Bushmaster ACR replacement barrels

The moment ACR owners have been waiting for has finally arrived. Well kinda. Bushmaster will soon be shipping ACR replacement barrels in different calibers. I know what you are thinking, “I can finally have an ACR in 300 BLK!”

Not just yet, Bushmaster decided they’d work on the 450 Bushmaster and 6.8 SPC barrels first and they’re ready to go. Don’t even get me started. The Bushmaster rep I spoke with promised they’re working on 300 BLK barrels next, but didn’t give me a timeframe.

In addition to the new barrels, Bushmaster is also releasing new hand guards for the ACR in M-LOK and square drop.

An ACR pistol is also on the way, and yes, a brace is already in the works. We will be getting a couple of barrels in for review soon. Stay tuned for more information.

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

29 COMMENTS

  6. I am not one to complain about paying a premium price for a premium firearm but the ACR is still overpriced and offers nothing unique. The only thing the ACR had going for it over a quality AR-15 was the folding stock but at that price it isn’t worth it.

    The ACR had its day ten years ago when piston rifles were all the rage and if you didn’t have one you weren’t a real operator. However, it had too many false starts and unfulfilled promises. Plus, thankfully, the piston crazy has abated.

    But it will finally have quick change barrels you say? So what? that was a marketing gimmick ten years ago at best. Even if Bushmaster had released the barrels in a timely fashion it isn’t like you are going to carry all of them and assorted magazines so that you can use whatever caliber you find while you’re fighting off hordes of zombies.

    Plus, the AR platform can swap calibers just as easily; loosen two pins, swap upper, re-seat pins and you’re done. You don’t even have to re-zero your scopes.

    • “Plus, thankfully, the piston crazy has abated” . Really? You mean the way that the Tavor, (piston based gas system), is the battle rifle of the Isreali military?

      Or the SCAR, the piston based rifle that the US military determined was superior to the DI system of it’s main DI competitor? The only reason the SCAR wasn’t selected as the US primary battle field weapon was the replacement cost.

      Or that some of the US Marines are starting to be issued the M27, the select fire version of the HK 416, a piston activated system? The plans at this point is to ultimately replace all of the old M4’s with the M27.

      It looks like, if the piston “craze” continues, the direct impingement gas system will be relegated to an oddity of the private market, not utilized by the primary militaries of the world.

      • In actuality, the SCAR has a solid action and barrel which happens to be encased in clunky garbage.

        Meanwhile, the M27 is vastly overrated with problems from extremely high-wear on parts that should last tens of thousands of rounds.

        Also, let’s not get into how the M4/M16 is *NOT* DI, it’s a DGFIP (Direct Gas Feed Internal Piston). The weakest links there has been the gas key on the carrier and the rings on the back of the bolt (the piston part). Easily solved problems with proper carrier construction and a proper one-piece gas ring. That is the cheapest solution, really.

        • I notice your only rebuttal to my statement on the SCAR is “in actuality, the SCAR is a solid action and barrel encased in clunky garbage” ? I have never heard this description of a rifles action as being “solid”, and as for “clunky garbage”, that’s more of an adhominem put down based on a appearance, and not a statement countering to it’s documented superior performance compared to the DI competitor.

          Your statement as to the M27 as being “overrated” and prone to “excessive wear” , maybe; but you are not rebutting the statement that it is more reliable than the DI system during it’s operating life span.

          Finally, even you know how weak your arguments are when you close with some “controversy” I’ve never heard of about whether a direct impingement gas system is really a DGFIP.

          No, you simply threw out a lot of words, hoping no one would notice that none of it rebutted my initial statement.

      • Oh for crying out loud. I am well aware that just about every modern military small arm of the last hundred years has been an external piston operated system. Likewise, I am equally aware that the M-16 family of rifles is the exception and not the rule.

        What I was referring to was an idea that surfaced about ten years in the private US market that the traditional AR-15’s gas system was somehow both flawed and obsolete indicating that the private citizen needed to trade in his rifles for external piston driven replacements.

        This idea led to the introduction of rifles such as the ACR, SCAR, XCR, Sig 556, HK MR-556, and Ruger SR-556 while YouTube channel talking heads insisted that these rifles would be the future and we needed to get onboard using the same logic as they applied to ‘flavor of the month’ cartridges such as .45 GAP, .357 Sig, 6.8 SPC, and a few other rounds that I won’t name because I don’t want to offend people who still insisting they are the future. Frankly, the YouTube talking heads (and many keyboard commandos on the firearms forums) were not so subtlety stating that if you wanted to be a cool kid you needed to upgrade.

