Want to go down in the history of small arms? It couldn't be easier! Come up with something completely new and ... bring it to metal. And then, through the media, tell the public about it to the public. The real value of that, What will you do, does not play any role today. Why? Simply because, that there are a lot of people today, and you will always find those, who will like your creation.
You have invented the shortest-barreled large-bore revolver? Why not? Useful for private security guards! Lithium bullets? Fine! Let them be shot by disguised detectives on planes! Paper gun? Weapons for spies and nationalist-colored "color revolutions" in countries, where weapons are prohibited for citizens. And so on. There are a lot of examples.
American-180 submachine gun
However, we must first of all look, on the basis of which cartridge will you create your miracle of technology, because the patron is the head of everything. You can do it differently and create a cartridge yourself. But it is difficult. Easier to take ready-made.
AND, by the way, This is exactly what the creator of the most unusual American-180 submachine gun Richard Casull did. As for his story, then it started back in 1887 year, when Joshua Stevens from Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, owner of the arms company "D. Stevens & Co. », created the world's most famous "small" rifle cartridge .22 Long Rifle "long rifle" (5,6× 15.6 mm R) - small caliber unitary rimfire cartridge of 22 gauge (5,6 mm) and fired a number of rifles and pistols under it for target shooting. Probably, everyone knows this cartridge and has held it in their hands. because, that in Soviet times, ALL schoolchildren in our country learned to shoot from "small cars", even girls, and in them, including the Margolinsky pistol, these same cartridges were loaded. Without exaggeration, this is the most massive and famous cartridge in the world.. AND, add, the cheapest!
It was for him, in the early 60s of the last century, that he created his exotic small-caliber self-loading carbine Casull Model 290 Richard Casull. Released it in a very small batch: only about 80 pcs, and it was quite expensive. But its main feature was not the price or even the caliber, and a disk magazine with a capacity 290 rounds. This certainly never happened before!
And then, already in the 70s, on the basis of the Kasull carbine design, a submachine gun was also designed for the same cartridge, for police, and not just the police, and for the forceful suppression of it by the forces of mass riots. The submachine gun was given the designation American-180 and immediately began to be produced first in Austria, and then even import to the States - this "most armed country in the world", what Christopher has done & Associates. Then American-180 production by American Arms International, and then the Illinois Arms Company, Inc. (ILARCO) already established directly in the USA.
And then the most interesting thing happened: a large number of American-180 submachine guns were bought by representatives of the US police departments (which everyone seems to know about, that they are committed to large calibers!), as well as guard units of federal and local American prisons. The thing is, that a number of specific requirements were put forward for their weapons and it was decided, that such a submachine gun would be the most suitable for them. true, the opposite soon became clear, namely, what, with all the low power of small-caliber cartridges, a long line of American-180 can literally "gnaw" their service body armor, although it was originally intended, that such bulletproof vests will help protect police and prison officers in those cases, when American-180 somehow falls into the hands of criminals.
Cartridge .22 Long Rifle "long rifle" (5,6× 15.6 mm R).
In fact,, it is these features of the American-180 that made it a fairly effective police weapon. The thing is, that low-power cartridges of 5.56-mm caliber have a small lethal range and are not prone to ricochets. "Armor-piercing", that is, the ability to punch through the walls of houses and doors, the bullets of these cartridges are also extremely low. Small and noise level, which is created by them when firing. Their price matters too, which for small-caliber cartridges is much lower, than the cost of any regular rounds. The minimum recoil easily allows you to control the weapon chambered for these cartridges when firing bursts, i.e, if necessary, from it you can conduct fairly accurate aimed fire and not be afraid of ricochets. Interesting, that in order to further increase the effectiveness of the protection of stationary objects (mostly high security prisons) the Americans even came up with such fantastic firepower "devices", as paired, or even quadruple (!) installations from such submachine guns, at a short distance capable of releasing literally a barrage of lead, that will stop any crowd. American-180 can even be equipped with a special laser sight, which turns it into an exclusively "lethal weapon" of the XXI century.
