New here. Thanks for a cool forum.
I was trying to get the general consensus on this old subject that archived 10 years ago.
I just bought a new carbon 5.56 and I am afraid I messed up.
With all this time passed are there bugs, improvements, or fixes I should know about?
Please give me your advice and thoughts.
Brand new in the box pd $499.

Bushmaster def improved over the years. I bought a new XM15 in 2006, and 2011 and comparing the bolts to a recently bought 2015 bolt, they improved a lot: it's properly staked (the old bolt I had was staked but it was barely touching the screws) and comes pre-installed with a o-ring. Never had a issue with the old bolt though so staking is more of a visual reassurance.

I do see a few Carbon 15 threads where the polymer/carbon fiber lower is cracked. It's very hard to tell exactly what is going on. I do know with Glocks the problem tend to be with using high powered +P(+) rounds and over time it causes problems due to the weakness in the barrel if you're using reloads. It might take decades for Carbon 15 to be figured out but if I had to guess, it would be found that using reloads/remanufactured/high powered ammo puts additional stress on the lower and over time weakens it.

Generally speaking people who buy Carbon 15 might not know a whole lot about ar15s. They just "had to have one" so they go buy one and then they buy cheap reloads and cheap ammo because well they were cheap to begin with so why stop with ammo? Then eventually the cheap reloads/ammo causes problems. I should stress that Carbon 15 and Bushmaster in general are popular weapons and generally speaking with more people using it, more problems are exposed. If you do happen to use the rifle and it breaks, be sure to tell the company about it and explain what load you were using, etc. Just because you see a few threads on it breaking, it doesn't mean it is a bad choice and it might be popular like a Glock. It's more to do with how they were using it as oppose to what gun they have unless there is a fundamental design flaw to it.

I always found Bushmaster customer service to be excellent. Go on their website and pop them an email that you're concerned about the Carbon15 cracking and read about it online. See what they have to say. I'll bet they'll iterate again on what ammo to use if it isn't already in the instruction manuals.

I would say so long as you use quality ammo, like Federal/American Eagle XM193 and don't use reloads and/or remanufactured ammo, then you will be fine and will find a life time weapon. When you buy ammo, avoid foreign no-name ammo, or anything with the words "reloads" or "remanufactured" on it. If you ask, ask the sales rep if it is factory loaded ammo.


Bushmaster are generally considered "low tier" but it used to be the best when it was made in Windham and all you had available were Colt, Armalite or Bushmaster. Today there is a huge explosion in the market with various AR15s and the only company out of the three that seemed to move to please the modern crowd would be Colt. The other two companies stuck with their original formula and unfortunately the market wanted "mil spec."

Just remember, don't shoot reloads. Matter of fact get a paint marker, write on the dust cover, "No reloads/remanufactured" and you'll be solid and can pass down to your grandkids like, "Son, don't shoot reloads in this rifle" before you die and you handed him a nice rifle. Hopefully your grandkids won't be cheapos and buy remanufactured/reloads and end up with a blown apart rifle but rest assured you'll have the warning on the dust cover.

tl;dr don't buy reloads / remanufactured ammo. Use XM193 or better. Don't shoot high powered 70+ gr rounds.

Welcome. For the price you certainly didn't make a mistake. If something goes wrong you can always buy an aluminum receiver.  A lot depends on how you are going to use it. If you are a "commando" and roll around in the dirt, sand and mud it is probably the wrong choice. It was not meant to be a beater. I shoot with a bunch of guys who are all over the hill. We had our commando days many years ago. A couple of these guys have the carbon Bushmasters and have shot them for years with not a problem. Then again we come from a day and age when you took care of your gun like your life may depend on it. Many times it did. Take the advice on the previous post and DON'T shoot ammo that someone else has reloaded. You have no idea what they did.
Good luck. Enjoy!

I fully realize that this post is going to turn into a brand bashers vs desktop commando fight. I won't bother to dignify this response with a comment. 'nuff said here.

Before you start throwing comments that you have, I'd pay close attention to who you attacked.

"The Penguin" (Aimless) is Site Staff, they are as high as it gets without having the last name of Avila. Aimless KNOWS what he's talking about on the AR platform and his comment is dead on!

I would expect a site staff to produce a better response than brand calling. We also know brands tend to pay ar15 to advertise products so I wouldn't take a sites staff as good unless they produce technical data other than "I heard.." Or "I saw..."  telling someone to buy a single brand is a bit silly especially when that brand has thousands of customers many of whom has zero issues. The carbon15 is questionable I'll give you that and yes I heard it breaking but that's all I heard and there's no indication of a problem. I'd imagine a firearm company would not want to be sued by their customers with their number one selling model.

I know exactly who he is. It doesn't matter to me who that may be. I have no doubt he is very knowledgeable about AR's. Trouble is, so am I. I would never have said a word - but - POS and brand bashing from a staff member?????????
PS: I never attack anyone.

