My Bushmaster is screwed up! Help!

I'm glad I got mine fixed, but it is also pretty frustrating when a 1/10th on an inch metal shaving can jam up your gun so bad that you need to detail strip it down to its itsy bitsy parts to make it work.

I probably will never sell this gun, it just "feels" too good. I will however probably end up buying a FAL of some kind in the next year or so. And have that on hand as my TSHTF rifle.
 
George,

I have been looking at the FAL as the one decent+affordable .308 but all I see locally are Hesse receivers (ack!). Where can I order a complete FAL that is likely to function from the start?
 
George, the M96 is gaining a bad reputation for parts breakage...and spare parts aint easy to find.
The AR is a fine rifle for SHTF. Spare parts are easy to find and inexpensive, mags are readily available, accessories are plentiful and the gun is accurate and reliable. The key to getting a good gun, though, is to not buy a recent-manufacture gun by Bushmaster or Colt. Colt quality has been going downhill for about 5 years, and BM QC went way downhill with their production increase to deal with pre-Y2K, pre-SB23 demand. I am sure BM will come back to the same level of quality they once had, but they and other major manufacturers were turning out guns as fast as possible due to the heavy demand and many lemons slipped through.
My advice to anyone who wants an AR right now is to get a postban Armalite or, even better, shop around and get a preban Colt SP1. Then you can buy whatever upper you want and make the gun into a CAR15, M4, flattop target gun, whatever.
 
I wish someone here in the US would make a domestic version of the Daewoo DR-200 rifle (a civillianized K2 rifle). It has the best of many worlds. A FAL-like gas regulator, AK-style piston, M16-style bolt, and takes AR mags. Mine will shoot 1-2MOA easily with good ammo, possibly better with a better shooter behind the trigger.

The M96 expedition rifle uses a similar operating principle and sounds promising, but the price tag makes me weary.

I still have to wonder what Stoner was thinking when he got the idea to have barrel gases impinge directly on the bolt itself! Having cleaned a few ARs, I am amazed at how well they function given the basic mechanism involved.

Personally, I like my Kalashnikov variants - drag them through mud, water, snow, etc., and they will still fire every dang time.
 
Yeah, I know what you mean Chad. I had the same experience with my M16 in the army...drag it through mud, sand, water and it still went bang every time.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by George Hill:
Do yourselves a HUGE favor and get the FAL.
[/quote]

The FAL isn't the final word in reliability either. :) I have a good friend that bought one from Century, and we screwed around with it for 6 months before it shot decent, and it made two trips back to Century. He still dislikes the gun to this day, even though it's shooting decent now. His replacement? A Bushmaster AR. :)
 
First off Century made some real lemons - but not all of them were bad. Some quite good.
Other than Century - Hesse makes a very poor FAL type gun.
Any other company making FAL type guns are in fact VERY GOOD.

If your M96 has a parts breakage - contact them ASAP and they will make sure your taken care of to your satisfaction. I have met the owner - toured the factory in its new "clasified" location... and have seen most of everything going on there. I like what I saw. I also have heard no such thing regarding a bad reputation for breakage.
I would rather have ONE M96 than 5 M16 types WTSHTF - any day.
Of course - I would much rather have ONE FAL...
These two guns operate differently from the AR = more reliable by design. You need to get some first hand time on each before you should judge. I think the AR is one of the worst designs ever. The fact that spare parts are so readily available to it is no bonus... its a clue the gun needs help.
1911 has many parts too - but they are all custom upgrade type parts... not run of the mil replacement parts like the AR stuff.
 
Well George, I haven't shot an M96 but I have owned FALs and I have plenty of first hand time on ARs. And I totally disagree with you.
 
Nothing wrong with that my friend... nothing at all...

I just think your wrong...
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[This message has been edited by George Hill (edited May 02, 2000).]
 
If that Bushmaster was a horse, we'd have taken it out and shot it by now. (Probably with an HK91 or an FAL ;))

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Guns cause crime like spoons cause Rosie O'Donnell to be fat!

I hunt, therefore I am.
 
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