Topic: NEW OWNER QUESTIONS (Read 1821 times)

FISH1 · « **on:** August 02, 2011, 09:23:37 AM »

Totally new to the AR Bushmaster 308 flat top, I have many questions, will any of you help me out? I have never had a weapon like this in my life. I suppose a lot of my questions are basic in nature I think.
1. What is the difference between a AR 10 & 15?
2. I have a .308 Bushmaster flat top, brand new out of the box, is there a builder for it? (IPB)
3. I hear different abbrev. what do I have? or how do I go about figuring out what I have?

As you can see I am a idiot with a sever lack of knowledge when it comes to this type of weapon, where do Ii start, HELP?

edgecrusher · « **Reply #1 on:** August 02, 2011, 09:52:09 AM »

well congrads on your purchase, but i am a little confused by your questions. the first question, the ar 15 is a smaller version chambered in many different calibers from .204 ruger to 6.8 spc. and everything in between. mechanically they are similiar and even share parts in some instances. to be specific though an ar 10 is an armalite only, every other is a .308 ar. your other questions is where i get confused, is there a builder? uh, bushmaster?(recently purchased by dpms i believe) not sure what you are looking for here. flat top receivers are optic ready, you only need to chose an optic and a mount.your third question i cannot even begin to answer, unsure what you are asking, hope i helped a little

MrConcealed · « **Reply #2 on:** August 02, 2011, 10:10:11 AM »

Welcome Fish,
I think Edgecrusher answered most of everything. I just finished putting a Bushmaster ORC together myself. Everyone here will be more than happy to assist you as you need help. If you have specific questions in regards to accronyms, or components, just post them and they will be answered. I would recommend that you spend some time looking through the forum. At some point someone else has asked the same exact question. There is a HUGE amount of information here for you to digest. And the Bushmaster is essentially a DPMS.

Glad your here and have fun,

FISH1 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 02, 2011, 10:36:06 AM »

Thanks for your reply, so if I am understanding you I have .308 AR.
I guess when looking for add-on parts or acc. I need to look specifically at .308 AR items? I have been browsing and it seems to me there isn't a lot after market parts for the Bushmaster or am I wrong or not looking in the right places?
In answer to my question #3 Mid-lenght, ORC, LR.

Am I correct in thinking, I can order most any .308 AR part and it will be interchangeable?....Russ

FISH1 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 02, 2011, 10:40:32 AM »

Thanks Mr. Cocealed,
your correct in that there is a lot of information to take in on this weapon(WOW)by the way Brownells catolog # 5 has been replaced by #6, they have #5 listed on the home page of this sight.
Am I right in that DPMS and Bushmaster are the same so parts are interchangeable?....Russ

98Z5V · « **Reply #5 on:** August 02, 2011, 02:20:57 PM »

Parts between the Bushmaster .308 AR and the DPMS LR308 (model designation) will be interchangeable.

Mid-length: refers to the gas system length used to cycle the weapon. Other lengths for DPMS-based guns will be Carbine-length (shorter than mid-length) and Rifle length (longer than mid-length). All this refers to the length of the gas tube and the position on the barrel of the drilled gas port (and gas block location).

ORC: "Optics Ready Carbine" - it's got a 16" barrel and a flat-top upper, and I'm pretty sure it's got a picatinny rail gas block (place to put your front sight).

LR: The DPMS designation for the .308 AR, i.e., "LR308."

If you find parts that will work on a DPMS LR308, or any other parts that are made for the DPMS-pattern .308 AR, then they'll work on your Bushmaster.

edgecrusher · « **Reply #6 on:** August 02, 2011, 05:54:59 PM »

ahh the old acronyms, now it's becoming clear. dpms parts will definately work, anything lr.308, will mostly , and basically anything you see that is not specifically labeled for an armalite. there is so many places and things to look through and shop that if you need suggestions or directions, ask and yee shall receive. if you see a rifle that you want to model yours after or parts you want to know if anyone has used, also ask. although daunting at first, parts are generally easy enough to swap or replace and we can help there too.

FISH1 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 03, 2011, 04:21:52 AM »

Thank you very much.
I think I may enjoy this sight and the people, again many thanks.....Russ

imschur · « **Reply #8 on:** August 03, 2011, 04:33:17 AM »

take it easy on yourself your not an idiot. If it wasnt for these questions there would be no reason for this site. We all have to start someplace.

thanks for joining.

FISH1 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 03, 2011, 05:11:20 AM »

One last question,
I have the .308 Bushmaster Flat top ORC w/16" barrel which one of the following would mine be considered: carbine, mid-lenght of rifle?....Russ

edgecrusher · « **Reply #10 on:** August 03, 2011, 08:49:29 AM »

16" is considered a carbine, 18" is a mid-length, 20" or greater rifle length. also i believe sbr's(short barreled rifle) also use carbine parts, but i'm not sure. yours is definitely a carbine, and if you are asking about hand guards, you can use a longer length if you use a low profile gas block. that all depends on your personal preference on it's appearance.

FISH1 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 03, 2011, 09:16:44 AM »

Thank you,

I'm not the point of changing out parts just yet, but in time...Russ

98Z5V · « **Reply #12 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:07:39 PM »

Well, it's getting confusing here a little... Let's look at this.

Any rifle that has a barrel that's around 16" is a "carbine," and not a rifle. Barrels longer than 16" (militarily, they're 20" for the standard issue) are "rifles."

So, that's "Rifles" and "Carbines."

That's completely separate from the gas operating systems that are available. Like comparing apples to hammers. Nothing to do with each other, in the present day.

Specifically, militarily, the M4 Carbine has a 14.5" barrel, and the A2 flash suppressor on the end. Total length of that combo, even though the FH isn't pinned, is just under 16" (pinning FHs on barrels less than 16", in order to bring barrel length to the legal 16" BATF minimum for ownership sans special papers, is a civilian thing - it doesn't pertain to military rifles).

Hope I didn't muddy the waters anymore with that info...

Gas systems have specific lengths to them, which are pretty much standard, unless you're talking about Armalite gas systems. I'll stay out of that for now.

Carbine length gas system: 7.5" gas tube, designed around the mil issue 14.5" barreled M4 carbine.

Rifle length gas system: usually around 13" gas tube, designed for the mil issue 20" barreled M16.

Mid-length gas system: approx 9.5" gas tube, designed primarily for the civilian-legal 16" AR-15 "carbine."

Notice similarities up there? I'll discuss further in a few.

98Z5V · « **Reply #13 on:** August 03, 2011, 07:15:35 PM »

There's also a pistol-length gas system, using a tube about 4.5" long, and used initially on the 7.5" barrels when they came out. Pistol-length gas systems can be found on barrels out to about 10" now.

We can leave pistol gas out of it for now, because it's so much less common. It's going to get more common soon, with the 300BLK out now.

MrConcealed · « **Reply #14 on:** August 05, 2011, 03:23:48 PM »

Fish,
The Bushmaster 308 ORC is a 16" carbine with a Mid length gas system.
Bushmaster has been purchased by DPMS, and as such, thats really what the BM ends up being.
I just finished one myself (almost, 20" barrel is in the mail....) so if you have any questions, please dont hesitate to ask.

Range day tomorrow