I have two Ban Era A2 Bushmaster AR15s back from the ABCR's of what AR should you purchase days. (Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt, Rock River)

Anyway I was doing some cleaning recently and found both my Bushmasters have Mag Patricle inspected barrels? Did all the old Bushmasters have this? I never paid it any mind and just happened to be looking at the barrel markings the other day and it caught my eye for some reason.

Anyway I thought that was kinda cool.

Chris.

I seem to recall from their old marketing material that their chrome lined barrels were MP inspected. I have an old 20" from them in the safe, but it's been shortened to 18" and turned down under the handguards. I'll see if any markings survived.

I have a ban era 20" A2 Bushmaster,but I believe that the barrel is not chrome-lined.I will drag it out tonight and see what markings it bears.

Yes, the barrels were chrome lined and MP tested.
During the early ban years Bushmaster was considered one of the better AR style rifles, although there were those who would piss and moan because Bushmaster claimed they were mil-spec (usually by the grossly non-spec Colt fan boys).
Their bastardized 10 round reduced capacity mags did suck, however.

How they compare to today's offerings I could not say.
My 1995, which has since had a complete front sight w/bayo lug added and the barrel threaded, has never failed but I certainly do not use it to the extent some forum members use their rifles.

Where are the markings, and what do they look like?

I have a pre-Remington Windham-made 14.5" Bushmaster that is my go-to gun. It has never malfunctioned in any way through a couple of thousand rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve 22X:

During the early ban years Bushmaster was considered one of the better AR style rifles, although there were those who would piss and moan because Bushmaster claimed they were mil-spec (usually by the grossly non-spec Colt fan boys).

This. I still have my preban A2 that I got in the late 80s. This was at the time the "mil-spec" Colts still had the large front double headed receiver screw, the cut off bolt carrier rear, and may not have even had the full mag release fence. I remember my Bushy A2 looked a lot more like the real GI version than what Colt was pumping out at the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
This. I still have my preban A2 that I got in the late 80s. This was at the time the "mil-spec" Colts still had the large front double headed receiver screw, the cut off bolt carrier rear, and may not have even had the full mag release fence. I remember my Bushy A2 looked a lot more like the real GI version than what Colt was pumping out at the time.

Colts also had that block in the lower receiver that had not been milled out and the pins were sized differently front and rear.

quote:

Originally posted by Bigboreshooter:
Where are the markings, and what do they look like?

I have a pre-Remington Windham-made 14.5" Bushmaster that is my go-to gun. It has never malfunctioned in any way through a couple of thousand rounds.

Mine is a 20", A2 configuration and the markings, which appear to be stamped, are on the top of the barrel Between the front sight and the flash suppressor.

Remington never owned them, they were bought by the Freedom Group (Cerebus) around 2006 (i.e. post ban).
Remington is another holding of Cerebus' that was purchased a year or so later.

Windham era Bushmasters were generally MP tested and chrome-lined with the exception of their stainless bbl'd guns.

Not sure about the Illion and newer Alabama guns (frankly, when they got bought by Remington, I lost interest).

Mine is a LE / Gov't only marked ban era A2 carbine with a 14.5 and a factory permanently installed Izzy flash hider. Not neutered so a bayonet fits on the Izzy hider just fine.
Chrome lined MPI 1/9.
I don't treat it so great and have shot it a great deal. It has been extremely reliable and is a great rifle.
It was new old stock I bought the day after the end of the ban to celebrate.