I was in the Singapore Army in the late 1990s and the SAR80 was issued to logistics units as it was not taken up by the combat units that were using the M16S1 or CAR-15. My own experience with it was a mixed bag, the short stroke piston system was easier to clean compared to the gas DI M16, but the magazine well was shallower than the M16 and magazines had a tendency to drop out on the move. It was also near impossible to use at night or in low light as there were no provisions for tritium dots on the front sight post or a large low light rear aperture. (TBF though, the M16S1 didn't have very good low light sights either). As mentioned by Jonathan, a lot of SAR80s were sold off to the Balkans and Somalia, where they were seen in the Yugoslavian wars or pirate attacks.
Glad to hear someone who is from the SAF like me. I am researching more about this rare firearm Singapore used or if not uses. I have heard of current safety manuals mentioning it.
It's worth noting that the version here is a First Pattern SAR 80 (as was made by Sterling). The version that went into mass serial production in Singapore, the Second Pattern, had a few technical differences and improvements, most visibly being a triangular rear sight shield and a different, more M16-like pistol grip. The lowers and uppers are also not interchangeable between the two patterns. The method for removing the recoil spring and guide assembly changed, too. It is this second model that is easiest to get hold of, with a fair few being converted to semi-only from ex-Slovenian stocks, and then being sold on the surplus market. World Wide Arms, formerly of Staffordshire, acquired a batch of these for deactivation, one of which is currently in my own collection.
I came across one in a military museum in Slovenia; it was such a surprise to see a piece of home so far away. The SAR80s had horrible reviews from the SAF - heavier and less comfortable than the M16.
I found it about as comfortable to shoot as the M16S1, except for the magazine catch and feeding issues. Some folks I served with liked to set the regulator to max while on outfield training just for giggles.
@@Kelvin_Foo I heard it was not so much about the shooting as it was about moving with it, though I guess that's very closely bound up with increased weight.
@@toepopper It's actually shorter than the M16, even if it didn't feel like it at the time! I didn't like the shallow mag well and lack of bolt catch lever; one NS guy in the unit I was attached to actually chambered his fingertip when he failed to lock the bolt carrier back, much pain (and blood).
Guilty as charged. My grandmother was American, I've visited a lot, and I've been lucky to meet colleagues and make friends over there too. I did very nearly say "Poundland"...
thats the thing, $200 doesnt sound much, but if your a country ordering 50000 of them thats a $10millon saving on rifles, penny pinching goes much further then that in automotive world. the w168 a class mercedes had bearing carriers in the top mounts that had 32holes for small 5mm balls. but only 16 fitted from the factory to save money, the steering was much lighter if you pulled them apart and fitted 32 haha
Considering that armies were a lot bigger during the cold war (most western countries had conscription) were talking about 100 000- 500 000 rifles if not millions depending on a country.
thats what i was thinking "just making it simpler" and "dont make it simpler if it hinders the function, at least doesnt help" - Making stuff simpler and cheaper, even if it decreases overall performance (by not too much) might very well be worth it!
Great video. One small point - would probably be better to do disassembly on a white or light color cloth rather than a black one. Hard to see the parts.
As a kid I admired the Sterling SMG. In Australia Sterling was mostly known for budget .22LR rifles. I understood that the AR18 was a "cheaper" substitute for the M16 for all practical purposes but I think an AR is worth the price. Simple and durable.
I have a newer version of this rifle which is made in Canada, called the WK-180, manufactured by Kodiak Defense, also the rifle because of the piston system stays much cleaner than an AR-15 with direct impingement. The bolt also does not require the piston type rings on the bolt body.
I’m slightly disappointed that Johnathan did a a video on AR-18 clones and did NOT wear a Terminator t-shirt underneath his jacket. It was a golden opportunity sadly missed. Speaking of your shirts, can you convince Dave and Gamespot to do an episode on your wicked shirt collection? 😋 Interesting series as always.
@@snowflakemelter1172 The final VHS used a short stroke piston, but its prototypes changed operating mechanisms multiple times. At one point it had a lever-delay? mechanism similar to the FAMAS, and at another point it had a novel gas-buffered or gas-delayed direct impingement system, which is the really interesting one. HS Produkt has a patent on said system iirc, but there were complications with putting it into a production rifle.
