Bushmaster Varmint issues

[J5guy]

Hello,

First I'll say i have emailed Bushmaster and await a response but if this is a small issue i can remedy myself I would rather not go through the hassle of sending it in.

I just purchased a Bushmaster Varmint .223 24" barrel 1 in 9 twist. Upon getting it home and starting to set it up I noticed the barrel is not in the center of the free float hand guard. After turning it upside down i noticed the sling mount is also not directly under the barrel but is off the to the side. I put a non swivel bipod on it and the rifle cants to the left quite a bit. Hopefully the pics will show these issues. When looking down the top of the rifle the action /rail and barrel seem to be in line, the handguard is what looks crooked.

So i guess my questions are, what could be causing this? is this handguard held on by the barrel nut? does the receiver need to be lapped? There is a tension ring I can loosen by hand but to remove the handguard I have to remove the gas tube first correct? Are the two sets screws under the gas check all I need to remove to take out the gas tube (See Pic)? There are holes in the handguard the gas tube has to pass through, it doesn't have to turn as much as the handguard would turn going to the previous hole, hopefully that makes sense.

I don't think i can live with the barrel being that off center in the handguard. I am going to put a swivel bipod on which would fix the cant problem.

I do not own a lapping tool nor do i intend to buy one.

Rifle is going to be used for varmint hunting but also to get me started in the Ar class long range matches out to 500yrds. These are MOA matches so accuracy is pretty important. Bolt class is getting too easy, just kidding.

I appreciate any help.

Jason

 

[Ggmac]

I would wait until you hear back from them . I wouldn't touch anything on it . I'm assuming you purchased a complete rifle, not a lower and upper as assemblies .
It would be my guess the free float tube just needs to be properly timed . Not knowing how your gas tube is sitting , centered or biased it could also be the barrel nut if it's biased , needing to be torqued or timed properly.

 

[J5guy]

I would wait until you hear back from them . I wouldn't touch anything on it . I'm assuming you purchased a complete rifle, not a lower and upper as assemblies .
It would be my guess the free float tube just needs to be properly timed . Not knowing how your gas tube is sitting , centered or biased it could also be the barrel nut if it's biased , needing to be torqued or timed properly.

Yes, complete rifle. I according to what I have read and what the guy at my Local said, it is three pieces. Everything looks square besides the handguard. We were thinking the same as the timing just needs to be corrected but leary to do too much in case it is a bigger issue. I appreciate the response.

Jason

 

[Bojo]

Maybe the inside threads of the hangaurd were not cut straight to it ??? That would give you that cockeyed look.

 

[J5guy]

Maybe the inside threads of the hangaurd were not cut straight to it ??? That would give you that cockeyed look.

It certainly could be. The guy that looked at it said he thought it was cross threaded but I don't think you could get it threaded on all the way if it was.

 

[Knotwild]

I'd ask for my money back and buy a Rock River.

 

[Larryh128]

Hello,

First I'll say i have emailed Bushmaster and await a response but if this is a small issue i can remedy myself I would rather not go through the hassle of sending it in.

I just purchased a Bushmaster Varmint .223 24" barrel 1 in 9 twist. Upon getting it home and starting to set it up I noticed the barrel is not in the center of the free float hand guard. After turning it upside down i noticed the sling mount is also not directly under the barrel but is off the to the side. I put a non swivel bipod on it and the rifle cants to the left quite a bit. Hopefully the pics will show these issues. When looking down the top of the rifle the action /rail and barrel seem to be in line, the handguard is what looks crooked.

So i guess my questions are, what could be causing this? is this handguard held on by the barrel nut? does the receiver need to be lapped? There is a tension ring I can loosen by hand but to remove the handguard I have to remove the gas tube first correct? Are the two sets screws under the gas check all I need to remove to take out the gas tube (See Pic)? There are holes in the handguard the gas tube has to pass through, it doesn't have to turn as much as the handguard would turn going to the previous hole, hopefully that makes sense.

I don't think i can live with the barrel being that off center in the handguard. I am going to put a swivel bipod on which would fix the cant problem.

I do not own a lapping tool nor do i intend to buy one.

Rifle is going to be used for varmint hunting but also to get me started in the Ar class long range matches out to 500yrds. These are MOA matches so accuracy is pretty important. Bolt class is getting too easy, just kidding.

I appreciate any help.

Jason

Was the top of the gas block modified? Looks like it was a cut off sight tower.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

My guess also , some how cross threaded the hand guard.

