Went in for an AK47, Walked Out With an ACR

[Dave I]

Funny story. I was originally going to look at an AK47. I started researching, thought the Sig 516 or Sig556R might be a better fit, then somehow ended up thinking with my line of credit at the gunshop I was almost to the ACR price range and thought why not. So I got a Bushmaster ACR.

An observation after getting the ACR last weekend. I think the only thing worse than craving a gun is actually having one and not being able to shoot it. So a week after I got my ACR I finally got to take it to the range. Pics a little later.

Overall, I really liked it. It felt nice and shot accurately with almost no problems. I only shot about 140 rounds or so, American Eagle 55 gr. .223 FMJ. We zeroed it in from 25 yards because, without binoculars there was no way to tell if we were hitting the target at all, much less where. Still, it was nice to go get the target after shooting it and not getting any feedback as to whether it was hitting anything or not.

At 25 yards, it was very consistent. It was shooting low (you'll see what I mean in the pics), yet consistently. I had some dead-center bullseyes which was nice. Everything went great except for one jam when loading a fresh magazine. Somehow the first round did not seat properly so when I tried to cycle in a new round the first one got stuck between the bolt and the top of the chamber. I freaked out for about two seconds because it looked pretty stuck, ejected the magazine, two unspent rounds came out with it, then was able to clear the chamber of the stuck cartridges without too much trouble. I'm not sure what caused that, and it could have been user error. I'll just keep a watch out for any other problems. No FTF/FTE's or any problems of any kind aside from that.

About the only thing I did not like about it was the sights. Not that they're bad, they're the stock flip-up sights, however I'm used to more open (I guess Dovetail) sights, so that threw me for some reason. I also always shoot w/ both eyes open and found it hard to do with these sights. This is not really a problem, just personal preference. I noticed the weight, probably because I was aware that it was heavier than an AR-15, however it was not at all bad. I think reports of its weight are totally overblown. I thought the ambi-safety would bother me, however if I left my finger inside the groove of the lower receiver just below where the safety reaches it was a non-factor.

Everything else was positive. I need to zero it in, however it grouped very well. It was smooth with light recoil, felt nice, very familiar controls going from the AR to the ACR. It felt very intuitive to use. I really want a nice optic for it though. I'm normally an iron sights guy, however the closed-circle rear sight just threw me for some reason. However practice should help a lot with that. I read a lot about the SCAR vs ACR and am not sure where the negative hype on the Internet comes from. The lower price is nice, however this just fit me better for a few reasons. There is almost nothing to hate on it, and it is really just fine as it is now. With a reprofiled barrel and the long promised conversion kits (and maybe the Remington handguard) there would be nothing I would really gripe about at all. Anyway, I am glad I got it and look forward to more time on the trigger with it.

Other than that, pics coming soon . . .

-Cheers

[richeyo2]

Glad to hear you're liking the ACR!

Looking forward to pics...

[dglock]

Originally Posted by Dave I

Funny story. I was originally going to look at an AK47. I started researching, thought the Sig 516 or Sig556R might be a better fit, then somehow ended up thinking with my line of credit at the gunshop I was almost to the ACR price range and thought why not. So I got a Bushmaster ACR.

An observation after getting the ACR last weekend. I think the only thing worse than craving a gun is actually having one and not being able to shoot it. So a week after I got my ACR I finally got to take it to the range. Pics a little later.

Overall, I really liked it. It felt nice and shot accurately with almost no problems. I only shot about 140 rounds or so, American Eagle 55 gr. .223 FMJ. We zeroed it in from 25 yards because, without binoculars there was no way to tell if we were hitting the target at all, much less where. Still, it was nice to go get the target after shooting it and not getting any feedback as to whether it was hitting anything or not.

At 25 yards, it was very consistent. It was shooting low (you'll see what I mean in the pics), yet consistently. I had some dead-center bullseyes which was nice. Everything went great except for one jam when loading a fresh magazine. Somehow the first bullet did not seat properly so when I tried to cycle in a new round the first one got stuck between the bolt and the top of the chamber. I freaked out for about two seconds because it looked pretty stuck, ejected the magazine, two bullets came out with it, then was able to clear the chamber of the stuck bullet without too much trouble. I'm not sure what caused that, and it could have been user error. I'll just keep a watch out for any other problems. No FTF/FTE's or any problems of any kind aside from that.

About the only thing I did not like about it was the sights. Not that they're bad, they're the stock flip-up sights, however I'm used to more open (I guess Dovetail) sights, so that threw me for some reason. I also always shoot w/ both eyes open and found it hard to do with these sights. This is not really a problem, just personal preference. I noticed the weight, probably because I was aware that it was heavier than an AR-15, however it was not at all bad. I think reports of its weight are totally overblown. I thought the ambi-safety would bother me, however if I left my finger inside the groove of the lower receiver just below where the safety reaches it was a non-factor.

