Bought my first AR-15

[igotta40]

I stopped by Academy in Houston to drool over the various AR-15 models out, specifically the Bushmaster. I had looked at them Sunday and it was torturing me. They have the A2 going for $949, reduced to $899. The counter sales guy (young Army Vet) showed me one he said they just got, the Carbon-15. I got it. It's a flat top with Picattinny rail with a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight, soft case, one magazine and sling, for $699. I'll try to put up a picture ASAP.

I honestly don't know, someone tell me, did I get a good deal?

[The Annoyed Man]

If all that is being examined is how much less you paid than full retail ($1190.00 per the Bushmaster website), and your price included a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight (currently on sale at Cabela's for $99.99), then yes, you got a pretty good deal.

The only hesitation I might have, at least initially, is the synthetic receiver as opposed to the traditional metal receivers. They may be perfectly fine for most applications, but weight and price can't be the only consideration for some applications, or we would be seeing the military rifle receivers made that way. So my guess is that if your are talking about a serious "something arises" rifle, I'd probably still want the metal receiver.

But that said, I don't really know much about them, and they may be just as rugged, and they just haven't caught on yet. OTH, how many of us are ever actually going to need that kind of ruggedness in real life?

[jeeperbryan]

I'm not familiar with the model you purchased but seems like a decent enough deal. Is it a Bushmaster? Do you know if the barrel is chrome lined or if the upper/barrell has M4 feed ramps? If not, no big deal but those are usually options that cost a bit more.

Oh, just saw that the receiver is carbon fiber. That is definitely not the norm. I'm sure it's just as durable as typical aluminum receivers but they're slow to be adopted. The only worry I would have is if I had to replace it or switch out parts. A standard AR is pretty easy, not sure about carbon fiber/polymer.

[igotta40]

Per the Bushmaster website the barrel & chamber are chrome lined, 16" barrel with 1 in 9 twist. Per the operator manual all AR parts are compatible. Per the website the polymer upper & lower are 40% stronger than the aluminum and will never corrode or lose the finish (sort of a muddy gray color).

Thanks for the input, keep the comments coming!

[The Annoyed Man]

Per the Bushmaster website the barrel & chamber are chrome lined, 16" barrel with 1 in 9 twist. Per the operator manual all AR parts are compatible. Per the website the polymer upper & lower are 40% stronger than the aluminum and will never corrode or lose the finish (sort of a muddy gray color).

Thanks for the input, keep the comments coming!

Well there you go then. Sounds like you are good to go.

[jeeperbryan]

If you really want some feedback, post up on ar15.com or m4carbine. Not too many people with the carbon receivers so you'll be hard pressed to find anyone with experience here. Just be warned, they can be ruthless on those other forums. Especially, with non-standard AR stuff.

I don't know much about the carbon receiver ARs except that they're starting to hit .22lr market now. Out of curiousity I did a google search and found a couple of threads on your model.

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=10989
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=12344

I wouldn't worry too much about what they say. Bushmaster seems to have a pretty good warranty and I'm sure it's mostly AR purists that have the problems with carbon. There was a time when Magpul was frowned upon by everyone. There was no way a polymer magazine could be better than the standard aluminum/steel mags. Now Magpul is the bees knees.

[jeeperbryan]

Per the operator manual all AR parts are compatible.

You might check with Bushmaster on this. What do they mean by "parts"? Just furniture (stocks, handguards, etc)? What happens if your BCG breaks? What if you lose a spring or detent and need to replace? Does it accept all parts from a standard lower parts kit? What if you want to switch to a new trigger?

Just a few questions I would research or pose to Bushmaster.

[The Annoyed Man]

Per the operator manual all AR parts are compatible.

You might check with Bushmaster on this. What do they mean by "parts"? Just furniture (stocks, handguards, etc)? What happens if your BCG breaks? What if you lose a spring or detent and need to replace? Does it accept all parts from a standard lower parts kit? What if you want to switch to a new trigger?

Just a few questions I would research or pose to Bushmaster.

If it is just the upper and lower receivers which are carbon, but the parts kit and the BCG is all standard AR parts, then I wouldn't imagine that this is even an issue. In fact, I can't imagine why they wouldn't use anything but standard AR internals. The parts are so small, and they weigh so little that there would be no real advantage from a weight perspective, and the cost of tooling to mass produce synthetic parts would outweigh any economic benefits.

One thing I noticed on closer inspection of the picture on the Bushmaster sight is that the upper is configured a bit like the DPMS "Low Pro" receiver, without a dust cover over the ejection port. What this means is that you'll have to pay a little bit more attention to keeping schmutz out of the upper receiver assembly during storage or during use in really dusty, dirty environments; and it makes it probably less than ideal as a truck gun that you would just throw behind the seat backs or something like that.

[igotta40]

" without a dust cover over the ejection port"

Here's the odd thing about it....mine has a dust cover and forward assist, just like any other AR-15. The Academy salesman said they just got it, so maybe it's a new model. Hard to imagine that even Bushmaster's own website isn't up to date. I'm scratching my head on that one.

[RECIT]

How about you shoot it and let us know how it did. Speculation is the devil... I was looking at one of the carbon15 pistols last year and found out you cannot put a forward grip on it without making it any other weapon is BATFE eyes. So I passed. Nothing wrong with the weapon though.

[pcernuch]

it sounds to me like i am jealous and will be stopping by academy on the way home to check one out!!!!

god bless.

[LedJedi]

gratz on your first AR buddy, i just got my first one a few months back when we got our tax refund. I'm still working on my build out :) That's almost as much fun as buying the gun itself :)

[Justin Franklin]

I bought my first AR a few years ago, but it was an AR-10 .308. I wish I had bought an AR-15 though….bullets are much cheaper and a whole lot less recoil. I bought DPMS…impressed with the function and reliability, but I have to use quality, name brand ammo because it's so tight. I did shoot some Russian ammo through it once and the casing locked up in the chamber. I had to send the upper back to DPMS to get the casing out. They didn't say a word about shooting that ammo through even though it says clearly in the manual not to. DPMS got the casing out and sent it right back.

[jeeperbryan]

I'll swap you, if you like - I prefer .308 :)

Second in line.