jethead,
I haven't heard of the place down in warrenton. I'll have to check it out. I live in Fairfax (literally a 2 min drive to the NRA's range... hard to beat the location). I wouldn't mind the drive every now and then though.
I've had the bushy since earlier this year. I really can't say anything bad about it other than the failure to eject. Like it was mentioned here, I probably still need to throw some more down range to get any kinks worked out. I got the 16" HBAR with a regular A2 stock and sights. I really like the set up, except I think I probably should have bought the A3 so I could use a scope on it should I want to later on.
The colt is a preban Sporter Match Target HBAR that I bought from the EE on this site. The original configuration of the rifle was a 20" barrel, fixed stock (A2 sights, etc). The guy was selling it with a 16"HBAR barreled upper and a collapsable stock on it. It came with the original upper and stock as well, so it was a helluva deal that I just couldn't pass up on.
With regarding the carbines, if I could do it again, I would not get an HBAR carbine, and I would make sure I could remove the carry handle. The HBAR, to me, is a little front heavy, especially with an Aimpoint on a gooseneck type mount.
I think my plan for the two rifles will be to leave the Bushmaster as is, with perhaps a Kurt brake on it (not sure yet!) and sell the HBAR upper that's on the Colt and get a thin barreled upper with a removable carry handle to make it easier to manuever and easier to mount optics farther to the rear. Somethin like that anyway....
That being said... they both go bang when you fire them. I'd say either one do the job just fine. Bushmaster seems to has a helluva good repuation around here. Colt does as well. Bushmaster seems to be *somewhat* cheaper in price than Colt. The reason I bought a Colt was the guy selling the rifle had a pretty good deal going on it and I was able to work out somethin a little better ;)... [url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=7&f=21&t=138479[/url]
Hope this helps...
Dr.Jarhead... I'll take a look at the bolt catch and see if that's the issue, thanx!
IRG to waldo, I don't know if this could be a factor causing it to short stroke, but the Colt's spring seems much tighter than the Bushmasters when I cycle the charging handle. It's not binding or anything, just stiffer. Maybe it just needs to be worked a little, like you said.