Raffica

Q: I love your magazine. I was recently introduced to it and now I am a subscriber, until I'm dead or your out of business, whichever comes first. I already own three full autos, Uzi, MAC and an M-16. I am now looking at the American 180. Mostly for the cheap cost of shooting and the amount of rounds that it holds. So now I'm looking for your honest opinion. Is the gun worth it? Does it jam easily because of dirty ammunition? Do the parts inside hold up well? I guess what I'm looking for is all the drawbacks to owning one. Ans, if you've done a previous article, give me the back issue number. See you at Knob Creek.

Tim in Indiana

A: Bite your tongue on that first line, Tim. Hope we all have a long way to go. American 180's are a fun little stitcher, at around 30 rounds per second. I like to write my name in car doors in sand pits with mine. They are easy to control.

There are some things that all AM-180 owners discover. 1- Eash gun has it's own ammo preference. 2- Each gun has a point where it won't work when dirty. 3- There WILL BE A TIME THE CARTRIDGE FIRES OUT OF BATTERY, and since it ejects down, the operator is going to get the forward arm sprayed with brass. Wear a glove on your forward hand. 4- The original winders wind 3.25 turns, and if removed from the drum while unlocked and wound they go "SPRONG" and don't work anymore. I tried to fix one years ago and ended up throwing it at the wall, so now I send them to Stanley Andrewski. He fixes them, doesn't make fun of me about it, and only charges $25 to do it. E&LManufacturing carries AM-180 parts. They're a fun gun, but be prepared to tinker and have patience. We'll have an article on the AM-180 by Ken Carter in an upcoming issue of MGN.