Bushmaster AR15

[merl67]

I am going to look at a Bushmaster AR15 in the morning it comes with 3 mags, has a red dot on it he said only 100 rounds fired, looks like a no frills AR. He is asking $400. This is my first AR anything in particular I should look for thanks in advance.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Look on the side of the receiver for the address. If it is Windham, Maine you are looking at one of the best production AR's made. If it is from one of the New York towns it is by Remington and early Remingtons had production problems.

I bought my Bushmaster (AR-15A4) in 1996 for almost $900 ON SALE. All prices on AR's have come down, even though costs have risen, that profit difference was made up somewhere!!!

I took my Bushmaster home the first day and put a very good scope on it (Leupold Veri-X III 6.5-20) and had several boxes of Winchester promotional Varmint 46 Gr HP ammo. After zeroing, I shot six consecutive 5 shot groups, ALL were 1/4" or less! I went back to the store and ask my salesman (while he was in the middle of a sale), WHAT SIZE GROUP AM I SUPPOSE TO GET ON THAT RIFLE YOU SOLD ME YESTERDAY? The customer dropped his pen and stopped short of signing his transfer form. The salesman hung his head and said, They typically get 1 inch groups. I said I'm getting Quarter Inch groups! The customer grabbed the pen and signed. The salesman looked at me with a smile and said, "I can probably fix that if you like."

Ivan

 

[merl67]

I bought the AR it is a model XM15-E2S made in Huntsville AL came with 3 mags
.

 

[Old_Cop]

Make sure it works an start buying ammo and magazines.

 

[4506517]

Not bad for a first AR.

You could have done a lot worse.

 

[Sistema1927]

Great price.

My first AR, and still one of my favorites, is a Bushmaster Dissipator. I purchased it during the "ban", so it came with an unthreaded barrel and no bayonet lug. It has a fixed carry handle. I think that I also paid ~ $900 at that time.

First thing that I did after the ban was to get the barrel threaded, but nothing I could do about the missing bayo lug without changing the gas block/front sight. Oh well, I guess that mine won't be any good for a drive by bayonet attack.

 

[Robotaz]

That’s a great deal. I paid $600 for one with a matched barrel about 10 years ago.

 

[CH4]

FWIW, I have owned a Bushmaster AR15 for personal use. Circa 1998, I thought highly enough of their quality and accuracy, I dumped all my department's Mini 14 patrol rifles and replaced them with Bushmasters; dumped the Mini 14s on a neighboring department. The troops were very pleased.

 

[Univibe]

My first AR was a Bushmaster A2 I bought in 1999. I paid about $900 for it. These were good rifles. Mine is still my main AR and gets shot a lot more than my Colt 6920. I did the same thing as sistema1927. When the AWB expired, I got a buddy to thread the barrel and install an A2 flash hider. The newer ones have a poorer reputation.

Suggestions:

1. Buy magazines. Pmags, Okay, or D&H.

2. Generous lubrication. Run that AR wet! Don't worry about exotic vegetable oil options. I run Breakfree LP on and in the bolt carrier group, and CLP lightly everywhere else. Some people run Mobil-1 or similar oil. Rem Oil, 3 in one machine oil, and the like are too thin. With the Stoner action, cleaning is optional but oil is essential.

3. Ammo. Russian steelcase will work but the bullets are harder on the bore. I'd use Federal, Winchester or similar .223 or 5.56.

4. Maintenance. The extractor and spring are the AR's weakpoint. Replace every few thousand rounds.

 

[cadmike]

I also have a bushmaster windham A2 dissipater I bought during the ban. As mentioned, I paid $900 for it, back in 2002. At the time, I lived one town over from windham, ME.

When the AWB expired, I called bushmaster and inquired about having a flash suppressor installed. They said no problem ship us the upper receiver asssrmbly and we’ll put that on there for you. When I explained I basically lived in the neighborhood and wanted to drop the rifle off, they said rules did not allow for that. About 15 years later I’m still kind of peeved that I had to pay overnight shipping to send my upper receiver one town over. Then back.

Regardless, they did a great job on the install and I still own the rifle. It’s a fantastic rifle.

 

[Jessie]

I have one from 99’ also but it has a comp on it thats probably silver soldered.
I’d like to replace that with a flash hider but not sure if it’s doable or worth the trouble.
To me it’s not a big thing since it stays on target well with no blast but to anyone shooting beside me it’s not pleasant.
It’s been a great gun with no problems.

 

[Erich]

Mine (from the mid-Nineties) got traded off not terribly long ago, but it was a fine and accurate gun.

 

[Bat Guano]

I got into ARs again in '06 and did some homework, Wound up with a
basic Windham M4gery. It's got some 4000 plus rounds through it. For a short time I had a CMMG .22 conversion kit for it. In spite of being careful about cleaning and maintenance I got a bulge in the barrel using it. I replaced the M4 type barrel with a LW one and dumped the .22LR unit. Then I got a S&W 15-22 which I should have done in the first place.

After a year or so I got some intermittent failures to extract. Put in a rubber donut and no recurrence of that. Easy fix...

The trigger was okay, but I put in a Jard match trigger I had around which helped.

I also found that my eyes were not good enough for irons anymore. I sprung for a 1.5 X compact ACOG which is still on; pricey but worth it.

I now also have a Colt 6920 (got it at a good price). It's allegedly better made. It too has an ACOG on it. Both rifles perform well for me. Much of my practice now is with an AR that I built--and it runs well. The red dot optic is a Bushnell TRS-25 Which is inexpensive buy serviceable.

I'd take a Bushmaster at the condition and price you stated. I like mine.

So you pays your money and takes your choice.

 

[BB57]

I have one from 99’ also but it has a comp on it thats probably silver soldered.
I’d like to replace that with a flash hider but not sure if it’s doable or worth the trouble.
To me it’s not a big thing since it stays on target well with no blast but to anyone shooting beside me it’s not pleasant.
It’s been a great gun with no problems.

If it is silver soldered to the barrel it's more expensive, but easier to just replace the barrel, FSB, delta ring and barrel nut.

Silver solder flows at temps between 1205 degrees F and and 145p degrees F, depending on the alloy of the silver solder. They all involve a lot of heat.

 

[BigMuddy]

Jessie,

Mine had the muzzle break as well. As you said its LOUD for those standing to the side. The break was pinned in place with the pin being soldered. Applying heat backed the pin out. Once the pin was out I was able to unscrew the break and replaced it with an A2 flash hider.

Dan

 

[BB57]

If it has been blind pinned (a pin that has a spot weld over the top that is then ground flush with the flash hider) rather than silver soldered, you can usually drill or grind the well off the top of the pin and extract the pin. Then just replace with a regular flash hider. You'll have a groove in the exterior surface of the barrel, but it'll be covered by the flash hider.

 

[gregintenn]

I too have a $900 Bushmaster. Bought it when I convinced myself they were about to be banned. It is a good rifle.


Merle got a much better deal!