Bushmaster Rifles and their reliability.

[shotgunner]

Hey guys, are bushmasters reliable?
This is the one that I want.
http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/Carbon15/az-c15m4pre.asp
You guys think this one is reliable, especially with c-mags?

Thanks

 

[modifiedbrowning]

Bushmasters are considered to be in the top tier of AR rifles, along with Colt, Armalite and now Rock River. They are well made rifles. I have a Dissipator that is very reliable. The Carbon M-4 is a newer model, but I have not heard anything negative about them.
I have heard that the Beta C mags can be finicky, but i have never used one myself.
Buy the Bushy, you'll love it.

 

[Rockstar]

I've shot several thousand rounds through my Bushmaster Shorty. It just NEVER fails.

 

[NMshooter]

If you stick with aluminium recievers and USGI 20 and 30 round magazines you will be OK.

 

[Commissar Gribb]

I've had problems with mine and wolf ammo.

other than that- it's been good to me.

 

[Gary G23]

If you stick with aluminium recievers and USGI 20 and 30 round magazines you will be OK.

+1

 

[dmftoy1]

Well I've only got 1200 rounds through mine, but the only jam it's ever had was caused by my own stupidity. (didn't have my brass catcher on it right and empty couldn't eject)

Have a good one,
Dave

 

[Too Many Choices!?]

Mine digests everything....

And I am sooooo tired of all the BS about it has to be clean to work, that I have not cleaned mine in 3 range trips(350rounds of Wolf poly and laquer), and I will still grab it over the AK, if TEOTWAWKI comes(a al Louiisiana )

 

[GoRon]

+1 Bushmaster

I have a RRA and my buddy has a Bushy. I have seen his digest thousands of rounds without a hitch.

The trigger isn't as nice as my RRA but other that it is +1 all the way.

 

[GunGoBoom]

If you stick with aluminium recievers and USGI 20 and 30 round magazines you will be OK.

+1

Why do you guys say that - are the carbon 15 rifles known to have serious problems with reliability, or what? I sure do like the weight of the carb 15 ones.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Bushmaster bought the Carbon-15 design from Pro-Ordnance and significantly improved the reliability over the original design; but it still isn't up to the aluminum receivered ARs. One issue with the current Carbon 15 is that where the nose of the bullet hits below the feed ramp it eventually pocks the plastic to the point that feed problems can develop.

Bushmaster is making a good effort to fix the problems as they crop up; but the AR has 40 years of product development on a very wide scale behind it. It is tough to significantly alter the design and then come up with a product that is as reliable as the tested one.

 

[atblis]

The only Bushy I've shot

broke (and it's the only AR I've ever seen break).

I think it was a fluke though.

I don't think you're getting anything by spending the extra money over a RRA or Eagle (Last time I looked the Bushmasters were a bit more expensive).

And btw
Lightweight is not necessarily a good thing. Heavier guns tend to "shoot better."

 

[SamlautRanger]

I have had several not work on me. On two of them the gas key (the small gas tube part attasched to the top of the bolt) came loose because they were not properly secured at the factory. The factory did not cinch them down tight enough. After a thousand rounds or so they came loose and resulted in the bolt only coming back about 90%, enough to eject but not enough to feed a new round. Correcte it with locktite and pinching/crimping it down harder. So if you get a bush master be sure to do that to begin with.

Have also seen bushmaster that after heavy wear have other problems as well. The best I have seen seem to be older Colts or Rock River.

 

[Bix]

If reliability is a paramount consideration, you will probably want to consider options other than the Carbon-15 and Beta c-mag.

 

[Seventhsword]

I have a Bushy M4 and I love it, very accurate and always reliable. I also have a Beta-C with over 5,000 rounds through it. Still going strong without one stoppage of any sort. It sure is alot of fun too.

 

[MudPuppy]

I have not cleaned mine in 3 range trips

That's not much of a torture test.

But as to the original question, I do think the bushy is about as good as you'll get reliability wise from the platfrom.

 

[GunGoBoom]

Thanks, Bart R.

 

[Thin Black Line]

My B's are great. However, I did have one bolt break in half somewhere
around 5000 rds of use. Sent it back to the factory and it was replaced
for free. Probably a metallurgical defect. If I'd had a spare I could've
swapped out and continued shooting. I now have a spare.

Stick with GI mags. But, you can safely use plastic at the target range.

 

[Too Many Choices!?]

MudPuppy

Duh!, but my point is that this rifle has also chewed through OVER a half CASE of WOLF lacquered ammo without a single weapon related hiccup. NO CLEANING AT ALL(~650-700rounds of the dirtiest ammo available,IMHO). I finally cleaned her up as it was killing me having an 850 gun out of,"Tip Top Shape". As it stands now,after having put thousands of rounds down range in varying conditions ,and and at various levels clealiness, I KNOW MYT BUSHIE M4A3AK WILL GO BANG IF THE AMMO WILL ....


PS: If the SHTF in any way, the only level of cleanliness that will TRULY matter is,"Combat Clean", which is very easy with a few essetials(like a seperate carrier group)

 

[geekWithA.45]

My dissipator has gone through thousands and thousands and thousands of rounds, with 4 probs, 2 ammo related:

1) The gas key came loose, (symptom: short stroking) easy to fix once I diagnosed the problem
2) Two FTEs, one related to a soft case, the other because I hadn't cleaned under the extractor for like 1500 rounds
3) One blown primer. Yikes!

 

[Kaylee]

I don't think I've ever had a failure with Bushies .. wait, yes. I did have an old 16-incher fail consistently on one mag, but it was the mag that was pooched -- the mag latch hole was cut too high in the body, and didn't get the round up high enough for the bolt to consistently grab it.

I'm not swayed on the plastic ARs.. possible reliability issues aside (and never having owned one, I couldn't say) I'm not sold on the weight savings. Pick up a stripped AR receiver sometime -- it's already superlight in aluminum. Most of the weight in an AR comes from the barrel and all the gizmos, far as I can tell.

Personally though, when I get around to getting an AR again, it'll prolly be a Rock River -- both work just dandy, but the finish and trigger on the RRAs I've seen has been better on average than the Bushies. That could be a sample size issue though.

 

[swingset]

My 2 Bushies are flawless.

The only problem they've ever had was with cheapo used Orlites, but that's not the gun's fault.

With good mags, and any ammo I've fed, they're unflappable.

 

[chopinbloc]

bushmaster rifles run great but why would you buy a super light rifle and then hang a half ton of magazine off it?

 

[Werewolf]

Bought a Bushy XM15E2S 20" fluted barrel A2 style.

Failed right out of the box. Bad ejector and over torqued barrel. Got it fixed and traded it for a SA M1 Garand.

Burn me once shame on you. Burn me twice shame on me. I won't ever buy another Bushmaster anything. Will be staying with RRA, DPMS and Olympic Arms.

That Snake symbol on the side is really cool though...

 

[Bottom Gun]

Bushmasters are excellent rifles. Accurate and reliable. Use only GI mags and you won't have any trouble.