Sure, just as equally I had a recent issue with a build that failed to lock the bolt back on a very good BCM bolt carrier. I switched it with a old Bushmaster bolt and it worked like magic. I even bought a Colt BCG that had two gas rings on it and the third gas ring is missing.

Yes, my first factory AR was a Bushmaster and I always loved it when it was made in Windham. I never bought the Carbon15 myself but I have a hard time believing that they would purposely put out bad products especially given my experience with the factory Bushmaster. There's no indication that the product is faulty or if the ammunition used was faulty. What we can say is that based on evidences out there that ammo played an important role in it blowing up as do all kB! out there. A vast majority of failures with AR15s blowing up has to do with reloads. I seen kB! happen with factory ammo but seeing a kB! happen is 95% to do with reloads. What's stopping one from guessing the very same kB! issues with regular AR15s can't happen differently on a Carbon15? If someone is cheap enough to buy a carbon15 what's stopping them from buying really crappy ammo?

I find it hard to believe that one would suggest a brand of AR15 especially in a world where brand doesn't even matter. As you said, and as others pointed out, there are countless brands out there. I would advise the OP to simply shoot the AR15 until it blows up then buy a nice lower receiver, build it up, then attach the Carbon15 upper to it.

With the price of AR15s today, you really can't be brand loyal but you certainly can buy a lot of brands and get a really nice rifle. There are good things on a bushmaster that you can use for another build. The military is even about cannibalizing old M4s/M16s and swapping out parts which is why having in spec part is important to them. What's stopping you, a normal shooter, from cannibalizing your Carbon15 into something else? There's no telling what sort of awesome thing you can get in the end. Why be brand loyal when you can be "functional rifle"-loyal?

One of the worst "AR"s ever produced. I'm surprised that there hasn't been a recall on these.
Its only purpose is to hit a low price point, trick the newbies and produce profit for Bushmaster.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/656254_Bushmaster_carbon.html
There are so many better choices these days.

Brand loyalty notwithstanding, the Carbon 15 is & always has been crap. Empirical data exists to prove it. Do your research & you will find the facts & not just conjecture.

A funny anecdote...
One of those breakages in the thread that I posted above was reportedly due to a fat guy sitting on his Carbon 15...

I didn't see "brand calling", I saw a specific model being identified as a POS. And, yes the Bushmaster Carbon 15 is a big steaming POS. It's well documented. Like all of the other carbon/polymer AR pattern uppers/lowers (other than the GWACS, formerly CAV ARMS lower) they fail frequently. This is because a carbon/polymer based AR would require a design change in order to be durable and reliable. Simply duplicating the existing aluminum receivers in carbon/polymer will not work as they do not have the same material properties. All of these carbon/polymer products tend to break/crack at the stress points; take down pin area, pivot pin area, receiver extension/lower receiver interface or upper receiver/barrel interface.

Further, a quick search of Carbon 15 prices showing the cheapest retail prices to be $600+ and ranging up to $900+, they are an extremely poor value in the current buyers' market for AR pattern rifles/components. As an example, I just put together a 16" mid-length melonited CMV barreled forged 7075-T6 upper with a mil-spec full auto bolt carrier group, 7075-T6 charging handle, 7075-T6 receiver extension on a forged 7075-T6 lower receiver with a MATECH rear sight for less than $500, including shipping and FFL transfer fee. Once again, a complete rifle, delivered, that is far superior to a Carbon 15 (and possibly, anything made by Bushmaster) for more than $100 less than the cheapest retail Carbon 15.  Buying a Carbon 15 these days IS A HUGE F'ING MISTAKE.

Have to stand with aimless here I'm a notorious cheap skate but I still wouldn't but a carbon 15 I have first hand experience of breakages (not my rifle) and they have an awful reputation. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results well then buy the same thing and expecting different results should count too.

Having said all that if the op just wants a plunking rifle he can shoot decent amount through that's fine I just don't want him to think its a shtf rifle or even one he could drop without some major breakage.

P.s. No brand snobbery here either Id gladly buy a bushy just not a carbon 15

The carbon 15 Is a POS. The rail on the upper Reciever is literally glued to the plastic upper, the receivers break all the time.

I like Bushmaster, esp the old Bushmaster pre-Wyndham, but the carbon 15 is a pile of shit.

Welcome to ARFCOM.  That's a good price on a Carbon-15.  You have one of the lighter AR's on the market.  Shoot it until it breaks, then send it back in for warranty repair or strip the parts off the broken receiver & put them on an aluminum replacement.

Just don't do any bayonet drills w/ it & you'll be fine.

That last one is a Vulcan.  Nobody should buy a Vulcan.  It doesn't even pretend to have carbon fiber in it.  It's just plastic by the worst AR manufacturer in the US.

