Building a pre-ban Bushmaster

J

Jeff Thomas

New member
I'd like to try my hand at putting together a pre-ban AR. I realize I have to have a pre-ban receiver that was already built into a rifle before the ban went into effect. (I'd much prefer pre-ban because it will be more interesting, and I just don't want to deal with all the horse puckey ...)

I've heard over and over that Bushmaster is the best, Colt's quality has suffered (in addition to their innumerable political gaffes), and so I'm leaning towards mainly Bushmaster components.

But ... where to find a receiver? Can someone can put me on the right track? And, if I don't use a Bushmaster pre-ban receiver, can you make any alternative suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Well, les'see...

IIRC, if you get the right pins/oddball pins or whatever, you can fit a Colt lower with a Bushmaster upper. Please correct me if I'm wrong. After all, Colt has--what?--four different variations of pin setups?

So, just buy a cheap (okay, we CAN dream) Colt AR-15 (no forward assist) or AR-15A1 (with forward assist).
These all had evil flashhiders and bayonett lugs, so your assembly requirement is met.

All the *interesting* parts are in the upper anyway. The lower is the "rifle."

But then we have those civilian Colt and Bushmaster bolt carrier variables, don't we?

Tread lightly re: FA parts, and enjoy the project!
 
One of the best sources of parts and info is the AR15 web site ... www.ar15.com

They have all kinds of good info and a classified section for buying your pre-ban lower.

Mikey
 
Jeff,

I would have to agree with your choice of the Bushmaster. I have a couple of Colts and a Bushmaster. In my opinion, the BM is the better gun. All of the Colt ARs I have seen ( A BUNCH ) have oddball pin sizing. The late pre ban Colts have standard front hinge pin size and the two pice screw affair can be replace with a mil spec pin on some of them, but not all. Some are not drilled for the pin retainer and spring, but all the late ones have oversized trigger pins and that stupid "safety block" that does not allow the use of the closed bottom bolt carrier. The early Colts have oversized hinge pins and you are pretty much stuck with the two pice screw arangement. These do not have the safety block, but require the use of offset pins if you get an upper with mil spec pin bores. Many of the early Colts do not have the raised casting around the mag release button. All in all, they are a pain in butt to work with, I think.

The Bushmaster is about as close to mil spec as you can buy and in my experiance, you won't go wrong with BM parts. If you really want a pre-ban, be ready to lay out some bucks. The recommendation to poke around at ar15.com is good advise. Also, there are a number of firearm classified sites on the web and you can get a good idea of price by checking a few.

Just for what it is worth, I am sure you know that muzzle brakes can be fitted to post ban ARs. There are some muzzle brakes out there that look a lot like the flash hider. With the exception of the missing bayonet lug, you can have a gun that looks pretty close to the non-neutered pre ban version at a pretty hefty savings.

I have worked with lowers from Armalite and ASA also. The Armalite receivers have a very black finish as opposed to the military grey. I really can't say anything bad about either one of these brands. Everything fit and worked. The better known names like Bushmaster, Armalite or Colt get the nod from a resale standpoint. All in all, I would stay with Bushmaster.
 
Jeff Thomas,

There is a store in Houston that has one...selling for $850.00 (complete lower). I was about to buy it, but I decided it is totally not worth it. The price of building that pre-ban will exceed the amount I spent on building 2 post ban AR's.

Put your $$$ into a post ban(s)...

__________________________________________
Ban the bans.
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