Austrian AM180 22 FA

[can14&]

Got this during the last month registrations were allowed in Canada. I had a tour
of the factory in Salt Lake City. That was were the US models came from. But,
for some reason, Canadian sales had to come from Austria.
The tour was interesting, the prison system was getting some with laser sights.
They also were working on laser sights for mini 14 rugers.

Information

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[RCS]

I seem to remember that there was a special 22 rim fire cartridge developed for the Model 180, it was the 22 WMR made shorter to the same length as the 22 long rifle so it would work in the same action
that was designed for the 22 long rifle. I had some of these cartridges years ago

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Re: that "special" RF cartridge.

It sounds like somebody breathed a bit of life back into the old Winchester .22 WRF. This looks like a "short" .22 RF magnum, and was designed for a series of early Winchester semi-auto, riimfire rifles. It was loaded with smokeless powder and was a bit "hotter" than the limp BP-loaded .22 short and long then in wide circulation.

This "fatter" case was used so that these "modern" rounds could not be fed through firearms that were probably too fragile to handle it. This "new" case was also later "stretched" to give us the .22 RF Magnum.

Anyone got data or pix of the Austrian ammo for the AM-180?

Another thought is that the AM-180 designers may have had "military" applications in mind, and thus, figured that they needed a round with a jacketed bullet. (Not unlike a short version of the common .22RF Magnum "full jacket" stuff). This could not be done in a round constructed like the traditional .22RF.

[browningautorifle]

.22RF Magnum "full jacket" stuff)

That would be a different gun, for sure...

[browningautorifle]

Yes, these were a special cartridge. There were a shipment sent to the '76 Olympics in Montreal for police use at roadblocks...even though they were sent by bonded courier, the shipment arrived light. Seems every handler skimmed one for himself. I guess that means there are a few available somewhere out there in Canada...if one could but find them...

[Brian Dick]

The majority were made in .22LR. When I was a kid I worked in a gun shop in Holly Hill, Florida that was a dealer for American Arms. We did some wild demos with those little fast running guns. The magazine held 144 rounds if memory serves. It was one of my jobs to load the drums. I remember shooting bowling pins with them and the wood would just absorb the .22 projectiles. Those bowling pins would get very heavy after a few sessions on the range.

[browningautorifle]

The majority were made in .22LR.

For the North American market...

[can14&]

A better comparison is one I did, when we could do it. Was colt 1921 with 100 round drum against am180 with
177 22. on 45 gallon drums of water. Destruction was close to the same, Colt a lot more.

[CINDERS]

Something with a little more lead slinging ability down range still in .22 caliber, would not like to be the person loading the links?
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...zVjs5oX6DDvYrg

Years ago I read a story on the CIA fooling with one of these creations eating through concrete pillars with ease so they dressed 3 sheep up in human clothing for a test.
Lined them up and gave them a quick 1 second burst in their words, Sheep No.1 Disintegrated, No.2 sheep Fatal, No.3 sheep Mortally wounded.
My guess is No.3 copped the last of the spray as No.2 dropped from the line of fire they must have an interesting time in the CIA.

[browningautorifle]

a little more lead slinging ability

That'll work. I'd be forced to use fire pails, steel buckets for targets...lots of them. That was about 30,000 rds he went through I'll bet.