Brownells BRN-180 build series

Part 1

 I have built many AR-15 style rifles over the years for myself and for friends; and while all have been very different in many ways, they have all shared the commonality of the common parts such as bolt carrier groups and buffers/buffer tubes.  That is until Brownells came along and shook things up with the release of their BRN-180. To quote the Brownells website "The Brownells BRN-180. . . pays homage to Eugene Stoner and Arthur Miller's original AR-18 rifle designed in 1963. . ."  The BRN-180 goes beyond a different handguard or custom Cerakote; it has a unique operating system which includes a proprietary BCG and recoil spring set up which is all completely contained within the upper receiver.  Brownells also offers unique lower receivers designed specifically for the BRN-180 upper receivers which have no buffer tube threads. They offer one which is of traditional styling with the exception of the missing buffer tube threads, and another which is shaped as to better replicate the original AR-18 design with the look of stamped metal.

It was love at first sight when I saw the BRN-180.  The buffer-less system, unique blend of old and modern design and side charging handle really captured my attention.

I had to wait a long time for the BRN-180 lower to come back in stock, and after turning on in-stock notifications, I received an email alert and snagged one as quick is I could. 

You can find the Brownells BRN-180 lower receivers at the following link to Brownells.com below;

Brownells BRN-180 parts

I had been seeing a lot of awesome BRN-180 builds and knew I wanted to build something totally different from my other AR builds.  Having no buffer tube and a awesome retro looking side charging handle wasn't enough for me.  After I received my BRN-180 lower receiver, I knew right away I wanted to make the build as retro looking as possible.  And nothing looks more retro to me then the use of beautiful wood on a rifle.  My mind brought me to some of the most unique and beautiful rifles of our yesteryear, like the Thompson Sub machine gun, and the Browning Automatic Rifle. These amazing weapons beautifully mixed wood and metal and made for some of the most iconic retro firearms ever built.  Rest In Peace to The Godfather of all modern Firearms, the great John Moses Browning!  I decided to build a wood clad BRN-180.

After making a trek to an exotic wood lumber yard, I found this big chunk of beautiful Walnut, and decided to start the custom woodworking with a AR grip.

I bought this Magpul grip to use as my template/reference and started by selecting a corner of the walnut block to use for the grip blank. 

My neighbor and good friend Pete had a nice band saw and we used it to cut a nice square block out of the corner of the walnut.

We then put the square block on end and used the band saw to cut it in half.  The walnut block was thick enough to be able to cut it in half and end up with two nice grip blanks (that way if I royally screw one up I have a spare).

I utilized the Magpul grip and traced its outline on one of the two blanks. 

I then used a straight edge to draw straight lines on the outside of the outline I traced. 

I then used Pete's chop saw (I was already at his house and was too lazy to pull mine out of the shed) to cut along the straight lines I had drawn.  The most pivotal cut was the top left corner as its the only part of the grip which has to be a perfect 90 degree angle. 

After making a few final cuts, I had a basic grip-like block cut out and ready for the next stage.  

It doesn't look like much yet, but it is really coming along quite nicely.  The next step of the process will be to mill out the center of the block.  Stay tuned for Part 2 of the BRN-180 build!

I am posting the video version of this series on my YouTube channel and you can find that video here;

BRN-180 build Part 1

You can find me on Instagram at the following link;

@Faithkillsfear

Remember, Faith Kills Fear!