my Wally World has a B.M.I. M4 carbine in the rack and i was peeking at it for a sec but i will admit right now that i know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about any AR platform/style rifles. so naturally i have a few questions.....

first off, is BMI actually Bushmaster? i did a quick search and one of the first hits was a page at Bushmasters site. IIRC Bushmasters are one of the better brands, right?

now again, i know nothing about these rifles but the pricetag was $900. good? bad? middle of the road? i don't know if it has any funky options as i have not handled it nor would i know much of what i am looking for other than a toaster hanging on a rail.


the only reason i ask all this is i am thinking of taking the plunge into the .223 realm for a lightweight varmint rifle. i was actually there with the intent of really looking at the Mini-14 they had in the case but it was gone so i spied the M4 and decided to ask these questions.

i'm really leaning towards holding out for the Mini. out of 3 gun stores, 4 pawn shops and WW, i didn't find what i was looking for (Mini-14 Ranch Rifle w/ wood stock) though i did see one Mini sporting a tac-black synthetic stock. still i am curious about the M4 i saw.

all was not lost on the shopping run though. i did come home with a used Steyr M40-A1.