I have been looking at piston rifles other than AR's and lately looking seriously at the Bushmaster ACR.

I know it is is heavy and has little after market products, but I like the looks and the design.

Does anyone have any experience wit the ACR that would help in my decision.

Friend of mine bought one b/c he wanted to be able to change calibers easily.  He's had it for several years now, Bushmaster has yet to release any interchangeable bbls in other calibers.

 
Yep.


Get a SCAR

SCAR, LWRC, and LMT are good piston guns.

Best advice

I have both, my ACR runs fine but if I had to pick one of them to keep it'd be the SCAR.

The ACR suffers from the critical design flaw of lacking any sort of internal feed lip stops or supports.  No feed lip supports means the interia of the round stack pushes the top round in the mag out of the feed lips.

I've only ever used pmags in my ACR, but I've never had that happen.

PMAG feed lips aren't as flexible as some other brands of plastic mags so they work better than most. But metal mags are the only surefire way to keep rounds from bouncing out. Too bad metal mags beat up the edges of the plastic mag well.



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Never heard anything about this problem ? I have two of them one older first models and a fairly new one both run like a top. I was at a local match and Steve Fisher was there telling me if you put pressure on the magazine while firing they with double feed. He tried make it happen on my rifle but had no luck so he figures they improved the production models.

PS After I get some things out of the way this summer I will SBR one of mine to save some weight.

I contacted both Remington and Bushmaster and even sent them links to the vids. I never did hear anything back and figured they didn't care.

Take a look inside an AR and you'll notice the bottom of the bolt carrier raceway acts as a support for the feed lips. Many rifles based around the AR mag have these internal supports. Even the Tavor is built this way.  I really do believe it is an oversight on the part of Magpul, Bushmaster et al.  


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ARX100. you're welcome.

Talk about proprietary and lack of aftermarket.  At least with the ACR I have a choice of two stocks and two handguards.  That's one more of each than you get with the ARX100.  Plus, the deep magwell of the ARX limits the choice of mags.

its your rifle, but why do you *need* to change either?

It's almost hilarious.  They simply dressed up an AR-180......and they still got it wrong!!! ( the AR180 has FULL feed lip support and protection in the lower )  THAT IS AWESOME!!!  



Good going BM!!!! Fucking retards.
 

How many caliber conversions do YOU have?

Whats almost hilarious too is that you're blaming Bushmaster for something Magpul did.

 

LOL....I honestly did think about mentioning it....but they ( BM ) could have caught that!!!!  They were the final arbiters on the go/no go for the design.  Now....Reminton uses a metal ( lower ) receiver....I wonder if they added the proper feed lip support?  



 

I have a robinson xcr-l, you could consider that.
Love it. Although I've heard their customers service can suck. But I'm local so I just go over there.

Some internal photos for reference.

Note the ridge inside the AR-15's upper:



The ACR's upper lacks anything to stop and/or support feed lips:



Magazine's lips supported in the AR:



No support for the top of the mag in the ACR:

 
My ACR is able to shoot 5.56, 5.45x39, and 7.62x39. It's not rocket science to get a new barrel, mags, and bolt.





Pretty soon it'll even take AK mags of all varieties.






 


5.45





5.56





7.62

If changing calibers is your primary motivation, stick to normal ar's


That said, aside from looking cool, the acr offers nothing over the scar

If i were to drop 2 grand on an op-rod 5.56, it'd be the scar

 

I would disagree. The common barrel and FCG with the AR are nice features due to the wide variety of preferences with the two.

If you haven't already, I would check out www.acrforum.com Lots of good info. Plus they several guys that make aftermarket accessories themselves. ACR's can be found around $1,500 NIB now.  



 

Get a good 6.8 piston driven AR.
The ACR is is weird feeling and seriously front heavy. I dont like them.

The worst part of whole ACR situation is that one of its biggest complaints (weight and poor balance) could have been so easily remedied with a thinner profile barrel. The M4 profile makes no sense and was only chosen because of the lowest cost.

If they would have followed through with replacement barrels this wouldnt have been a issue. First thing most gun owners do is change out the parts so the cheapest selling point is best .

I've had no weird feelings or problems with any of the piston ARs I've shot. Loved em all. The SCAR is bulky, the ACR feels like dogshit, and the ARs are proven and feel great still. Look into the Barrett REC7

The only thing I like about the ACR is how modular it is. How the trig mech comes right out and how you can switch calibers so easily.
But with modularity comes fear(in my mind anyway) that the whole thing may be just too loose.

Modularity it great but the company has to actually make parts to exploit that modularity.  Bushmaster, so far at least, has done almost nothing to support the ACR.  Fortunately gunsmiths like Marvin Pitts are filling the void.

If modularity is a serious concern, take a look at the new SIG MCX.  That gun comes in either pistol or rifle format and ships with a 5.56 and a 300BLK barrel in the box.  With that said, SIG has yet to launch the 7.62x39 conversion or the stock and handguard options that are supposed to be part of that platform.  

you're joking right? have you ever shot/handled one?

I have and he's right. The ARX is a better rifle than either the SCAR or the ACR in both features and handling.

I like the barrel QD system on the ARX100 but the laughably bad 12lb trigger and high rail height instantly turned me off. There's a reason the price plummeted so quickly on them.

...and it's ugly.

I have not heard a report of a 12lb trigger yet. Mine is probably around 8 or 9 pounds and is very crisp compared to a standard AR trigger. Not that any of this matters because the aftermarket will eventually fix this problem as it did with the SCAR.

The rail height is not much different than all of the other comparable piston over the barrel rifles... SCAR, ACR, XCR.

Looks have no bearing, all of these new rifles look like fish, I have accepted this... Why is this so hard to do for so many?

