{"id":130168,"date":"2020-09-19T14:37:45","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T18:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=130168"},"modified":"2020-09-19T14:37:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T20:35:22","slug":"the-american-180-submachine-gun-1200-rpm-rimfire-ripper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-american-180-submachine-gun-1200-rpm-rimfire-ripper\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Criminals and The American 180 Submachine Gun: 1,200 RPM Rimfire Ripper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Two
The American 180 was a drum-fed, selective-fire rimfire submachine gun originally intended for Law Enforcement applications. Note the empties pouring out of the bottom during this long burst. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was November of 1974 in Fort\nLauderdale, Florida. While the weather in such places as North Dakota and\nIllinois was already abysmal, the legendary Florida sunshine still kept things\nwarm and cheery. This day, however, there was some serious mischief afoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
In the early seventies, the Chevrolet Camaro was the archetypal American muscle car. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The names of the two bad guys have been\nlost to history, though I have read that they were originally wanted for\nburglary. We know that they were stopped by Officers Mike Gilo and Gary Jones\nof the Fort Lauderdale Police Department while driving a flashy Chevrolet\nCamaro. In 1974 the gas crisis had not yet castrated American muscle cars, so\nthe Camaro still had ample spunk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Everything fundamentally changed when one of the suspects produced a handgun and began firing at police officers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Things got tense, and Officers Gilo and Jones retrieved their long guns. In a veritable fit of stupidity, the passenger side perp produced a handgun and fired. Shooting at well-armed police officers seldom ends well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
With 11 million copies in service, the Remington 870 is the most popular shotgun ever produced. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Officer Jones leveled his issue\nslide-action 12-gauge shotgun and cut loose with a load of buckshot. The\nresulting cloud of 0.33-inch lead balls tore up the hot rod but otherwise\nfailed to connect. Officer Gilo, however, wielded something else entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The American 180 .22-caliber submachine gun was a unique weapon marketed primarily to Law Enforcement users. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mike Gilo hefted his fully automatic American 180 .22-caliber submachine gun, jacked the bolt to the rear, and took a bead on the car. Squeezing the trigger he unlimbered a fusillade of zippy little 40-grain lead bullets at some 1,200 rounds per minute into the vehicle\u2019s rear window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American 180 Submachine Gun<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
The philosophical similarities between the American 180 and the WW1-era Lewis gun are obvious. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The American 180 was an open-bolt,\nselective-fire .22-caliber submachine gun loosely patterned upon the\nAmerican-designed and British-produced Lewis machinegun of WW1 fame. The father\nof the American 180 was Richard \u201cDick\u201d Casull. His original\nCasull Model 290 was a semiauto .22 rifle that fed from an enormous drum\nmagazine located atop the weapon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The Casull Model 290 was an exquisitely well-made firearm. The receivers were cut from a big chunk of steel, and the parts were hand-fitted. Original 290\u2019s are coveted collector\u2019s items today. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 1960\u2019s-era Model 290 was both expensive and cumbersome. Eighty-seven hand-built copies saw the light of day before the project died a natural death. Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos owned one. However, by the 1970s other manufacturers in the US and Austria took up and built upon the design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The massive .454 Casull was a ludicrously powerful handgun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dick Casull was a gunsmith from Utah who also\ndeveloped the monster .454 Casull cartridge along with the big-boned revolver that\nfired it. The .454 Casull was basically a grotesquely up-engineered .45 Long\nColt round that developed nearly 2,000 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
North American Arms mini-revolvers are undeniably adorable. These are the guns you can always have on you. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Casull along with Wayne Baker also pioneered Freedom Arms in 1978 to develop miniature single-action revolvers. Eventually, North American Arms acquired the production rights and covered the country in a thin patina of these adorable well-built compact stainless steel wheelguns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical Details<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