I remember looking at pics and the advertisement from Charter Industries SAR-80. The finish on them looked like the crinkle black paint you would see on old cameras. Someone mention the Leader rifle. I handled one once and field stripped it. It was very interesting with its triangular bolt head. It was also a simple design. The designer lives in Arizona and was planning to put these in production again. I really enjoy this channel. Thanks
Its a damn shame our cousins from across the pond cant experience this anymore. I am in the process of getting an AR180 myself and just recently picked up a West German Sig 226. I have an obsession with Cold War guns.
Oh, yeah, that's *just* what I want - a rifle that launches it's extractor into the weeds when PVT Jones pops his bolt out to wipe it down and lubricate.
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries The models used by the Singapore Army, or at least the ones I remember using, dropped this "novelty" in favor of an AR-15 style pinned extractor.
To end this series you might finish with the Leader T2 rifle which achieved the " Poundland" design spec that Sterling was chasing, especially the clever simplification of the bolt head.
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries I really like the design of the T2-it’s a bit simplistic but still elegant. It seems like the “triangular” bolt head design is quite a good compromise between the simplicity and durability of the two locking lugs of the AK and the precise repeatable lockup of the seven lug AR-15/AR-18. P.S. I love the fact that you go the extra mile and read and reply to so many comments.
Its already out, 7999 $ Sig mcx Spear in .277 sig fury caliber wich is 6.8 x 51 mm (semi auto only ofcourse and no suppressor included), military will be operational testing it in 2024. So civilians can get it much sooner than army will/is.
Chris Chivers? I read his book The Gun (published under CJ Chivers,) which is a really interesting history of the AK specifically and automatic firearms in general. It was really good, you (as in the TH-cam user) should check it out.
Great video, neat to see a sterling made one! However, I believe during CIS production, they were still referred to as the "Sterling Assault Rifle". Though I have heard that they were supposedly called "Singapore Assault Rifle" with SAR, I have never found any proof of this. To the contrary, I have handled a few of the CIS early variants, and on the side of the upper receiver its stamp marked "Sterling Assault Rifle", I have also found a few images online, and in videos of other CIS SAR 80s with the same markings. I think it most likely kept the sterling name through CIS production, until the designation of CIS rifles was changed, starting with the SR88 and later SR88A. Here I can see the term "Singapore Rifle" being introduced. However it would be great to find out more on this obscure subject.
The early pattern rifles, made by Sterling, are marked as 'Sterling Assault Rifle'. I've never seen a late pattern rifle, made by CIS, with the Sterling marks. The ones I've seen are just marked 'SAR 80' on the magazine well.
Any documents/sources on stoppages? Would be interesting to note, assumptions aren't always correct, it would be interesting to know if the change to the extractor did infact reduce reliability.
just an idea from a social media angle - Maybe put SAR80 into the title? Otherwise, searching for your sar80 video becomes a bit difficult, in a year or two, when you dont remember what you called it..
Mate, the jacket is still fooling neaBiddy. Still gell’in yir rug summit brilliant tho. Always top notch content sir… please do a functional comparison between the EM2 and the SA80, 1,2 and 3 pls. And if modernized would the EM 2 make the cut with modern materials etc?
Really? This is the best it got for Sterling's rifle designs? I really thought they'd have had at least one...notably...good rifle! Surprising. Great as always Jonathan, thank you for another great episode :)
The AR 18 was a great gun..... again ahead of its time. It was an AR rifle that could be made by countries without technical ability for high end manufacturing techniques.The AK and AR had a baby and it was the AR18,lots of them ended up in North Ireland. The song my little armalite is about the 18 series not the ar15/m16 series
What Jonathan said - but, yes, that is a common factor with reciprocating charging handle weapons in general. Note that despite that potential weakness, plenty of very high respected firearms have managed to Keep Calm and Carry On regardless, including almost every single SMG, the Kalashnikov family, and a plethora of Western automatic rifles and light machuneguns going back to WWI or so. So, while an "issue", it's hardly the Kiss of Death for a design - more of a design choice and tradeoff.
