Armalite AR-18 - Production and Service Use

Production and Service Use

The AR-18 was put into limited production at ArmaLite's machine shop and offices in Costa Mesa, California. A semi-automatic version of the AR-18 known as the AR-180 was later produced for the civilian market between 1969 and 1972. ArmaLite was never equipped to build small arms on a production basis, and the Costa Mesa AR-18 and AR-180 rifles frequently show evidence of hand-fitting. A production license was granted to Nederlandsche Wapen-en Munitiefabriek (NWM) of Den Bosch, the Netherlands, but it is doubtful that any AR-18 rifles were actually produced there. A license to produce the AR-18/180 was then sold to Howa Machinery Co., of Japan, and the rifle was produced there from 1970 until 1974, when new controls on export of military arms by the Japanese government forced the company to cease all small arms production. From 1975 until 1983, the Sterling Armaments Company of Dagenham, Essex, in the United Kingdom produced the AR-18/AR-180.

Unlike the AR-15/M16, the AR-18 did not see substantial sales success, and was not not officially adopted by any nation as a standard service rifle. The reasons for this are unclear, but may have had something to do with the existing sales popularity of the AR-15/M-16, as well as the need for additional field testing and evaluation of the Costa Mesa-produced rifles, which were still in the advanced prototype stage. The AR-18 was purchased for evaluation trials by various armed forces, including the United States (1964) and the United Kingdom (1966). These suffered various malfunctions during evaluation trials by various nations. During the US trials at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1964, the AR-18's functioning was found to vary from lot to lot of ammunition. The evaluating board concluded that while the basic design of the AR-18 was sound, it required additional minor revisions and changes to improve safety and reliability before it could be considered for adoption as a service rifle. The British Ministry of Defence (MOD) tested the AR-18 in March 1966, and found the design unsatisfactory in performance during mud and sand trials. ArmaLite made several minor production modifications to the design commencing in 1965, and the U.S. Army was directed to re-evaluate the AR-18 at the end of 1969. Testing was conducted at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, conducted by arsenal employees and the Infantry Board at Fort Benning, Georgia. However, American procurement officials were not interested in acquiring yet another 5.56 mm service rifle. Instead, the AR-180 was sold on the civilian market, while the AR-18 sold in small quantities to police and law enforcement organizations, as well as armies and security forces of nations such as Botswana, Haiti, and Swaziland. Still others found their way into the hands of terrorist or paramilitary groups, such as the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland. In 1968, dissatisfied with efforts to market the AR-18, Arthur Miller left ArmaLite.