AR-15s - Armalite vs Bushmaster vs Rock River Arms

Of these companies who makes the highest quality AR-15 for "serious social purposes"?

  • Armalite

    Votes: 43 21.4%

  • Bushmaster

    Votes: 70 34.8%

  • Rock River Arms

    Votes: 88 43.8%
  • Total voters
    201
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A

Anthony

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Joined
Dec 26, 2002
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Hello Everyone,

Looking to buy another AR-15, but I haven't been in the market for over a decade. So I have little experience with the current brands beyond Colt, but I have narrowed my choice down to three companies.

Who makes the best AR-15 for "serious social purposes"? Armalite? Bushmaster? Rock River Arms?

Why did you pick the company you did?

Thanks for the input.
 
Anthony said:
Hello Everyone,

Looking to buy another AR-15, but I haven't been in the market for over a decade. So I have little experience with the current brands beyond Colt, but I have narrowed my choice down to three companies.

Who makes the best AR-15 for "serious social purposes"? Armalite? Bushmaster? Rock River Arms?

Why did you pick the company you did?

Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

I am buying a RRA on the recommendation of my brother-in-law. He's a full-time SWAT officer and highly recommnded them over every other brand in that price range based on his experience and feedback from his peers.
 
All three companies make mostly quality products with the occasional lemon. The best way to buy ARs is to decide on what options you want on the rifle and then buy from the company that offers you most of those options. If more than one company offers those options, then you can start comparing specific models or just go with the lowest bidder.
 
I just got a RRA Entry Tactical. I think that RRA has the best options for the prices. Check out the 2 stage national match trigger that comes standard with the RRA's.
 
I voted Bushmaster because I've had good experiences with mine. I wouldn't hesitate to use any of those brands for self-defense - like Bartholomew Roberts said, it's way, WAY more important to make sure the AR you eventually do get works (that is, isn't a lemon) than it is to quibble about which brand or what neat whiz-bang feature your AR has.
 
Done with Rock River Arms

I vote Bushmaster. While I love my RRA my next complete rifle will be a Bushy.

The above thread is from the industry forum at ARFCOM. It was surprising how many people chimed in with negative comments. The RRA employee that moderates the RRA forum shut it down so it wouldn't turn into a "thirteen page flamefest".
Before I made the post I didn't think you could find enough people unhappy with RRA to fill two pages.

Of course there are plenty of people complaining about every brand so YMMV.
 
I think Bushmaster makes a great rifle. I love their barrels and built two homebuilt ARs around Bushy barrels. However, I like RRA's trigger components better than Bushmaster. The receivers themselves and furniture are equal, but Bushmaster's are overpriced. I'd buy a Bushmaster upper, an RRA bolt assembly, an RRA lower and put them together.
 
RRA all the way! BTW I stop at Arfcom a lot and hardly ever hear anything bad about RRA. Sounds to me a bunch of snakes and pony worshippers are trying to gang up on the new kid on the block.:p And yes you probably won't go wrong with any of them unless it says Hesse on it.
 
ummm...

i dont know but what about colt, my dad has one and it is pretty cool. on the other hand you could get a bushmaster CAR-15 from academy for $800, that is a steal and in the future i will probably get one.
 
I've owned all three.

Bushmaster has the best barrels with the most options. You can get TRUE M4, HBAR, fluted, and superlight, 11.5", 14.5", 16", 20", and 24", all chrome lined.

RRA only has Bull, HBAR and HBAR with m4 cutout. Chrome lining is available on a couple of barrels, but at a higher cost than a comparable Bushmaster. RRA does however offer mid-length, while Bushmaster does not. I have a RRA chrome lined mid-length, but it was so heavy I had to have it profiled and fluted to get down the weight.

I only owned one Armalite, and it was used. It's also the only AR I've ever had malfunction. But like I said, it was used, and it was the only Armalite I've ever owned, so I'm not saying Armalite is going to malfunction any more frequently than the other two. I will say that fit and finish were VERY nice. Armalite barrels are chrome lined, but they offer the LEAST barrel options. Basically either 16" or 20" in a medium-light profile, or 24" heavy.

