M4 - Colt or Bushmaster

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TarpleyG

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I am saving my pennies to get an M4 rifle for 3-gun stuff later this year. I am considering either a Colt or a Bushmaster. The only differences I can see right now are that the Colt is more but will hold its value better but the Bushmaster has a chrome lined barrel where the Colt doesn't.

I prefer a removable carry handle and I like the shorter, carbine length of the M4 to the AR-15.

Let the suggestions commence...

GT
 
Colt....No comparison. I thought the new post ban M4gery had a chrome lined barrel? With any kind of luck come this time in September you can buy an R6920 which is as close as you'll come to a real M4 in semi auto non title II weapons.

Jeff
 
Don't really know. I guess that's why I am asking. What should I be using???

GT
 
I'd go with a 1/7 twist barrel. It will allow you to shoot the longer 75 and 77 grain offerings if you desire. Contrary to a popular myth, you can shoot the shorter, lighter 62 and 55 grain bullets out of a 1/7 twist barrel just fine.

I normally shoot M193 (Fed XM193, SA surplus or Winchester Q3131A) all my ARs.

Jeff
 
The Colt M-4. I got 2 of them.

The barrels are chrome lined on both.

Since they are 1-7 twist and also marked 5.56 I guess they are milspec barrels.

I have no idea about the Colt rifles that are 1-9, because I've never owned one of those.
 
I'm very satisfied with my Bushmaster M4 upper. It mates perfectly with my Colt lower. I chose the 1/9 twist because I shoot 55 gr. exclusively.

What ever you buy, I recommend the detachable carry handle. You'll find many more sighting options for the flat top.
 
I own two Bushmasters and I say, if you can afford it, Colt.

Bushmaster is a good value; but Colt produces a better product at the moment. They are also making improvements in their customer service but for the most part it remains inferior to Bushmaster.

The Colt gives you the best chances of a problem-free rifle from the start; but if you do get the odd lemon, the customer service isn't great. Buy from a reputable dealer so that they can deal with Colt and save you the trouble. If you are going the budget route, then might as well go Bushmaster, their QC is inferior to Colt at all levels but they are better about fixing those problems.
 
Bushmaster does not make an M4. When queried about barrel markings, at both of their SHOT show booths, they lied about what the Colt markings meant (C MP = Colt Manufacturing) and said their's meant the same thing (B MP = Bushmaster Manufacturing).


To make sure, I went to each both twice and asked different people the second time.

Those markings on Colt parts mean that it has magnetic particle inspection and x-ray of barrel and bolt. A fundamental inspection for durability and longevity.
 
The Colt is better. Better quality and with the 1/7 barrels, you can shoot 55 - 77gr loads.
 
Go bushmaster if you are going to use this gun as a workhorse. Why?
Sure Colts are great, but something like a Colt M4 should be an investment.

Bushmaster has the same quality as the Colts.
Both have 4150 steel, chrome lined bore/chamber and both use forged parts.
Also, both sell to the military and police worldwide.
Bushmaster are much MUCH easier (and cheaper) to get parts for.

And ready for the zinger!???

Colt and Bushy get most of their parts from the same forgeries!
Yes, both use the same lowers and uppers!
Usually from the Anchor Harvey forgery.
That's why you see a little stamped "A" in your upper.
Again, not always, but most of the time.

Just my 2¢
 
Colt and Bushy get most of their parts from the same forgeries!
Click to expand...

This is true of many manufacturers besides Colt and Bushmaster. The key thing to remember here is that usually the receiver parts are not the critical parts in function and that how the manufacturer finished the raw forging plays a greater role in quality than who forged it.
 
The only postban Colt I would even think about buying would be the MT6400c carbine, and even then, I'd have serious doubts as to weather it was any better than a Bushmaster.

All the other Colts I'm aware of come with various combinations of weird pin sizes, blocked off lowers, plastic buffers, non-chrome barrels, fully sheared off carriers, etc. No thanks.

Maybe if the AWB goes down and Colt starts building their guns up to near-milspec snuff again, this question would have to be reconsidered. Until then... all Bushy for me. YMMV.
 
I've not seen one "plastic" buffer in a Colt, no matter what model.

Maybe they did have them for a short while but but not now. The only plastic is the tip on the end.

What's weird about the pin size? Either you order large or small pins for spares or is that somehow hard to figure out?

Sheared carriers? I don't know what you mean by that?
They are milled so they won't be considered by the ATF as a machine gun part. Guess what so is the one in your Bushy.
BTW-The only deffective carrier I've seen was in a Bushmaster upper, it was curved slightly, never figured out how that happend.

Listen if you want the thing to be "true milspec" buy a real M-16 otherwise your Bushy ain't milspec no matter what you think.
 
I own a number or AR15s (about a dozen) from various manufacturers including multiple copies of both Bushmaster and Colt. Personally, in almost all cases, I would go with the Bushmaster hands down. However, you picked one of the only cases where I would deviate; the M4. There are a few reasons why I would go with a Colt M4 the main one being the muzzle brake. The Bushmaster uses what they call a mini-y-comp muzzle brake. This brake is extremly loud and obnoxious but I can live with that. My problem is that it doesn't look anything like the flash suppressor on a real M4. Now if I am buying an M4 clone, I want it to look like a real M4 as much as possible and the Bushmaster does not.
I bought the Bushmaster anyway and sent the upper to KKF and had the mini-y-comp brake removed and one of his designs installed that looks pretty much like a military flash suppressor (even though it is a muzzle brake).
 