Had one of these, handy and light but oddly unreliable, felt more like a toy gun than a real one, but then again .223 doesn't need much strength to it. It just felt more like a toy than a real gun since it's basically made mostly like a toy gun.
actually Jonathon they swapped the mag catch to the left side both the AR 18 and AR 15 both have the button on the right side! is Sterling still in business?
@@BlokeontheRange i've had both a 180 and a 15 i know i may not have put that the best way to what i was thinking at the time! the fact is you can take a mag to an AR and just cut a 180 mag catch slot in it (i did over 50 that way!) and it'll work just fine other than the locking notch they're pretty much the same mags!
I couldn't quite make it out but did this have an AR15 pattern magazine or the AR18 type with a slot tab retainer? You mentioned "a standard Colt magazine" by which I would think of a an AR15 type. I have a Sterling universal type that fits both. Shown here: th-cam.com/video/G0n3nSpl5eI/w-d-xo.html
if someone wanted to chip in and buy some kel tec weapons to send to the royal armouries as donations how would someone go about doing that? because i would if i knew how
That does appear to be an "interesting" design choice where the extractor is conderned. I am not a gunsmith but I know a smidge about engineering. You deliberately remove all of the bells and whistles to make things reliable, easier to manfacture and easier to maintain. In the corporate variant also much cheaper to produce, often to the detriment of functionality. Despite the glaring issue of the extractor being able to go "ping!" if someone isn't careful the rest looks fairly sound. It still strikes me as odd though that many choose to go with the AR15 pattern 6 lug bolt head rather than a simpler tri lug. Easier to machine, equal surface area and arguably stronger. More =/= better after all.
The thing about the M16's cost is that the poorest countries wouldn't have borne that cost. The US taxpayer would have footed the bill. For the end-user, free is a lot cheaper than cheap.
At least a British assault rifle in the pressed steel spirit of the Stg 44. And it is simple and works. How much money could the British taxpayer have saved. The Germans knew rifles don't have to last long in service. Throw away and get another. The days of beautifully produced rifles was over. Either this, or an EM2 in 5 56mm.
Only thing I did not like about the AR-180 was the junk grade factory magazines I had a Korean War Marine Veteran repurpose around 18 AR-15 20 rounders and bought some 30 round Israeli plastic ones. Absolute tack driver even with tracer. Mine is a Sterling build. The magazines need a cut for the Magazine catch cut and a step on the rear of the follower cut for the different height of the bolt catch the Magazine catch bump has to be pounded smooth to fit in the AR-18/180 magazine well. NATO standard magazines do not work due to the different catch system and the bump on the NATO Magazines.
I find it hilarious how many guns are designed to have a cartridge used as a tool, with how often you won't have ammunition available. In war you probably will a big portion of the time, but still. I imagine every designer who does that feeling so damn smart and then... somebody in boot somewhere is struggling and fiddling with a pen or something lol
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries They were all Howa manufacture and were known in NI as "Japanese Armalites". Not aware of any AR-18s, all I came across were 180s. Edit - Howa not Hoya.. lenses on the brain at the moment!
@@felixthecat265 Lines up with everything I've seen too - no 18s (I'm not ruling it out) and all Howa (again, can't rule out other manufacture, but you can spot Howas from the flash suppressor in some photos).
Maybe being they're old, not standard in the Ukrainian military, examples for study, black powder for a lot of them, etc, etc. Ukraine is getting plenty of help, the u.s. just sent them 33 billion...
I was in the Singapore Army in the late 1990s and the SAR80 was issued to logistics units as it was not taken up by the combat units that were using the M16S1 or CAR-15.
My own experience with it was a mixed bag, the short stroke piston system was easier to clean compared to the gas DI M16, but the magazine well was shallower than the M16 and magazines had a tendency to drop out on the move. It was also near impossible to use at night or in low light as there were no provisions for tritium dots on the front sight post or a large low light rear aperture. (TBF though, the M16S1 didn't have very good low light sights either).
As mentioned by Jonathan, a lot of SAR80s were sold off to the Balkans and Somalia, where they were seen in the Yugoslavian wars or pirate attacks.
