The bushmaster m17s (5.56 NATO)
This rifle design has had many owners over the years. It was
originally designed to compete for the Australian military rifle contract, but
the steyr Aug was selected, mostly because the m17s’s extruded aluminum chassis
would reach uncomfortable temperatures during sustained fire or extended direct
sunlight. The design was then sold to several different companies before
bushmaster bought it and tried to sell it to the American public. It was a
flop, as bullpups are not very popular in the US. Bushmaster stopped production
in the nineties and switched to making the ar15 in time to save their company
from the m17s’s profit failures.
I loved the concept of a bullpup, full length barrel, in a
very small package. What’s not to like, well we’ll get there… I got mine for
$650 from a guy on ksl classifieds, and loved the simplicity. The bolt ran on
op rods (2 rods that acts like tracks on a monorail.) and not the receiver, it
always worked great, it had pistol type sights on a carry handle that the rear
also served as a charging handle, and a rail which I threw a 4-12 power cabalas
pine ridge scope on. I added a rail to the bottom and gave it a cheap fore grip
and a Wal-Mart bipod (Winchester) it operates on a short stroke gas piston
system so it shot really well. I could
shoot 2 inch groups with regularity at 100 yards. The m17s is the first gun
that I took past 100 yards, in fact I could hit a steel head and shoulders
target at 400 yards with it (yes I know it’s not all that far, but it was still
amazing to me.) I used it in a three gun competition after it had been to
several ranges and I had about 500 rounds through it, and that is when I
learned of the many drawbacks to a bullpup. I had to shoot weak hand for one
stage, and after 5 rounds had welts, a bruise, and several burns from the cases
being ejected into my trinkeia and falling down my shirt. The scope sits way
too high to do any close up shots (I ended up taking it off and running the
irons ½ way through) the balance is fine on a bench but shooting the m17s on the
move sucks, and reloading was painfully slow as you had to pull the mag free
before fumbling the fresh one in. now to the trigger, it is difficult to find a
good word for how terrible it was, imagine for a second you are hiking a
mountain range near the edge of a cliff and purely by accident you dislodge a portion
of the cliff face. You scramble to safety and watch the large hunk of rock. As
it falls it scrapes along the cliff it fell from making a hideous scraping
sound that echoes for miles around, now add that sound to the feeling of being
propelled into the air by a trampoline and you will start to see what I mean.
Loud, gritty, spongy, numb, inconsistent, everything you don’t want in a
trigger, that is the m17s. Oh I almost forgot the charging handle likes to
pinch flesh when you run it. Let’s just say I didn’t keep it long.
THE GOOD:
It ran great.
The size and accuracy were wonderful
I cannot say enough about op-rods and a short stroke piston system, it’s a match made in heaven.
The pine ridge scope is great for 100-200 hunting. But it is not a sniper scope.
THE BAD:
It was plagued by ergonomic problems.
Its chassis would burn your cheek if you shot too much.
It cannot be fired left handed
The length of pull is quite long, something I have noticed on all bullpups I have handled.
Mag changes are not easy under pressure when you need to stuff the fresh mag under your armpit where you cannot see well.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
bullpups suck, but the idea is still cool. There are many reasons that the m17s is no longer made
