American-180
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| American-180 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Submachine gun |
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Richard Casull |
| Manufacturer | Voere, Illinois Arms Company, Inc., American Arms International |
| Variants | Short barrel version |
| Specifications | |
| Weight |
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| Length | 900 mm |
| Barrel length |
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| Cartridge | .22 LR, .22 Short Magnum |
| Action | blowback, open bolt |
| Rate of fire |
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| Effective range | 100 m |
| Feed system | 165, 177, 220, or 275 round detachable pan magazine |
| Sights | Fixed open sights |
The American-180 is a submachinegun developed in the 1960s which fires .22 LR cartridges from a high capacity magazine. The high capacity concept began with the Casull Model 290, which was the first weapon to use this flat pan magazine, although similar magazine designs were widely used prior to World War 2. Only 80 Casull M290s were created, and the weapon was very expensive to produce. Then the idea of the flat pan, high capacity magazine was re-introduced in the American-180 submachinegun. Weapons were mostly sold to police departments and prisons, particularly for riot control.
Contents |
[edit] Operation
This submachinegun is a conventional blowback weapon. It uses an open bolt with a flat pan high capacity magazine. The cartridges are pushed down into a chamber using springs and coils, then the bullet is fired with a fixed firing pin, launching out of the barrel. The gun is typically only effective within a 100 meter range, so it is not suitable for long range shooting.
Despite the relatively low power of the .22 LR round, testing demonstrated that automatic fire could penetrate concrete and even bulletproof vests from cumulative damage. However, the target would have to remain still for an improbable amount of time to allow the cumulative damage to amass in the same area to achieve this.
[edit] Advantages
- very high firing rate
- little recoil
- lightweight
- high magazine capacity
- high effective range for a submachinegun
- low probability of ricochets
- no over-penetration
[edit] Disadvantages
- low stopping power of individual 22 caliber bullets
- length of time required for magazine changes
- reliability problems