Very interesting! Neat hearing of your experience with these.
Glad to hear someone who is from the SAF like me. I am researching more about this rare firearm Singapore used or if not uses. I have heard of current safety manuals mentioning it.
It's worth noting that the version here is a First Pattern SAR 80 (as was made by Sterling). The version that went into mass serial production in Singapore, the Second Pattern, had a few technical differences and improvements, most visibly being a triangular rear sight shield and a different, more M16-like pistol grip. The lowers and uppers are also not interchangeable between the two patterns. The method for removing the recoil spring and guide assembly changed, too. It is this second model that is easiest to get hold of, with a fair few being converted to semi-only from ex-Slovenian stocks, and then being sold on the surplus market. World Wide Arms, formerly of Staffordshire, acquired a batch of these for deactivation, one of which is currently in my own collection.
I came across one in a military museum in Slovenia; it was such a surprise to see a piece of home so far away. The SAR80s had horrible reviews from the SAF - heavier and less comfortable than the M16.
You get what you pay for ?
I found it about as comfortable to shoot as the M16S1, except for the magazine catch and feeding issues. Some folks I served with liked to set the regulator to max while on outfield training just for giggles.
@@Kelvin_Foo I heard it was not so much about the shooting as it was about moving with it, though I guess that's very closely bound up with increased weight.
@@toepopper It's actually shorter than the M16, even if it didn't feel like it at the time! I didn't like the shallow mag well and lack of bolt catch lever; one NS guy in the unit I was attached to actually chambered his fingertip when he failed to lock the bolt carrier back, much pain (and blood).
“A Dollar Store M-16”. Wow, what an Americanism.
Guilty as charged. My grandmother was American, I've visited a lot, and I've been lucky to meet colleagues and make friends over there too. I did very nearly say "Poundland"...
Would love a Stuart Ashens review of a Poundland Ar18 😂
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries we understood what you meant. I’m sure more Americans are Watching, who definitely understood.
Dollar store? More like Pound-Store-Ling M-16
Thanks Jonathan and team for another really interesting episode.
They are greatly appreciated 👍🏻
Very well said 👏
If they had added a FN Para folding stock and FAL style left side charging handle, it would've been a fine service rifle for Britain.
Wouldnt be wednesday work night without Jonathan and co. Congratulations on 200k!
thats the thing, $200 doesnt sound much, but if your a country ordering 50000 of them thats a $10millon saving on rifles, penny pinching goes much further then that in automotive world. the w168 a class mercedes had bearing carriers in the top mounts that had 32holes for small 5mm balls. but only 16 fitted from the factory to save money, the steering was much lighter if you pulled them apart and fitted 32 haha
Considering that armies were a lot bigger during the cold war (most western countries had conscription) were talking about 100 000- 500 000 rifles if not millions depending on a country.
thats what i was thinking "just making it simpler" and "dont make it simpler if it hinders the function, at least doesnt help" - Making stuff simpler and cheaper, even if it decreases overall performance (by not too much) might very well be worth it!
Wow. I've never been so early to one of Jonathan's videos.
Great video. One small point - would probably be better to do disassembly on a white or light color cloth rather than a black one. Hard to see the parts.
For dark objects a light color background can bring out details. A middle grey or red seems good.
Very cool suggestion!
☺
As a kid I admired the Sterling SMG. In Australia Sterling was mostly known for budget .22LR rifles. I understood that the AR18 was a "cheaper" substitute for the M16 for all practical purposes but I think an AR is worth the price. Simple and durable.
I have a newer version of this rifle which is made in Canada, called the WK-180, manufactured by Kodiak Defense, also the rifle because of the piston system stays much cleaner than an AR-15 with direct impingement. The bolt also does not require the piston type rings on the bolt body.
To add insult to injury Singapore quite happily adopted the Ultimax SAW by Jim Sullivan from the original Armalite design team.
I’m slightly disappointed that Johnathan did a a video on AR-18 clones and did NOT wear a Terminator t-shirt underneath his jacket. It was a golden opportunity sadly missed. Speaking of your shirts, can you convince Dave and Gamespot to do an episode on your wicked shirt collection? 😋
Interesting series as always.
