Bushmaster Custom Shop
 

I had the opportunity last week to test the new line of AR's built by the Bushmaster Custom Shop at Camp Butner and must say that I am impressed. The three rifles, the Urban Interdiction Rifle (UIR), the Perimeter Security Rifle (PSR), and the Precision Marksman Rifle (PMR) all held sub minute groups out to 600 yards with Black Hills 68, 69, 75 and 77 grain ammo. The best group shot at 300 yards came in at 7/8" with 75gr and at 600 the best group was 2 1/2" also shot with 75gr! The weapons were shot from a bipod in the prone, not a machine rest. I never thought you could get that kind of accuracy out of an AR. Check out the website at http://www.bushmaster.com/bcs/

Those prices are not going to take them far......:rolleyes:

There's a lot of tack driving AR's out there for less than half those prices.


Team Sergeant

Nice looking stuff that the Three Headed Hound of hell is producing there. Didn't the new "Bushmaster Custom Shop" used to be a part of Iron Brigade Armory?

Good Times,
Blake

Norm Chandler Jr. used to be the VP of IBA, now he runs the show at BCS. A few of the gunsmiths that worked at IBA now work for Jr. IBA and BCS work pretty close, but as far as I know there never was an actual BCS until Cerberus came along. I do remember a few years back that IBA made some AR's though.

It seems like with this move and the Magpul agreement that Bushmaster is finally trying to get their act together. If they can address the qc issues that they have had over the years it will be nice to have a major manufacturer pumping out high quality ar's by the bushel full.

Bushmaster QC
 

The Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 (EST ) uses Bushmaster weapons that have been modified to function off of air instead of ammo. Of the un-modified standard Bushmaster parts, the following have the highest rate of failure:

Hammer/trigger pins (shear in half at the groove(s). USGI never do this).
Bolt catch (breaks at the oval thumb pad if laid down hard with BC locked to rear,
USGI never do this).
Plastic:eek: trigger guard (duh!) breaks.
Charging handle loses pin.
Rear sight housing is shaky (spring at ball is weak).
Disconnector wears fast (results in double-fire)
Trigger sear step wears fast (weak steel/heat treatment)

If you do buy a Bushmasher, replace the above with USGI parts and you'll be OK.

45K40

Good info, but apples the padlocks IMO. Yes, it's a weapons simulator and I am sure it does a fine job, but if you take a 350 ci V8 and mod it to run on Rubbing alcohol, it is still an engine, but it's performance in that configuration has dick to do with what it would do when run on gas (as intended). What kind of round count are we talking? I have seen some USGI parts go TU in a bad way right out of the box and I have seen Bushmasters and other "sub par" supplier's equipment last and last.

Always remember that USGI only means that that particular supplier's product passed the tests AND offered the lowest price.

**Back to my lane.**

Good Times,
Blake

Durability
 

Air .177,

Round count seems to be immaterial as the hammer pins will break anywhere from 3000 rds and up. Also, the recoil impulse from an air-driven rifle is only about 1/2 the brass-fed one. This says something in itsself. We have taken the Bushmaster hammer pins and put them in a vise and an easy tap with a standard 12 oz ball pien will snap one, whereas a USGI type will not. The BM bolt catch breakage is ridiculous, though; my Armament shop only replaced a bent, worn, or missing USGI bolt catch/pin.
I understand what the govt acceptance tests/stds to become a CAGE contractor as well as supplier are. I also understand shortfalls in QC from time to time, as well as the slacking from stds that all mfrs will do until caught at it. Bushmaster never was or ever will be MILSPEC. The EST 2000 contractor picked Bushmaster wpns because they were lowest bidder. The new Lot VII EST uses Armalite wpns that do not exhibit the weak part syndrome. As good as Colt or FN is, they have their bad days too. Had an out-of-the-wrap FN M4 bbl that would fail bbl straightness gage when the compensator was indexed, but pass when comp was removed.
Some guys I shoot HP with use and swear by their BM match rifles because they haven't had any problems yet. But those same weapons are pampered to and from the rg in nice protective cases and not subjected to field conditions, neglect, or abuse.

Just what I see from my house,

45K40

I've got a Les Baer Thunder Ranch rifle. It has a Vltor EMOD stock and Mag Pul MIAD grip with an enhanced trigger guard also. It's hold 1/2 MOA all day long at 100 meters, and opens up to 7/8' MOA at 300 meters too. It does it with Wolf ammo, not match. Ok, that's a bit of of stretch, but with Remington Premier Match, it does it all day long on a bench or bi pod

Do I need to buy Bushmaster ?? :munchin

I've had my own problems with BM QC. FWIW there are a few things happening out of the public eye to fix the very real problems behind the poor rep. The IBA association can't do anything but help. I sincerely hope Norm Jr. can make a difference. And no - I wouldn't pay those prices. Nor am I surprised at the accuracy claims. EVERY hand built AR should shoot at least that good.

Blake - Not to give you too hard a time but it's apples to apples - maybe Granny Smith to Golden Mush (Delicious), but it's still apples. The simulator weapons do not receive a fraction of the "stress" a weapon used for live fire training suffers. Bushmaster has "questionable" QC and it shows in the breakage rates. 45K40 is being generous.

Maybe you should call the Army and tell them they contracted for over $5M of non-MILSPEC rifles last year.

http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts...ontractid=3476 (second to last paragraph under "Army" heading)

Price
 

Wow,

A little ridiculous on the pricing....

News
 

Razor,

I stand corrected on the Army not having BM wpns, thanks for the link. Of course BM would now have to comply with MIL-C-71186 (M4) and MIL-R-63997B (M16A2). Its been a year now, have you heard any feedback as far as dependability? Time will tell...

45K40

Not a reply, but a question about Rifle Barrels
 

Looked a while with search, but didn't find any threads on building a rifle. I just had a question on what recommendations there may be out there for custom barrels. I need a barrel for a Mauser. Not the stock barrel but something along the lines of a Varment Barrel. Somethind about 26 inches long with 1/11 twist. I shoot heavy bullets, but 1/11 should do but I'm up for suggestions. Different makers. I know of Keiser. I can do a web search but I would like some personal feed back. Blitz

Blitzzz-

I built a .338-06 off of a 98 action with a 26", 1:10, E.R. Shaw barrel. It's proven to be an extremely accurate rifle and shoots far better than I do. The pricing on the barrel was very reasonable as well.

I realize you're looking for a varmint rifle, but if you're looking for something in a .224 caliber I'd stick with a 1:12 or so. I recently built a SPR clone with a White Oak Armament 1:7 barrel and as expected I can't get it to group bullets under 75 grains worth a damn, but she loves the 77 gr Match Kings.

Is your Mauser action commercial or military? The only varmint round that I know of that works with the military standard bolt face is the .22-250...