not so American classic.
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Gaussifer tried his hand at engraving a lower on a DefDist GG2 machine. He credits Matt Komar for GhostWriter, and Gunnar over at GGD for the jigs and engraving bit. Nice work man.
#kommandoblog#lowerreceiver#engraving#guinness#gg2#defensedistributed#brn180#ar15#gunsofinstagram#benis#mod115#redacted#memes#defdist
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