Bushmaster 223

[Joe the Redneck]

I have decided to make the plunge and get a an ar15 or clone. I am leaning toward the Bushmaster, there website is very good. How do they compare to Colts or Armorlites? What can I expect to pay? I wouldn't feel comfortable buying I kit. I'm buying new and a compleate rifle.

Thanks
Joe the Redneck

 

[olazul]

Hello Joe,

Bushmaster is a good choice for an AR15- IMHO. They have good quality milspec rifles with chrome lined barrels. New Colt's on the other hand are suffering a bit in the quality department. examples: the buttstock plate has a chinzy plastic hinge and their barrels are no longer chrome lined. Also the trigger group uses oversize nonmilspec pins and the front takedown pin is irregular also. I hear armalite makes quality AR's, although I do not think their barrels are chrome lined(I could be wrong). Check out www.ar15.com as they have tons of info and a very informative discussion board.

enjoy!

Olazul

 

[Hoplite]

I was a little discusted when I first bought my Bushmaster shorty. When I went out to fire it I found that the magazine release kept getting hung up on the other side, and the gun would fire but would refuse to strip off rounds from the magazine no matter which brand mags I used. I allowed for a little breaking in period but when the gun still refused to stop jamming I packed the gun up and shipped it right back to Bushmaster. To their credit they repaired the gun at no cost to me and I got it back in about a week and I have had no problems since. I never had any problems with my COLT but to be honest I never put the ammount of rounds through the gun to the point were problems would start showing up. A local armmorer states that in the long run the bushmasters hold up better (but then again he sells Bushmasters on the side). The people I know who have bought Bushmasters though generally seem satisfied with them so If I were you that is probably the route I would take. The armalites seem to be relatively rare in my area so I don't have any experience with them. Colts shabby quality control on some of their other guns and the distasteful politics of the leadership in recent years have pretty well turned me against that company to the point I will probably never buy one of their products again.

 

[Pete]

I just got a new Bushmaster Shorty AK. The gun is sweet. Fun to shoot, fun to clean. This seems to be the nicest made gun I've ever fired. Pretty expensive though.
Oh yeah, almost no recoil, but because of the muzzle brake it is really loud. Not quite as bad when you're actually firing it. But when you're standing nearby - wear hearing protection.