Bushmaster quality?

[Iraqgunz]

No, they survive because people buy an inferior product and even after they discover it's inferior they try and fix it themselves, rather than make the company address it. I know of an LE agency right now that's having issues with their weapons and it's becoming a major problem.

Colt going bankrupt has nothing to do with their quality or their sales. It's because of their organization, their location and liabilities.

The cost difference between a Colt and BM in normal times was usually not much more than 150.00. Anyone can afford to save 150.00 more. In fact anyone could save 300.00 more, but people don't want to because we live in the Instant Gratification society of microwave results.

I would argue that they "survive" (How many times has Colt gone bankrupt or nearly so, now?) because they produce a product that people want and can afford that will fill a need they have- which in most cases is to sit in a closet and collect dust. That's the truth of the matter.

Now, you can say, "Well, those people are stupid and they should educate themselves and the only AR's in existence should be Colt 6920's etc..." But that's not the way of the world, never has been, never will be. Like it, don't like it....some things simply ARE.....

[Uni-Vibe]

I guess I just got lucky, then. Mine was made on a Wednesday morning, perhaps. I can't tell if the castle nut is staked, because it has the correct A2 stock on it, but the gas key bolts appear to be properly staked; the bolt metal is pushed into the heads of the bolts. The barrel is marked NATO 1/9 MP, but there are no markings on the bolt.

[Esq.]

No, they survive because people buy an inferior product and even after they discover it's inferior they try and fix it themselves, rather than make the company address it. I know of an LE agency right now that's having issues with their weapons and it's becoming a major problem.

Colt going bankrupt has nothing to do with their quality or their sales. It's because of their organization, their location and liabilities.

The cost difference between a Colt and BM in normal times was usually not much more than 150.00. Anyone can afford to save 150.00 more. In fact anyone could save 300.00 more, but people don't want to because we live in the Instant Gratification society of microwave results.

I find it hard to believe that "an agency" is having problems with their guns. Why? Because SURELY they have many highly educated Experts telling them what to order etc....People who KNOW that certain guns are junk etc.....who would tell them so, who would provide persuasive examples of how Junky those guns really were- assuming they were actually doing their jobs etc....Again, as YOU SAY, the difference, and I have to believe at LEO pricing it's even LESS of a difference, in cost is minimal.

As far as sending a gun back for issues, there are certainly some issues that I would send a rifle back for. Staking a castle nut or a carrier key isn't one of those things. The postage in sending it back and risk of loss in shipping- happens more than people like to admit, far outweigh the two minutes it takes to "fix" it.

With Colt, I can't really agree with all that. First, there is no way that their civilian sales are anywhere near what Bushmasters numbers are- the last time I looked, Bushmaster outsold Colt 2/1. Market share in business..."is a thing" that has meaning for a companies survival and profitability. You can't just pretend it doesn't matter. Second, their "liabilities" should have been wiped out in bankruptcy- that's the purpose of a bankruptcy if done properly. And their location? Move. Firearms companies - those that want to stay in business- Magpul (Texas), PTR (South Carolina), AAC (Alabama), Beretta (Tn), Winchester (ammo plant, Oxford MS) Armalite (Arizona).....See a pattern? Are getting the hell out of communist shitholes that want to run them out of business or where labor costs are stupidly high....in fact ALL MANUFACTURERS of products have known that if they wanted to survive in the U.S., they need to move south at least since the 1980s'- this is nothing new. If they are too stupid to figure that out, then I don't care how good of a product they make, they deserve to fail.

[SteveS]

I guess I just got lucky, then. Mine was made on a Wednesday morning, perhaps. I can't tell if the castle nut is staked, because it has the correct A2 stock on it, but the gas key bolts appear to be properly staked; the bolt metal is pushed into the heads of the bolts. The barrel is marked NATO 1/9 MP, but there are no markings on the bolt.

I am far from an AR expert but the Rifle receiver extension doesn't use a castle nut. I guess 90% of the AR buyers will never realize or need the quality of a high quality part AR.

