

Posted: 5/16/2002 9:55:50 PM EST
I'm thinking about purchasing a Colt AR-15 Match Comp. HBAR or a Bushmaster DCM Competition.... Which is the better choice?
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flip a coin.....you'll get LOT's of opinions here.
I own a Colt myself;but would not turn down a FREE bushmaster. |
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Whichever you prefer is the best choice, no matter what you will enjoy them.
GG |
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Whichever one you can get for the best price. You can't go wrong with either.
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If you are buying an investment piece, go with Colt. Since a lot of people are under the mistaken belief that Colt makes the best AR-15, they hold their resale value more. While it is a fact that Colt did at one time make the best AR-15, the gun they are turning out these days is a far cry from the Colt of old. I own Colts, Bushmasters, and Oly's.
The Bushmaster is definetly the most accurate highest quality gun out of these two. It's also $100-$200 cheaper than a Colt. The U.S. Army Civilian Marksmanship Program subsidizes the Bushmasters for use by club members, so that you give you some idea. Colt does still make a damn good rifle, just not nearly as good as they used to. Save the $200 and get a Bushmaster. It's more accurate anyways. |
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Neither, If you want the best go with olympic arms.
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I have a pre ban and a post ban Colt. No problems with them "EVER" Do a search and find out yourself. Colt does not have a problem with their bolts breaking. Bushy's do... ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=116603 But in reality, Bushmasters are ok. This is not a real problem. I just wanted to jive Bushy owners. I plan on buying a M4 Bushy myself. |
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I carry my COLT in a BUSHMASTER hard case does that help?????
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I owned a post ban Bushmaster, fired around 8,000 rounds through it, and never had one problem.
I had absolutely no trouble selling my Bushy when the time came for it to go. One two day clasified add led to over twenty calls. Sold it for what I paid for it. Bushy makes a quality gun, I would not hesitate to buy another one. I would only consider a Colt if it has the standard push-pin lower. Take a look at what Armalite has to offer. They make a terrific AR-15 as well. I currently have an Armalite NM DCM gun, I absolutely love it. Fit and finish is a bit better than Bushmaster IMHO. |
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My COLT has over 3000 rounds without a hiccup.
My BUSHY has numerous functioning issues that started after a couple hundred rounds.I think that BM just shoves rifles out the door and sees what comes back.(I know other people with BM problems too.) |
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That's an easy choice, I have not had any problems with my Colts or my Bushmasters so the choice is quite clear!!
![]() ![]() ![]() ColtShorty GOA KABA COA JPFO SAF NRA "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I require the same from them." |
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Yup, an ArmaLite that died decades ago. The ArmaLite of today is just another off brand that has absolutely no connection to the original and is nothing more than a sales scheme to sell you a rebadged Eagle Arms. |
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READ THIS
The only difference you will EVER notice is that the Colt has the weird screw-front-take-down pin, whereas the Bushmaster has the mil-spec push pin front take-down pin. If you notice anything different in the accuracy dept., congratulations, you are super human. |
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BTW, I should mention that I own both. Also, I should mention that when I got my brand-spanking-new bushy upper for my pre-ban bushy lower, the gas key came loose from the bolt carrier. However, I choose not to complain about this because there was absolutely no way in hell I would wait for shipping to have this fixed. If this happens to you, throw locktite(sp?) on the threads of the gas key bolts and tighten the damn things down to 35 in-lbs. Unless you are ridiculously incompetent, this should be no problem. Mind you, this is the only Bushmaster product I have purchased from Bushmaster. I called them, told them I didn't want to bother sending it back (because I know I can fix it my damn self), they told me 35 in-lbs of torque and re-stake the bolts. I used locktite instead if staking the bolts (staking didn't work in the first damn place) 500rds later and no problems.
Also, I have only had one Colt. So, there maybe problems there, I just haven't had the experience yet to know about it. |
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They are only doing so because Misery Loves Company! |
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I have 2 preban Colts and 3 Bushmaster lower recvrs. I WILL NEVER have another Bushmaster product except stripped lower recvrs. They are in spec at least, that is more than I can say about their fire control group parts. Safety-bad out of spec out of box, Hammer-out of spec after 200rds terrible non-spec springs, the list goes on and on and on......
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BUSHMASTER!! if you buy colt, your buying the name more than quallity.
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Don't listen to this guy. Well the majority in this thread have told you to buy a Colt. So buy a Colt. It was between Colt and Bushmaster, the rest suck. You didn't read any problems here about Colts did you? So you have your answer. Enjoy your problem free Colt... |
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when it comes being a genuine AR-15 aficionado, it maters lyttle which is best.., ya just gotta have one of every make, model & configuration..., as to which "shoots" best.., it ALL depends on the shooters skill, wyth all my AR-15s sighted dead on at 100yd. i can hit the 100yd. 10" gong about 12-15 tymes out of 20 rnd. mag. off hand iron sights..., if you want better then i suggest concentrating on precission shooting, bench rest !!
an off hand iron sight shooter will never know the accuracy diff. between a factory assembled Colt, Bushy, Armalite or whatever & an AR-15 built by yourself...........!! ![]() |
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In my opinion Colt used to be heads above the rest up until about 15 or 20 years ago. Colt used to build fine guns back in the 70's and early 80's, probably the best, but since then they are just like any other fine gun, there quality isn't the same but it is still good. I think they are way over priced and for the differance in the price buy a Bushy and use the extra money you were gonna spend on the Colt for ammo or acces.
