First off I am new to this site.  It is real refreshing to find people who think in the same general direction as me.  It has been a while since I have shot my old ar. Other preoccupations such as hunting,fishing,bowhunting have gotten me sidetracked from it.

  The first gun I shot in my life was an M1 carbine at the age of 9 in 69.  I developed an immediate addiction to "evil" guns that has shadowed me my whole existence.  Bought an sp1 in 80 while I was in college.(Did'nt even know it was an sp1 until I learned it here.)

  Before Christmas a few things happened that led me to this great site. A friend of mine traded a flatop heavy barrel varmint ar for a Hbar with 20 barrel at G.R.B.gun show. Man when I picked that gun up I knew I would have to have one. I like the heavier barrel, longer stock and removable carry handle. It was finer than combed frog hair for sure.  Secondly I purchased a CETME for my brother for Christmas and as I was bringing it unwrapped to his house I realized that I felt awkward carrying this weapon uncased, down the street.  This condition was disturbing considering that 20 years ago we would put our ar's or car's in the back glass gun rack and go plinkin without a second thought. I realized at this point that the liberal gun grabbin bastards had started a slight reprogramming of my fairly normal brain  and that the only true way to fight this is to purchase another "evil" weapon. F,em if they can't take a joke.

 While researching this quest on the Internet I found this site and my question to yall is basically between the bushmaster and colt what are the advantages or disadvantages, money is not a concern {blew the retirement in the stock market anyway so what's a few hundred more for happiness}!?

   The big houston show is coming up soon and wondered whether any of you Texas boys could recommend your favorite dealers? I have had good dealings with a lot of dealers at gun shows and prefer to see what I am getting vs buying over the internet. Bauchman pawn and guns always has colts and I have purchased from him in the past. Any other ideas on bushmaster or colt dealers would be appreciated.


  Thanks for the help and remember "doin right ain't got no end".

let me first respond that i too am new to this sight myself but done a fair amount of research on the subject.  first, all this is personal opinion.  to me the colt has become slightly non standard (large hinge pins, ect...) and more important i find you will pay more mostly for the name.  bushmasters to me are the better value and with the ones ive handled recently look to be better finished.
let me finish by saying that i now think the best deal in town are rock river ar-15's.  price is usually substantially lower on comparable models and a lot of people ive met here in florida are swearing loyalty to the brand (most common responce is best trigger of any ar-15)

Just letting you know, that title wasn't the best if you want traffic on your topic. Might want to change it to something like "Getting back into ARs need some advice." Questions like Colt vs. Bushmaster come up on here all the time and people normally disregard them.

Well I'm also new the AR scene, but I'm in the process of saving up for my first one. It's going to be a Bushmaster for sure. I plan on buying the XM15E2S 20", and I've heard a lot of good things from many satisfied customers. It seems like from Colt you are paying for the name. They've even changed their Lower recievers where they will not accept some aftermarket parts except Colt parts as I understand.

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/announcement.html?b=3&f=118&id=172[/url]

Check this out

If money is no object, definitely go with the Colt. A Bushy is a fine weapon in every respect, but it can't be denied that the Colt is going to hold its value better in the long run and chances are, if you ever sell it, you could get more than you paid for it. Kind of like a Harley Davidson, yes any decent Japanese bike will blow it off the road. But ask your banker what they'd rather loan on, a Harley of course because they know that if they had to repo it they're sure to get their money out of it at resale. Go figure, but that's the way it is.

Now I'm going to go hide from all the Bushmaster owners I just pissed-off...

So what's he's basically saying is if it is for an investment, buy a Colt for the resale value of the name.  If it's for shooting and using, get a Bushmaster.

Although I don't know about that resale value anymore.  On the Equipment Exhange here on  the boards, Bushmasters are asking the smae price or even more than the Colt rifles.  Personally I'd pay more for a Bushmaster before I pay anything for a Colt.  Having to look out for larger trigger pins or adaptors for upper pin holes is just an extra hassle.  The parts aren't that hard to find, but I prefer compatibility to the majority of parts and brands.  With Bushmasters, Rock Rivers, Olympics, and DPMS you get that universal compatibility.  

Bushmaster or Rock River are the best in my opinion.  Just persoanl preference, however it is also the preference of a great number of people on this site.  The Colt cult seems to be shrinking as their service and product has slowly degraded somewhat over the past 5 or 6 years.  If you get a preban, a Colt is O.K. (Bushmaster is still better)  If you want a postban get somethin else.

I'll tell you the same thing I tell the Harley davidson owners - if you want an investment, buy tax-free municipal bonds.

So likewise, if you want a shooter, buy a mil-spec rifle.

I own two of each. I see nothing better at all about the Colts. I don't see any reason to pay a dime more for a Colt.
I don't understand this re-sale value thing either. Never have. Why would you worry about selling something before you ever bought it ? I don't buy guns, houses, cars........ in order to sell them. I buy them for ME to use. I have a modest investment portfolio. None of it involves guns.

I own a Colt AR-15 & Armalite AR-10, love them both. Neither have ever jammed on me nor given the first problem. This may be more due to my oiling the shit out of the BC rather than any quality level of their mfgrs.  >gg<

I have read of several owners in here having BM problems & a few with Armalite problems. I have not, however, read of any Colt problems. Is Colt perfect? Hardly. They do seem to be a bit better than BM though.

Quite frankly the different pin size brouhaha has never given me the first cause for reflection, not one.

People say the Colt will be worth more on resale & it's true, they will. Some say they'll never sell theirs, yadda yadda yadda, but who can really ever say never? There is definitely the mystique of owning a Colt that BM or even Armalite can never hope to match, IMO.

My .o2

I like Armalite, they have a LIFETIME warranty, But between Colt and Bushmaster, get the Bushy!

Once you say "[b]BUSHMASTER[/b]", you've said it all!

Was that from an old Budwiser commercial?


Rambosky

Don't really know anything about rock river, at the next show I will scope em out thanks for the info.

 Resale value is not a concern to me either.  I just want to get good value going in to the deal and not be hamstrung with incompatibility.  More importantly good service if there ever is a problem.

If I have to sell a gun it is usually because my interest have changed or because I was not happy with it in the first place.You just have to take your lumps at that time. I tend to go for the name brand, but the spirited discussion on this site concerning different brands has opened my eyes to the merits of all the ar weapons. I shall dig deeper thank you all for the help.