[busboy]

Howdy all. Lurked on this board for a few weeks, figured I'd register contribute a bit.

Bottom line, I'm thinking very hard about buying a Bushmaster ACR enhanced, brown. I'm pretty much sold on it but I wanted to talk to you gents who have the experience with the system.

My interest in the rifle is is probably mainly for collection. I'm in the U.S. Army, armor branch, two Iraq tours. I'm no stranger to the M16/M4 system, its pros and cons. When I got back from my most recent tour I bought a Bushmaster Gas Piston Rifle (an M4 with a POF piston). After kitting it out and having some fun with it, my gun buying itch is getting me again. I'm very keen to get the ACR, put my ACOG TA01 ECOS on it, put an EOTECH on the M4 and call it a day on 5.56mm rifles for my personal arms room.

Because I fancy myself a minor collector, the idea of having redundent weapon systems doesn't bother me. In fact, it sort of acts as a positive for pitching this to the wife as its another rifle that can fire the 2000+ rounds of 5.56 I have floating around.

I was mainly wondering if anyone had any specific feedback that suits my back story. My local gun store has the rifle I'm looking for, $2400. Its a bit of coin, but I do have the money right now. Doing a bit of shopping around, I can get the same rifle for $100 less at my home gun store in Texas, and the owner has always given me a 10% military discount too. What is ya'll's take on a "good" price for a new enhanced ACR?

My only big question is what the experience is firing 5.56mm NATO ammo. I've seen some stuff on the internet that insists that the ACR is only ment to handle .223 Remington, and I'd like to know that the M855 67 grain steel core 5.56mm NATO rounds I have will work without issue. I made a point of noting the ".223/5.56 NATO" stamp on the barrel when I inspeced the one at the local gun store.

Anyway all, thanks in advance for the feedback. If and when I take the plunge I look forward to contributing to the community.

-Busboy

 

[Irish]

Bush Boy,

I have fired 3 different types of ammo through my ACR before i found the best match, the remington UMC box at 55.oo federal 55gr, and fiocchi 223A 55gr at about 18.oo for a 50rd box, it was a promo box, but it shot nice out of the ACR, i barely noticed drop at 400m while holding a 100m sight at 400m first it hit aprox 2in lower than center mass box where the UMC with is th enormal ball round used by Military forces drop at approx 4in at 400m. i also use an ACOG on my ACR and i love how natural it feels to pull up and be on sight quicker than my m4 where i have to find proper cheeck placement for accurate firing.

Also, i knwo your hearing or reading about failures and malfunctions with the ACR, any Problems can be cured here, alot of friendly people ready to help you out.

 

[DSM]

I've shot mil-spec ammo through mine w/o issue. I think what you're referring to there is a company rep that doesn't know anything. The barrel is even stamped 5.56 and the manual says as much so if that were the case they'd be ripe for one helluva lawsuit!

If you want to stick with the local shop that's great and I won't say anything but good about it. But, if you shop around you might be able to find an enhanced for less still. Check on gunbroker, might be something on there. Your post might have a Rod & Gun Club that'll order for 10% over dealer. Not AAFES, check with services.

 

[busboy]

I've shot mil-spec ammo through mine w/o issue. I think what you're referring to there is a company rep that doesn't know anything. The barrel is even stamped 5.56 and the manual says as much so if that were the case they'd be ripe for one helluva lawsuit!

If you want to stick with the local shop that's great and I won't say anything but good about it. But, if you shop around you might be able to find an enhanced for less still. Check on gunbroker, might be something on there. Your post might have a Rod & Gun Club that'll order for 10% over dealer. Not AAFES, check with services.

Thanks for the replies all.

DSM, that's what I figured on the military spec ammo. All the "can't fire 5.56 NATO" stuff I've seen seems to stem from one fella who was having some serious feed issues, and the Bushmaster rep he talked to and quoted sounds like exactly what you assess. I wholeheartedly agree that stamping a barrel 5.56 NATO and not being able to function properly is a bad recipe for business.

I'll keep shopping around. Generally Gunbroker has an enhanced ACR going to a few hundred less than my local price, but those folks also tend to charge a credit card fee plus the shipping, so the price has to be significantly lower to balance out. I might need to give my home town gunshop a call and see what their availability is, and start working the FFL.

I haven't even checked with my AAFES gun shop. I'm at Ft. Benning and the PX's gun section just opened a few months ago. I might get it tax free there, but I'm almost scared to see how much they'd quote me on price, not to mention how long it would take for them to get it in. Still, worth a look though.

 

[DSM]

We used to shoot at the Rifle and Pistol Club on English Range there at Benning all the time when I was stationed down in Valdosta. Bit of a drive up there but we'd usually have someone at jump school or down the way at Ranger to make an excuse to go. We burnt half of it down out there on the 300yd line because allegedly there might have been a tracer in the bag of surplus ammo we bought at the Tifton fun show. I've got it on video here somewheres. Hilarious. If I recall they used to do transfers there, might not be a bad thing to check into. That was ten years or so now though.

