Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL (Will Martin) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Bushmaster Message-ID: <11694@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 24 Nov 89 06:01:47 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 70 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Will Martin The following was some information recently sent to the firearms mailing list. Since the subject of the Bushmaster pistol appeared in the "sci.military" mail Digest, I thought it would be worthwhile to submit a copy of this info. Random's posting mentioned that he didn't know how it is held or how the sights are used, and this covers that: (The context of this was a discussion of the Australian Automatic Arms .223 semi-auto pistol which has been advertised in recent issues of Shotgun News and which is basically a cut-down semi-auto rifle.) The .223 semi-auto pistol, like the Australian Automatic Arms and Bushmaster models mentioned in preceeding postings, grew out of a design that was originally implemented in caliber .221 Fireball as an aircrew survival weapon, as SHUEE cited. That was created as a bullpup design, with the shooter's forearm acting as a stock, thus creating a very compact weapon, easily stowed in the aircraft survival kit. The pistol-grip and trigger assembly swiveled to the right or left about 30 degrees or so, which let the body of the gun and the magazine lie on the outer side of the shooter's forearm whether he used the right or left hand. Provisions were made for switching the ejection to either side, sort of like the way the Steyr AUG does now. That let it eject to the side away from the arm. The shooter extends his shooting arm and can clasp the rear section of the pistol and his forearm with the hand of the non-shooting arm for extra support, if desired. Holding the gun up at eye level, then, allows the sights to be used -- they are on the rotating portion so are always up and vertical. The original survival gun was a really neat toy; I was able to see it in a non-firing demonstration during Vietnam when I worked at the Army Aviation Systems Command -- one was brought in to show to the people in the crash survivability office there and I was able to sit in on the session. It really fit the arm comfortably and steadily, and was a well-constructed firearm. Unfortunately, I just cannot recall the name -- does anyone remember it? Bushmaster adopted the design (or bought out the inventor, or the inventor founded Bushmaster -- I'm not sure which) and scaled it up to .223. At that point, reliability problems set in. Bushmaster also used the same action to build a conventional rifle that looked somewhat like an AR-15 from the outside, but had a different action. I had thought that Bushmaster went out of business after a relatively short time, but I recall seeing models of their rifles for sale as new, stocked items in Shotgun News ads not all that long ago (maybe a year or two?); maybe they were still in business, or maybe that was stock on the shelves that just had never sold. This Australian Auto Arms model doesn't have any of the bullpup or swivel features, and appears to be a cut-down assault rifle (though, to meet BATF standards, I suppose it was actually constructed on a slightly different receiver). The ad doesn't mention "Leader", but I take it from SHUEE's reference to that brand that this is basically the Leader rifle action? Leaders disappeared some time back, long before the current anti-semiauto activity. I find it interesting that it is being imported these days and didn't get banned. Also that it is marketed by a California company... It certainly looks like a great toy, but I'm finding it hard to figure out just what it would be best used for. The muzzle blast must be something fierce! .223 has too much penetration for this to be all that great at bowling pin shoots and I don't think small bullets at high velocity are very useful for falling-plate matches. I notice from the ad that it appears to have a bayonet lug. Maybe its for protection from Jimmy-Carter-type killer rabbits? After you fire off all 30 rounds you can fix a bayonet to keep them from swarming into your boat... :-) I'd like to see somebody run one of these thru the New York City pistol-permit process... :-) Regards, Will