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Meet my new pistol

Particle

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Jul 31, 2007
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For years I'd always wanted a Bushmaster M4A3, but for one reason or another I never had the time or money to get one. Target shooting has been a fun hobby of mine for a while now, and since I turned 21 I decided that it was finally time to become an owner. Borrowing other folks' equipment allows for fun times, but it's another feeling entirely to have something to call your own.

Since I enjoy short-range target shooting (<= 50 feet) most of all, I decided that it might be more prudent to get a pistol instead. Additionally, I thought it would be nice to get something a bit...different. With the help of a local, friendly FFL holder, I ordered a Bushmaster Carbon 15 Type 21S the day after my 21st birthday. Today it arrived, and I walked out the door a very happy man with a grin a mile wide.

Here is my new baby:
Click for full-sized version.


Click for full-sized version.




Earlier today, some friends and I went to a house out in the country with a deep ditch/dry ravine that we could use as a backstop. Two hours and 180 empty .223 Remington cases later, we'd had a blast shooting various objects with my new pistol, some .22LR rifles, and a 12ga shotgun.

Lessons learned:
- A 500 page book is not going to save your life from a .223 Remington, despite popular myth.
- A computer hard drive might stop 9mm, .45 ACP, and .22 LR, but a .223 Remington shot from a pistol will punch a hole right through it without even trying.
- The Bushmaster Carbon 15 Type 21S may look like a huge pistol, but it fits like a glove and is extremely light for its size.
- Wal-Mart doesn't restock .223 Remington often enough. We went through nine boxes in two hours...it took two months of Wal-Mart shopping to get that much.
- Never try to inhale when firing the Type 21S. It feels like you're getting a back-handed slap to the nose and your chest will eventually start hurting. That shock wave is insane.
- Time lapse shots at night are awesome. You can capture the trajectory of the bullet despite not being a tracer round, but anything that moves will appear really blurry due to the long shutter time.



Bottom Line: If you are looking for something that's a total blast to plink with and feels great despite how it looks like it would be, I'd strongly suggest you consider the Bushmaster Carbon 15 Type 21S. I love mine.
 

compmanio365

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Apr 21, 2007
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Oh no! It's an "evil" black....pistol!! :D

I can bet that kicks like a bi***, firing a rifle cartridge from a small frame like that makes you absorb a lot of force. I would still want one :D
 

HankT

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Particle wrote:
...a Bushmaster Carbon 15 Type 21S the day after my 21st birthday. Today it arrived...

Nice gun. I'd like to shoot one of those. Gotta be a lot offun.



Particle wrote:
Ahh, that's because you useda plain ole Financial Accounting book. Once you get to shooting a Corporate Tax Law book, I'm sure it'll only get up to 50 pages or so...

:p
 

Particle

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compmanio365:
Yes, the whole evil black thing. :) I didn't think that it kicked too bad, but my friends would probably disagree. I'm a rather large person, so I imagine the effect was less on me. Along the same lines, this thing was surprisingly easy to control. For me, It was easier than normal pistols, likely due to the availability of the forward grip.

HankT:
Yup. It's a real joy to shoot. If you'd ask me if I'd buy it again, I'd have to say "Is that even a real question? Of course!" You might be right on the tax law book. heh

DrewGunner:
I'd have to agree. This thing is gorgeous. The only thing more fun than looking at it is shooting it.
 

Particle

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My friends all complained that it hurt their teeth if they didn't clamp them together, but I didn't experience that problem. Of course, most of them had never done much shooting before. I'd experienced the teeth thing with a 45 ACP handgun before on my first time shooting, so I guess I must now do something that keeps it from happening without thinking about it.

Yes, it's classified as a pistol. If you add a stock or a vertical forward grip, it becomes a short barreled rifle. Since short barreled rifles are illegal for normal people to own, I'd suggest you leave it as is. If pistols are legal in Washington, then I don't see why this wouldn't be. In terms of construction and feel, this is more like a (semi-only) submachine gun that is chambered for rifle rounds. It's still classified as a pistol, however.
 

OC-Glock19

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Jun 13, 2006
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Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
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Here's a pic of my 5.56 pistol. I affectionately call it "Whomper".

KelTec012-small.jpg
 

Particle

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Agent19 wrote:
Oh yeah if your Carbon 15 is chambered for .223 rem DON'T FIRE 5.56mm ammo, the cases are slightly different
Firearms chambered in 5.56mm can fire .223 but no the reverse

You don't get the benefits of using inexpensive military surplus ammo

Nice Firearm, glad to see your happy with your purchase

This is not true of the Carbon 15 pistols. As with everything Bushmaster makes which is chambered for .223, you may use either. They design their firearms to accept both, deliberately.

Bushmaster's Product Page:
"The pistol’s 7 1/4" stainless steel, match grade barrel is chambered for the 5.56 NATO cartridge and readily accepts the .223 Remington cartridge as well."

As you suspected, its recoil is mild and very controllable. It kicks no harder than a normal handgun, and the forward heat guard/grip allows a person to control that very effectively. If I were in a situation where multiple follow-up shots were a must, I'd much rather be using this than a handgun. I can tell you that much.

It's also quite fun to shoot for the sake of shooting.

---

OC, I almost went with that instead of the Bushy. I figured "you get what you pay for", so I opted to save longer and get it instead. Since I don't make a lot of money, I only wanted to buy this thing once. :) I'm sure the Kel-Tec you have is just fine, however. Do you enjoy it?

For comparison to your image, here is a bolt-side picture of mine:
(Click for larger image)


Unrelated: You can read right on the side where the magazine inserts that this thing accepts both 5.56x45 NATO and .223 Remington.
 

OC-Glock19

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hlh wrote:
This KelTec is really interesting. How do you like it?

I love it. It's super fun to shoot, either one-handed or two-handed (using the attached sling) and the recoil is less than you would imagine. However, I would caution anyone who fires this handgun to wear ear protection. I wear earplugs AND earmuffs when shooting this beast. The muzzle brake directs a great deal of the blast backwards and the noise is fearsome. I am certain that if one fired this gun without proper hearing protection they would suffer permanent damage.

This gun was also less expensive than other 5.56mm pistols that I looked at, and it doesn't have a buffer tube extending from the back, which I think detracts from the aesthetics of a handgun. I would recommend that you try one out sometime if you get the chance. Anyone who is interested in large handguns would most certainly like this one.
 

Particle

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Oh, believe me. If you (as an intruder) were hit by a .223 from either of these pistols, it would seriously mess your day up.
 

Particle

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In a note related to your previous comment, Bushmaster does make a 9mm version you might be interested in. I know you were talking about Kel-Tec, but Bushy is a quality company too.
 

Particle

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I wasn't being mean or making fun of you, Agent. I know you said "if", so I tried to clarify. It seemed that you'd missed that fact since you mentioned the 223/5.56 issue that late in the topic.
 

Particle

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If that wouldn't make it illegal, I'd consider it. Of more use would be a vertical forward grip, but it really isn't necessary either. It may have about 700-800 foot pounds of energy per shot, but it's still quite easy to control.
 
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