Would you happen to have a VHS-1 to look at with it's very interesting mechanism? That would be fascinating to look at.
Will a Betamax work?
Vhs won the format wars....
It's just a short stroke gas piston AR18 bolt , nothing interesting.
Doesn't forgotten weapons have a video on those?
@@snowflakemelter1172 The final VHS used a short stroke piston, but its prototypes changed operating mechanisms multiple times. At one point it had a lever-delay? mechanism similar to the FAMAS, and at another point it had a novel gas-buffered or gas-delayed direct impingement system, which is the really interesting one. HS Produkt has a patent on said system iirc, but there were complications with putting it into a production rifle.
That's a nice looking box
I remember looking at pics and the advertisement from Charter Industries SAR-80. The finish on them looked like the crinkle black paint you would see on old cameras. Someone mention the Leader rifle. I handled one once and field stripped it. It was very interesting with its triangular bolt head. It was also a simple design. The designer lives in Arizona and was planning to put these in production again. I really enjoy this channel. Thanks
Thank you for another great vid!!!!
Back in the 80s you could legally own an AR180 here in the UK
Its a damn shame our cousins from across the pond cant experience this anymore. I am in the process of getting an AR180 myself and just recently picked up a West German Sig 226. I have an obsession with Cold War guns.
You can legally own an AR18 now. It just has to be straight-pull.
@@darthos6257 that sucks and here I am complaining that the prices of full autos are to damn high.
@@darthos6257 At that point it's not really an AR-18
@@JoHnDoE2033 It sucks but the pros outweigh cons.
Great vid John!
What was the automatic rate of fire compared to the AR18? Does the increased friction reduce the rate?
Oh, yeah, that's *just* what I want - a rifle that launches it's extractor into the weeds when PVT Jones pops his bolt out to wipe it down and lubricate.
*Exactly*.
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries The models used by the Singapore Army, or at least the ones I remember using, dropped this "novelty" in favor of an AR-15 style pinned extractor.
I carried this rife as a conscript for 2 years!
To end this series you might finish with the Leader T2 rifle which achieved the " Poundland" design spec that Sterling was chasing, especially the clever simplification of the bolt head.
We do have a variant of it, so it's doable!
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries I really like the design of the T2-it’s a bit simplistic but still elegant. It seems like the “triangular” bolt head design is quite a good compromise between the simplicity and durability of the two locking lugs of the AK and the precise repeatable lockup of the seven lug AR-15/AR-18.
P.S. I love the fact that you go the extra mile and read and reply to so many comments.
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries wasn't the original concept of the L85 to be manufactured for a very low cost, lower than an M16 at the time?
Im suprised nobody thought of creating a battle rifle design using the bolt and double spring rods and short stroke of the AR-18.
It would be cool to see a video on the US army ngsw when it comes to the civilian market.
Its already out, 7999 $ Sig mcx Spear in .277 sig fury caliber wich is 6.8 x 51 mm (semi auto only ofcourse and no suppressor included), military will be operational testing it in 2024. So civilians can get it much sooner than army will/is.
Truly a bad idea for that extractor. Troops would lose those even faster than the "OH SHIT" pin on the M-16.
Chris Chivers? I read his book The Gun (published under CJ Chivers,) which is a really interesting history of the AK specifically and automatic firearms in general. It was really good, you (as in the TH-cam user) should check it out.
Good recommendation, thanks.
Great video, neat to see a sterling made one! However, I believe during CIS production, they were still referred to as the "Sterling Assault Rifle". Though I have heard that they were supposedly called "Singapore Assault Rifle" with SAR, I have never found any proof of this. To the contrary, I have handled a few of the CIS early variants, and on the side of the upper receiver its stamp marked "Sterling Assault Rifle", I have also found a few images online, and in videos of other CIS SAR 80s with the same markings. I think it most likely kept the sterling name through CIS production, until the designation of CIS rifles was changed, starting with the SR88 and later SR88A. Here I can see the term "Singapore Rifle" being introduced. However it would be great to find out more on this obscure subject.