American 180 drums come in a variety of sizes and mount atop the weapon via a sliding catch. This is the view of the drum from the bottom. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The American 180 SMG weighs 5.7 pounds empty\nand 10 pounds loaded with a 177-round drum. Original magazines carry either 165\nor 177 rounds, though larger capacity drums of up to 275 rounds are still in\nproduction today. 275-round drums effectively occlude the weapon\u2019s sights. However,\nE&L Manufacturing, the current producer of American 180 drums, includes an\nelevated front sight along with your first 275-round drum purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The drum magazine spins as it empties. The American 180 ejects out the bottom of the receiver. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The American 180 bolt incorporates a\nseries of grooves in the sides to channel crud out of the mechanism. The\nBritish L2A3 Sterling submachine gun features similar stuff. The body of the\ndrum spins on top of the receiver as it empties, which is kind of weird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The American 180 shares any number of common characteristics with the M1928 Thompson submachine gun. The detachable buttstocks on both weapons function similarly. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is a captive screw underneath the\nforward aspect of the receiver that allows the gun to break down quickly into\ntwo handy components. The stock removes with the push of a button like that of\nthe M1928 Thompson submachine gun. The bulky pan magazine produces a cluttered\nsight picture, but the gun is just a ton of fun on the range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The spring-powered motor for the drum is removable and must be wound properly before use. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can die of old age while loading these drum magazines. There is supposedly a mag loader available, though I\u2019ve never seen one. The process really is spectacularly tedious and is best executed in front of some Netflix. A single common spring-powered motor (the detachable mechanical bit in the center) can be used on multiple drums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
This ungainly monster reflected the state of the art in laser sights back in the day. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The American 180 was originally designed\nto be used in conjunction with a primitive bulky helium-neon gas laser\ndesignator. These early laser sights were enormous contraptions that ran about\ntwo hours on a single set of batteries. Oddly, there was also the option of\noperating the sight off of wall power. That would, of course, presuppose an\nexceptionally cooperative target. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
This is the result of a single fifty-round burst fired from twenty meters. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A single .22LR round isn\u2019t particularly awe-inspiring,\nbut twenty of them in a single second will absolutely rock your world. Even at\n1,200 rounds per minute recoil is inconsequential, so the gun is easy to\ncontrol. The original marketing literature claimed that the American 180 would\nmunch through concrete walls, car doors, and body armor. To eat through body\narmor with a full auto .22 necessitates a remarkably open-minded miscreant. The\ngun\u2019s manufacturers claimed that you could place the contents of an entire\n165-round magazine within a three-inch circle at twenty yards in the span of\neight seconds. Wow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trigger Time<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
All civilian-legal automatic weapons are getting pretty long in the tooth. The last transferable machinegun was produced in 1986. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I found the gun to be finicky. However,\nthe youngest civilian-legal machinegun in the registry is some thirty-four\nyears old by now. None of these things were designed to last for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The safety is a rotating lever on the right side of the receiver. The fire selector is an unmarked pushbutton located behind the safety. Pushing the peg to the right sets the gun on full auto. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The spring-driven motor for the drum\nmagazine has to be tuned a bit. Too little tension and the gun chokes. Too much\nand the gun chokes. Get it just right, however, and the American 180 is every\nbit as cool as you might think it would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The non-reciprocating charging handle is located on the left aspect of the receiver. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Burst management requires a bit of discipline, but the onerous loading cycle serves to motivate. Given an adequately expansive piece of paper, you really could write your name with the thing. Take your time and hold your protracted bursts on a single spot, and the American 180 will indeed eat through some of the most remarkable stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Both of these guns cycle at about 1,200 rounds per minute. The tiny little subgun on the left is an RPB MAC-11 in .380ACP. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running the gun intimates an element of precision that is likely illusory at best. The lack of over-penetration in urban areas, when compared to centerfire offerings, was one of the biggest selling points for the gun. However, a gun that cycles at 1,200 rounds per minute is the stuff of nightmares if wielded in a slipshod fashion in a congested area. Truth be known this might not actually be markedly more hazardous than a 12-bore chucking buckshot, but both guns do demand a lot of practice for safe employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rest of the Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
A quick two-second burst chewed the back window out of the Camaro. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though the 12-bore failed to connect, the\n180 reliably did the deed. Officer Gilo unleashed a 40-round burst that took\nall of two seconds. These forty little rimfire bullets chewed through the back\nwindow of the car, and the car crashed in short order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
