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Thread: Bushmaster quality?

  1. #1
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    Bushmaster quality?

    I bought mine in 1999. It's a M16A2 type. I haven't kept track of the round count, but it has never once given me a problem.

    I'm off to the range this afternoon to put a couple hundred more rounds through it.

    Did I just get lucky, or were the older Bushmasters better than the new ones?

    (All that being said, when I recently bought a car gun, it was a 6920).

    And what about the new Windhams?

  2. #2
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    Bushmaster has an up and down history with AR15s. It’s like the QC rules were only in play certain days. Certain time periods were better than others, but nine were on par with Colt or the like.

    I own a Buhsmaster URG which has been flawless, though I confess it hasn’t been fired much if at all in the last decade.
    Stick


    Board policy mandates I state that I shoot for BCM. I have also done work for 200 or so manufacturers within the firearm community. I am prior service, a full time LEO, firearm instructor, armorer, TL, martial arts instructor, and all around good guy.

    I also shoot and write for various publications. Let me know if you know cool secrets or have toys worthy of an article...


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  3. #3
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    I believe that the Bushmasters of old (Windham, ME made models) are better that those of today. I have a Windham, ME made XM15-E2S A3 Target and it is a great shooter. It was the basis for my Travis Haley Blackwater clone.

    Inspiration:


    Clone:
    Last edited by Renegade04; 04-14-19 at 18:18.
    "A Bad Day At The Range Is Better Than A Great Day Working"

    USMC Force Recon 1978-1984
    US Air Force Res. 1995-2004 (Air Transportation)
    M16/AR15 shooter since 1978, gun collector and AR builder since 2004

  4. #4
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    Their QC has indeed been up and down, but over the years I've heard generally positive comments about their barrels. Don't know if they make their own or buy them from a subcontractor, though.

  5. #5
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    There used to be a gun rag called “Gun Tests” in the 1990s that claimed no advertising dollars from manufacturers & they bought OTS guns, tested them & reported their results. Any problems requiring return were also reflected in the reviews as well. Back in the early 1990s (before the 1994 ban) there was Armalite, Bushmaster & Colt for ARs. Their review of all 3 led to the conclusion that Bushmaster was a few hundred dollars cheaper and did everything the Colt & Armalite did “better.” So, I bought a Dissipator—I liked the 16” heavy barrel with carbine gas system & full sight radius.

    I’ve never had a problem with it in thousands of rounds. After reading about all the differences, I replaced the bolt & BCG with BCM; it now has a Geissele SSA trigger and an A2 stock. It still runs like a top, but is overgassed, as evidenced by brass sprinkles with M193, but the 1/9 twist allows me to consistently hit clay pigeons resting on the 100 yard berm with the TA11 ACOG on it. With handloads, I am able to subMOA with it. But it is an Hbar, so I would have been surprised if it didn’t shoot well.

    Retrospectively, I wish I bought the Colt, not because of problems with the Bushie . But since the 1990s, I switched to building my own with CHF barrels. The exception being the Daniel Defense indulgence years ago.

  6. #6
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    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by MSW View Post
    There used to be a gun rag called “Gun Tests” in the 1990s that claimed no advertising dollars from manufacturers & they bought OTS guns, tested them & reported their results. Any problems requiring return were also reflected in the reviews as well...
    https://www.gun-tests.com/


    Bill Tidler Jr.
    **************

    ...We have long maintained that the only accessories that a 1911 needs are a trigger you can manage, sights that you can see, and a dehorning job. That still goes.
    ~Jeff Cooper

  7. #7
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    I've owned 5 or 6 of the Windham Bushmasters over the years. They were all good rifles. I still have an A2 "Patrolman's Carbine," and it still gets shot a good bit. I kept it just because it was an A2.

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    Quote Originally Posted by wetidlerjr View Post
    That’s him! That’s the ka-wat chewin’ wascal! (Spoken like Elmer Fudd).

    I tried to justify an N of 1 and statistical significance as meaningful, but it isn’t, re: Gun Tests. Bottom line: my Bushies have been fine, but I have changed parts & springs to make me feel better. The Windham, pre-Ilion gun’s I have are finished better, but the commercial buffer tubes, BCGs & some other parts were swapped for BCM. I guess I could sell the lower to some poor guy in a pre-ban state...

    A man needs a hobby.

  9. #9
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    The one and only AR I currently have is a Bushmaster. It’s a Windham made one and have never given me any issues.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by wetidlerjr View Post
    So, what is your opinion of the magazine? Is it worth two bucks an issue?

    Thanks!
    Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.

    Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee

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