The early pattern rifles, made by Sterling, are marked as 'Sterling Assault Rifle'. I've never seen a late pattern rifle, made by CIS, with the Sterling marks. The ones I've seen are just marked 'SAR 80' on the magazine well.
Jon review the MGSV looking rifle, nice.
Any documents/sources on stoppages? Would be interesting to note, assumptions aren't always correct, it would be interesting to know if the change to the extractor did infact reduce reliability.
just an idea from a social media angle - Maybe put SAR80 into the title?
Otherwise, searching for your sar80 video becomes a bit difficult, in a year or two, when you dont remember what you called it..
Any modern British handguns? Sterling .38/.357 & 9mm AT88S
I have 2 Singapore sar-80 and their extractors are pinned like an ar-18
Why didn't everyone just adopt the FAL in .280 would probably still be used.
Especially considering the current US army procurement choice.
Mate, the jacket is still fooling neaBiddy. Still gell’in yir rug summit brilliant tho. Always top notch content sir… please do a functional comparison between the EM2 and the SA80, 1,2 and 3 pls. And if modernized would the EM 2 make the cut with modern materials etc?
Really? This is the best it got for Sterling's rifle designs? I really thought they'd have had at least one...notably...good rifle! Surprising. Great as always Jonathan, thank you for another great episode :)
The two words "British Leyland" come to mind.
Any chance you have or will be covering the Leader T2.
It's not impossible...
Looks like something I could make in my garage.
How am i this early?! Also, keep up the good work jonathan!
Interesting.
The AR 18 was a great gun..... again ahead of its time.
It was an AR rifle that could be made by countries without technical ability for high end manufacturing techniques.The AK and AR had a baby and it was the AR18,lots of them ended up in North Ireland.
The song my little armalite is about the 18 series not the ar15/m16 series
If you have one how about the sar-88
Sterling was on deck to make AR18/180 rifles......I feel like the SAR was just stolen from stoner after making the 18 series
I can’t help but see this receiver as the one from the 10mm sub machine gun from the game fallout
Just as a layman, isn't the open area where the Bolt cycles a bit of a dirt trap ?
It is! If you look closely at the thumbnail, we have another example with the sliding dustcover... Not enough time to cover everything unfortunately.
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries Ah, didn't spot that (Watching on my Phone so the Thumbnail's a bit small)
What Jonathan said - but, yes, that is a common factor with reciprocating charging handle weapons in general.
Note that despite that potential weakness, plenty of very high respected firearms have managed to Keep Calm and Carry On regardless, including almost every single SMG, the Kalashnikov family, and a plethora of Western automatic rifles and light machuneguns going back to WWI or so.
So, while an "issue", it's hardly the Kiss of Death for a design - more of a design choice and tradeoff.
Thanks again. Cold War. 👍
The watch👌. 😍.
"Sheet steel heat shield". Try saying that after a few pints... 😂
Hi guys can pls make a video about aa12
Ty for nive video, its my BD :)
British Stoner AR :D
From what I have read the IRA loved them during the troubles
Picking an M16 in hindsight is pretty easy, but the M16 didn't have a good reputation from the beginning ;)
WHY? Why would I want one of these horrible things when I could just keep my FAL? Oh, wait, the UK didn't want it.
And now Leader Dynamics T2
Had one of these, handy and light but oddly unreliable, felt more like a toy gun than a real one, but then again .223 doesn't need much strength to it. It just felt more like a toy than a real gun since it's basically made mostly like a toy gun.
LAR means the same thing as FAL. Just a funny thought
actually Jonathon they swapped the mag catch to the left side both the AR 18 and AR 15 both have the button on the right side! is Sterling still in business?
The catch itself on an AR15 is on the left. The button operating it is on the right and traverses the receiver.
@@BlokeontheRange i've had both a 180 and a 15 i know i may not have put that the best way to what i was thinking at the time! the fact is you can take a mag to an AR and just cut a 180 mag catch slot in it (i did over 50 that way!) and it'll work just fine other than the locking notch they're pretty much the same mags!