For certain narrow applications like neutralizing armed felons at close range in an automobile the American 180 was a superb tool. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the bad guys was already toasted, his critical bits thoroughly rearranged courtesy the prodigious swarm of little 40-grain slugs. His partner in crime fled the scene but was apprehended soon thereafter sporting an unhealthy collection of small caliber bullet wounds of his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The American 180 is a controllable little bullet hose. The backstop in this photograph is 65 feet tall and safe. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the 1970s there were apparently not quite so many lawyers as is the case today. In an era wherein folks sue cops over some of the most inane stuff, I suspect a .22-caliber machinegun that rips along at twenty rounds per second would likely not satisfy any modern Law Enforcement agency\u2019s risk management department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruminations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Two
The Utah Department of Corrections used the American 180 for a time as a prison weapon. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The American 180 was produced for a time in\nUtah and was formally adopted by the Utah Department of Corrections. The Utah\nDOC bought quite a few laser units as well. When wielded from a guard tower at\ntheir state penitentiary I suspect these puppies reliably kept the cons in\nline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
The American 180 inspired the Slovenian MGV-176 that became a fairly popular combat weapon. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Rhodesian Special Air Service used a\nfew of these weird little weapons operationally in Africa. A similar gun\nproduced in Slovenia and titled the MGV-176 was purportedly fairly popular in\nthe sundry wars that took place thereabouts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
There\u2019s really not much an American 180 will do that a decent 9mm subgun might not do better, but it was undeniably novel. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s tough to imagine\nwhat the American 180 might bring to the table that a proper 9mm subgun might\nnot, but it is nonetheless a thought-provoking concept. I personally wouldn\u2019t be comfortable\nrelying upon the cumbersome drum feed system in an austere environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Most of the commercial American 180 submachine guns went to Law Enforcement users. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s marketing efforts\nfocused on LE sales, and I recall their advertisements in gun magazines back in\nthe Dark Ages. Like all legal machineguns, transferable examples command a\npremium these days. Many of the guns available to civilian shooters today were\ntraded out of LE arms rooms as departments grew weary of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
There was even a quad mount designed for the American 180 that produced some 6,000 rounds per minute. The gun\u2019s advocates envisioned such a rig for perimeter defense. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The American 180 is one of the most\nunusual combat weapons ever imagined. Under controlled circumstances as our\nhapless Florida burglars discovered, the American 180 can indeed be\ndevastatingly effective. At this point, however, the American 180 is little\nmore than an historical footnote and recreational range beast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
With the stock removed the American 180 was almost compact. The bulky top-mounted drum prevents the gun from being readily concealable. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Loading drums would befuddle Job the prophet, and the gun eats ammo like a monkey after Sugar Babies. However, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to conjure a more delightful way to turn .22 rimfire ammo into noise. Novel, unique, and oddly effective within its admittedly narrow applications, the American 180 is an artifact of the golden age of gun design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Sound suppressed Austrian-made American 180 submachine guns were procured by the Rhodesian SAS during their sundry bush wars. There is at least one documented instance wherein a pair of these weapons was used to successfully engage FRELIMO terrorists at close range during an operation in Mozambique in 1979. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Technical Specifications<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American 180 Submachine Gun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caliber                                     .22LR\/.22\nShort Magnum<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight                                     5.7\npounds empty\/10 pounds loaded w\/177 rounds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magazine Capacity                  165\/177\/220\/275<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Length                                     35.5\ninches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrel Length                           8\/18.5\ninches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action                                     Blowback,\nOpen Bolt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rate of Fire                              1,200 rounds per minute<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novel, unique, and oddly effective within its admittedly narrow applications, the American 180 is an artifact of the golden age of gun design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":130169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[257,772],"tags":[132,102,752],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-130168","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-guns","8":"category-will-dabbs","9":"tag-buzz","10":"tag-feature-articles","11":"tag-historical-guns"},"yoast_head":"\nTwo Criminals and The American 180 Submachine Gun: 1,200 RPM Rimfire Ripper<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two Criminals and The American 180 Submachine Gun: 1,200 RPM Rimfire Ripper - Will Dabbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation. Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\\\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o'clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. 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