I have given up on Remington ever offering us the real deal or at least parts to supplement the BM version.  It is really too bad, I think the rifle has a lot of potential.  I am glad people are starting to offer parts, but I really don'f feel like joining yet another forum and hunting for obscure and inconsistently availlable parts at this point.  

I am just holding out for maybe the Polish version (MSBS) coming here one day.

The ACR works great in real life but it is the biggest piece of garbage ever made if you bring it onto the internet.

I dug my ACR out last night just to check on this problem and there were no issues with any of my magazines ? As usual quality magazines make the difference I guess .

I own one. Great rifle. My ACR has better ergonomics but there's nothing wrong with the shooting or handling of an ARX. I have yet to see a negative review by an experienced user beyond some nitpicks.

 
If you call Bushmaster, I've found they are quite helpful when you want to order almost any part for the rifle.

Oh, I was referring to aftermarket parts.  For example, there is a great aftermarket rail that is very similar to the Remington one, but it has not been available in a year or more.  Who even knows if the guy will make them again.

+1

The trigger is rated at ~10#, & the rail HOB is same as other current-gen rifles.

Did I mention that it's light?

The ARX that I handled had the shittiest trigger I've ever encountered on a rifle, bar none.



 

It's nice to see that the price has dropped to $1500 now.

I was referring to the height over the stock, it's way too high and there's not even a cheek riser like the ACR and SCAR both have:



TFB did a nice test and comparison of the trigger weights on a range of semi auto rifles and the ARX-100 was the heaviest out of all they tested, even heavier than all the bullpups:

Yes, the stock has no riser adjustment, which is surprising.  Only possible reason I could guess for this omission was to allow for clearance to work with stock folded & the CH switched to the R-side.  It locks up & feels solid, but it's too bad the stock isn't removable so adapters could be made to host the ACR stock.

LOS makes some interesting Kydex risers for the ARX; currently the only aftermarket solution of this type for it at this time.

Fortunately both those problems will be easily fixed. It did seem odd to me that they didn't make it with a cheek riser.

 

I've spent big money to get some innovation and design I liked, but I'm not sure the ACR was as well delivered as it could have been? IDK, there's lots of shit talking online. Even on the SCARs, etc.

I'd look at the LMT MRP if you want a caliber switching design, other calibers actually available!!!, can be changed from piston to DI even, and takes the most common accessories.

For a sweet modern type, I wouldn't buy an ACR now. They've been out for years, haven't caught on very well, and have had serious issues. I'm waiting for the Radom MSBS. It APPEARS to have taken ALL the lessons learned from all these mid 2000's to present day modern adaptable rifles and applied them very smartly. If it doesn't have issues out of the gate like the ACR, the potential is limitless. As the tested and passed, though still not totally proven, official rifle for the Polish military; it should be squared away.

What I've always found interesting is that in 99.9% of ACR threads I come across have little to nothing to do with the rifle itself. There's always the non-owners that offer helpful opinions like "buy a SCAR/XCR/ARX" or other non-owners who continue to complain about unavailable parts/price-points. Prospective ACR owners are most assuredly aware of other "comparable" weapons in the marketplace and that Bushmaster's support of this system  has been abysmal to say the least. Must we keep re-visiting these points, especially when they are precipitated by non-owners? If you don't own an ACR or have any real-world insight into how the weapon performs in its available state, please refrain from commenting.

I've been around the ACR since it launched and continue to run them, as they are easily my favorite 5.56 carbine. I'm not an engineer or a designer, just a shooter, so after the tens of thousands of rounds I've put through various ACR's, I was surprised to learn that the lack of internal feed lips was a problem. I'm definitely not disputing the clear photographs or the results depicted in the YouTube video. I think if you apply force to the base of a magazine, while a weapon's bolt is locked to the rear, you could initiate any number of complications in any number of weapons-be it an unintentional bolt closure or actual failure. I don't think the ACR is unique to this phenomenon, but I can see from the pictures how the ACR might be potentially more prone to this type of possible complication than say the comparison weapon-an AR. The AR has "quirks" of its own that could cause issues under certain circumstances too, but those are well known and hardly reasons to not buy an AR.

If you are looking at an ACR, drown out the background noise and focus on what the weapon is. Ignore what it could've/should've been and simply evaluate it on its merits as a "martial" 5.56 carbine. The lack of a factory .300 Blackout conversion or AK magazine lowers have noting to do with the reliability/durability/accuracy of the currently available 5.56 weapons. Price/value is all in the eye of the beholder and again, MSRP is different than MRBF. I find the ACR to be one of the best shooting and most reliable carbines I've ever owned. If I want a different barrel contour/length/caliber, I know that there's an entire community out there to offer that to me, for less than the price of a factory SCAR conversion barrel.

Suffice it to say OP, the ACR is very much a lightning rod as in all honesty-it didn't live up to the expectations set by the Masada or the initial Bushmaster promises. Because of this, there are legions of haters out there that allow themselves to miss what is, because of what could have been. If you like the look/feel of the ACR, become familiar with its real world performance and accept that factory conversion components likely aren't ever coming-buy one. You won't be disappointed

Nicely said Eastriver.  I don't get why people have to make up reasons to convince others why they shouldn't like this or that.  
I hate Glocks, I have been asked several times what's a good gun, first gun that comes to mind....Glock, they are great guns.

ACRs do have a couple issues, that being said, they also have some great features.  As most guns do.

Sorry typed this on my phone.

The ACR and the ARX-100--two of the biggest abortions ever to hit the market.

Yeah, the ARX is a huge chode that gives even the G36 a run for its money on height over bore. A chin weld may not even get you there.