Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

So I jumped on the bandwagon when the Bushmaster ACR finally became available and ever since the recall about 6 months ago, it's been sitting in the shop where I bought it waiting for a call tag to go back to Bushmaster. This will be the second time the rifle has been back to them. The first time the dang thing shot about 3 inches high. Bushmaster determined that the barrel was to blame. They slapped a new one on and had it back within the week. This time, it's been sitting and waiting to go back. The only other Bushmaster product I own is a 6.8 SPC upper on a CMMG lower with Magpul funiture I use to hunt with. Could it be that the ACR is having so many issues because the whole thing is a gimmick conjured up by Remington, Magpul and Bushmaster? Any thoughts on the issue?

My guess is that like so many other things today it was rushed to market before being perfected and they want the consumers to finish their research by being the guinea pig to use it and find the faults they missed....... Possibly some bigshot said to leave something out to save a little money ( unusual for Bushmaster considering their prices!) and it is biting him in the ass. Back in the day Henry Ford III jr told production to leave a 5$ part off the Pinto that would have stopped the gas tank explosion problem ... By doing that one stupid move and rushing the Pinto to the public he destined Ford to pay out Millions in lawsuits to consumers..........Bushmaster may have done the same thing...minus the explosion of course!

Delays, production changes and errors are not uncommon with new designs. However, Bushmaster's execution on their last couple of designs has been very poor. Lots of people canceled their pre-order when Bushmaster got involved. Magpul has a good reputation, but they realized that they lacked the manufacturing skills/capacity to pull the ACR off. Magpuls decision was a business decision and nothing else. New designs are risky, particularly if you don't have a lot of CNC gear sitting around or making money building something else while you work the kinks out.

gunderwood wrote:Delays, production changes and errors are not uncommon with new designs. However, Bushmaster's execution on their last couple of designs has been very poor. Lots of people canceled their pre-order when Bushmaster got involved. Magpul has a good reputation, but they realized that they lacked the manufacturing skills/capacity to pull the ACR off. Magpuls decision was a business decision and nothing else. New designs are risky, particularly if you don't have a lot of CNC gear sitting around or making money building something else while you work the kinks out.

On the bright side at these they are recalling it and not just pretending the problems don't exist.

I think the ACR is a failed experiment. It just seems like problem after problem keeps coming up. And at least Bushmaster is trying to fix it, but it doesn't change the fact that the rifle has SERIOUS issues.

Drewsifer wrote:I think the ACR is a failed experiment. It just seems like problem after problem keeps coming up. And at least Bushmaster is trying to fix it, but it doesn't change the fact that the rifle has SERIOUS issues.

Stepping back from the ACR for a minute, the BATFE has effectively killed the next generation of firearm designs IMO. I know one or two people who have kicked around firearm designs (including myself), but its too much hassle to build a one off to try an idea. The number of people trying new things is significantly less than it was a few generations ago. The next potential John Browning may never actually design a firearm because of this nonsense.

The BATFE is hell on innovation.

gunderwood wrote:Stepping back from the ACR for a minute, the BATFE has effectively killed the next generation of firearm designs IMO. I know one or two people who have kicked around firearm designs (including myself), but its too much hassle to build a one off to try an idea. The number of people trying new things is significantly less than it was a few generations ago. The next potential John Browning may never actually design a firearm because of this nonsense.

The BATFE is hell on innovation.

George Chinn was screaming about it back in 1968, and again in 1986, pointing out quite rightly that the US arms industry is having the innovation strangled out of it by the Gun Control Act. The problem pre-dates ATF, it's Congress's doing.

They didn't listen to the military's foremost expert on small arms and light weapons back then, they don't care now. Politics trumps all.

Diomed wrote:

gunderwood wrote:Stepping back from the ACR for a minute, the BATFE has effectively killed the next generation of firearm designs IMO. I know one or two people who have kicked around firearm designs (including myself), but its too much hassle to build a one off to try an idea. The number of people trying new things is significantly less than it was a few generations ago. The next potential John Browning may never actually design a firearm because of this nonsense.

The BATFE is hell on innovation.

George Chinn was screaming about it back in 1968, and again in 1986, pointing out quite rightly that the US arms industry is having the innovation strangled out of it by the Gun Control Act. The problem pre-dates ATF, it's Congress's doing.

They didn't listen to the military's foremost expert on small arms and light weapons back then, they don't care now. Politics trumps all.

Yes and I forget who the military brass was that called FDR a traitor after the NFA was put into law for exactly the same reason. The current BATFE is just the current bureaucracy which embodies the problem. They are a product of the law.

I don't know anybody with the ACR, but I have heard not so nice things around the webs about the platform... mostly feeding and extraction issues.

When I was in the market for a Gen III rifle I read into the ACR. I just could not justify the weight. It is like 8.5 lbs for a small caliber rifle. I have held the SCAR and it is mostly plastic. I have heard that it is pretty flimsy to actually wield around. And it was horribly expensive... I saw one for $7000 once

I went with Robinson Arms XCR. I am glad that I did.