New Range Gun!! Sterling R18!!

2020
I understand inflation, cost increases , whatever.
I just don’t see the point of comparing the 180 to an ATRS MS, its a losing comparison.
In any event, the market will tell the tale.
Are the first 40 sold yet?

But I just got a few items, timney trigger ,Barrel,CTR stock,etc and the prices haven’t changed that much.
Maybe 5% at most.

Point taken. If the demand at the price point of the R18 isn't strong enough, then the vendor will either have to lower to the price, or the R18 will go the way of the RWA 180B before it and disappear from production. Only time and the market will tell.
 
How have you found the accuracy out of the pencil?

Accuracy with frontier 62gr BTHP has been about 1.5 for me.
About 2moa with PMC Bronze was getting about 2ish and Barnual was getting 2.5
I'm having this bizarre issue where none of my Barnaul/steel case will cycle(55grFMJ) My buddy gave me some of his Barnaul (55gr FMJ) and it ran flawlessly. I'm going to assume I have must have a underpowered batch of ammo. It's just a head scratcher, all my Barnaul has been bought in the last 4 months.

Has anyone else had this issue ?
 
Are they not firing or not cycling?

It will fire, but there isnt enough energy to even extract the case after, I had to hand cycle ever shot of my Barnaul.
Like I said, its only with MY batch of Barnaul, my buddy had the same ammo and that ran smooth as butter.
 
Accuracy with frontier 62gr BTHP has been about 1.5 for me.
About 2moa with PMC Bronze was getting about 2ish and Barnual was getting 2.5
I'm having this bizarre issue where none of my Barnaul/steel case will cycle(55grFMJ) My buddy gave me some of his Barnaul (55gr FMJ) and it ran flawlessly. I'm going to assume I have must have a underpowered batch of ammo. It's just a head scratcher, all my Barnaul has been bought in the last 4 months.

Has anyone else had this issue ?

Were you the fellow on Reddit who was testing with the factory packing lube in the cold? Did the problem with the Barnaul persist with a re-lube? If this is occurring with the firearm properly lubricated, you may want to see if TSE have received any of the MK2.1 upgraded internals they could pass for you to try.
 
As someone who has owned and fired at least 1000 rounds out of each rifle, I can tell you that the R18 is the more refined firearm design as compared to the 5.56 mm FAMAE SG 540 series. The action and cycling of the R18 are far smoother than those of the SG 540. The R18 !Charging Handle is non-reciprocating and the cocking slot in the side of the Upper Receiver is sealed against the ingress of foreign matter, both features that the SG 540 lacks. I could readily continue, noting the R18's easily upgraded Trigger, adjustable Gas Block, full-length Picatinny Rail, swappable Buttstocks, and so on and so forth. At the end of the day? The R18 is a true modern sporting rifle, whereas the SG 540 design (aside from some recent FABARM "lipstick") dates back to the 1970s. For my money the R18 is the better rifle.

But how is reliability? Can it do military service. Handle harsh environments? I was about to drop money on Tavor. I just want a rifle that can take beating.
 
But how is reliability? Can it do military service. Handle harsh environments? I was about to drop money on Tavor. I just want a rifle that can take beating.


I have fired just over 1000 rounds of mixed 55, 62 and 77 gr ammo out of my R18 "Pencil Barrel" Test Rifle. Once we upgraded the operating springs to the original AR-180 specification, I suffered no stoppages attributable to the rifle. There were occasional magazine-related stoppages, but nothing that I would pin on the rifle itself. I had it out in -10 weather and it ran fine with my standard light coat of CLP. It even ran the Barnaul steel-cased ammo that I had on-hand, despite it being notoriously under-powered. I would want a bunch more trigger time running and gunning with the R18 before I would declare it "duty ready", however that is a physical imposibility for me. I will therefore have to defer to the new owners of the 40 "Pencil Barrel" rifles currently in the wild to provide those "hard use" reports. That said, based on what I have personally experienced to date, I expect the R18 to be a strong performer for long-term reliability.
 
You are correct. Because of delays, the next batch is expected a little later, but by mid-March, should be on the shelves again.

JR

Excellent, thank you for the response. More time to save pennies. With the location of the stock now raised, would it be fair to assume the rifle would work with a Trijicon ACOG?
 
You are correct. Because of delays, the next batch is expected a little later, but by mid-March, should be on the shelves again.

JR

Dang. Was really hoping to run the updated version at the winter brutality match March 5. Wanted the higher rear rail to work with my current optics set up as well as the heavier barrel. Maybe if there was a way to get the current offering then retrofit the updated lower later on..
 
Excellent, thank you for the response. More time to save pennies. With the location of the stock now raised, would it be fair to assume the rifle would work with a Trijicon ACOG?

I get a great sight picture with my TA11 (3.5x Trijicon ACOG) with the original stock height of the Pencil barrel rifle.

The stacked RMR is more of a chinweld but I mean that just be how it be when you stack dots.
 
Reddit r/CanadaGuns user PototoZach rattle-canned his R18 and gave some positive impressions, https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns/comments/thf4wo/sterling_arms_r18_mk2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb

We now have over 5000 rds through the range gun in Calgary and 2000 rds through the gun at Target (they were closed a lot). Neither has had any issues.

We have also had numerous owners tell us they have high round counts (over 1500 rds) through there rifles and no significant issues have arisen to date.

So far, I am pretty happy with the R18 M2 and am glad SAI spent the time to make a solid product for us.

The next batch of rifles (and regular shipments) should start in 3 weeks.

JR
 
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