[1168]

I am far from an AR expert but the Rifle receiver extension doesn't use a castle nut. I guess 90% of the AR buyers will never realize or need the quality of a high quality part AR.

There is no castle nut on a rifle stock.

I’ve owned one Bushy. It was horribly overgassed, had fairly frequent stoppages, and the gas key became loose a couple hundred rounds in. This was around 2001. I sold it.

[Esq.]

I am far from an AR expert but the Rifle receiver extension doesn't use a castle nut. I guess 90% of the AR buyers will never realize or need the quality of a high quality part AR.

You're exactly right. 90% of buyers don't shoot enough for it to matter. They don't. Period. They want "An AR15 because they might ban them or I need one to shoot pigs with". Honest to God that's why most people have them.

They aren't doing high round count classes etc......The statistics that I have seen show that nationwide about 10,000 serious students "drive" the training market, that's it. We are not a nation of hard ass Spartans, sorry, but that's how it is. And God Bless those folks- they make it possible for these companies to EXIST- because again- Market Making/Market share is reality. Average consumers of AR15's buy more Magpul magazines than the US military and Civilian Spartans COMBINED by orders of magnitude. Without that buying power the AR Platform would be stuck in about 2004- and a lot has changed since then.

[Iraqgunz]

Cool story. Apparently you are the SME on this topic.

I find it hard to believe that "an agency" is having problems with their guns. Why? Because SURELY they have many highly educated Experts telling them what to order etc....People who KNOW that certain guns are junk etc.....who would tell them so, who would provide persuasive examples of how Junky those guns really were- assuming they were actually doing their jobs etc....Again, as YOU SAY, the difference, and I have to believe at LEO pricing it's even LESS of a difference, in cost is minimal.

As far as sending a gun back for issues, there are certainly some issues that I would send a rifle back for. Staking a castle nut or a carrier key isn't one of those things. The postage in sending it back and risk of loss in shipping- happens more than people like to admit, far outweigh the two minutes it takes to "fix" it.

With Colt, I can't really agree with all that. First, there is no way that their civilian sales are anywhere near what Bushmasters numbers are- the last time I looked, Bushmaster outsold Colt 2/1. Market share in business..."is a thing" that has meaning for a companies survival and profitability. You can't just pretend it doesn't matter. Second, their "liabilities" should have been wiped out in bankruptcy- that's the purpose of a bankruptcy if done properly. And their location? Move. Firearms companies - those that want to stay in business- Magpul (Texas), PTR (South Carolina), AAC (Alabama), Beretta (Tn), Winchester (ammo plant, Oxford MS) Armalite (Arizona).....See a pattern? Are getting the hell out of communist shitholes that want to run them out of business or where labor costs are stupidly high....in fact ALL MANUFACTURERS of products have known that if they wanted to survive in the U.S., they need to move south at least since the 1980s'- this is nothing new. If they are too stupid to figure that out, then I don't care how good of a product they make, they deserve to fail.

[Esq.]

Cool story. Apparently you are the SME on this topic.

Not at all.

But I do understand how business works. Anyone who has taken Business 101 knows I'm right. I understand bankruptcy. I understand that ever since the Rust Belt concept was coined that businesses have fled the Northeast if they wanted to survive.

I understand that the AVERAGE AR15 consumer isn't you or me and denying it doesnt make it less true.

[Jsp10477]

Bushmaster, DPMS, Del-Ton, & PSA are the fat chicks of the AR world.

[Glock9mm1990]

I had a bushmaster that I bought before I knew anything about AR’s back in 2015. Well fast forward to 2018 I got educated on the AR-15 platform learning so much though those few years. Eventually I finally got around to selling the upper on an online sale, striped the lower down to just the bare receiver and installed a BCM lpk including their Mil-spec buffer tube that is torqued at 40 foot pounds and staked twice along with a bcm buffer spring and H buffer. I then threw a complete Colt 6920 upper on it now it’s a completely different rifle.