Bushmaster To Release Cutting Edge Rifle; Shoots Self in Foot

Hitler and I apparently had the same reaction upon learning that the Bushmaster/Remington/Magpul ACR is now going to cost $3061 in civilian hands with a 1/9 NON CHROME-LINED BARREL. For some perspective, you can get a fantastic LWRC M6A2 for about $2000. The FN Scar, which would have been the ACR's primary competitor, has an MSRP around $2400 for the 5.56mm model and $2900 for the 7.62x51 variant.

I have been waiting with baited breath for several years for Remington to release the ACR, which started life as the Magpul Masada. Magpul said they would try to keep the price around $1500, which I would have gladly paid. That's about what you'd pay for a souped-up, top-shelf piston powered AR15. What Bushmaster and Remington have effectively done is take a cutting-edge design from Magpul, then build it down to a price (why else would you NOT line the barrel and chamber with chrome?), then give it a price tag that would make H&K fanboys flinch. Remington (who now owns the infamous Bushmaster name) had the recipe for a great weapon system that I think could have edged the AR out of the law-enforcement and personal defense niche. As it existed at Magpul, the ACR was revolutionary. Now it is just another piston operated 5.56, but priced at about twice what the competition charges. And marketed under a name that is known for cutting corners on their AR15s.

Congrats Remington/Bushmaster. You've officially shot yourselves in the foot.

Prove me wrong.