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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Colt or Bushmaster?? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 3/24/2005 9:02:20 PM EDT
| I am new here and have a quick question. I work for a local law enforcement agancy and can purchase either a Colt or Bushmaster on department letter head. Is there any reason the Colt would be a better choice?? Thanks in advance for any input. |
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Colt has an extensive and reputable law enforcement sales program. If an armory person on your force is familiar with that reputation, discuss this with them, and formulate your conclusion. Good luck! Also, I invite you to read this about AR's in general on another board. www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=56;t=000497;p=1 |
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BUSHMASTER!!!! BUSHMASTER!!!! Well, someone had to say it. Think about all the money you'd save for your dept. that could be invested into other stuff. If there's no real plausable difference, why not Bushmaster? This weapon is meant to save your life and the lives of others and I think we all can agree that the Colt has no advatage over the Bushmaster as far as this is concerned. Fashion or re-sale value has no place in making this decision. Neither does the logo stamped into the lower reciever. I say Bushmaster. |
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I have both,both are great in function and quality. That being said,I would suggest the Bushmaster.I'm not a fan of the non-mil spec fire control group pins that Colt uses.Your options for replacement parts are limited with Colt. Edited to add:Everyone should have,at least,one Colt AR.If you already have an AR,then I'd say get the Colt. |
OK. I can understand that petty notion, but I don't agree.
COLT's not had a TENTH of the QC issues that Bushmaster has had. So with this silly statement you totally remove any credibility from yourself. But back to the original Question.... BOTH SHOULD BE BANNED! |
Moot point in a LE useage setting. Use anything OTHER than FACTORY original parts, and/or have them installed other than by a FACTORY trained armorer, you're feeding the Civil Liability Kitty. Keep them in spec, with factory original parts, and you DON'T eliminate litigation, you just reduce it's chances of success. And in a Civil Suit, you need all the help you can get.  Lonny |
Blah blah blah  Buy either one and you have a good, albeit overpriced, AR-15 that you can easily swap uppers with. If you want a budget AR, go Olympic and you won't have any problems. Screw anyone that says different. They're just Bushmaster or Colt snobs. Buying Colt or Bushmaster and you will have several hundred dollars spent just on the name, however, they're both good firearms. Just pick your best deal and jump. |
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He's LE, guys, he can get the Colt at a lower price than we can. When you can get a new LE6920 for under $900, why the hell would you buy anything else? The Colt LE carbines ARE the standard for Law Enforcement whether we like it or not. I'm not knocking the other brands, but if I had to go on patrol, whther in in Iraq or in the hood, I'd want that Colt M4 Carbine first, if I could get it. |
Just make sure you don't drop your Beta C, or let it get dirty. While all of us are constantly faced with the need for a Beta C, it is about as practical and as good an investment as the gold out package on a BMW.
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Hesse - anybody who tells you differently is full of shit! I have one with 1,000,000 rounds through it without any failures of any type and it still looks brand new! Mine has been perfect and you know, if mine was perfect than they all must be!   BTW - what was the gun used in Heat? 
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| Colt. The claims purporting there to be no difference in quality or performance are just ignorant or borne out of bias. Colt does indeed to take extra quality assurance steps and their record of, or should I say lack thereof, reported problems continues to bear out the value of the added assurance those extra measures afford. The difference in LEO pricing is probably minimal, which should even further make this decision a no brainer. |
trouble maker 
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I know of at least three sources for Colt large pin fire control parts. In fact, Bushmaster sells a large pin fire control group. |
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This will be for my own personal use. We are getting rid of the shotguns inside the patrol cars and replacing them with Colt M4's mounted inside the car. Our M4's are outfitted like the DEA RRA's. I will snap a pic of one and post it on here if anyone is interested. My deptartment contact to Colt hasnt told me the price yet. So we will see what happens there first. |
Do you realize this entire statement sounds moronic? 
