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Posted: 5/22/2011 5:23:02 PM EDT
| I have a Bushmaster XM15 E2S A3, is this a good AR or should I sell it and upgrade? |
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Does it shoot well? Does it meet your needs / purposes for it? If yes, then keep it. There's arguably better out there, but BM is fine. +1 If it's not broke, don't fix it. There are better rifles out there. But if it meets the task it has been given then I say keep it. |
| If its working reliably dont worry about it its a good off the shelf rifle..if how ever you get to the point where you want better tested parts then id replace the barrel,bolt carrier group and telestock assembly and trigger guard if your rifle still has the plastic one.I would go with a Colt,BCM or Daniel Defense barrel,a BCM BCG,BCM mil-spec diameter telestock assembly and a magpul MOE aluminum trigger guard.Sell off the old parts to put toward the newer ones.The easiest thing to do if you decide is sell off the old upper and get a complete new one from like say BCM.And then you could replace the stock assembly or not at all..your choice base it on your wants,needs and expectations for what you want out of your hardware..Bushmaster is good and with some parts there is better.Its all up to you. |
| Kinda funny, if you would have asked that same question on another AR forum, you would be told to chuck it over a cliff and then run. But in reality, if it is just a range gun, or a hunting gun, it will meet or exceed your expectations. If you use it for LE, Military or it will be your primary HD weapon, then the conversation would be much different. |
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keep the bushie and buy the colt.
i drank the colt kool-aid and bought a LE6920. And I freakin' love it; not a single regret. my newest AR is a DS Arms lower and and Bushie 20 inch upper. And even though I haven't run her hard yet, I have not a regret with that one either. People often get caught up in the brand wars. I suppose that i f I was being sent to Iraq and given the choice of a brand new Colt or a new BM, I would probably pick the Colt. But for my civilian purposes, even for SD/HD purposes, Bushmaster is fine. If the gun is reliable and you shoot it well, then I wouldn't sell it unless you have a good reason. I have always ended up kicking myself. I even miss the DPMS Panther Lite 16 I sold to fund the 6920. 
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I'm glad to see that this discussion is going civil, and I agree with the other posters
I have had 4 Bushmasters over the years, my second bushy I filed a Form-1 on and SBR'd. I have around 10k on the original LPK and bolt/carrier assy and it runs like a swiss watch. Is there higher quality rifles? Sure Is there anything wrong with them? Hell no Let the haters hate and enjoy your rifle 
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Give it some time.
Quoted:
Kinda funny, if you would have asked that same question on another AR forum, you would be told to chuck it over a cliff and then run. But in reality, if it is just a range gun, or a hunting gun, it will meet or exceed your expectations. If you use it for LE, Military or it will be your primary HD weapon, then the conversation would be much different. To the OP: If you should still feel the need to upgrade, parting out the barrel (the more desirable part), bolt carrier (good as is but not arfcom approved) and commercial stock (budget builders) would sell rather quickly to fund replacement parts. Bushmaster complete rifles and some uppers don't sell well. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Just for some 'gee whiz' info...
My brother has a BM 16" carbine from the late 90's that has over 8k rounds thru it. It has seen hard use thru several week-long and a couple of single-day carbine courses. It has the original telestock, original bolt group, heavy barrel, trigger guard, etc. Other than an Aimpoint and a KAC RAS II rail, it is a stock weapon. I say all this to say that a properly maintained BM is fine for duty use, just make sure you "wring it out" thoroughly in a carbine course to make sure it can handle hard use. As for me, I run an LMT upper on a BM lower, but I have a mil spec recv'r extension, MIAD grip, and a MIAD trigger guard. My rifle has seen more use than his (the lower has worn various uppers...both BM and LMT) No issues what so ever with either rifle. BM lowers are fine, but, some folks are annoyed by the plastic trigger guard and commercial spec rec'vr extension. |
| Bushmaster used to be the "B" in the ABC's of AR's. Their use of MIM parts and erosion of QA led to their demise....at least here. They make a quality AR and I'm sure your's will run just fine. I'd get a case of ammo and shoot it to shit for a week and see if anything comes apart. Take it apart, clean and inspect it carefully then go from there. While the MIM parts gave them a rough name, their barrels are the best bang for the buck going. |
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I've had my Bushmaster uppers with other lowers (could not find any available Bushmaster Lowers at the time), and Bushmaster LPKs for over 15 years now, and I've never had any problems. My heavy barrel carbine prints consistent five shot groups under an inch at 100 yards with iron sights, and my brothers goes under a dime at 100 yards with a ACOG.
