Caution to those buying Armalite AR-180B's in the USA

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gutinater

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I know of several people who have purchased AR-180B's in the US to import into Canada due to their lower prices in the US. A word of caution as most if not all AR-180B's in the US in spite of sellers listing them as having a 20" barrel they actual rifled part of the barrel is only 18-1/4" thus making them restricted. The built in flash hider cannot be used in the calculation for the overall length of the barrel only the rifled portion. Armalites own manual lists the barrel on the AR-180B as being 18-1/4". As far as I know (and someone feel free to correct me if Im wrong) but the Canadian version was a special run ordered by Wolverine supplies called the AR-180B-2 with a Canadian legal non restricted barrel (not sure of the legth but obviously 18.5" or over)

EDIT: Heres the part in the AR-180B thread stating the difference:


Q: What is the difference between the AR180B and the AR180B-2?
A: The AR180B is the version with a threaded muzzle, it is restricted due to barrel length. The AR180B-2 is the California and Canada legal version with the integral muzzle brake. It is non-restricted in Canada.

The naming is some what backwards as the AR180B-2 is actually the first version of the AR180B rifle. With the sunset of the Assault Weapons Ban in the US, Armalite started threading the muzzles for flash suppressors. They continued to manufacture the "AW ban" version, as the AR180B-2, for states like Commifornia and Canada.


What I dont know is if the some AR-180B's had integral muzzle breaks like the AR-180B-2 which seems to be what the manual is saying unless Im reading it wrong and I also dont know if the guns are marked AR-180B and AR-180B-2 respectively.


Taken from the Armalite manual:

"Length

Rifle with Integral Muzzle Brake 38 in.

Barrel 18 ¼ in.

Barrel with Integral Muzzle Brake 19.8 in."


http ://www.armalite.com/images/Manuals%5C180bman.pdf
 
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When the flash hider is machined integral to the barrel, it can be included in the barrels measurement. If it is one piece of steel, it's fine.
 
You are correct gutinater. A flash hider DOES NOT count for barrel length even its "machined" or permanently attached to the barrel in any way.
 
BenL said:
That would be incorrect - must be rifled as well. If it not rifled, then its not a barrel now is it :)
Click to expand...

Nope.

It just has to be a continuous, one-piece length, rifling is irrelevant. Otherwise, the Mossberg 930 Tactical wouldn't be non-restricted.

Barrel length would be under 18.5" if the muzzle thingy didn't count.

 
BenL said:
That would be incorrect - must be rifled as well. If it not rifled, then its not a barrel now is it :)
Click to expand...

The chamber doesn't have rifling and is considered part of the barrel. If i remember correctly a flash hider must be permanantly attached to be considered part of the barrel. I may be wrong, it happened once before.
 
I believe if the flash hider is welded and pinned to the barrel, then it is considered legal and makes up the full length of the barrel example is the Bushmaster AR15 16" barrel. I might be wrong, just ask my wife, she'll tell you...
 
One thing that should be pointed out to some in this thread; Just how long is the integral muzzle break in the AR180B? If it's anything over 1.31" then by most logic in this thread the AR-180B is a restricted rifle. ;)
 
Must be the same piece of steel, continuous. S&W went through this with the 460 revolvers being listed as prohib because of the unrifled section at the muzzle, but the RCMP came around.
 
there are rifles out there that the end of the barrel has had the rifling reemed out due to wear ( ie Mosin–Nagant ) , but the overall length of the barrel from the bolt face to the end of the barrel is the barrel length .

like others have mentioned , as long as it is one piece of steel , it is all good .
 
Canuck223 said:
When the flash hider is machined integral to the barrel, it can be included in the barrels measurement. If it is one piece of steel, it's fine.
Click to expand...

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-39.html?texthighlight=barrelled+length+barrel#s-84.

ok, straight from the Act:

“restricted firearm”

(ii) has a barrel less than 470 mm in length, and
(iii) is capable of discharging centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner,


Barrel length

(2) For the purposes of this Part, the length of a barrel of a firearm is
(a) in the case of a revolver, the distance from the muzzle of the barrel to the breach end immediately in front of the cylinder, and
(b) in any other case, the distance from the muzzle of the barrel to and including the chamber,
but does not include the length of any component, part or accessory including any component, part or accessory designed or intended to suppress the muzzle flash or reduce recoil.

==

If you look at the Act it says nothing about rifling, how it is connected to the barrel (permanent or other means) it just says "..length of ANY component... intended to suppress the muzzle flash"
 
Surely a barrel is not defined by rifling. Otherwise, shotguns would be considered to not even have a barrel.
 
CanAm said:
i.e. separate piece
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As always, isn't it great when it takes a whole bunch of people jawing to try and figure out what these laws mean and how they are interpreted :) How I read the act it isn't clear to me that it is a separate piece, but this explains it a bit better

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5044-eng.pdf

From Canadian Border Services document on importing firearms to Canada:


Firearms specifications

Barrel length

Canadian law specifies that the barrel of a firearm must be measured to assist in determining the firearm’s classification.

Barrel length is measured as follows:

■ a revolver is measured from the muzzle of the
barrel to the breech, immediately in front of
the cylinder;
■ all other firearms are measured from the muzzle of the barrel up to and including the chamber, but not including the length of any part or accessory added to the barrel, including those designed or intended to suppress the muzzle flash or reduce the recoil, such as a flash suppressor (eliminator) or muzzle brake.

==

I guess that is where the "one continuous piece of metal" versus something pasted / welded / pinned on after the fact comes from
 
laughingswordfish said:
As always, isn't it great when it takes a whole bunch of people jawing to try and figure out what these laws mean and how they are interpreted :) How I read the act it isn't clear to me that it is a separate piece, but this explains it a bit better

......

I guess that is where the "one continuous piece of metal" versus something pasted / welded / pinned on after the fact comes from
Click to expand...

No offense intended, but the Firearms Act reference you quoted earlier is quite clear. Besides, it's the only thing that matters, regardless of how it may be described by other agencies fact sheets.
 
gutinater said:
What I dont know is if the some AR-180B's had integral muzzle breaks like the AR-180B-2 which seems to be what the manual is saying unless Im reading it wrong and I also dont know if the guns are marked AR-180B and AR-180B-2 respectively.
Click to expand...
To answer this question, yes, there are some non-restricted barreled rifles marked AR-180B, without the -2 suffix, that do have the integral muzzle break. I believe these may be the earlier production ones, before the AWB ended in the US, as that excerpt suggests. Mine is one of these.
 
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