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You should check with Specialized Armament at SAWLESALES.COM, they offer good prices for LE, as well as the courses you might need. They deal only in LE and Military Colt products. Tina can hook you up. |
yea well it was a joke vadinger and should have been evident by the Thought I would add some levity to the question asked over a million times here.Bad day? |
I've had better luck with Bushmaster and RRA than the LMT. I can't tell a performance difference in my Colts and Bushmasters. While all my shooters have high round counts, neither my Colts nor Bushmasters have ever broken a single part (other than replacing a worn extractor) and both are reliable as a weapon system gets when kept moderately cleaned and maintained. However, I do not drag either through the rocks and dust of a battle zone, and neither are subjected to FA, which accelerates wear.
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and a pony is sooooooo much cooler?
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I've got a good mind to edit about 3/4's of the posts in this thread. This BULLSHIT is going to stop. This is an LEO asking a SERIOUS question and needs a SERIOUS answer without all this brand bitching BS. jeepncop, welcome aboard. My first advise to you is to completely ignore many of the replies to your question. People around here often have a serious case of dumbass when it comes to serious life and death weapon use questions. Some have drank so much Colt Coolaide that they will crawl in bed with a mare and not think twice. Others, are so mad at Colt for their corporate policies that they revel at every opportunity to sling some crap about them. Take what you read with a grain of salt. Both Colt and Bushmaster make equally fine weapons. You will find many people who will give you a plethora of reasons why one is better than the other, but can offer virtually no proof of why the one they dont like is no good. Bushmaster has some of the best customer service in the industry, at least in my experience. I have no experience with Colts customer service, thus cannot comment. I prefer Bushmaster myself, but I have had Colts and plenty of experience with them. In your situation, find out which one you can get set up like you want, and for the best price. Either one will serve you well. Folks, this crap had best stay factual and on topic. If it doesnt, I will edit every single post if need be, but I'm tired of locking threads due to stupidity, thus killing any good discussion that may be going on. These are the Technical forums of the board. You want to argue about brands based on reasons other than technical, go to General Discussion with it. |
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Ok OK hawkeye , but the question is purely subjective and solicits one's opinion. and it has been asked 1,000 times in a 1,000 ways....- "which is better?" Ford- Chevy? Browns- Steelers? Made in US- Import? Home cookin- frozen dinner? AR - AK Colt - Bushmaster But I didnt notice it was his #1 post. I wish I could retract my sophmoric post, but then again it was only offered as a bit of laughter for a topic that usually ends up with crass insults, chest-puffing, and off-topic politics. jeepincop............... welcome to AR15.com! glad to have you here, and I hope you realize that a lot of people here will often offer more than you ask for on occasion. and Bushmaster makes as good a weapon as Colt....... and Colt as good as Bushmaster. It it weren't for logos and stampings or markings, you probably could not tell them apart. "I think" ........................ Colt has a Lifetime Warranty and Bushmaster- a Limited One-Year Warranty I own both. |
Opinion is fine. Just make it clear that it is ones opinion. If someone says... "I like brand Y because of.....blah blah blah." Fine. When someone says...."Brand X sucks because my cousins neighbors son read on the internet where someone posted that their fathers uncle saw such and such a part from brand X break, so brand X is crap and you should only buy brand Y."........etc. etc. etc. See the difference here? I dont like Colts corporate policies and marketing. But you'll never see me saying that their rifles are no good. If thats what someone wants, then great. I have no doubt they will have a fine weapon and could care less. Too many people, on MANY sides, cant seem to grasp this. |
| Boomer: Back to the original question, Colt or Bushmaster? In the civilian world, Colt commands a premium over the Bushmaster. There are also some ardent Colt AR15 collectors around. At some point, your agency may want to sell the ARs and buy something else because these to you, they are just tools, and not rare paintings etc. To me the Colts seem to hold their value much better than their competitors because at some point in time when you sell them, they will become collectors, and you can probably get at least your original purchase price back if not more. |