Whole lotta TL;DR in here. Lancelot to the rescue!

I said what this tread was going to turn into. The OP asked a simple, honest and straight forward question as I recall. Some of us tried to answer that question. NO. It is not a bad deal for $499. I realize some insist on paying twice as much or more for an AR from a company so badly managed it has gone bankrupt twice in the last 2 years and is now operating on borrowed money and quite possibly borrowed time. To work their way out of trouble the now offer a "strippo" for nearly $800 !!! To each his own. OP, don't used it for a sledge hammer or hand to hand bayonet fighting. Just go out and enjoy shooting it.

Now someone open a new thread on whether or not Bushmaster is a wonderful gun. What fun it will be.

It's been exposed as one of the crappiest "AR"s ever.
Why defend it ?

Don't forget to coat in cosmolene before foil. Can't have those plastic receivers rusting all over your top tier highly tuned fighting machine.

This thread has not been a Bushmaster bash fest, it has been an accurate and deserving bashing of the Carbon 15. Which is a POS abomination that never should have seen the light of day. Not even as a "range toy". And yes, even at $499 the Carbon 15 is a craptastic deal when a rifle made to milspec dimensions with near milspec components (materials and testing) can be had for the same or less.

The Bushmaster of yesterday may have been better than today's Bushmaster, but they were never really great and only "good" in so much as there were few players in the AR world back then and Bushmaster happened to be better than the relative few others and were competitive with Colt based on price alone. They were never better or "just as good as".

I assume those "strippos" you refer to are the Colt OEM 1 & 2 (no furniture LE6920 and SOCOM) and they are a bargain and can be found for ~$650. Your quoted $800 price will get you a Colt LE6720 and frequently an LE6920.

BTW, Colt's financial performance has nothing to do with the quality of their products, but their lack of vision to aggressively jump into the consumer market with both feet as the market was booming and instead relying solely on their military contracts. In other words, their current financial position is due to a lack of corporate vision to diversify their customer base.

With the plethora of quality, low priced ARs available nowadays, Bushmaster does not really produce a competitive product for anybody that does more than 20 minutes of product research prior to making a purchase. The Freedom Group relies on big chain stores with incompetent sales people along with ignorant consumers who recognize the Bushmaster name to foist their overpriced products on the generally uneducated (at least on ARs) public.

Step back, get a grip and remove the emotion, look at things like materials, testing and prices in a subjective manner, curb the brand whoring. Do this and you will see that the AR is a tool. And the tool that Bushmaster provides the market may work for some, but the fact that it is generally overpriced and substandard is not changed.

I'm not hating on you for your opinions, but I've observed you in the past defending the lower grade brands. Nothing wrong with that, but it's almost as if you have some kind of complex trying to justify an AR purchase for less money when you can't afford one of the more quality brands that others enjoy; perhaps an aversion to the fact that a lot of shooters don't mind spending more money for a quality AR. This does not include the Carbon 15 or a DPMS that you vehemently come to the defense of every time a similar thread is started. Carbon 15s are crap. Plain & simple. The facts are out there. There's really no debating it. The old cliche that you get what you pay for is usually true. Accept it or don't. It's your business.

In short form this thread is a classic example of someone asking what time it is and is told over and over how to build a watch. I am not defending Bushmaster. Instead apologizing to the OP for the response to his simple question. I have enough money to buy anything I want. I don't want a Bushmaster. However I would rather defend someone who doesn't have enough money than spend my time trying to defend why I spent twice as much as I would have needed to get out enjoy this sport. My DPMS shoots as good, or in some cases better than any of them. Why are you "high end" guys so defensive and paranoid? Calm down! Relax!

You are off the mark. The OP asked if he had "messed up" buying a Carbon 15. It was pointed out that he indeed had made a poor decision, even at the $499 price point. I don't believe anyone replied with a "pricey brand X is what you should have." The OP was told that the Carbon 15 is now and has always been a POS at any price point. The OP was told why the Carbon 15 is a POS and provided pictures as visual examples of why the Carbon 15 is a POS. He was not told to he needed to spend twice as much to enjoy himself at the range. On the contrary, he was told he could've had a substantially better rifle for LESS than what he paid for the Carbon 15.

You and another poster decided you wanted to call out Aimless and attempted to infer or redirect this into a gun-snob anti-Bushmaster thread.

To directly answer the OP; yes, you messed up. The Carbon 15 is a POS. I would recommend you attempt to sell it and get as much out of it as you can, take that money and look at Palmetto State Armory's Freedom line of uppers and one of their cosmetically blemished complete lowers. Watch PSA's prices and sales and get what you want when it is at a really good price. Typically you can get a good mid-length complete upper for ~$289 and a complete cosmetically blemished lower for ~$129. Put the two together and push the pins in and you have a significantly better rifle for ~$418. Add another $25-$55 for a rear sight, throw in shipping and FFL transfer fee and you are still below or at the $499 for the Carbon 15.