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I vote for Colt.
The colts are ugly, but they always work! The colts are not the smoothest, but they are consistent!! The Colts use non-standard parts, but they dont need to be replaced ( since they don't break!) Colt's Customer service is crappy, but you rarely need it anyways! |
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Here's the results of my recent experience...
I had a Colt H-BAR and put about 1500 rds through it and at 100 yds could always shoot around 4-5" groups with open sights. I sold that and purchased the Bushmaster M4 because I'm in love with that style. It hurt to get rid of the Colt but the first thing I noticed with the bushy is how much "tighter" the whole gun is. I couldn't believe the difference in fit between upper and lower and other areas. To me it just feels alot more solid. As far as accuracy, so far I've only put about 200 rounds through the bushy and I'm struggling to get 8-10" groups at 100yds. I think alot of this has to do with ME and me getting to know my new rifle. I was told that whatever groupings you get with a Colt expect to get half of that with a Bushmaster. I am still waiting for that to happen!! :-) |
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I have a new Bushy and could not be happier. It functioned perfectly out of the box. It is right and tight. I was hitting an old ammo can off hand rapid fire at about 150 consistently using the cheapest russian ammo I could find, without malfunction. What more can I say. This thing works and works almost as well as my AK. I say almost only because now it is recommeded that it should actually be cleaned after shooting.
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I own a Colt Match Target Competition HBar. Awesome. I absolutely love it.
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Get both, fire 100 rounds through each, then sell me the one you like less, really cheap because it has all those rounds fired through it ;)
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MY Bushy has already had over $300 worth of parts replaced without even 1000 rounds through it....My COLT has over 3000 without any problems.I used to think that I mabe paid too much for the Colt name but I think the little bit extra is worth it for a functioning firearm.For the amount of money these guns cost they really should have a certain level of reliability.I might try to shoot my BM again but I really don't think I can ever really trust her (Barb)because of all the problems I've had in such a little space of time.
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Go with the Colt. I've owned 7 Bushmasters since '95 and 5 Colts. The Bushmasters all had problems. Not all were major, but just a lack of
quality overall. One I owned would fail to eject about 2 times out of a hundred rounds. I tried different ammo, no luck. Different mags, no luck. I thought I could fix it or maybe it needed some more breaking in. Well, let me tell you it's rather difficult to diagnose a problem like this since the weapon functions 98% of the time. And the jams were completely random. Sometimes I would take it out after a good cleaning and it would jam the first few shots. Sometimes it would jam at the end of my shooting session. And sometimes at the begining and end. Needless to say,I lost confidence in it real quick. I feel I am fairly knowledgable about AR's but got the advice of a gunsmith on this. He could find nothing wrong with the rifle but did suggest that one of the major component parts(carrier,bolt, or even the upper) might be slightly out of spec. Well, instead of spending any more money on it, I sold it. My colt SP-1 has been 100% reliable so far, it even shoots that British low powered ammo made for their bullpup. I'm not trying to make you Bushy owners mad, but just relating my personal experience with the brand. In fact, a buddy of mine has a pre-ban Bushy that rocks! It even shoots Wolf flawlessly! It just seems like their quality has gone down alot over the years. I have a theory on the reliability of Colts, let me know if my reasoning is off here. I believe that when Colt got the specs for the AR design from Eugene Stoner and Armalite that they had the correct specs(and still do). When the patents ran out on the design, many of these other companies started makng the AR but had in effect "reverse engineered" it. I have many other true stories of quality nightmares, let me know. Oh yea, the post about their lowers being good is true... |
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I have had 5 preban Bushmasters and 8 preban Colts and I like the bushy better. I have had no problems with either but the bushy is milspec. I have one Bushy with about 12,000 rounds through it with various brands of ammo without a catch! I think you are going to have a problem with any brand product from time to time. Nothing is perfect! You can find anybody to bad mouth a product if you ask enough people.
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I prefer Colt, but I like Bushmaster as well. I would like to own an ArmaLite sometime soon.
Eric/Tyler |
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I made my decision and I went with the Colt Match Comp. HBAR due to its reliability, accuracy, and other owner’s comments. The only complaint I've heard about Colt AR's were the match up between the upper and lower receiver. But I found that the accu-wedge takes care of this problem. Other than that... I've had no problems.
As for WOLF .223 ammo... I'll never fire that stuff again. After every other shot I'd have to pull the charging handle to eject the round or use the Forward Asst. to help a round into the chamber. I have not had this problem with any other ammo. Thanks for all the help in my new investment. |
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