Got the Bushmaster

S

sks

New member
Well today was the day to take the plunge. Got a brand spanking new Bushy XM15 E2S Shorty 16" with the Trijicon ACOG TA01. :D Also got 2 - 40 round mags, 10 - 30 rounders and 2 - 10 round mags along with 500 rounds of ammo. :D

Am ready to have some fun. Probably won't be able to hit the range until Wednesday but will advise as to the performance.

I am excited.

sks
 
Cool. I hope the 30 rounders you got were USGI. If that ACOG makes your rifle too heavy, don't throw it away, just send it to me. :)
 
Bet those 40-rders aren't G.I. mags. Better ditch that cheap stuff and get the real thing, along with some Thermolds.

You'll love your Bushy. If you can afford an ACOG, then you ought to be able to afford an aftermarket trigger. Not much sense in having glass with a crappy trigger.
 
I have 3 or 4 steel 40 rd mags. they never have given me a problem, but then again I don't use them much. I like the 20 rds. better. a full 40 rd mag make the front of the AR feel to heavy to me
 
Congrats, I got one last year and love it. I soon got a 20" flattop upper to mount a scope on.
Check out Cruffler.com for low cost used reliable GI mags. Enjoy.
 
Congrats!

Nice rig you got going there sks! I want to get an M4 upper and ACOG for my Bushy DCM one o' these days...:D
 
Walter, the 40 rounders are Precision and one of the 30s is Thermold. Got a 20 round Colt also. Some of the mags don't have anything on them but four of them were new while the others were used. However, I did not get the USA mags. Heard too many bad things about those.

What type of trigger are you speaking of Walter? Of course, I cannot say anything about the trigger yet as I have not fired the weapon. There is a slight chance I might remedy that today, even though it is raining.

Regarding mags, looks like I'm going to get me around 20 more. I do like the feel and balance of the 20 rounders and will probably get at least 15 more of those.

I've read that 500 rounds is a good "break-in" for the new AR. Is that about right?

Q-man, as soon as I get too weak to hold up the ACOG it will be on it's way to you. Send me your address ASAP. :)

sks
 
Per Bushmaster, breaking in the chromelined barrel takes about 200 rounds of jacketed ammo.

As to the trigger: I prefer a single-stage trigger and chose the JP Enterprises trigger/hammer combo. I get a pull under 3#, with no creep or overtravel. When I first got my Bushy, the trigger pulled at over 8#, and I just couldn't tolerate that.

If you think that you'd prefer a two-stage trigger, then the Jewel is probably the best, with Compass Lake running a close second.

Brownell's is advertising a new, adjustable AR trigger that looks pretty good. I haven't tried it, but it offers connector engagement adjustment, as well as the conventional adjustments. Might be a good trigger, and the price is right.

I shoot a lot at small targets out to 300 yds. or so. An ACOG just doesn't give me enough power to do what I want to do, so I use hi-powered, target or varmint scopes, exclusively. It's much more likely that I'll need to shoot a flying DemocRAT (crow) than an actual DemocRAT attacker.
 
Walter, thanks for the info on the trigger. I did shoot the Bushy today but only about 250 rounds. The trigger was smooth enough but HEAVY. :) I will look into the JP as the two stage doesn't appeal to me.

Overall performance with the mags was good, even on some very rapid firing.

I had a jam with one of the 30 round mags (Cooper Industries). The fired shell did not extract and is still in the chamber. The bolt is shut and will not budge to remove it. Any suggestions on how to remove this?

Thanks,

sks
 
Seems that I've had a bad reload behave like the stuck round that you describe. I'm pretty sure that I placed the rifle butt down, released the charging handle, and bumped the handle with a block of wood or rubber hammer. If you ever have a case that actually separates, with half the case stuck in the chamber, there are stuck case removers that you chamber, as you would a live round. You then pull back hard on the charging handle, and, voila, the stuck case is removed. Although I've never had such a separation, I keep a stuck case remover in the storage compartment of my buttstock.
 
I put the rifle butt on the ground and then put all my weight (140) :) on the charging handle and it came out. However, it didn't get the spent cartridge out. Had to use a dowel and knock it out.

Apparently the extractor broke the rim of the case off. I have never seen this happen before.

Tomorrow I will put the ACOG on and have some more fun, fun, fun.

Today I did not really sight the rifle in too much. It hit pretty good at 25 & 50 yards. Just wanted to run bunches of rounds through it and work out the kinks. I will say that my shoulder is somewhat sore. :)

One thing I noticed when shooting is that it sounds like a a spring is making noise with each shot. This is when I have my cheek right up on the stock for the shot. Is this normal? It doesn't seem to affect any of the rifle's functions.
 
I don't own an AR, but...

The spring noise is normal to all AR's. I wanted to know for myself but live in the PRK. Bastards.
 
The spring noise is normal (and very cool :) ). Only the shooter can hear it.

What type of ammunition were you using? If you were using the Russian steel cased ammunition, there is a lacquer they put on the case to prevent corrosion. During rapid fire in an AR15, the lacquer may get too hot, melt, and behave like glue. The AK47s and SKSs don't seem to have this problem. It is probably due to the surface area and shape differences between the 5.56x45mm and 7.62x39mm.

I have 2 40 round steel magazines and they seem to function well, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. I have never had a problem with them or my 30 round USGI, 20 round USGI, or Thermolds. The 20 round USGI are expensive, but it’s worth getting a few of them for shooting from a bench of in prone position or from a short bipod.
 
Qman, that might have been the problem as I was doing some rapid firing. The barrel got so hot that when I laid it doen on the bench, part of it rouched the Bushmaster rifle case and melted right through it. I got 500 rounds of Wolf as it was the only thing readily available. Well at least within reason. :) Am going to get some S&B and keep my eyes open for deals here and there.

Was that lacquer what smelled like ammonia? It was a strong smell that came with rapid fire.

Thanks for the heads up on that. I'm living and learning.

sks
 
I wouldn't, under any circumstances, put that crappy Wolf ammo through my Bushy. Also wouldn't use any other steelcased ammo. Get some quality brass-cased ammo and/or reload your own.
 
sks: go to AR15.com and ask about ammo in the ammo forum. You can get some real good deals if you keep your ear to the railroad tracks.

try http://www.southernammo.com/ for good prices. I have not yet ordered from these people, but others have had decent results with the product. See http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=641

Steal cased ammo may put excess ware on your rifle.

I have never personally experienced the glue effect with steal-cased ammo or even used steal-cased ammo for that matter. Before I bought my AR15, I did a lot of research at AR15.com and found out all of the "gotchas".
 
You guys are right, there will be no more of that ammo run through the Bushy. Some people have said that the Wolf didn't cause them any problems but I do not want to take any chances. Although I did put the whole 500 through it. Didn't want to waste what I had. :)

Am going to get some more good ammo. Those first 500 were just to break it in. No more problems with mags or ammo and I did some switching of mags, quick changes, rapid fire, slow fire etc.

Thus far I'm very pleased with the Bushy.

Yes, I am having fun! :D :D :D
 
I have had great smiles dealing with Eric the Ammoman
http://www.ammoman.com for great prices and very quick shipping.
He is a very popular supplier to the ar15.com crowd, and
I have never read anything other than praise.
Enjoy that Bushy, they are great fun.
DanM
 
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