BCA Now "Proving" Sub MOA (.223)

[Frontier Gear]

I got this email from BCA today.

BCA Sub One Xtreme!
Accuracy redefined, 30 day money back guarantee, 10 free rounds of ammo, actual test fire target paper!
Don't love it, return it on us with our free freight offer!

BCA SUB ONE XTREME AR-15 COMPLETE UPPER ASSEMBLY, 20" 416R STAINLESS HEAVY BARREL, .223 WYLDE, RIFLE LENGTH GAS SYSTEM, 1:9 TWIST W/ 17" LIGHTWEIGHT KEYMOD

It makes me wonder what motivated them to this and if they are going to offer it with any Grendel uppers. With all of the issues and hit-and-miss experiences that we have seen with BCA, it is an interesting approach from them.

My humble opinion of BCA is that they make a lot of barrels. They make so many that the law of averages comes into play, some are great and some are not so great. Each one doesn't get the attention that it should. I wonder if they are simply putting more time, attention and polish into these and then charging more.

Also, I've got to wonder how far away that target is when they shoot it....

[NugginFutz]

FG - there are two ways to support this type of marketing campaign.

1. Improve process and QC measures so that the mean quality and accuracy of each barrel improves to the stated performance.
or
2. Test fire each barrel destined for the "SUB ONE EXTREME" line of uppers and simply reject all that fail accuracy tests, passing on only those with the desired accuracy. (This is Intel's method for rating processor speed.) The remaining barrels usually end up on secondary markets, sold at steep discounts.

Method one is more expensive, in the short run, but pays dividends down the road in terms of better process.

Method two costs nothing in the way of infrastructure, but builds in a permanent margin to the cost of production.

As far as the motivation is concerned, I would say it's straight up simple. They read the reviews just the same as we do. If press is bad, sales go down. The principle complaints about BCA, as you stated, seem to revolve around their QC. This is a way to draw attention away from that and position them into the "Low cost / Decent accuracy" category of uppers.

[Frontier Gear]

Good points Nuggin. Hopefully they choose option 1, but my hopes aren't too high.

[grayfox]

Yeah. +1 to Nuggin. I for one am not buying the BCA-speak. Unless and until BCA can discuss and show that their QC processes, along with probably their actual mfr processes, have changed...
The ad seems more like marketing hype to me.

[bj139]

All manufacturers weigh the costs of excessive QC vs. excessive product returns, even the top barrel makers.

[babue]

Only a 1:9 twist barrel. Not ideal for the heavier bullets you would want to use for a high accuracy barrel. Not worth trying for me. All my long range stuff uses heavy bullet weights, with a 1:8 or 1:7 twist.

[ErikS]

They test fire each upper with 3 rnds of wolf. It would be easy to machine mount them and test fire the uppers. The ones that shoot the best get culled for further testing with good ammo. If they shoot sub MOA they then charge more for the upper.

It cost nothing more than time and a bit more ammo.

I have a BCA Grendel that shoots sub MOA, while others have gotten junk.

[Et2ss]

They produce a crap-ton of barrels, most of them sold by other retailers. Yes, you do see the reports of the bad ones, but very seldom do you hear anything about the ones that perform like they should.

I did get a turd 6,5 barrel from them (24" Fluted Stainless) called them and received a return label, and it was replaced with a 20" fluted nitride 5-R, that shoots pretty well.

I was out a total of 4 days, and got a better barrel for my trouble.

[Sticks]

I'll stick with known quality barrels rather than spin the wheel.

[HuntTXhogs]

They can’t even spell extreme right....

I don’t put a lot of stock into a company that has to highlight sub-MOA with flashy terms.

I mean sub-MOA is just that, not looking for a Xtreme, or Ultra, or Hyper categories of already small shot groupings

[Kswhitetails]

I'll stick with known quality barrels rather than spin the wheel.

^^^^^^^^
When you figure out what that wheel costs to spin, suddenly it’s not so appealing anymore.