My first AR 15

[Levan9X19]

Greetings dear forum members,

I am registered here for a while but usually I only read rather than wright something. But now its an exception and I have reason for this. I bought AR15 type carbine and have some questions related to it. Let me start from the begining:

First of all let me clarify that this carbine is like ... well may be super rare specimen here in my country. In 8 years while I am in shooting "business" I have seen only two of them in private possesion and third which I "shot" was genuine Bushmaster XM15 converted for using in interactive indoor shooting range. I was always fascinated with the weight of the weapon and its excellent ergonomics and I was damn sure that such a beautiful piece would shoot also beautifully. However none of them appeared for sale and no metter how much you will pay, there is simply no Ar15 of any kind around. Once we tried to export few carbines from USA. Department of State rejected our appeal and of course we lost money payed for appeal. So sad.



Recently a friend of mine called me and sad that I was invited to test fire Yankee Hill M15 carbine which was fresh from the USA. he sad that price for that piece is 2500 USD. Well I was not able to pay so much but nevertheless was happy to see AR15 in live and actualy shoot it. In fact this price tag is not really high where new Glock 17 costs 2000 USD. However I didnt have even 2 grans and was sure the rifle will be sold very quickly and obviously not to me.

The rifle appeared to a flat top short AR15 (barrel 14.5 inches), equipped with standard A2 front sight and Magpul MBUS Gen 2 flip up rear sight. The rifle shot well, I managed to shoot one 2.5 inch group from 100 meters in dimm light, prone position using not very well made SS109 ammo from neighbouring country. I will not bother you telling about great shootability of AR15 type rifles. You who will read this now it better than me The rifle worked fine, no malfunctions of any type. Bolt remained open each and every time after last round was fired.

After a short photo session with great sadness I passed carbine back to owner, strongly decided in my heart that I will never ever come back to the AK design and do whatever possible to get the AR15 by any means possible. Well my friends from USA warned me about such effect

After a few days I managed to find buyers for the handguns I got to start collecting money and than suddenly an owner of the carbine called me back and offered to take the rifle paying half of the sum and another half in one month or so. He got a buyer for the same terms but as I shot the carbine first and liked it he decided to call me first and ask if I will buy it. But he needed immidiate answer. I simply couldnt resist so I verified that potential buyers still wanted my guns, borrowed money and in one day after completing paperwork the carbine in black case was riding home with me in trunck of my Toyota Hi lux. I will not lie and exaggerate if I tell you that possibly the day I bought AR was one of the happiest days in my life. Simply dream came true )))



However things got a little bit troubled after a close inspection at home. Althaugh owner sad the rifle was brand new the barrel was obviously not new. No signs of errosion or ecxessive wear but the bore simply doesnt look new. Chamber however is clean. No signs of wear.

Reading the markings on barrel discovered that upper is not that from Yankee Hill but from Bushmaster, possibly their popular HBAR with 1.9 twist. It says B MP 5.56 NATO 1/9.

Upper and bolt carrier group however also look completely new. Upper has a key hole marking typical for many respectible manufacturers. I mean Colt and Bushmaster and some others use uppers made by Cerro Forging.

Stock is manufactured in israel by FAB. Good people also gifted me with few more Bushmaster magazines and free ammo which is a nice thing.

The most unpleasant thing was that lower seems to be painted black and not anodized like regular lowers. I very very closely inspected the lower but couldnt explain why it was painted nor could I find any visual deffects.

Everything eccept lower and barrel looks brand new.

I realy dont want to call the previous owner because taking into account my character things could turn real ugly (I hate sellers lying about firearms they are selling) and becides the rifle works and price is great so may be there is no real reason to worry? The only bad thing is that I couldnt explain painted lower and barrel which is definetly not new. All this some how more or less ruined my first positive impressions after purchaise.

I would kindly ask forum members to look pictures I made today and tell me if they see something unusual in them. This is basically the only "live" AR availabe and I have nothing to compare it with.

Thank everyone in advance for future replys and patience I will appriciate any responses, advices or replys.












more pics coming soon or available on request

 

[Levan9X19]

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

You have a Bushmaster M4 profile barrel. The rifle looks to be a typical Bushmaster carbine to me.

YHM and Bushmaster have done business togther for a long time and I have some Bushmaster uppers stamped "Y" on the rear takedown lug to indicate they were actually manufactured by YHM. So the Bushmaster barrel on a YHM lower doesn't strike me as unusual either.

On the lower receiver, I suspect that what you are seeing is just a different batch of anodizing. If parts aren't anodized in the same batch, it can be difficult to match coloration exactly and the U.S. is full of grey, black, and even purplish mismatched AR uppers and lowers. I would guess that your lower was anodized in a different batch from the upper and it appears darker black,

If you want to take a picture of the bolt face and a closeup of the rails of the bolt carrier, we can probably give a rough estimate of the number of rounds on those parts.

 

[longdayjake]

Well, if it isn't new, it sure is close to it. You definately have two different makers between the upper and the lower. What does the lower say that it is?

 

[Levan9X19]

What does the lower say that it is?

Yankee Hill YHM 15

I would guess that your lower was anodized in a different batch from the upper and it appears darker black,

I am 100% sure it is painted. The paint got off inside the magazine well. it looks more like rubber rather than paint.

 

[Levan9X19]

 

[Levan9X19]

I will post more close ups of bolt an guiding rails tomorrow. as well as pictures of bore from inside

 

[Levan9X19]

long time and I have some Bushmaster uppers stamped "Y"

yes it has Y stamped on rear lug.

 

[chrome_austex]

Congrats on your purchase!

I wouldn't worry too much about the finish on the lower, someone may have painted it to make it look 'newer'. Nothing looks out of place in your pics to my eye. Have fun shooting it!

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I am 100% sure it is painted. The paint got off inside the magazine well. it looks more like rubber rather than paint.

I am not seeing that in your photos. Can you do a better close up of the lower receiver? In the last two photos you posted, the lower looks shinier than the upper, which is odd since every YHM lower I've seen was anodized matte black like your upper.

Some manufacturers do add a "black teflon finish" to lower receivers that is a bit darker and shinier. YHM doesn't offer that from the factory; but somebody may have tried to add the finish themselves or sent out lowers to have that finish applied. Here is an example of what that finish looks like.

And it is possible someone tried to paint it to... sometimes people get annoyed at the anodizing not matching and try stuff like that.

Edited to add: That is a nice job on the staking of the gas key as well. That looks much better than any of the Bushmaster bolt carrier groups I have owned in the past.

So far the only thing I am seeing that catches my attention is that the lower appears to have been assembled outside the factory (or someone has taken it apart since it was assembled at the factory). That's not uncommon with ARs since they are easy to work on and swap parts. The upper looks like a new or almost new Bushmaster M4 upper though.