Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Smith and Wesson sport 2 VS Bushmaster quick response carbine

I'm a little stuck between the 2, but want to make a purchase. I like the 1:8 twist the QRC has, however I would want to buy an a2 front sight. Which the sport 2 includes. Just want to hear some opinions.

I have no experience here, but; based on name only. I would select SW with recently acquired Thompson Center barrel making expertise over Bushmaster which is now part of the Freedom Group and all the shoddy quality that has come to represent.

The 1:9 twist should be optimized for 55 to 62 grain bullets and the 1:8 will optimum in the 68 to 77 range. (based on my reading) For 50-55 gr varmints/predator or 55gr fmj, I expect a TC barrel to blow the doors off any twist or over-twist from Ilion NY. Now, I am really prejudiced after some horrendous rifle and shotgun experiences from Ilion. Not to mention, customer dis-service.

It is funny, I read a lot about fast twist and what I see selling are cases of 55 fmj golden eagle ammo. Spinning them up to 1:8 is buying you nothing and costing you something.

I have no doubt Bushmaster was a respected name as was Marlin and H&R prior to their assimilation into the evil empire. I also got a taste of Ilion NY H&R products. More bad news.

over twist. Thats hillarious.

For the sake of brevity, I did not want to go into a diatribe on how every bullet/velocity has an optimum twist. Not stable, not accurate, but OPTIMUM.

If I was able to lighten up your day, I guess it was worth posting. I do realize AR shooters are not generally looking for match performance and those who are, might be shooting heavy bullets at long range. I think the average shooter is using 55-62 grain bullets for inanimate targets. And the BEST twist for those bullets is (in theory) 1:10 to 1:9. The 50gr should be optimum in a 1:12, and there I do have considerable experience.

Now you have to give me more than 4 words. Or better yet, help the OP with his choice. As for me, I would not buy a roll of used toilet paper from Ilion NY.

I think I'd take S&W Quality Control over Bushmaster; otherwise pick the one you want based on features.

Last weekend I walked into the LGS, who had a deep discount sale on S&W's. I walked past them and paid more for a Colt 6920.

Faster twist than needed might hurt you if the bullets are not concentric or otherwise well made, but most of the time it doesn't hurt. Buys a little more wounding power too, most of the time.

I have an early colt ar-15 hbar with the a2 handle. it is a nice gun and for open sights surprise me how well I can shoot it. Not expecting much, those sights work ok. The only problem was the 7-8 pound trigger pull. it almost maxed out my gauge. I replaced the trigger and I am very happy with that one.

Colt is a name that you can resell. Looking for A2 sights, dont see how you go wrong. But it did cost me more than the Sport II. That might be a good thing too. It held its value.

Now, I hope my memory is right, I think my older hbar is 1:8 while the current stainless colt hbar are 1:9. That is odd, is it not? Why did Colt do that I wonder

My HBar with carry handle that I bought in 1989 was 1/7 twist. A 1/9 barrel is an abortion for heavier bullets, I would not pay to own a bushmaster, get a Colt if you can.

It was worth a laugh anyway... shooting 52bthps in a 6.5 twist 223 with ZERO issues, but also allowing me to shoot 90s....

The over twisting thing is over rated...

RE Rem... I buy one of their guns now and then, last one about a year or so ago. I have yet to have a complaint about anything Remington.... YMMV as lemons come along all the time from everyone out there.

OP choice.... either one would work for most purposes. Pick the one he feels best with.

Jimmy, I just pulled mine out and looked, it is 1:7. I dont know the year, around 1990 I guess. I came to this sub forum, not knowing anything about AR and now, I got the same gun as you. I did not stop there. But that was a good start. Yea, I am new to this AR platform. My shooting is pure sport and I look at the guns a little different. Beyond that, I just have a major grudge against freedom group.

An abortion for heavy bullets. No doubt. I was looking at factory heavy bullet loads and those are serious money! I dont see a shooter on a sport II budget shelling out for that stuff. Reloading might work.

I was shopping around the internet and saw that Rock River offers a varmint model with a 1:12 twist. There is a market with a purpose where the right twist is slower.

I wonder what a 90 grain 223 can do, it must be approaching the 243 win?

I that price range there is also Ruger. Ruger has great customer service. The website shows 1:8 and A2 front. No idea beyond that quick perusal.

90s buck the wind pretty good out to 1000 yards that I shot them to.

I always tend to forget there are folks that don't reload. I have reloaded since I was in my teens..... I have not shot a factory load to speak of since the late 70s, other than dove loads at times and steel at times depending on cost of ammo.

What can a 70 grain TSX do?