Bushmaster ACR Recalled

www.thefirearmblog.com...

I had high hopes for this rifle and it still looks to impress, but after this recall who knows when it will be available to be purchased again? I wish Magpul would have produced the concept rifle, the Masada, instead of handing it over to Bushmaster.

Damn, I wish I was in America.....MF guns, love it.....only been once by the way, very nice.

Now this sucks. The ACR is a revolutionary concept and I'm still going to buy one.
This is a small problem in the scope of things. When the SR9 9mm pistol from Ruger debuted
it was recalled shortly after. Today it is one of the most popular and economical 9mm composite
hand guns in America.


I don't think this will seal the death certificate for the ACR weapons system, if anything, it will just be a learning experience, and the ACR will be better for it.

reply to post by America?

During routine testing, Bushmaster discovered a design flaw which could result in multiple rounds firing continuously when the trigger is pulled. This unexpected firing of multiple rounds creates a potentially dangerous situation.

You think?

I'd say that's a bad thing.

reply to post by projectvxn


I just hope it doesn't take a lengthy period of time to get the ACR back on the market, because I intended to buy one too, when I got the money.

reply to post by America?


It's an easy fix to get a new single stage trigger assembly in there. This should be very short lived.

Personally the newly released LWRC Tricon, and the HK MR556 are ahead of the ACR on my list, but it's still a nice rifle, Masada was never going to fly as a name IMO.

As for 5.56mm, I'm leaning more towards 6.8SPC these days for a serious social rifle, price is the major consideration here though.

reply to post by America?


I agree. I wish Magpul produced the Masada for consumer use. Magpul is known for making high-quality products for low competitive prices. Its a shame what happened the Masada/ACR in terms of pricing.

When Magpul first announced the Masada would be available for civilian sales, they quoted a price of $1500 per rifle. Now, with Bushmaster and Remington producing the ACR, the price tag is $1000 more than originally quoted with some important features taken out.

I chose not to buy this advance firearm for $2500 with less features. What a rip off. There are cheaper alternatives:

Robinson Arms XCR (developed before Masada/ACR):

Robinson Arms XCR


XCR has many features promised from Magpul, especially the ability to change caliber and priced around $1500.

reply to post by Retseh


I agree with you about the 5.56. I just do not think it is a promising round. The ballistics aren't that great. The lack of punch and an ok range, you would be alot better off going with the 6.8 SPC, but also as you said the price is an issue, especially for someone like me with little money. Maybe you have heard of personal stories where the 5.56 just didn't cut it when trying to put someone down. If it came to that for me I would want a round that could put someone down.

reply to post by guppy


I have looked at the XCR and it too looks promising, but I think I would look around for reviews or personal opinions to see how they stack up. Both have great selling points and their cons. To me it would probably be the one that was the most durable, simple, and best feeling. I have held an ACR and it felt great. I especially like the left side nonreciprocating charging handle.

reply to post by America?


I have done extensive research on the XCR after I found out the ACR would be delayed for some time and being made by Bushmaster.

Almost all XCR owners love their rifle. There are a lot of positive reviews. Only problems they encounter is when they don't follow the manual. It requires a 300-round break-in procedure. Failure to do so can cause problems with your XCR.

Customer service is supposedly top-notch. They personally deal with each issue individually. And are quick to fix or replace any defects.

Changing calibers is supposed to be easy but requires an allen wrench. Takes about 30 seconds longer than the ACR to swap out calibers.

You can read for yourself from RobArms' XCR forum website: XCR Forums

For years, I've been considering buying an XCR. But I haven't been able to save enough money to purchase an XCR. One day she will be mine. And, on that day, I shall call her Vera.

reply to post by guppy


I do like the fact that the XCR is similar to the operating system of the kalashnikov, which if I owned one, it is reliable and very much alike. I also like the fact that it is alot cheaper than the ACR, but I do not like the fact that the barrel is held on by one allen screw, correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like the only thing firmly attaching it to the rest of the gun.

reply to post by Retseh


Those two rifles are just AR platform rifles with new barrels attached.