I've not seen one "plastic" buffer in a Colt, no matter what model.
Click to expand...

The last new Colt I held (at my favorite gun shop) had, I kid you not, a black plastic buffer. It was a 20" HBAR. Its the only make I've ever seen this on.

What's weird about the pin size? Either you order large or small pins for spares or is that somehow hard to figure out?
Click to expand...

The pin sizes on Colts have been switched around so many times, that yes, it is a pain to figure out. I want a 100% chance of getting mil-spec takedown pins on any AR I buy. Its not a major big deal... just one more thing to deal with.

Sheared carriers? I don't know what you mean by that?
They are milled so they won't be considered by the ATF as a machine gun part. Guess what so is the one in your Bushy.
Click to expand...

The carriers in all the Colts I've held have a fully milled away bottom end... by that, I mean that the rear most part that contacts the buffer has been milled away to only a half circle. Bushy's (or mine, at least, and all that I've seen) has less of this metal cut away. The part that contacts the buffer, and part of the way inward, is a full circle. Just enough has been cut away so that it won't trip an autosear. Also, the Colt carriers I've seen don't fully enclose the firing pin. They have a deeper slant cut that exposes the rear portion. Bushy's have a more gradual cut that fully encloses the firing pin.

Now, I've HEARD that its perfectly legal to have an M-16 carrier in your AR-15, but I'm not sure about that. Maybe one of our BATF experts will step in here. If it is, I don't know why everyone doesn't just ship M-16 carriers with their guns, but thats probably another topic... I've also HEARD that the more metal you have on the carrier, the more it weighs (of course) and that weight transfers into better momentum while the carrier moves forward... translating to a reduced likelyhood of the carrier getting hung up while stripping the next round, or for whatever other reason. As to the firing pin enclosure, I've heard that if the disconnector/other lower parts fail for some reason and the hammer rides the carrier home, there is a chance of the hammer bending the firing pin if its not fully enclosed.

Note that the above advantages to the heavier carrier is stuff I read on AR15.com. If someone else wants to comment, feel free. In any event, I prefer the bushy carrier.

Listen if you want the thing to be "true milspec" buy a real M-16 otherwise your Bushy ain't milspec no matter what you think.
Click to expand...

I didn't say it was 'mil-spec', I said it was more mill spec than your run of the mill colt. I also want chrome lined barrels and un-blocked lowers, no matter what. AFAIK, the MT6400c is the only colt currently on the table that offers both of those.

I'm not trying to insult anyone's Colts, I'm just saying that for ME, and what I look for in an AR, bushy is the best fit.
 
Colt really hit a homer with their MT6400 "M4":
1/7" chrome lined 4150 barrel
Extra-power extractor spring
"H" heavy buffer in carbine-length receiver extension
True M4 front sight tower and rear removable carry handle, with RAS numbers on upper receiver
Oval, double heat-shield handguards
Side sling attachment
"M4" marked upper and lower

The fire control pins are larger than "mil-spec", but that is a matter of no consequence as spares are produced by all major manufacturers (except one - can't remember which). When was the last time you saw a trigger pin break, anyway? The only "block" in the receiver is an area of aluminum behind the hammer that is not milled away. It's only a pain IMO if you've got an extra registered drop-in auto sear around.

Plus the "extras" you get with Colt AR-15 products - more inspections, shot peening of the carrier, etc.

I'm usually not so emphatic about recommending one brand of AR over another, but in this case, the Colt outpaces the Bushmaster in every practical way, and it really is not much more expensive. My Colt was $969 IIRC, and the Bushmaster M4A3 I purchased last year was $919.

The Bushmaster was a quality gun and it performed adequately for me, until I found the Colt. The Bushmaster did suffer from occasional inexplicable misfeeds and had an overtorqued barrel, gas key screws not staked, etc. The Colt has outperformed the Bushmaster in areas of accuracy and reliability, not to mention the fact that it just "feels" better in my hands. I sold the Bushmaster and have not missed it.

The Colt product has much more going for it than the name. It really is a better gun.

The most important thing is that you buy what you want and enjoy it!


As always, YMMV
vanfunk
 
"It's only a pain IMO if you've got an extra registered drop-in auto sear around."

Actually it is also a factor if you want to install certain aftermarket triggers. Personally I think it would be a big mistake to install an aftermarket trigger in an M4 Carbine, but it should be mentioned.
 
Excellent point, 444.

I hadn't thought of match triggers. To my way of thinking, a match trigger doesn't belong in a weapon intended for hard use. However, we AR shooters are a fickle bunch:cool: ; a match trigger would be nice if I suddenly decide to turn my M4 into a 24" varmint slayer...
vanfunk
 
" To my way of thinking, a match trigger doesn't belong in a weapon intended for hard use."

I totally agree, but since we were discussing it, I thought it should be mentioned.
I asked Pat Rogers what equipment I should take to my first Gunsite Carbine class. He gave a list and ended it with the statement; If you are foolish enough to show up with a carbine that has a "match" trigger in it, make sure you bring a spare carbine.
 
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