Carbon 15 Opinions?

[acdundore]

I've been saving up some money for a rifle for a while, and I think that the Bushmaster Carbon 15 (Gen 2, the one with the forward assist and dust cover) would be a good choice. I found one at my local gun shop that I could get for about $720 and I just wanted some opinions, preferably from people who own the gun, about what they think and how it performs. Thanks!

[TMD]

Now that AR sales have almost come to a screeching halt because the panic buyers have run out of money prices are coming back down to normal the shelves are starting to fill up again and prices are dropping like a brick. For that price there's better options out there. Nothing against Bushmaster but poly lowers aren't worth the $50 savings over an aluminum lower.

[MarkCO]

I really like Carbon fiber and I have built a lot of cool things with it, but it is not well suited to an AR lower IMHO. There are better choices for sure.

[acdundore]

Do you have any recommendations of other ar-15's that I could buy in that price range? I'm only 17 so I don't have a huge budget...

[MarkCO]

An M&P Sport, Mossberg MMR, or one of several Del-Tons can be had for around $700. Mils-spec based parts are easier to upgrade later. Depending on where you live, you are going to have to wait until you turn 18 anyway. Get some good research in and in a few months, you might be able to get some of these for $600 or so. I've already seem some used (like 5 rounds fired) M4gerys hitting the local market in the $700 range and the prices are sure to drop through the summer.

[acdundore]

Okay. I don't really want the S&W M&P 15 sport because it doesn't have a dust cover or forward assist. The gun shop I went to did have a Del Ton, but I didn't pay much attention to it because I had never heard of that manufacturer before. I'll have to take a closer look next time I go. Plus, I wouldn't be putting the carbon 15 through too much, as I would just use it for recreational shooting and taking care of varmints.

[seansean1444]

Don't buy it I had one it was junk. Inaccurate, wouldn't cycle, pita all around. Look at the smith and Wesson mp 15 sport it's a much better gun for equal price

[acdundore]

I've been looking at some reviews for the Del ton Sport and they are all great. I'll definitely take a closer look at it next time I go.

[KyJim]

I fee obligated to warn you that it is unlawful for one person to purchase a firearm in his/her name on behalf of another person. It is called a straw purchase.

[Quentin2]

Instead of the C-15s and Sports and DTI take a look at what you can get from PSA and Spikes. Their base models tend to have better components (FN barrels for example) than their comspec brethren yet the price is close.

[Skans]

I have a Carbon-15 Type 96 Pistol, pre-Bushmaster. It works great with brass ammo - no problem. However, it is not as reliable with Wolf steel cased ammo - cases get a little stuck sometimes (I've had this problem with other AR's). Still, I can make it work with Wolf if I clean the chamber with CLP and run a bore snake through it ever couple of magazines and spray some light Hoppes oil in the chamber and/or on the ammo before loading. It does seem to be a bit picky with magazines - the one that came with it works just fine.

Nothing has ever broken on my Carbon-15 pistol. With brass ammo, I have dumped 30 rounds as fast as I could pull the trigger and it cycled perfectly without a hitch - I've done this on several occasions. This was some years ago, when brass .223 was cheap.

Accuracy - there is nothing inherently inaccurate about the pistol. It's accuracy is limited, however, by lack of a buttstock. For a pistol, it's accuracy is more than acceptable. I don't really know what kind of accuracy people expect from an AR pistol with no buttstock - sometimes I think expectations are a little absurd.

I really don't know what all the fuss is about concerning these pistols. Has anyone ever had a carbon-fiber lower or upper receiver break? Wear out a barrel? About the worst I've read is the occasional broken extractor. You do need to keep them clean and oiled.

I have no experience with the Carbon-15 rifles, so can't speak to those.

Oh, one other think I'd like to add. The original Carbon-15 pistol was developed as method to thwart the Clinton AW Ban. One of the requirements of that ban was that certain semi-auto pistols could not exceed a certain weight. This was aimed at the heavier AR aluminum pistols, and other "assault" style pistols that were modeled after subguns made during the '80's and early '90's (eg Sites Spectre pistol, etc.). So, because the weight was under the Clinton Ban spec, these were the only AR pistols (that I am aware of) that could be manufactured during the ban.