The Latest from Cactus Tactical: Bushmaster ACR

After taking out the ACR and handling it for a few minutes the quality is obvious. The ACR has an aircraft grade aluminum upper and Magpul’s patented polymer lower. The ACR basic model has polymer hand guards that somewhat resemble the Magpul MOE hand guards and the enhanced model features an aluminum quad rail. Another key difference between the enhanced and basic models is the butt stock, the enhanced version comes with a fully adjustable and side folding stock whereas the basic is fixed and only has an adjustable cheek rest. The basic model’s butt stock length can be adjusted however by purchasing extensions from Magpul. Both models feature a 1913 picatinny rail that extends the whole length of the upper receiver.

The barrel that came with the basic model was a 16.5 inch, 1:9 twist and features Remington’s proprietary dry lube finish. The ability to change out the barrels on the fly is probably one of the ACR’s most noticeable features. Doing so is almost effortless, and switching out a barrel, bolt, and magazine to go from a 5.56 to a 6.8 can be done in less than 3 minutes.

The ACR sports the gas piston system which keeps the receiver cooler and cleaner. There are two conspicuously marked positions for the gas system; U and S, which stand for suppressed and unsuppressed. The gas piston system is also broken down to aid in cleaning, which by the way will need to be done quite regularly since it was the dirtiest part of the gun after firing.

The overall construction of the ACR makes it easy to believe that it is an extremely durable weapon system. There are reports out there of owners putting this gun through some serious tests to include soaking it in mud and water and picking it up and firing it with no problems.

Almost everything on the weapon system is ambidextrous. If anyone has watched Magpul’s Art of the Tactical Carbine, you can see why this feature was heavily emphasized. Firing and reloading from the off hand is noticeably easy. With the bolt catch/release located at fire control position, it makes it easy to perform weapon malfunctions clearings from the primary or weak firing side as well as magazine changes.

Some features that can be reversed to suit a left handed shooter would be the charging handle, and some of the attachment points. The charging handle is placed at the top of the upper receiver towards the front which makes it easy to manipulate it while still keeping your firing hand at fire control. It also works as the bolt forward assist. The charging handle can be easily replaced to suit a left handed shooter by using a bullet tip to depress a latch located within the top picatinny rail above the charging handle and simply flipping the configuration. The single sling attachment point is located at the front of the butt stock and can be reversed to the other side of the weapon by removing a few screws and placing it on the other side. There are also 3 swivel sling attachment points, 1 located on both sides of the hand guards, and 1 located at the rear of the butt stock. The rear swivel sling attachment point can be reversed to the other side of the stock by removing the screw and reversing the configuration.

We would have to say the ACR was pretty much everything anticipated except for the price. This is blamed on Bushmaster, since the price was originally stated as “being affordable,” and probably around the $1,500 mark for the basic model. Well, after the production delays, that price for the basic model jumped up to around $2,400 for the basic, and $3,200 for the enhanced. Its reasonably assumable that the public would be up in arms after promising us an affordable price, then hiking that price up 60%. When compared to the price of a Robinson XCR, or even a SCAR the ACR is substantially more expensive. Regardless if I believe the ACR is expensive; it is however, not unobtainable. And for the quality of construction for durability, and reliability of function for consistent performance the ACR is worth the money

Labels: ACR, Bushmaster, Magpul Masada