They are junk.  

I think I am finally beginning to understand. If you can't afford a Mercedes why even buy a car. I will forget the folks I know who have owned and shot Bushmasters for years and are sold on them. They just enjoy the sport and are not "Internet Gun Gurus" so what do they know?

I was called to check out a local P.D.'s AR-15's.

They complained all six were short stroking, upon examination they ALL had loose carrier keys.  

Guess what, they were all Bushmaster Patrolman's.

I replaced the carrier key screws, torqued the screws to the proper torque and properly staked the screws, they ran fine after that.

Now how great are Bushmasters?

Those were six for six

I didn't say not being brand loyal. I said don't be loyal to one particular brand. In any event I can see this turned into another brand bashing thread and will exclude myself. I only feel bad that new folks are exposed to such "should have bought brand X" only because they seen a picture online.

It is not about a "brand" it is about a shitty design.

I think I am finally beginning to understand. DPMS, Busmaster and other lowly tier guns are mass produced by unskilled flunkies in bad conditions, while the high tier guns are assembled carefully by old world craftsman one piece at a time in modern well lighted conditions. Each part is hand perfected and sprinkled with generous amounts of "mil-spec". Ahh, Ok. Yep, I think I've got it.

Wow, you either haven't read this thread, have a serious reading comprehension issue or really just want to stir crap up.

No one suggested the OP buy an expensive AR.

The OP's question was answered and the reasoning behind the answers was explained.

The thread never migrated to a "all Bushmasters are complete crap thread", but pretty much remained on target as confirming the Carbon 15 is a POS.

The bottom line is that the OP did not do any research and made a poor choice with an impulse buy. A SUPERIOR PRODUCT could have been purchased for LESS money.

No, No you don't get it at all. It's about pricing (gouging by Freedom Group and others). It's not that these guns don't shoot or won't serve the purpose of enjoying a day at the range once a month, or casual plinking. It's that these guns are overpriced for what they are. These "lowly tier guns" are made of cheaper materials with lower levels of testing and QC and sold for prices above their intrinsic value to unsuspecting consumers on the basis that they "look the same as" and are "just as good as" and they are not.

Better offerings can be had from multiple manufacturers at lower or equal prices.

Seriously, why would anyone buy a Bushmaster Patrolman M4-A3 at an average internet price of $950 or a DPMS AP4 at an average internet price of $875 when a Colt LE6920 can be had for the same price or less and a BCM M4 can be had for about the same to a little more. If money is an issue a PSA Premium or CHF uppered complete rifle can be had for less than $700 any day of the week and is arguably better than the Bushmaster or DPMS.

You will even see some internet and brick and mortar retailers with Bushmaster models priced at or near Daniel Defense prices, which really has to make you ask WTF?

So yeah Bushmaster, at least in Maine, had a poor track record and your friends who claim otherwise are incorrect.

Yeah, I see. As I said before, just because they have owned and shot them for years without a single problem, what do they know. Never even had a rat try to eat them.
Seriously, I shoot with a large group of people on a great outdoor range. Just about every brand is represented. Haven't seen anyone have a minutes trouble with any of them except for a reload problem or two. Not the gun's fault. The great thing is, no one cares what brand you have. The important thing is you are out there enjoying a great sport.
Now. Back to "Commando Land!"

First, I will apologize for the snotty cracks but I can only apologize for the ones I have made. Second, I will admit I have learned that all opinions are not equal. Thank you.

THERE I will agree with you!

I would take the opinion of Aimless over yours, plus I will take the opinion of Pat Rogers over damn near anyone!

I wouldn't never consider a Bushmaster Carbon-15. They're fragile and not something you can depend on. I'd consider it like I would a glass bayonet. What's the point when the wrong move could snap it in two?

I also consider economy/budget guns to not be worth it. I generally get screwed over when I try to go a little cheap even. Even LEA's won't touch many of the brands that are revered here.

Builds are also among the lowest in my book. Colt, LMT, and some others know how to properly build and install all their parts to minimize issues, immediate and long term.

As far as Bushmaster itself, I wouldn't buy one. Not now, and not even the Windham guns. We have Bushmaster's at work, and I can't change that. They are nothing special and appear to lack longevity. My work should have bought Colts.

IIRC, Pat Rogers has reported issues with Bushmasters breaking their bolts at the cam pin hole. (more common than normal). And the improper staking of the carrier key screws is a well known issue. Other than those problems I believe that Bushmasters are better than many of the other offerings over the years.

They are DEFINITELY better than Olympic Arms!

I can't believe how much they were charging for stripped lowers several years back, Bushmaster was at the Tulsa Gun Show around 15 years ago and was getting around $150.00 DEALER for stripped lowers!