Opinion of Bushmaster AR-15

[broom jockey]

My search for a AR-15 type rifle has found the Bushmaster 20 inch barrel M16 A2. I like the looks of it. May I hear your opinion of Bushmaster in general and/or on this rifle? The XM15-E2S-AR-15 looks nice too. I need reliability in sustained fire.
Thank you

[joem]

I bought one years ago and it functions very well. Fit and finish is good but the trigger is a little stiff, A match trigger it ain't. Very reliable but all I shoot is brass cased reloads which are mine.

[Major Tom]

Do you full length size your brass or just neck size? I had a Colt AR-15 that would chamber neck sized brass.

[Nate]

I've had mine for 12 years and have had no problems. I did have a match trigger installed because I wanted a "sniper package". Also added a Leatherwood bullet compensating scope and with that combo I get 1moa groups at 300yds and center of mass hits out to 500 yds. I haven't used it in sastained fire.

[joem]

I always full length size and trim if required. The reloads must fit several different rifles.

[Col. Colt]

Bushmasters are somewhat of a crap shoot.

I know people who are well satisfied with theirs, and I know personally of some problems with the Bushmasters my agency has me work on. The batch we got about seven years ago had wear problems, and were close to max headspace in only two years of use. I've changed a lot of gas tubes and bolt rings to keep them running. To be fair, they have had several thousand rounds apiece through them - but you may have no issues, particularly if the gun is lightly used. Now that DPMS and Bushmaster are together under one roof with Remington, who knows what parts are actually being used?

If the price is cheap, fine. If I wanted a lower end rifle, though, I would buy an S&W, personally. I know a few Rock River owners that are quite satisfied, as well. On the upper end, Daniel Defense is well thought of, and Les Baer.

Colt is still the production rifle to beat for milspec/ISO9000 standards and their prices have come down - and new models have recently come on line.

Whichever gun you get, keep it clean and well lubed and stock spare gas tubes and gas rings, and a spare Bolt Head assy is never a bad idea.

Respectfully, CC

[da gimp]

Youngest daughter drew a Bushie from the Missouri State Rifle & Pistol org when she was a junior shooter in CMP Service rifle comp & had absolutely no problems with it....

Colt, Armalite,Rock River, WhiteOak Precision, Les Baer, Stag are all well thought of, as are the S&W rifles........, On custom rifles go with WhiteOak Precision, John is the acknowledged BEST in the USA AR-15 smith, with very competitive prices as to over the counter rifles. On semi custom rifles, Les Baer produces great stuff. On production rifles, Colt, Armalite, Rock River & Stag all produce good weapons, with Colt having a better re-sale value for most buyers...

On Daniel Defense's rifles, 99% of all shooter's contact with them is limited to seeing TV ads with paid spokesmen endorsing them, not something I'd use as a basis to buy a rifle or anything else for that matter......few/if any of their rifles show up at matches or on the club range........

[wstrayer]

I don't own one but we have both as patrol rifles and I am the armorer for such. The fit and finish of the Colt is a touch better. In the carbine versions, they have been quite servicable for us. If you are a serious match guy, go for the Colt. If not, I think the Bushmaster will do very well for you.

[Dienekes]

Have had my Bushmaster A1 style carbine since '06. I put about 4K M193 type rounds (handloads) through it before I came up with a bulged barrel--most likely from running a CMMG .22LR unit in it. (Bit of a mystery there,
but bulged it was!) Installed a replacement Doublestar pencil barrel and pressed on. Replaced the bolt at the same time on principle. The only mod of consequence was a Jard trigger which has worked just fine. Always used a D-Fender to beef up extraction.

Back when I bought the Bushmaster I still had a bit to learn and the Colts were priced quite a bit higher. I staked the castle nut and restaked the gas key, but that's all I really did. It's been a good rifle but of course the price of the Colts is very competitive right now.

As a matter of fact I just bought a Colt 6720 for that reason. Plus I wanted a flattop and simply buying a new one minimized the fuss and expense of modifying an existing rifle. Even with all the hype about the Colt being fully Mil-spec, etc., I am not about to junk the old reliable Bushmaster. There is a bit of a warm fuzzy about the Colt's resale being excellent and all that, but actual use tells the story in the end.

[The Shadow]

I built my 2 Bushmasters from their parts kits 15 years ago. Only the stripped lowers are not Bushie. They've been accurate and 100% reliable ever since!

Terry