Not Happy!

Flashpoint

Flashpoint

Smile, wait for flash
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EDIT: Now Happy! (See post #17)

There was a thread here about complete Bear Creek Arsenal uppers being on sale for $270, so I ordered one. It's a side charger. I know they've had a less than stellar reputation in the past but I had actually heard some good reviews recently. I bought one of their rifles when they first came out and it wouldn't even function, the lower was out of spec. The dealer I bought it from took it back. I don't live that far from them and I've always hoped they would come around and be a local business to be proud of.

Well, so much for that. My upper came in today, and it appears to be out of spec, and just looks like shoddy workmanship all around. I only have one AR now and this upper won't work on my existing lower. It closes OK on the lower with some downward pressure, but then the BCG is locked in place, won't budge. Moves OK when it's not on a lower. Also when I first looked down at the chamber I saw what looked like a wad of hair, I figured it was something from one of my pets I had gotten down in there trying my other BCG. I pulled it out with some needle nose and it was metal shavings. You can see some bits left over in this pic but I couldn't find the "wad" to get a pick of after I dropped it somewhere. It looks like they used some red sealant crap when torquing the barrel on and didn't even wipe it off the exterior. Also, check out that premium fit & finish where the receiver meets the rail. ;)

20201110_204733_HDRr.jpg


And now, for the pièce de résistance:

20201110_204959_HDRr.jpg

I hope I never have to use the bolt release, it won't push in at all like that. And oh yeah, the gas key was not really staked at all, I mean the dents don't even contact the screws.

I know the AR I currently own is not high end, and it's possible that it's out of spec, but I'll take 20 to 1 odds it's the BCA. Now I've got to decide if I send it back not knowing if the next one will fit or see if they'll let me take it to them and fit one to it, or just get my money back. I'd been wanting a 300BLK upper for a while and $270 is a darn good price, I'm not expecting good fit an finish, etc. at this price point, but it has to work.
 
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Flashpoint said:
There was a thread here about complete Bear Creek Arsenal uppers being on sale for $270, so I ordered one. It's a side charger. I know they've had a less than stellar reputation in the past but I had actually heard some good reviews recently. I bought one of their rifles when they first came out and it wouldn't even function, the lower was out of spec. The dealer I bought it from took it back. I don't live that far from them and I've always hoped they would come around and be a local business to be proud of.

Well, so much for that. My upper came in today, and it appears to be out of spec, and just looks like shoddy workmanship all around. I only have one AR now and this upper won't work on my existing lower. It closes OK on the lower with some downward pressure, but then the BCG is locked in place, won't budge. Moves OK when it's not on a lower. Also when I first looked down at the chamber I saw what looked like a wad of hair, I figured it was something from one of my pets I had gotten down in there trying my other BCG. I pulled it out with some needle nose and it was metal shavings. You can see some bits left over in this pic but I couldn't find the "wad" to get a pick of after I dropped it somewhere. It looks like they used some read sealant crap when torquing the barrel on and didn't even wipe it off the exterior. Also, check out that premium fit & finish where the receiver meets the rail. ;)

View attachment 264414


And now, for the pièce de résistance:

View attachment 264413

I hope I never have to use the bolt release, it won't push in at all like that. And oh yeah, the gas key was not really staked at all, I mean the dents don't even contact the screws.

I know the AR I currently own is not high end, and it's possible that it's out of spec, but I'll take 20 to 1 odds it's the BCA. Now I've got to decide if I send it back not knowing if the next one will fit or see if they'll let me take it to them and fit one to it, or just get my money back. I'd been wanting a 300BLK upper for a while and $270 is a darn good price, I'm not expecting good fit an finish, etc. at this price point, but it has to work.
Click to expand...
Sounds similar it doesn’t function smoothly even when it does function
 
Just my opinion, I’d get rid of both and buy known decent quality parts. Radical and BCA aren’t bottom of the barrel. They are actually trapped underneath the barrel.
 
Sorry for your pain but BCA’s parent company Moore’s Machine Co dug such a deep hole with their crap years back I would not trust anything coming from their now rebranded Bear Creek Arsenal shop ... your story (along with others) just reinforces it. Other problems have included improperly marked barrels, non-cocentric bores of barrels in addition to just plain shoddy workmanship and quality control.