        All of these rifles had the same problems and never penetrated the market in the same way as their direct competitor, the AR-15. These rifles were all almost twice what a quality AR sold for while using the exact same cartridge and magazine as the AR. In addition, these rifles all weighed a pound or more then the AR and were no more accurate, reliable, or customizable then the AR.

        Thankfully, that school of thought has died and has been buried in the same graveyard of unfulfilled dreams as the previously mentioned cartridges and quick caliber change barrels.

  7. It makes me laugh they have to “work on” a 300blk barrel. I would think that’s a pretty simple exercise really. Lookup up weight vs capabilities they’ve already lost even if they don’t realize it. Too $$, too heavy, too limited of parts interchange.

  9. Bwahahahahahahhahahahahahahahha! Year of the ACR? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Maybe like ten years ago, dude. I am pretty sure there was NO ONE as fervent a fan of the ACR as I was when they were first out. Then I got tired of constantly being jerked around on the modular features, and I build my own rifles that were better for cheaper. They had their chance, and blew it BIG TIME.

  11. Oh no !!!! more Evil Black AsSalt Rifles, quick torch them before they reproduce.

  12. I owned one and while agree with all the sentiments above, the biggest issue with the gun is realized once you hold the thing.

    Since the rear half of the gun is so light, it accentuates the weight of the barrel and piston system and makes it really front-heavy. The barrels they originally came with were 1:9 twist and so mediocre in accuracy the only benefit of the gun was that it was a piston gun. At this point you can go get any number of short stroke piston kits / uppers or a SCAR, or go with a Faxon ARAK upper if you want a long stroke piston. Most of these options allow you to utilize an SBR lower if you have one too.

  13. OK. Maybe this will drive prices high enough so that I can get a reasonable return on my investment. This train left the station years ago and recently have been considering selling the thing. I like my ACR. It’s solid. (Heavy-solid too) But even at its used price I could get a couple of other somethings or another nice something. What could have been a good concept dried on the vine, and I’ll be surprised if Bushmaster can revive it at all.

  14. DOA. Sorry to beat our dearly departed equine friend but yeah the ACR never really did offer anything groundbreaking, aside from being slightly cheaper than the SCAR (see note below). Other than that it doesn’t really offer much that the AR platform doesn’t or cannot do. Quick change barrels? There’s an upper from somebody for that or just swap the whole upper. Piston operating system? There are dedicated uppers, Bolt Carriers, and conversion kits available. Modular Accessory mounting? My AR laughs in Keymod, M-lok, Picatinny, and Weaver. Light Weight? Ha!

    However, it does look kinda cool and it isn’t an AR so it does have that going for it, and that may make a difference to those of us that are sick and tired of having the gun industry shoot their loads of ARs down our throats at every turn. Nothing against the AR but I’m just tired of seeing 475 different brands of the exact same gun at every gun counter.

    Now, if one wants to revive the ACR here are 3 things I think that need to happen.

    1. Try to price it competitively with the AR. Nobody is gonna pay much more than an AR for a wanna be SCAR and nobody is gonna pay near SCAR prices for a knock off that doesn’t have FNH on the magwell.

    2. Get those barrels packaged into kits. I know right now all the calibers they’re offering will use the standard STANAG magazine and 5.56 bolt head, but not every caliber the customer wants will. So start working on other, popular caliber conversions. 7.62x39mm comes to mind.

    3. Think about going to full rifle calibers with a different model. Don’t limit the ACR to just intermediate calibers. Your competitors (AR and SCAR) both have rifle caliber variants and so should you.

    NOTE: Cheaper claim was based off of gun broker listings for the guns.

    ACR: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/769195040
    SCAR 16: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/767543787

  16. I remember wanting to buy this rifle called the Magpul Massada, it was going to be the “NEW WEAPON” of the future. Cerberus got ahold of it and it went to pot, when Travis Haley went to fire the rifle for the first time he went prone on the magazine and the rifle jammed. Can’t remember the other laundry list of problems shooters had with it but it was thumbs down from the peanut gallery of pros. Plus with the rediculous price tag you can build a better AR. Nope it will always just be that Unicorn for me, something ethereal that dosnt really exist and will always just be some Magpul poster. A dream that devolved into a nightmare. Bummer.

  17. LOL.

    The Bushmaster/Remington booth was even selling T shirts with a picture of bigfoot riding a unicorn while holding an ACR. So even the manufacturer is admitting that the ACR was mythical vaporware.

    Plus who wants an overpriced hunk of plastic when AR15s are cheap, reliable, and ubiquitous?

    • “I’m gonna use steel cases in my 5,000 dollar gun and then complain when the gun doesn’t work and blame the piston”

Comments are closed.