Gun Review: Shooting the Bushmaster C-22 AR and Combo Kit

Phil White
by Phil White

Nathaniel S has given you most of the information on the C22 yesterday but there are some range impressions and additional information I’d like to share with you, our readers.

Katie A and myself have been at the annual Remington Tactical event at Gunsite this past week. We had the opportunity to do a lot of shooting, see several new guns and hear some very exciting news I’m sure many of you will be interested in (stay tuned for it, we had to promise not to leak it, but it is worth the wait). But I am getting off topic … back to the Remington C22 …

To clarify some readers’ questions the C22 is built from a Carbon 15 base. The controls are pretty much standard AR. The barrel is a regular barrel and not sleeved as some are. Most any AR add-on will fit the C22. The barrel nut is a part to keep in mind that is proprietary. The owner can change the handguards if the standard delta ring is used to secure the handguard.

Nathaniel S gave you the specs for the C-22 but there is an additional option not mentioned, which includes the complete lower, a C22 upper and a .223 complete upper.

C22 Carbine 90978
• 16” Chrome-moly barrel
• Standard M4 6 Position stock
• Carbon upper and lower receiver
• Standard AR lower receiver parts
• Accepts 223 upper receivers
• Accepts aftermarket AR controls, grips, and 2 piece hand-guards.
• 25 rnd Black Dog magazine

CM15 / C22 Combo 91042 CM15/C22 Combo 10 Rnd 91043
• 223 upper uses CM15 Aluminum upper
• 16” 223 chrome moly barrel
• Both uppers equipped with MFT quad rail hand guard
• 91042 ship with 1 GI 30 rnd and 1 Black Dog 25 rnd mag
• 91043 ships with 1 GI 10 rnd and 1 Black Dog 10 rnd mag

We shot the C22 on our first day and as I mentioned before in my R25 II post, we had some very un Arizona like weather—cold and raining hard. It didn’t stop us from shooting though. These rifles had been fired about 500 times without cleaning so between that and being soaked inside and out it caused a few problems with functioning. With a little wipe down and some generous lubing everything went back to normal function wise. I’m sure had the Bushmaster folks known it was going to pour down they would have cleaned the rifles before hand.

The rifles were equipped with EoTechs, which we shot from 50 yards at steel 8-inch targets. Consistent accuracy was no problem as long as the shooter did their part.

After breaking for lunch we took the C22’s to the shoothouse, which I have to say, is always a good time and lets you run the rifle fairly hard. It was also dry!

In the shoot house there were plenty of hallways and blind corners with bad guy targets in the most unlikely places. I dried the rifle off a bit, lubed it and then it was off to shoot some targets. I ran through shooting triple taps with two in the chest and one to the head as fast as I could pull the trigger. In that environment I had no problems and handling was fast as light as the rifle is.

Katie had to swap guns for her run. It turns out one of the Black Dog mags was bad and the rifle was still wet inside. That’s never a good combination for a semi-auto 22 of any kind. The Gunsite policy is if you’re not shooting the barrel is pointed straight up when getting more ammo etc. and in this case the rain ran down the barrel real easy!

Overall the C22 should give the other rifles in it’s class a good run for the money. The price is right and the ability to change accessories is a good thing for most people. Then there’s always the complete kit for .22 and .223. I don’t have a price for you on the combo but I hope to have one soon. They are worth having a look at when your dealer gets them in.

Steve says: I was not at the shoot, but my 2c for what they are worth is this: A primarily .22 but with .223 combo, priced right, is an innovative product. I can see parents buying the combo and promising their kids that they can have the .223 upper only after they learn to shoot / learn gun safety / their next birthday / Christmas etc.

Phil White
Phil White

Retired police officer with 30 years of service. Firearms instructor and SRU team member. I still instruct with local agencies. My daily carry pistol is the tried and true 1911. I'm retired as associate editor since December 14th 2017. My replacement is my friend Pete M email: pete.m@staff.thefirearmblog.com you can reach Pete for product reviews etc.

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  • SgtRed SgtRed on Dec 12, 2014

    Current website information on bushmaster.com is that the upper receiver on the carbon rifles is the aluminum Sportical upper, which would eliminate any proprietary barrel nit nonsense, any word on this?

  • Leo Leo on Dec 13, 2014

    why would anyone buy/use $1K + eotech for $300 22lr rifle?

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