They're awfully nice carbines, but not nearly the versatility and ease of use of the Magpul Masada design.

Maybe I'm biased here. I love the AR platform, I have a very nice Bushmaster XM15-E2S AR15-A2, and a carbine version of the XM15 as well. Both have been more than adequate weapons and I've put them through a lot of crap. But there's something about the ACR platform that really appeals to me.

I really believe that any new rifle needs a few thousand hours of trigger time by other consumers before I go an put my money down on one. That's why I'm glad I've waited this long. Let them hash out their design flaws and maybe in another 6 months I'll jump in the market and snatch one of these up.

reply to post by America?


You know, that is a darn good question about what keeps the barrel attached. Perhaps it is only being held by an allen screw. But isn't the ACR/Masada's barrel being held similarly? Here are pix of exploded views for both rifles:

XCR:


ACR:


I'm not sure if ACR still has a toolless barrel change/removal. Too bad Bushmaster tossed out caliber-swapping with the ACR.

As for the XCR, owners have never complained about its accuracy despite being held by an allen screw. Who knows how well it would hold in actual combat.

reply to post by projectvxn


The ACR is pretty much the Masada. Its just renamed by Bushmaster and Remington who got the rights to produce and sell the rifle.

And there are big differences between the Masada/ACR vs AR-15 platform. The TV show Future Weapons did a segment on the Masada. In the show they talked about Magpul's thinking when developing the rifle. You can see what Magpul kept and discarded from the AR-15 platform:



There are a number of things I don't like about the AR-15 platform. And I think the Masada/ACR fixed them into a nice 21st Century weapon.

reply to post by guppy


Guppy, I own an XCR in 5.56. I also have the 7.62X39 barrel that I can swap out in few minutes. I own a lot of different guns including the SCAR, various AR15's. The XCR is probably one of my favorite guns of all time. Never have I had any problems with it. Customer service is great. I can only say the problem I have is parts availability. I ordered a part from them in February and still have not received it.

On topic: I was going to get an ACR when the enhanced version was coming out. Took them so long to bring it out, I purchased me a SCAR-H with the money instead. I think this will be a short term delay however. This is Bushmasters money pot right now, so they will get this worked out quickly, especially with the holidays coming up.

I too had high hopes for the ACR but was really disappointed once I got to see their finished product...
way over priced and with so many other fine makers out there I happily went elsewhere and found a lightly used Ruger SR 556... paid just under $1,400 for it too... a cheap ACR will run $2,300++++

I know, I know a lot of shooters still have a problem with Bill Ruger and his former stance on assault weapons... that was then and this is now... and like him or not ya gotta admit Ruger does make a fine gun...

reply to post by guppy


Bushmaster never tossed out the caliber changing ability. It is still one of the major selling points.
www.bushmaster.com...#/intro

reply to post by America?


My mistake. I thought I read somewhere that Bushmaster decided to scale back on some features, including caliber change.

Either way, I'm gonna wait for a while before I even think about purchasing an ACR. There is an ad for a new ACR priced at $2135. One of the cheapest I've seen. Still a painful price, especially when there are cheaper alternatives. If only Bushmaster kept the ACR's price low ($1400 - $1900), they would have sold a lot more. To this day, there are ACRs sitting on some gunstores' shelves waiting for a rich guy to buy it.

More than once, I've been tempted to purchase a RobArms XCR. But other priorities always come up. Oh well.

Also, too bad, RobArms was late in submitting their XCR in the military trials. It would have been nice to see how the XCR stood up against the SCAR, XM-8, HK416, and M4.

Originally posted by chupa-chups
Damn, I wish I was in America.....MF guns, love it.....only been once by the way, very nice.

By all means, please come over! You are welcome any time. So far, fire arms are mostly legal.
The Bushmaster ACR is a failure IMHO. It should be available in a 308.