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Posted: 12/15/2002 4:30:50 AM EDT
[#1]
Essential Arms only made lower receivers. I just handled a neighbor's Essential Arms J-15 yesterday evening. His was built years ago using a surplus M-16 upper. It has an A1 upper with triangular handguards and no forward assist. ALL Essential Arms J-15's are parts guns. That doesn't mean they are junk by no means. It just means that they never left the factory as complete rifles.
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Posted: 12/15/2002 6:02:00 AM EDT
[#2]
Thanks for info.If that is the case I have a brand new EA lower complete,will probably part out after the novelty wears out!
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Posted: 12/18/2002 7:28:06 AM EDT
[#3]
To clarify... Essential Arms was also Essential Accessories. They sold rifle kits, minus the barrels. They stocked all parts except barrels, and also had matching gray uppers. Toward the end of their business, they produced their uppers and lowers in a black finish, too.
They also manufactured rubber coated aluminum CAR buttstocks. All of their parts appeared to be of good quality (I used to see them at gun shows), however many J-15 receivers have been assembled with some pretty junky parts by individual builders, so you can't really judge the company by quality of rifles you may see with their receivers. |
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Posted: 12/19/2002 4:41:32 AM EDT
[#4]
Funny this comes up. I was at a gunshow on Saturday. One of the dealers was trying to sell an EA J-15 w/ 20" A2 HBAR upper saying that it was a complete Bushmaster rifle. I told him that the lower receiver was not a Bushmaster, but an Essential Arms. At this point he produced a 2001 gun value price book, showed me a picture of a post ban Bushmaster Shorty, and said "This is the rifle RIGHT HERE". He then proceded to tell me that the EA and J-15 were what Bushmaster USED to use to label their rifles. Finally he showed me a box with a Quality Parts stamp on it, saying this was the box the rifle came in. With that kind of evidence, who was I to doubt him?????
Anyway, I passed on the rifle. Brad |
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Posted: 12/19/2002 12:55:57 PM EDT
[#5]
Sounds like someone was trying to pull a really fast one on you.Think you were wise to pass just on principle.Lets see,if I bought a new chevette that came in a box marked corvette,that would make it a corvette,right?To best of my knowlegde Bushmaster never ever was associated with EA,I just needed some clarification on some items and thanks to posts and emails have things figured out.Thanks to all who replied!
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Posted: 12/19/2002 1:44:02 PM EDT
[#6]
It's true.
Back before Bushmaster made their own lowers, they were called Quality Parts. They sold AR15 parts as well as several of their own gun designs (the Bushmaster Assault Rifle and the Bushmaster ARM pistol). Later, they built complete rifles on Essential Arms receivers. Eventually, they began manufacturing their own forged lowers, and changed the company name to Bushmaster once they were producing their own complete rifles. You can contact Jerrod in the Bushmaster forum to confirm this, though it was long before his time there. -Troy |
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Posted: 12/19/2002 1:48:52 PM EDT
[#7]
Well then I stand corrected.Will check this info out,maybe I have an early Bushmaster/EA rifle.That would maybe change initial plans on this.Again,thanks for info,I sincerly appreciate inputs on items posted.
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Posted: 12/20/2002 4:39:15 AM EDT
[#8]
Wow Troy. Is there anything you don't know? Thanks for the history on Bushmaster. I will add it to my gunshow book, so I will know better next time.
Brad |
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Posted: 12/20/2002 9:38:58 PM EDT
[#9]
Note that during the 30-day NFA amnesty in '86, Bushmaster was cranking out registered receivers (i.e., full autos) built on Essential Arms lowers. I've seen several of these for sale. Bushmaster didn't make their own lowers until the late '80s.
Those original Bushmaster guns were designed in the 70's, back before Colt's patent on the AR15 design expired, when only Colt could sell them commercially. -Troy |
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Posted: 12/20/2002 10:54:28 PM EDT
[#10]
I live about 15 miles from BUSHMASTER.I built 5 prebans in the early 1980s.The first lower I bought from them was an EA.
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Posted: 12/21/2002 4:05:29 AM EDT
[#11]
Very interesting information,and to check I emailed Bushmaster with my serial #.Got a return phone call from their Customer Service,was told that yes,they did use EA lowers in the beginning but no,my serial # was not assembled or used by them.Must compliment Bushmaster on their great customer service response!
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Posted: 12/22/2002 10:54:59 AM EDT
[#12]
Bushmaster bought and used OLYMPIC ARMS lowers at one time!
[x] |
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Posted: 12/22/2002 1:16:02 PM EDT
[#13]
That's also true. Before Essential Arms started up, Olympic was the ONLY AR15 manufacturer other than Colt, and the only one to sell lowers seperately. So, several manufacturers used Olympic lowers at the time (late 70s-early 80s). The Palmetto Armory lowers were Olys, as were the Rock Island lowers IIRC.
-Troy |
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Posted: 12/22/2002 5:27:57 PM EDT
[#14]
Also, I seem to recall that Oly was also the first to offer a "flattop" receiver, which they made by cutting off the carry handle and pinning on a weaver rail. This was some years before the adoption of the A3 upper.
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