Choose the one that offers what you want most, and be confident that all three should serve you very well.
 
i own three ars one is all colt one is armalite lower with stag upper (okay, it's really my lady's) and one is bushy lower and rra upper. i think all three companies offer quality products but i think the rra is priced most closely to what it's worth. as above, they offer more options. my rra upper is VERY accurate for a standard 16" car style but it took forever to get it. i had to wait about 60 days or so to get it where the stag arms upper took less than a week. all in all, i went rra.
 
I have a bushy correnlty and am building up an RRA varminter. I'm impressed so far with the RRA lower I have and future purchases will try to stay with RRA.
 
I have an Armalite flat top. I like it a lot. Shoots good for me. I recently picked up a RRA rail mount with irons to sit my EOTech on. The only trouble I ever had with it was with crappy ammo I got at a gun show in little plastic bags. I thought it would make good break in ammo to blow through, but a few of them came apart on me. One got a little piece of brass stuck in the bolt. I found it eats Wolf ammo fine so I don't need to buy that crap anymore. The only thing I don't like is I bought it during the AWB and it has no bayonet lug.

My Dad has a Colt sp1 carbine. It is a good little gun also.
 
i have a Bushmaster XM15 11.5" hbar with 5.5" flash hider , its a very accurate rifle i fired 300 rounds thru it so far not one jam ,i want to buy another Bushmaster with a longer barrel for longer range maybe next year after i stock up on some more ammo.
 
Roll the die. You will not be disappointed with any of the choices you have listed. They are all solid and accurate choices. I like RRA because you can have RRA customize them for you. The Bushmasters are inexpensive, but shoot just as well if not better than higher priced competitors. The Armalites are just as good as RRA and Bushmaster. I have shot all three and have no complaints.

People will claim that one type of AR is superior to another type. That may be true about a specific item such as fit and finish, accuracy, etc. However, AR's are all of the same basic design and will perform the same task regardless of whether it is an Armalite, Bushmaster, or RRA. The hundereds of dollars that separate certain AR's from another are not justified. Most problems associated with AR's are ammo, magazine, or cleaning related, not because one make is any inferior to another.
 
ya, prolly pretty much what marine said.

i cant speak for armalite because ive never messed with one.

i think bushmasters prolly have a little better barrels, and rra prolly has a little better triggers.

i think both can be fantastic rifles.

ive only owned bushmaster and colt.

the colt was a model 6700c and the bushmasters are 16" hbar models.

i will say it again. i actually like my bushmasters better than i liked my colt. i get blasted sometimes for saying the bushys i have are better rifles than the colt i had but i swear its the truth.

there is a chart that suggests some things on them are under par like the gas key staking so i posted this poll to see what people thought about it without telling anyone immediatly that is was a bushmaster and you can see the results for yourself.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=446662

i think the explanations of the shortcomings of models like bushmaster, rra, dpms, and others sometimes go a bit overboard.

cant speak for the others but my bushys are true m.o.a. accurate. they each have almost 8000 rounds with absolutely zero malfunctions of any kind (is that "ak reliable?",,,dont know but it cant get any better than zero probs)

despite being called an idiot, if i were to buy another ar, it would be a bushmaster, and it wouldnt matter if i had 1000 bux to spend, or 3000, its just the one i would buy, if mine keep running like they do.


like marine said, they are all 3 good rifles.
 
i voted RRA because...

1. you didn't have CMMG as an Option
2. i only have experience with CMMG
3. if i had to make a choice between those three... i would pic a RRA (the other are just as good)
 
Everyone else has extolled the virtues of Bushmaster already, so I'll just say why I bought it.

It was the easiest one for me to afford :p
 
I said RRA. I happen do disagree with those claiming that bushmaster has a better barrel. The wylde chamber in the RRA is a sweet feature. Though they may be a heavier barrel, we all know that heavier barrels maintain POI longer than thinner barrels durning extended firings. My RRA can maintain 1" groups with 20 rounds. Plus midlengths are cooler than carbines. ;)
 
It's kind of like asking what color you want your new Corvette to be. You really can't go wrong with any of these choices. I do love my Bushmaster. :evil:
 
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