Yah... I don't know much about ARs, not really my thing but on the surface it looks like a good deal but a couple of my friends pointed out that the Bushmaster deals has enough going against it that ponying up a few more dollars for a better rifle might be a better way to go. Namely, there are no back up sights and more specifically no real way of putting on a front sight so automatically you will have to spend money on optics. 2, the barrel is thin so if you want to put rounds down range or run it hard in 3 gun then you might have to spend some coin on a thicker barrel and lastly there are no key mods or a way of mounting any sort of front rail. I have never been an accessory guy but I have noticed that those of my friends who are just getting into 3 gun like the flexibility of attaching stuff. Cameras seem to be becoming a thing for the weekend worriors. Anyways, handguard gets swopped out so it is even more money. The way my friend puts it, add $200 for optics or backup, $300 for barrel and $400 for handguard, you might as well get a better AR.
I have another friend (sorry Jerry. lol) that benches his AR which is what the Bushmaster seems to lend itself to but I don't really see the point in that if you are shooting slow and trying to practice the fundamentals of marksmanship. That could be better accomplished with a bolt action. Maybe I am questioning the Bushmaster, because my S&W AR15 was almost $200 more after Bushmaster's rebate (i am a cheap sob) but then again i run the S&W with the factory irons and it has a half decent barrel but then again the last time i was at a 3 guns event i ran my son's cx4 because of the 96 mags and yes the mec gar runs in both without mods.
