type subsidiary founded 1973 ; 43 years ago 1973 headquarters madison north carolina u.s. key people george kollitides ceo owner freedom group website http bushmaster.com bushmaster firearms international llc based in madison north carolina united states is a manufacturer and distributor of firearms . the company s product line revolves around semi automatic pistol and rifle variants of the m4 ar 15 design . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 discontinued 3 gallery 4 see also 5 references history edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . march 2013 bushmaster firearms was a company in bangor maine that went bankrupt and was purchased by richard dyke in 1976 and moved to windham maine . according to a maine newspaper it was later sold by dyke to cerberus while krause publications says it was first acquired by quality products company in 1990 . 1 dyke would sell the business in 2006 for 70 million dollars to cerberus capital management . the company became part of the freedom group owned by cerberus capital management in april 2006 . 2 in december 2010 freedom group announced that operations at the windham maine facility would cease as of march 2011 . 3 windham weaponry was founded by the former bushmaster owners in 2011 in windham me in order to put maine people back to work who lost their jobs when bushmaster moved out of state in march 2011 . 4 in december 2012 cerberus capital management announced its intention to sell bushmaster s parent company freedom group . 5 in a press release cerberus stated that they would retain a financial advisor to design and execute a process to sell their interests in freedom group freedom includes the former bushmaster company . 6 cerberus indicated that the decision to sell the company stemmed from publicity surrounding the use of a bushmaster rifle in the sandy hook elementary school shooting . according to the company it is apparent that the sandy hook tragedy was a watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level . 5 7 cerberus announced in late 2013 that it had failed to deliver on its promise to divest itself of the freedom arms group and has come up with a plan to buy out some cerberus investors . those who chose to give up their profitable shares would get paid off by an unidentified lender . 8 products edit bushmaster s firearms such as the xm 15 line are typically offered in a 5.56 nato chambering with forged aircraft grade 7075 t6 aluminum receivers . most bushmaster barrels are 4150 steel offered in 1 9 twist rate and chrome lined to increase durability . some barrels are available with 1 7 rifling on special order . stainless steel or chrome molybdenum barrels are available on certain models . their name is not related to the bushmaster autocannon . bushmaster firearms originally produced their first generation rifle using an aluminum lower receiver paired to a stamped steel upper receiver . this first generation model used the ak 47 gas system and the recoil spring is located within the upper barrel gas system as compared to the ar 15 m 16 where the recoil spring is located within the butt stock . originally marketed for police and the military bushmaster later changed its unique hybrid version ar 15 m 16 to the standard colt armalite design . the first generation rifles were chambered for the 5.56 mm round . bushmaster first generation rifles are very rare and are collectibles . in 2002 the company was the target of a civil lawsuit involving one of its rifles . 9 in 2004 bushmaster firearms agreed to contribute 500 000 to a 2.5 million settlement along with co defendant bull s eye shooter supply paid to some victims and families of victims of the 2002 beltway sniper attacks . a stolen bushmaster xm 15 .223 caliber rifle was used in the attacks . the company cited mounting legal fees as the reason for settling . 10 in late january 2008 it was announced that bushmaster had signed a licensing deal with magpul granting bushmaster the rights to produce and distribute magpul s masada rifle renamed the bushmaster acr.according to the company in 2010 bushmaster began making the acr available to the civilian market posting it on its website . 11 carbon 15 is a lightweight ar15 available as rifles or pistols . it saves weight by using polymer instead of the traditional steel or aluminum in the upper and lower receivers . some models also remove the forward assist and the dust cover and use a thinner barrel design to save additional weight . the bushmaster dissipator combines a longer sight radius with a shorter barrel to allow more effective use of the iron sights . similar modifications sometimes suffer from reliability problems due to the close proximity of the gas port to the muzzle which throws the timing of the weapon s gas system off and makes it more sensitive to gas port diameter and port pressure variables introduced by the ammunition . bushmaster s solution was to use a low profile gas block in the normal position for carbine length barrels and fit the front sight tower gas block which is not connected to the gas system further forward to create the longer sight radius . discontinued edit the bushmaster arm pistol was produced from 1977 to 1990 . the bushmaster m17s is a semi automatic bullpup rifle that was manufactured by bushmaster from 1992 until 2005 . the bar 10 was meant to compete in the .308 market against armalite s ar 10 series rifles and springfield armory s m1a rifle by offering a .308 rifle that could accept the relatively inexpensive metric and inch pattern fn fal magazines . in 2005 bushmaster discontinued the bar 10 line of rifles . gallery edit bushmaster xm15 e2s a2 16in dissipator model bushmaster carbon 15 sbr shorter barrel bushmaster dissipator barrel with m16a2 handguard bushmaster acr bushmaster m17s bushmaster xm15 e2s m4 style carbine see also edit bushmaster m4 type carbine references edit john walter 25 march 2006 . rifles of the world . krause publications . pp. 76 . isbn 978 0 89689 241 5 . retrieved 8 march 2011 . balentine john april 21 2006 . dyke sells bushmaster firearms . retrieved november 29 2012 . bushmaster closing facility in windham . wlbz2.com . 2010 12 10 . retrieved 2016 02 01 . hall jessica . owner seeks to sell rifle maker bushmaster portland press herald december 18 2012 . a b cerberus to sell gunmaker after massacre . cnn . december 18 2012 . retrieved december 18 2012 . cerberus capital management statement regarding freedom group inc. . prnewswire.com . 2012 12 18 . retrieved 2016 02 01 . reaction to newtown shootings spreads to corporate america the new york times december 18 2012 . foley stephen 2013 12 09 . cerberus offers investors way out of gunmaker freedom group . ft.com . retrieved 2016 02 01 . matt apuzzo . rifle in conn. massacre similar to dc sniper . ap december 15 2012 . manning stephen september 10 2004 . families of sniper victims reach settlement . associated press . retrieved april 18 2007 . bushmaster firearms press release . bushmaster.com . retrieved 2016 02 01 . v t e bushmaster firearms international products .450 bushmaster bushmaster acr bushmaster arm pistol bushmaster ba50 rifle bushmaster m17s bushmaster xm 15 bushmaster m4 type carbine carbon 15 v t e freedom group subsidiaries advanced armament corporation bushmaster firearms international h & r firearms para usa remington arms dpms panther arms marlin firearms advanced armament corporation 300 aac blackout h & r firearms h & r handy gun m50 reising v t e cerberus capital management banks bawag p.s.k. albertsons acme markets albertsons amigos carrs haggen jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons freedom group advanced armament corporation barnes bullets bushmaster firearms international dakota arms dpms panther arms h & r firearms marlin mountain khakis para usa parker gunmakers remington arms tapco yp 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