Everything else was positive. I need to zero it in, however it grouped very well. It was smooth with light recoil, felt nice, very familiar controls going from the AR to the ACR. It felt very intuitive to use. I really want a nice optic for it though. I'm normally an iron sights guy, however the closed-circle rear sight just threw me for some reason. However practice should help a lot with that. I read a lot about the SCAR vs ACR and am not sure where the negative hype on the Internet comes from. The lower price is nice, however this just fit me better for a few reasons. There is almost nothing to hate on it, and it is really just fine as it is now. With a reprofiled barrel and the long promised conversion kits (and maybe the Remington handguard) there would be nothing I would really gripe about at all. Anyway, I am glad I got it and look forward to more time on the trigger with it.

Other than that, pics coming soon . . .

-Cheers

Are you using bullet and cartridge as meaning the same?

That is very confusing!

don

[Dave I]

Originally Posted by dglock

Are you using bullet and cartridge as meaning the same?

That is very confusing!

don

No, I'm using bullet when I really mean cartridge/round. Sorry. I changed the first post to actually say what I meant.

-Cheers

[Dave I]

So I finally got around to getting a few pics, two from me shooting and a few of the gun and my first targets.

First, here is me with the gun. I'm not sure what I'm doing here; I think I'm squinting trying to figure out where my shots are landing. I look like a slackjawed jokel, but for what it's worth I did not know I was being photographed.


Here's another shot of me aiming. Riveting.


So here is the gun. Pretty standard Basic ACR. However...


While it did not show up too well, I have an AVG2, which I really like, and I put Magpul L5 polymer rails on the bottom and sides. I could put two smaller rails on the bottom for more real estate, however the L5 fits the AVG perfectly and I do not really see a need for more railing. The L5 fits the side spacings perfectly as well and it give me the option of putting something on there in the future. It also looks cool, however that only matters for about 2.5 seconds after which I doubt I'll ever notice it again. The only thing else I want for it for now is a nice optic and the folding stock. And lots of bullets.


Another closeup of the front w/ the rail & grip from the other side.


And here is the right side from a distance.


As for the target, I need to zero the gun in. We started at 50 yards, however forgot field glasses and could not tell what we were hitting (I was hitting it, just low and could not see). Then we moved to 25 yards and I could tell I was hitting it low, yet without binoculars it was hard to know where after a while. I think the gun was very consistent, I was moving it around to try and figure out how far off I was from my sight picture. Hence the one lone duck upper-left. Still, it grouped fairly consistently, if unimpressively, and I'm pretty sure it's a goner.


So this is one my friend was shooting my PPQ. I thought I'd try and switch to this (they were right next to each other at the range) and see if I could tell how low I was aiming after adjusting the front sight. My first shot with the ACR is the one on the right side of the bullseye (the other two are I believe my shots with the PPQ). So I got it just about dead-on for one shot, then most of the rest ended up low except for when I tried to compensate and aim higher. Again, I think field glasses would helped a lot since I felt like I was practically shooting blind.


And a money shot of my bull's eye from the second target.


Anyway, once I get sighted in I think it will be great. It was a lot of fun and I should be able to improve quite a bit with it. I cannot wait to get out there again with it.

-Cheers

[richeyo2]

Looks like a fun day indeed!

[neginfluence04]

I LOVE MINE here is a little ACR porn

[Dave I]

Originally Posted by neginfluence04

I LOVE MINE here is a little ACR porn

Nice group you got there! So what optic are you using on your ACR? I am planning on one. I'm a little torn between getting some sort of red dot or just saving up and getting a 1-4x or 1-6x right away. I eventually want a variable optic. For now I'm just getting used to the peep sights, they're new to me and my eyes do not focus on them the way they do on open/dovetail types of sights.

-Cheers

[neginfluence04]

Originally Posted by Dave I

Nice group you got there! So what optic are you using on your ACR? I am planning on one. I'm a little torn between getting some sort of red dot or just saving up and getting a 1-4x or 1-6x right away. I eventually want a variable optic. For now I'm just getting used to the peep sights, they're new to me and my eyes do not focus on them the way they do on open/dovetail types of sights.

-Cheers

currently I'm running a Vortex Sparc but i'm saving for the Vortex 1-4

[Dave I]

So, good news bad news. The bad news is apparently I suck. The good news is there might be a very good reason. So a short story that hopefully some of you find amusing.

On another forum, a user expressed some concern because, to be frank, my groupings suck. Which, to be fair, is probably an accurate assessment. I figured it was largely because the gun is new, not sighted in, and God only knows what. I assumed I would just get better, this being my first time out with the gun. Still, it is kind of humbling to hear, in no uncertain terms, you suck.

Well, I decided to look up how to use peep sights. I never actually learned how you were supposed to shoot with them, much less had any experience using them, and did not bother looking for any sort of FAQ on how to use them. What I was doing was keeping my face too far back and looking at the rear sight while trying to look at the front sight through a pinhole. So in short, I was definitely doing it wrong. The plus side is I should be much, much better than this next time. At worst, I can look through it properly now with my unloaded gun and it does not give me a headache. I suppose the only real down side is I'm going to be going nuts until I can get back on the range.