Bushmaster opinions please

[WaywardSon]

Did a search and didn't turn up much info really. A friend called this morning asking my opinion on the Bushmaster AR's. Apparently a LGS has some of these that are police trade-in's for $500....if true I suspect that is a lot of gun for the money at least. I just have no experience with Bushmaster.

The good, the bad & the ugly....all opinions appreciated. TIA

 

[walking arsenal]

I've got a Bushmaster A2 20" that has been reliable. I've never had any issues with it. It is an older, pre-remington/cerberus model though.

A lot of guys will be on shortly about magnetic particle inspection and shot peened bolts.

They will try to talk you into a $2k Daniel defense or something. Me? I say go for it. Even if you have to replace a barrel or bolt you'll still have a cheaper gun than if you bought it off the shelf.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

What is your intended purpose for the rifle? That'll go a long way in helping you to determine if a $500 Bushmaster will do the job.

 

[wrc]

It depends on the model. If they are police returns, it's probably an M4 clone like the "Patrolman's Carbine".

$500 is not bad for one. This assumes it is in working condition, and any QA problems have already been fixed by Bushmaster.

 

[ms6852]

My brothers have 3 bushmasters between them and I have RRA. The opinions you will get will vary due to name brand and some have no actual experience with bushmasters. I was showing my brother this memorial weekend how to shoot it at 500 yds. They are very accurate and we both hit our targets at 500 yds. with his bushmaster and my RRA. The bushmaster had a heavier trigger pull which can be easily fixed. He has had no malfunctions using several brands of ammo. I find the bushmasters very reliable. With a 100 yd zero he had to go up 34 moa using 55 grain bullets and 48 moa using 69 gr. on a 3 x 9 scope.

 

[WaywardSon]

Rifle is not for me so can't comment for sure about intended purpose. To my knowledge he is not a hunter. I expect the gun will be lightly used as a plinker & informal paper puncher. As I don't think he owns any other guns it would probably be kept handy for SD purposes. My opinion is that he has a kitchen pass to "buy a gun" and thinks this is a deal.

I just don't want to steer him to a junk gun...and have no idea if this is a "deal" or not. Thanks again.....

 

[wrc]

A Bushmaster will provide safe plinking. A used one that's seen a lot of rounds may appear to have reliability issues, but those sort of traditional "bushmaster problems" can be fixed, often with drop-in parts or a centerpunch.

 

[mattmann]

A buddy of mine bought one from buds on line and loves it. Super accurate but as mentioned a heavy trigger. This is a easy fix though and for a plinker not an issue. His had problems from the factory in the beginning but a quick call to the factory and recommendation from the tech fixed it. I believe the magazine was sitting too low therefore not feeding the next round??? Anyways its a good gun and great gun for the money.

Sent from my DROID RAZR

 

[HGUNHNTR]

Rifle is not for me so can't comment for sure about intended purpose. To my knowledge he is not a hunter. I expect the gun will be lightly used as a plinker & informal paper puncher. As I don't think he owns any other guns it would probably be kept handy for SD purposes. My opinion is that he has a kitchen pass to "buy a gun" and thinks this is a deal.

I just don't want to steer him to a junk gun...and have no idea if this is a "deal" or not. Thanks again.....

I hope you are purchasing the gun for him as a gift then.

 

[briansmithwins]

Bushmaster tends to cut too many corners for me to buy their rifles. My dislike is all detail nitpicking but that's how I am.

BSW

 

[C-grunt]

I use a Bushmaster as my work gun. It has fed and fired 100 percent reliably in the several thousand (probably around 8k) rounds I have put through it in the last 3-4 years.

That being said the gun has broken 4 times. I had the trigger mechanism break twice, the safety break and my bolt gas rings broke within the first 1000 rounds. Most of the fire control group has been replaced by the dept armorers and I havent had any problems again. These problems have plagued almost every single Bushmaster that the dept bought. They are planning on selling them off as the dept is recieving zero support from Bushmaster about the problems.

Also one of our training days they had a bunch of M193 5.56 and about half of the Bushmasters experienced problems with extraction and popped primers.

Overall I believe Bushmaster makes a rifle that is close to being great. Unfortunately they cut to many corners to save money. With a little work they can be good reliable rifles.

 

[WaywardSon]

I am not purchasing the rifle at all. He is just pretty much a n00b and wants my opinion. As I am not an expert on the AR platform by any means....here I stand. Just looking for info/opinions from those who are more familiar.

Best......John

 

[snakeman]

Bushmasters are great guns

 

[SpeedAKL]

$500 is a good deal for the gun, assuming its in functional shape.

There are better AR-15 options out there for a self-defense gun, some of which can be had for under $1000. If he wants to jump on this gun, recommend that he get a new bolt carrier group just in case. The BCG is the most common mechanical failure point on an AR, and it is an area where Bushy tends to have issues. If that police gun has a high round count using the factory BCG, I'd recommend replacing it. You can get a really solid replacement from BCM. It should drop right into the Bushy.

 

[JustinJ]

I'd at least replace the bolt with one that is HP/MPI. Even if the one it already has is milspec i'd get another as AR bolts aren't that durable.