Bushmaster XM15 range report

[TheDisturbed1]

Technically "XM15-E2S" in "A3" configuration. but anyways... Its still an AR-15

So its a warm day up here in jolly ol' Fairbanks, so I took advantage with a buddy and hit the range. Primarily to sight in the Simmons scope I bough for it.
Weather was near 40* F with light winds, so it was warm.

Anyhoo, I only fired 90 rounds through it. 40 of it was Wolf, the rest American Eagle.

I started off with the mags loaded with A.E., the rifle performed 100% reliably with not a single jam nor hiccup. It ate it up and did so with pride.

So, after a full 30-rounder of A.E., I tried a mag with 10 wolf, 20 a.e. with Wolf on the top.

First few rounds of wolf functioned good, some casings were ejected without much force... Meaning they hit the ground less than a foot from MY foot.
After about 5 rounds I got first hickup, the round fired... ejected the casing... I go to pull the trigger for my next shot...

*click*

me: "***?"

I pull the charging handle, and the chamber was clear... I rack it forward and it chambers a new round of Wolf. So I take aim again.... I squeeze the trigger...

*click*

me: "you have got to be kidding me..."

Again on the handle, no round chambered. Rack it forward, it chambers the next round.

I did this until I hit the American Eagle, good ol' shiny Brass casings now. And we return to the same reliable function as before.

I finished that mag and loaded the last of the wolf and shot it off. EVERY round of Wolf was exactly like the other Wolf rounds. Except 2 times where I could get 2 shots off without cocking it again, and 3 times where the steel cases failed to eject, being stuck that it... one of those times I used the corner of the table to slam against the charging handle to un-wedge the spent casing from the chamber, looking at the shell it had scrape marks on it.

Other than that, EVERY shot was fired. And I learned that even tho the Bushy company says Wolf is a-ok, My Bushy says nuh-uh.

Thanks fer yer time, folks

-John



Edit: Note - The mags might be responsible for the majority Wolf mishaps, I'm gonna squirt more lube in them. They are Bushmaster Mags, grey followers.

Whether they are or aren't at fault, is truly unknown to me.

 

[TheDisturbed1]

Okay, 24 hours and 59 minutes and no input... Allow me to present a question.


Bushmaster - Wolf users, when you have difficulties during operation do any of the following problems happen with you?

- Failure to Feed next round
- Spent casing stuck in chamber, requiring conciderable amount of force on the charging handle at times

Any fellow AR Owners get this?

 

[cracked butt]

And I learned that even tho the Bushy company says Wolf is a-ok, My Bushy says nuh-uh.

You have a very smart rifle

Wolf= garbage in/garbage out.

As far as wolf goes, i'll use it in my SKS- cheap gun, cheap ammo.

I like to use the high performance sports car analogy though- you wouldn't buy a Corvette or porsche and put the cheapest low grade gasoline in the tank that yuou could find, would you?

 

[Evil Monkey]

Failure to Feed next round

Usually that's a mag issue really. Not seated high enough. I'm not saying that's definitive to your rifle 100% but that's usually the problem.

Spent casing stuck in chamber, requiring conciderable amount of force on the charging handle at times

A SPENT WOLF CARTRIDGE......right?

I believe steel casings don't retract as much like brass after firing. I once tried to feed a spent 7.62x39mm wolf steel casing in my wasr10. I spent the next 5 minutes pounding on the charging handle with a rubber mallet. LOL

 

[mec]

I fired a couple of rounds of wolf thorugh my Bushmaster predator-wouldn't reset hammer. Same with the green box privi partisan stuff they sell cheap at Academy. The latter works fine in my bushmaster with A2 upper on it and if I get desparate enough, I may try wolf in it . Every thing else I've tried-factory and handload has worked fine in the predator upper.

 

[Joe the Redneck]

Personally, I don't shoot Wolf in my Bushy.

To me, it's a high performance engine, I'm not going to feed it cheap gas.

Now, having said that. I know lots of folks do shoot the Wolf in their ARs. Most have not reported any problem other than it being filthy. It might be a mag issue.

I use Thermolds, I am very happy with them.

Joe

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

Not intended to derail or hijack the thread, but I've never had a single malfunction of any kind whatsoever with Wolf and have shot thousands of rounds of that stuff through my ARs. Most of the time going 400-500 without cleaning.

My AR's aren't Bushmasters. But that doesn't mean anything, Bushmaster should be fine. They are chrome lined.


The trick is to lube the weapon correctly. AR likes to be run wet. Keep the bolt nice and wet with oil. Wolf is dirty, and if the gun isn't lubricated properly, the effects of fouling will be magnified.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

I've had no issue feeding Wolf ammo using upgraded teflon mags (wolff spring, magpul followers) or the Magpul Pmags. However I don't make it a point to feed it wolf since it's dirtier than normal and it usually goes quite fast when someone stocks it. I too own the "XM15-E2S". Since everything is phosphated or chromed, I keep mine liberally lubed up with militec-1 conditioner and some moly grease since I'm not rolling around in sand or worried about rust.

Seems like Wolf ammo is problematic enough that you should try a few boxes before buying in bulk, just to make sure your rifle doesn't get heartburn trying to digest it.

 

[Eagle1899]

I've never had trouble getting an AR to run Wolf that had a chromed, 5.56 chamber.

A snug 223 chamber is another story.

 

[blackhawk2000]

My Bushamster runs wolf with no real problems. Twice I've had an FTE with Wolf. Gun was very hot, and dirty. It was in the middle of a class both times, and both times during a long string of fire. I've shot thousands of rounds of wolf.


Can you post pics of the mag in question? Or even email them to me? Or can you tell who the maker is? Bushamster did not make the mag, it's just their floorplate.

 

[Frog48]

My Bushy works fine with Wolf. I've only shot about 2 boxes worth of it, but didnt have any problems.