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I own two bushmasters niether of them has ever had a problem. They are accurate and dependable. I have never owned a colt, but have read that they only chrome line their barrels, where Bushmaster chrome lines both their barrels and their recievers. As others have posted it is well known that Bushmaster has a pro-civilian policy regarding the sale of their products. Colt restricts their "evil" features such as flash suppresors and bayonette lugs to L.E. / military only, even as there is no law requireing them to do so. I find this absolutely dispicable as a firearm manufacturer, and personally hope that they go bankrupt very soon. That being said, I have no knowledge of their products ever failing or not being reliable. |
  Say what? Colt LEO models and most Bushmasters come with chrome lining in both the chamber and the bore. I've never heard of a chrome lined AR-15 receiver and am not sure if chrome can even be applied to aluminum. |
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Another thing to consider is what kind of AR you want. For a full size 20" model, I'd probably for an out of the box Bushmaster over an out of the box Colt, although in reality I would chose option 3, build my own with Colt components. But for a carbine at LE pricing, especially an M4 type, Colt wins hands down. No question. Colt MP tests each bolt. Bushmaster only tests a few samples from each large lot. Colt shotpeens their bolts. Not sure about Bushmaster. Colt M4 types have properly extended feed ramps. I don't believe Bushmasters do. Colt finishes the barrel before installing the front sight base. Bushmaster finishes their barrels after the front sight base is installed, leaving bare metal underneath that water can eventually penetrate to and corrode. Colt uses a milspec size receiver extension on their carbines with collapsible stocks that can also work properly with high quality aftermarket stocks such as the Magpull, VLTOR, etc. Bushmaster uses an undersized receiver extension compatible only with other inexpensive knockoffs. Colt has a stellar reputation here for performance and reliability. Bushmaster has had numerous issues over the years with improperly indexed barrels, unstaked gas keys coming lose, poor finishes, functional problems, inability to accept all common magazines, etc. These problems have also been exacerbated when Bushmaster quickly ramps up production and pushes stuff out the door to meet demand at peak times. Colt has a sear block currently in the form of a web of aluminum left spanning the lower receiver and they use larger pins for the trigger, hammer, and disconnector. Other than some of Colt's politics, these seem to be the biggest contention with Colt ARs. But in all reality, they will be a non-issue for 99.999% of all shooters. The sear block will never be noticed by anyone buy those seeking to convert their ARs select fire, and even then it could simply be milled out. The larger firing pins are actually stronger and provide larger, more durable bearing surfaces and replacement parts are easily found in the extremely rare even they should actually be needed. |
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I'm in LE in Texas. I own a Bushmaster and love it. Even with the letter head your still going to pay between 1000 and 1100 for a Colt M4 (w/ 16" stepcut barrel). I paid 825 plus tax (893 out the door) for my Bushmaster A3 (16" barrel, no stepcut). I think that's a 100 dollars that could go towards upgrades, stock...light source...etc... Also, my friends in the MIL will tell you that guys have problems with the Colts as well, you just don't hear about them as much because they're not sold direct to civilians like Bushmaster and others are. Also, every gun manufacture is occasionaly going to put out 1 gun in 1000 (or more) that malfunctions. It's just a fact of life. So with Bushmaster selling much more to the civiliain market than Colt, your obviously going to hear about more Bushmaster problems. Just for the record, I'm not a long-time AR owner, nor am I anywhere near an expert when it comes to the guns. I am a long-time gun owner and operator though (various makes/models) and find this information to be true with every gun maker. Jut my two cents. Also, the people who complain about Bushmaster probably have not purchased one recently. It's like women, you have white, black, hispanic, asian, etc... but's it's always pink on the inside. |
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I have owned Colt. I also have owned BM. Both are high quality, however...Colt Mil/LE products are a different game. I have no experience with the LEO Colts, but I have handled/fired many Colt M16A2s (and some FN's as well). There is definately a difference (IMHO) in Mil weapons and Civvie weapons. The quality on the Mil weapons seems much higher. Maybe BM makes their Mil/LE ARs differently than their Civvie ones, but the quality difference between the Mil Colts and Civvie BMs I've shot is readily apparent. Many of the differences have already been listed (such as how Colt tests bolts), so there's no reason to list them, but to me, it makes a difference, especially when your life may depend on it. Like a lot of people, I disapprove of some of Colt's policies, but they DO put out one of the highest quality products you can find. As much as I hate to say it, there isn't anything that feels like a Colt. I'm not going to pay the premium price for a Civvie Colt, but I would have no doubts carrying one if issued to me. Just my 2 cents. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Colt or Bushmaster?? (Page 1 of 2)
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