 

[J5guy]

I'd ask for my money back and buy a Rock River.

I may. We will see how big of an issue this ends up being. Issue being I paid 1/2 of a rock river for this one. Yeah I know. Get what you pay for, I know 2 guys with this same rifle and they both shoot sub moa.

 

[J5guy]

Was the top of the gas block modified? Looks like it was a cut off sight tower.

All stock photos show it like mine is. Just the way it was made I guess.

 

[mac86951]

Wow, that looks like a new one to me...

Something fishy going on with the handguard and maybe barrel nut; wait to see what they say back.

Question: do you have disassembly tools?

-mac

 

[X Ring Accuracy]

This gun schtuff aint rocket science. Look at whats the issue and decided if it's a factory problem. Most likely it is. Once figured out, it is your call to send back. If threaded out of concentric it is on them get the RA # and off it goes. If it is poor assembly.....sometimes worth doing yourself.

 

[J5guy]

Wow, that looks like a new one to me...

Something fishy going on with the handguard and maybe barrel nut; wait to see what they say back.

Question: do you have disassembly tools?

Yes it is new. I have a couple basic gunsmith sets, wrenches etc but that's it. I have attempted, albeit not very hard, to remove the handguard but I don't want to make anything worse or damage something where they won't warranty it. Or they just say well someone messed with it so here is your bill etc.

 

[J5guy]

This gun schtuff aint rocket science. Look at whats the issue and decided if it's a factory problem. Most likely it is. Once figured out, it is your call to send back. If threaded out of concentric it is on them get the RA # and off it goes. If it is poor assembly.....sometimes worth doing yourself.

Yup. Seems to consensus is most likely the handguard was poorly made or installed. I haven't had a chance to shoot it but if it shoots straight I may just deal with it.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Just shoot it until you can get a better quality handguard. I wouldnt bother with sending it back- how can they fix it if they didnt know what was going on to start with?

 

[joshb]

I’d send it back. If they let that get by quality control, what else did they screw up? If you wait or shoot it, you accept it as is.

 

[Knotwild]

I may. We will see how big of an issue this ends up being. Issue being I paid 1/2 of a rock river for this one. Yeah I know. Get what you pay for, I know 2 guys with this same rifle and they both shoot sub moa.

I'm not trying to run your decision down; we all should live within our budget. Plus I have certainly made bad decisions too. Right now I am fighting the plastic trigger guard on a 783 Remington, but I wanted something cheap to play with and learn from (stock bedding, etc.) and now I get to address the problem. So, see, we are in the same boat!

All my life I thought I was smart.

 

[CT10ring]

I had the same Bushmaster - it was a good 1/2"- 3/4" or better shooter @ 100yds. 8 yrs ago tho... Sold it due to living/moving changes, etc. I'd say there is something wrong with this setup/assembly.
That's how the gas blocks look on these, fyi. Me, I'd send it back

 

[J5guy]

Well, this is a pretty old thread but I figured I would offer some sort of an update. I shipped the rifle to Ahlmans in Morristown MN, per bushmasters instructions and they paid for everything. The rifle shipped out on April 14th and I just got it back on June 7th. So darn near 2 months after I was told it would take 2-3 weeks. So that sucked, I missed a match I specifically bought the rifle for. I was told a month or so in that the guy that works on them was on vacation and wasn't gonna be back till after memorial day. Slightly irritating, everyone needs a vacation but they only have one guy that can work on these? Anyways, the issue was fixed, barrel is centered on the handguard and the sling swivel is centered on the rifle. After inspecting the rifle now I see the gas block is now crooked to the receiver. So looking down the bottom of the barrel the gas block is rotated clockwise a little from the receiver. I'm not sure that this is an issue? I am going to give bushmaster a call and ask them but there is no way in hell I am sending this thing in again. 2 months for the thing to ship 3 1/2 hours from where I live to be fixed. I took it out today to start a barrel break in process and now I have an issue with running out of elevation, which I think is a scope issue as the PST gen1 I put on their was the same one I had on my 40X which I had to get a 20MOA rail for to make it out past 500 yards. Who knows, Vortex said it sounded like I mounted it correctly and said buy a 20moa rail, I'm starting to think something is off with the scope.

I should add I was never contected or informed as to what was wrong originally or if they had to install new parts etc. I think it would be nice to know what the issue was.

 

[Riesel]

How did it shoot before running out of elevation? You need to look for a silver lining on this dark cloud. If this rifle starts playing with your head..................