I don't know anything about their parts being MIM. When I bought my Bushmaster stuff, their advertising specifically stated that their parts were not MIM, as opposed to some of their competitiors. Haven't had a single part wear-out or break, and I'm currently updating my furniture from the original Bushmaster parts. Not in need of replacement, I'm switching to M4 (double shielded) handguards, a standard six position stock, MOE pistolgrip, and MOE triggerguard. |
| Bushmaster barrel are definately the best bang for the buck like was said.Im to a point now where all I have is Colt,BCM,DD barrels for high end I have one rifle with a BM barrel and they are the only barrels I would buy if I couldnt afford premium tested and specified material barrels. |
| I have 6940 and a couple of bushmasters and a real big bunch of other brands. Honestly they all work. The Colt as well as my S&W like heavier bullets but the bushmasters will group as well with lighter bullets. I have had Colts since the mid 70s and bushmasters since 89. I have never had a failure of any kind with either of them or with my DPMS, Rock-Rivers, Stags and many I have built from Del-ton and RR uppers on lowers from D-Star, Grizzly and others. |
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Fist off, welcome to the site!
I'm one of the biggest Colt KoolAid drinkers here (see avatar), but it would be a cold day in hell before I sold either of my Bushmaster Patrolman's Carbines. They are well put together and solid, hassle-free, no bullshit performers. I've yet to have a lick of trouble with either that wasn't user induced-like a poorly crimped reload. One of them has been to a carbine class and driven hard with no issues whatsoever. Heck, both of my 1:9 Bushmaster barrels will even handle heavy 75gr TAP ammunition. That's more than I can say for two of my other 1:9 barreled ARs  One of my Bushy uppers was made during the Y2K rush-so the anodizing is Barney purple-but outward appearance doesn't matter a damn to the way it shoots. A couple of my Colts, BCMs, and one LMT look so rough that some people on this website would undoubtedly soil themselves. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely fussy about quality-I just refuse to get bent out of shape over stupid shit.
There are certainly brands out there with better specs, there is no arguing that. That said, if your current rifle is reliable no matter what then you have a known quantity. There is a lot to be said for that. My humble suggestion for you would be to keep the Bushmaster, and then do whatever you had to do to save up for the pony you have your eye on. I'll never discourage anyone from buying a Colt, but I'd sure hate to see you do it at the expense of a known good quantity. Hopefully I'm making sense and not rambling (I tend to do that sometimes)
Once again, welcome to the site! |
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I own a BM. Have made a couple of upgrades (20" bbl - also BM; flat top upper - also BM).
It is a 1:9 twist and shoots 75-grain stuff very accurately. couple thousand rounds through it. Never had a failure that wasn't ammo related (yes, it eats steel pretty well). Seen a buddy's colt go down at range right next to me several times - right after he told me to "upgrade." 
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Quoted:
Thank you all for all the advice it is greatly appreciated, I have several other guns but the AR's are new to me. I am going to keep the BM and also ordered the Colt today so in the near future I will own two AR's. Thank you again. Sounds good. Post pics when you get it. |
| Bushmaster is still a good, solid, middle of the road rifle. My first AR was a Bushy, and the only reason I want to rebarrel it is because I want a 1/7 twist to ensure I can shoot the 75 and 77 grain rounds I prefer. Shoot it until something breaks, if anything, then upgrade that part. I might throw a BCM or LMT bolt and carrier in mine just because I have a couple LMT bolts as spares, and can get those or the BCM pretty easily and cheaply. If you plan on shooting thousands of rounds every week, get a spare BCG and trigger group. A good idea to have those around anyway. |
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and then you will own three , then four , then five ............ etc, etc, etc
Thank you all for all the advice it is greatly appreciated, I have several other guns but the AR's are new to me. I am going to keep the BM and also ordered the Colt today so in the near future I will own two AR's. Thank you again. |
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They're like any other weapon. Don't trust it until you have at least 1000 trouble-free rounds through it (at a bare minimum). If it makes it through the test, keep it lubed and you'll do just fine. My Bushy, while not the best thing ever, has been good. I also (because I'm mildly paranoid) changed a lot of the "weak" points out. Installed BCM bolt, BCM receiver extension (and staked it). The gas key staking wasn't an issue (is that still an issue with BMs?) since mine is a 1-piece piston carrier. |
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