The PX will be able to order just about anything you want but it'll probably be at MSRP. The benefit there is that it'll be tax free however.

Just a thought, but maybe look at the basic model too. I know you want the enhanced but all those parts are interchangeable and can be ordered later. If you can find a basic at a good price with the upgrades you want factored in for cheaper than you can get an enhanced it might not be a bad deal. Depends on what's out there when you're set to buy.

 

[busboy]

We used to shoot at the Rifle and Pistol Club on English Range there at Benning all the time when I was stationed down in Valdosta. Bit of a drive up there but we'd usually have someone at jump school or down the way at Ranger to make an excuse to go. We burnt half of it down out there on the 300yd line because allegedly there might have been a tracer in the bag of surplus ammo we bought at the Tifton fun show. I've got it on video here somewheres. Hilarious. If I recall they used to do transfers there, might not be a bad thing to check into. That was ten years or so now though.

The PX will be able to order just about anything you want but it'll probably be at MSRP. The benefit there is that it'll be tax free however.

Just a thought, but maybe look at the basic model too. I know you want the enhanced but all those parts are interchangeable and can be ordered later. If you can find a basic at a good price with the upgrades you want factored in for cheaper than you can get an enhanced it might not be a bad deal. Depends on what's out there when you're set to buy.

Sounds good brother. The Benning Gun Club is indeed still an FFL holder; I had one of my pistols I bought on gunbroker sent there. They're not on English any more though; that's now a pop-up range as part of the Simpson/Roosevelt complex. Benning has been changing a lot since I got here in late 2005. The Armor school moving down is driving all manner of improvements. Dixie is all torn up right now as they widen it to four lanes. At any rate though, the Gun Club is a great facility. Very laid back, safe, and able to take any weapon system up to 30-06: its nice to have a place I can shoot my Garand.

I'll give the PX a go on pricing. I was looking at the prices to buy the folding stock and rails to turn a "basic" into an "enhanced" on the Bushmaster site, and bottom line you're looking at about $400, which is about the price difference I'm seeing at gun stores, gunbroker and so forth. Still, you're right about keeping an eye out for a "basic" if the price is right. Once I put those accessories on, though, I'd probably never put the basic handguard and stock back on. Still, food for thought.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[kjsl105]

Hey busboy,

Just chiming in. I picked up mine online from "Oneclickshooing" (gunbroker name)/ "Arms & Ammo" in Fremont Nebraska. Being in Alaska local shops didn't carry the enhanced and shipping is usually a killer but the guys at Arms & Ammo took great care of me and got me settled for an ACR Enhanced at about $2100 shipped!

Arms & Ammo / One Click Shooting
1900 E Military #280
Fremont, NE 68025
1-866-727-1401

Good Luck

 

[DSM]

^^^
That's up in my neck of the woods. I've been to that shop on the way to the Fremont fun show, pretty nice folks up there. They kept their heads during the election panic though they were still a slave to their distributors.

 

[losman]

worst case if you have any problems shooting 5.56 BM now has a H/L gas regulator if you need. I still believe that those that have had issues with mis-feeds have earlier rifles and i also believe that Bushmaster has been tweaking the gas port hole size as time has passed. I have been on this forum for a long time now and their are guys who are shooting these rifle a lot with all sorts of ammo with no negative reports. Maybe it's wishful thinking but maybe BM has this rifle running good now.

 

[DSM]

Sounds good brother. The Benning Gun Club is indeed still an FFL holder; I had one of my pistols I bought on gunbroker sent there. They're not on English any more though; that's now a pop-up range as part of the Simpson/Roosevelt complex. Benning has been changing a lot since I got here in late 2005. The Armor school moving down is driving all manner of improvements. Dixie is all torn up right now as they widen it to four lanes. At any rate though, the Gun Club is a great facility. Very laid back, safe, and able to take any weapon system up to 30-06: its nice to have a place I can shoot my Garand.

I'll give the PX a go on pricing. I was looking at the prices to buy the folding stock and rails to turn a "basic" into an "enhanced" on the Bushmaster site, and bottom line you're looking at about $400, which is about the price difference I'm seeing at gun stores, gunbroker and so forth. Still, you're right about keeping an eye out for a "basic" if the price is right. Once I put those accessories on, though, I'd probably never put the basic handguard and stock back on. Still, food for thought.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Benning was busy enough as it was, I can't imagine them adding all those tankers too. Sounds like it really has changed a lot there. I miss being down at Moody though. Good people, good job even if we were gone all the time. And Chic-Fil-A and Sonny's BBQ were all close by. Not to mention sweet tea was on tap everywhere you went.

Anyways, I've got both handguards and actually prefer the basic. To me it's more comfortable and looks better. Gotta go with the folding stock though, that fixed stock works but just doesn't "fit" the rifle right.

 

[novtec1]

man i was gonna ask the exact same question but busboy squared it away... im currently in Afghanistan and i am looking at picking up a ACR when i return to add to my collection.