Guns and Gear: Bushmaster ACR

Commercial availablity of the long-awaited Bushmaster/Magpul Adaptive Combat Rifle (ACR) was announced recently at the 2010 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoors Trade (SHOT) Show. The ACR is based on the Magpul Masada design first shown by Magpul Industries at the 2007 SHOT Show. Magpul later licensed the design to Bushmaster Firearms, Inc. for future development, production, and sales of the rifle.

The Masada/ACR has been the subject of enormous buzz in the industry and the shooting community, especially on sites like AR15.com and m4carbine.net. Bushmaster and its sister companies in the Freedom Group, Inc. portfolio that includes Remington and DPMS were focusing on the expected massive contract to replace the M4 carbine in the US military, but with no RFP in sight, they seem to be shifting their attention back to the civilian market. So now, 3 years after the Masada was first announced, there are some important details (especially pricing) available about the ACR and it will soon be available on the commercial market.

Before I begin my commentary on the ACR, please bear in mind that although I have followed the ACR's evolution since it was first announced in 2007, I have not yet handled or shot one.

From a "it's cool" perspective, the ACR is a very exciting rifle. Some of the most interesting features are:

• Excellent ergonomics with fully-ambidextorous controls, an MP5-style side-mounted non-reciprocating charging handle, and an available six-position collapsible/folding stock.
• A quick-change barrel system allowing you, for example, to change between the standard 16-inch barrel and an 18-inch barrel for precision shooting. Shorter barrels are also available, subject to the usual legal restrictions regarding short-barreled rifles.
• A gas-piston operating system with two-position adjustable pressure for use with or without a suppressor.
• Easy conversion between 5.56x45mm NATO and 6.8 SPC chamberings.

In a lot of ways, the ACR is what the FN SCAR should have been. It sounds great, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there are some issues.

The first issue is the price. The Enhanced configuration, which offers the collapsible/folding stock, 4 MILSTD-1913 for mounting accessories, and an enhanced flash suppressor, has an MSRP of $3,061. Ouch!

Yes, the ACR is a nice rifle, but is it really over $3,000 worth of nice? For $3,000, you could build a "recce"-style AR-15 around one of the BCM upper receiver assemblies I mentioned in a recent posting, add essential accessories like a good optic, tactical light, and sling, and maybe even have a few dollars left over for ammo. You could even get a Lewis Machine & Tool Company (LMT) Monolithic Rail Platform upper receiver assembly, which provides a quick-change barrel capability.

The second issue is that the ACR is shipping with a 1:9 twist barrel. This means that heavier bullets, like the 77-grain Sierra Match King (used in USSOCOM's Mk262 cartridge) or the various 75-ground bullets, will not reliably stabilize in the barrel. This is a big issue, since the heavier bullets are more accurate and offer better terminal ballistics than the typical 55- or 62-grain rounds.

The third issue is capability. What can the ACR actually do that a mainstream AR-15 can't?

Gas-piston operating systems have become all the rage, in part because some special operations units have adopted the Heckler & Koch HK416 and HK417, gas-piston versions of the M4 carbine chambered for the 5.56 and 7.62 NATO cartridges respectively. Gas-piston operating systems are important under specific circumstances: full-auto fire from a short-barreled, suppressed weapon. The special operations units in question shoot in these circumstances, but you probably do not.

Thanks to the Hughes Amendment to the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act, full-auto is not really an option for civilians unless you have a very expensive "pre-86" full-auto weapon (which an ACR cannot be). In many states, you can legally obtain a short-barreled rifle and suppressor, subject to a $200 tax stamp, approval of your local Chief Law Enforcement Officer, and some paperwork under the 1934 National Firearms Act (as amended). In my own opinion, this is just more hassle than it's worth.

Personally, I'm also not a fan of the 6.8 SPC cartridge, so the multi-caliber capability is not compelling to me. It's hard enough to find good, affordable ammunition in mainstream calibers like 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm right now. The 6.8 SPC cartridge does offer better terminal performance than 5.56 NATO within likely engagement ranges (under 200 yards), but I think the terminal performance issues with the 5.56 NATO round are overstated. There are thousands of terrorists and insurgents who could testify to the effectiveness of the 5.56 NATO FMJ round if they were still breathing :). Unlike the military, civilians and police are also not subject to the 1899 Hague Convention, so we can use hollow-point rounds like Hornady TAP-FPD that provide better terminal performance.If, despite these and other issues, you really want a 6.8 SPC (or 6.5 Grendel) capability, there are a numerous upper receivers (including the LMT MRP mentioned earlier) available that you can put on an AR-15 lower receiver with two pins and a new set of magazines to run an alternative chambering.

The ACR's ergonomics are nice, but are they really a quantum leap over what you can achieve with Magpul's own MIAD grip and UBR stock and a BCM Gunfighter charging handle on a mainstream AR-15 platform? I don't think they are.

The other issue I have with any new weapon, including the ACR, is logistics. As the old saying goes, "Amateurs think about tactics. Professionals think about logistics." There are two levels of logistics problems with any firearm that is outside the mainstream.

The first level of logistics issue is "peacetime" sustainability. If one of my AR-15's (or an AK-47, a Remington 870 shotgun, a Remington 700 bolt-action rifle, a 1911 or Glock pistol, or numerous other established, mainstream weapons) breaks, I can order replacement parts from any one of dozens or hundreds of vendors on the Internet, have them at my front door within a few days, and fix it myself with widely-available knowledge from both manufacturers and the community. If an ACR, SCAR, or a Robinson Arms XCR breaks, what do I do? Can I get spare parts and fix it myself? Maybe, maybe not. What if it breaks 20 years from now, when the original manufacturer may or may not still be in business? Unless the legal environment changes drastically, I'm betting that I'll still be able to buy all the AR-15 parts I want at that time.

The second level of logistics issue is "wartime" sustainability, as in a SHTF scenario. The wide availability of parts makes it easy (and highly recommended) to stock your own spare parts. If things get really bad, you're also more likely to be able to scrounge parts for a mainstream weapon than for something exotic like the ACR.

It's important to note that my concerns are not specific to the ACR itself. The 1:9 barrel notwithstanding, the ACR appears to be among the best of the new breed of successors to the venerable AR-15 platform, which is now over 50 years old. However, before we leap into the brave-new world of a next-generation rifle, we need to make sure that the new capabilities are worth the cost and, more importantly, that it is a sustainable weapons system (whether "we" are civilian shooters or the military/law enforcement community).

So, what's the bottom-line?

If you have an extra $3,000 to spend on a wicked-cool new rifle to add to your collection, the ACR is, without a doubt, a great choice. Just replace the barrel with a 1:7 twist if you want to get the best performance.

If, on the other hand, you want a practical rifle for home defense/SHTF applications, I think you're better off with a well-configured AR-15 and some training (more on that in another post), at least for now. This may change if the ACR's price comes down and the logistics issues are mitigated (either by run-away commercial success or widespread adoption by the military and/or law enforcement).

Until next time, keep your powder dry!

(Image copyright 2010, Bushmaster Firearms, Inc.)

By: Guardian