I couldn't quite make it out but did this have an AR15 pattern magazine or the AR18 type with a slot tab retainer? You mentioned "a standard Colt magazine" by which I would think of a an AR15 type. I have a Sterling universal type that fits both. Shown here: th-cam.com/video/G0n3nSpl5eI/w-d-xo.html
if someone wanted to chip in and buy some kel tec weapons to send to the royal armouries as donations how would someone go about doing that? because i would if i knew how
I think the website has a donation link.
@@humanthefinite8304 thank you
That does appear to be an "interesting" design choice where the extractor is conderned. I am not a gunsmith but I know a smidge about engineering. You deliberately remove all of the bells and whistles to make things reliable, easier to manfacture and easier to maintain. In the corporate variant also much cheaper to produce, often to the detriment of functionality. Despite the glaring issue of the extractor being able to go "ping!" if someone isn't careful the rest looks fairly sound. It still strikes me as odd though that many choose to go with the AR15 pattern 6 lug bolt head rather than a simpler tri lug. Easier to machine, equal surface area and arguably stronger. More =/= better after all.
That really looks like a Frankenstein with an Uzi rear sight.
I would have thought he would have said Pound Land version of the M16 instead of a dollar store M16
That's what pirates do, they acquire loot. 🤣🤣
And also prevent global warming.
Is the Taiwanese T-65 a derivative of this rifle? Or the AR-18?
T-65 is based on Armalite AR-18.
The thing about the M16's cost is that the poorest countries wouldn't have borne that cost. The US taxpayer would have footed the bill. For the end-user, free is a lot cheaper than cheap.
"We haven't got one". Poor show, Johnathan. Must try harder. :)
Needs a clean and a bit of tlc.....
At least a British assault rifle in the pressed steel spirit of the Stg 44. And it is simple and works. How much money could the British taxpayer have saved. The Germans knew rifles don't have to last long in service. Throw away and get another. The days of beautifully produced rifles was over. Either this, or an EM2 in 5 56mm.
when AR stands for assault rifle
1983 :
M-16A1 ... $540 dollars
SAR 80 ... $350 dollars
AK-47,6 Mags 500rnds ... $10 dollars a goat and 2 chickens 😂😂😂😂😂
Only thing I did not like about the AR-180 was the junk grade factory magazines I had a Korean War Marine Veteran repurpose around 18 AR-15 20 rounders and bought some 30 round Israeli plastic ones. Absolute tack driver even with tracer. Mine is a Sterling build. The magazines need a cut for the Magazine catch cut and a step on the rear of the follower cut for the different height of the bolt catch the Magazine catch bump has to be pounded smooth to fit in the AR-18/180 magazine well. NATO standard magazines do not work due to the different catch system and the bump on the NATO Magazines.
You now have pink lights, as required by the Laws Of TH-cam!
I find it hilarious how many guns are designed to have a cartridge used as a tool, with how often you won't have ammunition available. In war you probably will a big portion of the time, but still. I imagine every designer who does that feeling so damn smart and then... somebody in boot somewhere is struggling and fiddling with a pen or something lol
A pen would work instead, or a multitool, or a belt.
Pity about the clientele 😥.
mrs 4r from metal gear solid 5?anyone?
Exported to NI by any chance...?
The IRA got them from somewhere...
From their friends in Boston.
Not the Sterling, no. AR-18s (virtually all semi auto 180s), absolutely. Needless to say, not from Sterling Armaments!
@@JonathanFergusonRoyalArmouries They were all Howa manufacture and were known in NI as "Japanese Armalites". Not aware of any AR-18s, all I came across were 180s. Edit - Howa not Hoya.. lenses on the brain at the moment!
@@felixthecat265 Lines up with everything I've seen too - no 18s (I'm not ruling it out) and all Howa (again, can't rule out other manufacture, but you can spot Howas from the flash suppressor in some photos).
You look like mister who or whatever his name is
Looks a lot like a Chinese 5.56
:)
I'm surprised that the royal armory hasn't donated all their weapons to Ukraine.
Maybe being they're old, not standard in the Ukrainian military, examples for study, black powder for a lot of them, etc, etc. Ukraine is getting plenty of help, the u.s. just sent them 33 billion...
They’ll probably be receiving a few current Russian units soon. 😄
Why? The ridiculous uk govt is happily wasting money by sending them the latest and greatest.