As noted, these submachine guns were supplied to police departments as riot-fighting weapons.. They were also popular among amateur shooters., who used it for recreational shooting ("Plinking"). But all this was before the ban on the production and sale of civilian automatic weapons in 1986 year. The thing is, that studies of the damaging properties of such weapons, held at the American Arsenal Picatinny, identified one, a very unexpected possible area of its application - to combat lightly armored targets at close ranges. It turned, that with such a rate of fire (order 20 shots per second) shooting at the same place multiplies the armor penetration of small-caliber bullets. This is due to the fact, that the material of light armor does not have time to recover between bullet hits occurring at such a frequency and is destroyed. That is, the quantity in this case turns into quality! So this small-caliber submachine gun suddenly turned out to be potentially dangerous to people., protected by body armor - that is, primarily police, and even armored vehicles and light armored vehicles. So now you won't be able to buy it just like that even in the USA.!
Well, and the very design of the American-180 submachine gun is extremely simple. properly, it's automatic, free shutter, which also powered the legendary MR-18, and the equally legendary PPSh-41 and MR-38. Fire from it is conducted from an open shutter, and there is a translator of the fire mode for firing single shots or bursts.
the main thing, what sets this weapon apart from its predecessors is the exceptionally high rate of fire. Even the Italian Revelli is bigger 1100 I didn't fire shots per minute, and here the rate of fire with .22LR cartridges is 1 200 rounds per minute. The American-180 is chambered for the more powerful .22ILARCO rounds. (.22 Short Magnum rimfire based on the .22WMR short cartridge) has an even higher rate of fire - 1500 rounds per minute. Naturally, that with such a rate of fire of cartridges he needs a lot.
Well, the constructor took care of that too. Cartridges were fed from removable disk magazines, cartridges in which were placed horizontally in several layers, stacked with bullets to the center of the disc. Originally, the store was made of steel and contained 177 rounds, laid in three layers. Then there were shops made of transparent plastic like Lexan, containing 165, 220 or even 275 rounds, inside at three, four or five layers. by the way, this submachine gun got its name American-180 because of one store, which included just 180 rounds! Shop c 180 cartridges in a continuous burst are shot for 7 seconds. 275-cartridge in eleven seconds. Like the Lewis machine gun shop, the magazine of this submachine gun rotates when firing: makes one turn in 360 degrees for shooting one level of ammunition. But there is also a difference. It still has a spring pusher, which was not on the Lewis. The magazine is manually charged and is quite slow: it takes ten to fifteen minutes. There is also a special loading tray, which attaches to the store and speeds up the process. With its help, an experienced person can load a 177-cartridge magazine in three minutes..
It noted, that the very appearance of this weapon made a strong impression on ... the rioting prisoners. In particular, the mere sight of the "laser dot" on the "problem maker" had a calming effect on them. The second factor was for some reason the "fat store" located on top.
American machine gun diagram -180.
Interesting, that this store was based on the design of the store for the Lewis machine gun during the First World War. That is, before us is another illustrative example of, that everything new is well forgotten old!
celebrated, what at rate of fire 1500 rounds per minute this submachine gun looks more like a chainsaw, than a machine gun. And do not think, that this weapon is not effective due to its "toy cartridge". Twenty 5.56mm lead bullets, hitting the person, will incapacitate it with much greater efficiency, than one 9mm bullet or more. The thing is, that due to the almost complete lack of recoil this submachine gun is very easy to operate. Efficiency up to 100 yards, that is, for such a caliber, it is quite enough.
Another interesting fact, that this submachine gun is produced not only with a chrome finish, but also painted green and red and even coated with 24-carat gold cost ... 16000 dollars!
American-180 comes with nine barrels, fourteen and sixteen inches. Barrels are easily changed without the use of tools. For covert operations, American-180 can be placed in a special "secret portfolio". It looks like an expensive portfolio of businessmen, however, inside it has a short-barreled American-80 with a laser sight. And he shoots from a closed portfolio. "Secret briefcase" has a combination lock, and two inconspicuous switches in the form of "buttons" are hidden in its handle. The first switch turns on the laser and releases the fuse. The second serves as a trigger. Promotional videos show, that this "device" works at close range very effectively. So the American 180's place in the history of firearms is guaranteed.. There is nothing like this anymore.
To be continued…
