Vintage Bushmaster AR - anything special?

I have a bushie Varminter of that era with a 24” barrel. Exceptionally accurate. I wouldn’t sell mine for 2x what I paid. It’s killed hundreds of prairie digs.

Since new AR’s are so very cheap, I’d personally keep it in the event they go up again. I can’t imagine you’d get more than a few hundred dollars at best.

I assume it is an A2 rifle?

Personally I wouldn't place any special value on it. If you can trade it for a rifle you would rather have, I would say do the trade.

I don't see a scenario where an 'original' Bushmaster is going to appreciate in value as anything particularly collectible.

I would keep the original bushmaster they are of known good quality in the AR realm.

I agree with those who say you should keep it. My original Bushmaster Dissipator won't win any beauty contests, but it is still a solid performer. And on top of that, in today's market I wouldn't get back what it is worth to me.

Bushmaster reputation has fallen far too far in the eyes of the current AR buying market to bring any value just for namesake. You might find an uneducated sap who buys a line like, “this is from when Bushmaster was at the top of the market with Colt and Armalite, not the low grade stuff you see to day all over the place,” and it might not even be a lie to say that. But overall, it’s just another AR, and prices on AR’s are LOW currently.

I’m not sure hanging onto it will drive any value back for the rifle either. There are too many companies making parts, and too many who own the capability to do so - if demand comes back to drive prices back up, I expect we’ll see that demand get happily served by all of this production capacity. Even if a few companies go under in this overstock condition, that equipment is going somewhere, and it’s won’t forget how to make AR parts. In other words, I don’t think we’re going to see an AR which will bring $500 today ever climb to $1,000 again, outside of an event like 2012 where fools bought and thieves sold at high prices.

It is like everyone ignored the trade aspect.

If you like the other rifle better, and the other party wants to trade, why on earth would you keep it?

If you decide in a month or two that you want another AR you can buy them all day long from $400 to $4000......

A BM A2 lower with a JT A2 upper is never going to set the world on fire with regard to demand.

I don't like AKs, but if YOU like AKs, do the trade.

During the 1980's and 90's the U.S. Army had some Bushmaster lowers in their inventory. I don't know what the uppers were during that time frame. This would be the tail end of the era but if it was good enough for the Army to buy some and put into the inventory you may want to rethink the value of the lower from this particular era. Just my opinion.

kwg

Well, with the new information I change my advice. Go ahead and sell it or trade it off for something you want.

I have an old carry handle Bushmaster from way back in the day. And while I personally know that it was a very well made AR, has never had any issues and functions 100% I don't think a current buyer is likely to pay a premium for it. It's just as well because it's not likely that I'd sell it anyway...

I had one of the most nonsensical Bushy's made. A 16" HBAR A2 carry handle carbine... It shot nice, weighed about 1.5 million tons and was reliable, but why, just why did I buy it in that config?

Bushy is just another AR. If you have a trade worked out where you feel like your doing well enough then go for it. Doesn’t really sound like you will miss the bushy anyway, and if you do you can replace it quite easily and affordably. Hanging onto something you want to trade off is wasting opportunity. Waste not, want not.

Jackal said:

I had one of the most nonsensical Bushy's made. A 16" HBAR A2 carry handle carbine... It shot nice, weighed about 1.5 million tons and was reliable, but why, just why did I buy it in that config?

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I too have this absolutely nonsensical rifle. Unfortunately, I absolutely love mine. It eats like a wood chipper, anything you put in it will run, and it’s remarkably accurate for what I paid (honestly think they had mixed tags with a Non-hbar carbine). No question, she’s as heavy as a tank, and my eyes have failed past the point where I still enjoy shooting irons, but it does bring a smile to my face when shooting it. It’s also my only non-competition rifle which sports a clamshell handguard in my personal inventory.

Admittedly, I DID upgrade to a Bushmaster National Match 2 stage, set at 4.5lbs total.

I did neglect to mention - there WERE decades where a Bushmaster lower did mean something. Not that they were really better than most today, but that there were a few good makers and a few bad makers in the market back then, and Bushmaster was one of the best, without the highest price. I built almost exclusively at that time on Bushmaster lowers, and they sold like hot cakes. I pumped out over a hundred customer designed AR’s on Bushy lowers in about 3yrs, mostly targeted towards glassed gas gun benchrest, 3 gun, and varmint hunting. This was largely before the advent of AR specific cartridges, and before there was a new AR manufacturer popping up every 15min with great quality products.

But those days are long behind us.

A mixed breed Bushmaster has no increased value due to name, and never will again. If the value is fair and you favor the other rifle, make the trade.

They are nothing special, just a mid-grade AR. It seems like unless you have a unmolested Colt of some kind, not much love for a 20" AR or any AR with an A2 (not flat top) upper. I do wish I still had my old SP1.

IndianaBoy said:

I don't see a scenario where an 'original' Bushmaster is going to appreciate in value as anything particularly collectible.

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I’m not sure you can say that. In this case it’s not, but if it were a A2 Bushy, It may very well be worth a premium to some collector some day. It’s amazing to me what people collect, and what becomes collector items. And at the very least, they are solid rifles.

Might want to take a look at what SGL-21's are going for compared to Franken-AR's made with post ban Bushie lowers.

Just saying ... the SGL-21 is going for more.