Personally I’d call their customer service, tell the rep your problems ... and say you have plenty of photos showing all the problems you can email and get return authorization. Next tell them you’ll be hand delivering it their shop just tell you when and who to ask for. If they will replace I’d go regular charging not the side charger because side chargers are not as commonly run in their manufacturing operation so they should be better at the regular ones.
 
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So, I posted in Scari's thread "hmmm, interesting" because I had a 10.5 BCA barrel that I bought through Classic. Chamber looks like crap. Emailed them and they sent a return label for me to send it back.
They emailed me Monday letting me know that they inspected, test fired and found no issue with the barrel. I guess I'll just see what's what when it arrives. In the meantime I have already bought a 7.5 barrel from JSE- not a BCA barrel, so they say. Probably going to try the 7.5 first, supposed to be a Mossberg or DoubleStar.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
The 10.5" pistol barrel I bought was a BCA. It looked fine, went together fine and functioned fine. Maybe it was made mid week.
 
OK credit where credit is due. I fit the BCA upper on a Colt 6920 (M4) lower and it hand cycles fine, and the divot for the bolt release in the upper lines up perfectly. I haven't had a chance to see if it runs, but as of now I don't have anything to complain about. Except that my the lower on my existing AR is obviously out of spec. :mad: Never would have guessed, never had a problem with it. Anyway I was way off base, hope it runs good. Anyone have an extra lower? :)
 
The fit isnt great but whats up with that bolt catch? Looks like a std one would not interfere with the upper. I dont see an out of spec lower just yet...
 
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A friend has one of those side chargers, and his non-standard bolt catch wouldnt work with the spot on the upper...it also seemed to make the bolt carrier move "gritty" ( my guess the bolt catch was forced to grind against the bolt carrier).

We put it on another lower with a normal one and it was fine.

In this case, it appears if the bolt catch is perhaps larger then "spec", they do not account for it.... perhaps if they slightly enlarged the clearance cut it would be more compatible.

Of course they likely arent that concerned because most dont really use an aftermarket boltcatch.
 
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Flashpoint said:
Bought a complete Anderson lower on GB for just over $200. Should know how (or if) this thing runs next week. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Click to expand...
tested a 7.5 in 762 yesterday - ran through first 30 rounds just fine - put second mag in an third round had a stuck case and ended my test run
 
Flashpoint said:
OK credit where credit is due. I fit the BCA upper on a Colt 6920 (M4) lower and it hand cycles fine, and the divot for the bolt release in the upper lines up perfectly. I haven't had a chance to see if it runs, but as of now I don't have anything to complain about. Except that my the lower on my existing AR is obviously out of spec. :mad: Never would have guessed, never had a problem with it. Anyway I was way off base, hope it runs good. Anyone have an extra lower? :)
Click to expand...

What was the process you used to “fit” the upper and lower together? I’ve fit many many old shotgun parts, but not an AR. Didn’t realize a person could do, or have to do, that.
 
When you buy billet you just never know.

The savings of what? $100 is that really worth all this time of use to figure this out?

I would trust reputations of brands and do a hard pass.
 
Catfish said:
The fit isnt great but whats up with that bolt catch? Looks like a std one would not interfere with the upper. I dont see an out of spec lower just yet...
Click to expand...
Yeah I agree I don’t think it’s the lower just the after market bolt release doesn’t line up with upper their cutout doesn’t take aftermarket into consideration my lower has the normal one it lines up with their cutout fine
 
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The lower came in, I mounted the Bear Creek upper on it and I found that when hand cycling rounds they were sticking in the chamber but after a thorough cleaning and some brisk hand cycling it cleared up. Shot it today and it ran fine. Was getting about 2 moa with the first few down the pipe. Only shot about 15-20 rounds, just enough to sight it in and shoot a group or two. Will have more time to shoot tomorrow I hope.

I have nothing to complain about re. this upper at this point. I'm sorry I assumed it was faulty when it wasn't. Also random fact: I dealt with a forum member a couple of days ago re. some ammo who stated he has several BCA uppers in various calibers and has not had issues with any of them. Here it is on the bone stock Anderson lower:

3000blkUpper_r.jpg
 
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