Magpul Comments: Bushmaster ACR

[bigdog2003_99]

Does either rifle have a high round count? At what point did the spring become deformed?

Any issues with over-insertion with USGI mags? What about peening to the area where the charging handle interfaces with the bolt mechanism?

so far my 10.5" rifle has 2200ish rounds with no issues other than the spring, it started deforming around 100 rounds in but after it was wore in it stopped, 2000 of those rounds were after the spring was messed up.

as far as over insertion i usually dont use gi mags anymore since i have a stock pile of pmags, but from what i understand its the remington alloy lower that was having the issues with over-insertion, same with the monopoding of the mags causing the rifle to jam

and peening on the charging handle happens to almost all acrs to some extent, some more than others, its cosmetic so i dont worry about it too much... hopefully the v2 folding charging handle will make its way on to my rifle one day, that one takes care of the peening on the receiver

[Tokarev]

as far as over insertion i usually dont use gi mags anymore since i have a stock pile of pmags, but from what i understand its the remington alloy lower that was having the issues with over-insertion, same with the monopoding of the mags causing the rifle to jam

There was a video on youtube a year or so ago with a guy who was having over-insertion problems with his ACR when using GI mags.

From what I remember, the guy was reloading the rifle with the bolt locked to the rear and could seat the mag so far into the mag well that it was stopping the bolt.

[JDW67]

What's the going rate for a basic?

[bigdog2003_99]

There was a video on youtube a year or so ago with a guy who was having over-insertion problems with his ACR when using GI mags.

From what I remember, the guy was reloading the rifle with the bolt locked to the rear and could seat the mag so far into the mag well that it was stopping the bolt.

I tried last night on both of my acrs and they can over insert the mag if you insert it and pull backwards really hard, or if you use the mag as a monopod and try to preload it (like a bipod). Btw it takes alot of force to do this (at least with both of my rifles)

Believe it or not the usgi mags were the least prone to the overinsertion, hk hrm mags were bad as were pmags,

[MilitaryArms]

I have two ACR's, one FDE and one black.

I use them both quite a bit, with the black ACR being my primary test rifle when I'm checking out new accessories. I shoot the black rifle regularly, at least every week or so, and I've yet to clean it or even lube it. I'm at about 2k rounds fired with no malfunctions of any kind, and most of that is with Wolf .223 (with some 5.56 brass thrown in every once in a while). I'm going to keep shooting it without cleaning it until I start to experience problems.

I've had none of the problems I've heard others mention... things like over insertion issues, firing pins breaking, bolt lugs showing odd signs of wear, pins backing out, not being able to cycle 5.56mm ammo, etc.

I've not been kind to my ACR's, the black one in particular, and it's been 100% reliable.

When I got my first ACR l fully expected it to have problems cycling 5.56mm ammo (at the time there was a video of a guy having nothing but problems with his you YouTube). I expected it to be of modest quality, if not low quality - based on what I read on the internet.

It's not without its flaws, but then I've not met a rifle I liked EVERYTHING about. But it's a darn fine rifle in my experience and I enjoy shooting it. The jury is still out as to how well it will continue to hold up.

[CumbiaDude]

I have two ACR's, one FDE and one black.(...)

I specifically wondered how your ACRs were doing, having watched your video series comparing the ACR and the SCAR. Good to have an update.

[Tokarev]

I have two ACR's, one FDE and one black.

I've had none of the problems I've heard others mention... things like over insertion issues, firing pins breaking, bolt lugs showing odd signs of wear, pins backing out, not being able to cycle 5.56mm ammo, etc.

I've not been kind to my ACR's, the black one in particular, and it's been 100% reliable.

Posts like this make me wonder what has generated much of the earlier "bad press" surrounding the ACR. Granted, this is a sample of only two rifles but this flies in the face of much of what I've seen regarding the ACR.

Is much of the hate generated because the price of the ACR is much higher than we'd all hoped it would be or is there more to it? Were people expecting something that was more revolutionary only to be disappointed with a rifle that doesn't offer anything over a good AR for most users?

[crazymoose]

Posts like this make me wonder what has generated much of the earlier "bad press" surrounding the ACR. Granted, this is a sample of only two rifles but this flies in the face of much of what I've seen regarding the ACR.

Is much of the hate generated because the price of the ACR is much higher than we'd all hoped it would be or is there more to it? Were people expecting something that was more revolutionary only to be disappointed with a rifle that doesn't offer anything over a good AR for most users?

Because a lot of them legitimately did have problems. Bushmaster has probably finally gotten their act together.

[VIP3R 237]

Posts like this make me wonder what has generated much of the earlier "bad press" surrounding the ACR. Granted, this is a sample of only two rifles but this flies in the face of much of what I've seen regarding the ACR.

Is much of the hate generated because the price of the ACR is much higher than we'd all hoped it would be or is there more to it? Were people expecting something that was more revolutionary only to be disappointed with a rifle that doesn't offer anything over a good AR for most users?

I think you hit the nail on the head. Much of the negativity is from the acr entering the market at a higher price point then expected. Another fuel on the hater's fire is bushmaster, they havent given us the best assurance as far as qc the last couple years. yet it baffles me how so many of the haters will be first in line to badmouth the acr and claim its an inferior design when they have never shot one in person.
I have owned an acr since feb this year, it never jammed or gave me problems. i know guys like military arms who have both an acr and a scar and all but one prefer the acr. Now that one guy probably has FNH tatooed on his ass but to each his own. This is by no means a slam on the scar, its an excellent design fun to shoot and I hope to own one in the future.

[crazymoose]

I think you hit the nail on the head. Much of the negativity is from the acr entering the market at a higher price point then expected. Another fuel on the hater's fire is bushmaster, they havent given us the best assurance as far as qc the last couple years. yet it baffles me how so many of the haters will be first in line to badmouth the acr and claim its an inferior design when they have never shot one in person.
I have owned an acr since feb this year, it never jammed or gave me problems. i know guys like military arms who have both an acr and a scar and all but one prefer the acr. Now that one guy probably has FNH tatooed on his ass but to each his own. This is by no means a slam on the scar, its an excellent design fun to shoot and I hope to own one in the future.

Repost from the previous page:

Tyler Long: travis quick question and anyone can answer to if they please, Im taking a poll SCAR L or ACR

Travis Haley: SCAR is far more accurate and reliable. I could certainly do without the reciprocating CH but I can get over that considering I have been very happy with the performance of the SCAR in classes and testing. I have broke every ACR I have ever touched with simple weapons manipulation.

Ed Driver: Travis what broke on the ACR

Travis Haley: short answer: Cant put any pressure on the mag when firing, spring tension issues, true barrel issues, accuracy issues, over insertion of mags, eats Pmags, weird malfunctions, just a lot of no go criteria issues that unfortunately haven't been fixed yet.

David Alayon: So the Remington "milspec" variant is the same?

Travis Haley: yes that was the MIL variant...

This is one of the main guys who helped to develop the gun speaking. The higher price didn't make anyone happy, but for a while after the ACR came out, there were numerous accounts of ACRs failing to hold up to reasonable round counts. There was the issue with the too-small charging handle slot in the receiver that Bushmaster refused to fix on the rifles of people who complained. There were barrel zero issues. The list is long and not pretty. It does now seem like Bushmaster is getting things right, but the rifle got saddled early with a well-deserved spotty reputation, and that takes time to reverse.