Bear Creek side charging upper and side charging BCG

[Les]

Any reviews out there on these? I've read barrel quality can be suspect, but does anyone here have any practical experience? Pretty decent pricing is available.

[SightedIn]

I currently have one I've had since they came out pretty much( forgot how long ago that was). Had another sold it, no reason other than i had too many rifles and needed the money.
A friend of mine has had one about six months as well.
No complaints from either of us other than the side handle bolt always come loose unless you loctite it pretty good. Only thing is you don't want to loctite it too good because you have to remove it in order to remove the BCG to do a field clean. We use blue loctite( forget what number that is) and were happy with that.

[bj139]

My experience has been the same as SightedIn.
I found adding a small split lock washer under the bolt handle helps with retention as well as using blue Loctite.
I added the washer when the bolt handle started scraping the side of the upper and use the split lock washer to help with both problems.

[LtDan]

Just got my 6th side charger upper, had them now for about 5 years and they function just fine.

[SightedIn]

Oh and forgot to add that depending on what type of brass catcher you use, if you use one, the reciprocating handle can interfere

[Sixoeight]

I have one but haven't used it yet. Visually and mechanically it seems great for the money. I do wish they had some sort of quick release bolt handle instead of threaded...but it's not a deal breaker for me at all. I am not a fan of the standard charging handle on ar15s. It always felt awkward.

I'd recommend the BCA side charger especially for hunting or a budget long range build. How anyone uses an ar15 charging handle with a long scope is beyond me. I can say with absolute certainty that if ARs were originally designed with a scope in mind that it would have had a side charging handle.

[Les]

I too have never been crazy about the the charging handle and I'd assume the side charger would help with additional gas being expelled into my face being suppressed and left-handed. Or maybe I need to look for left-handed side chargers, although I've used right handed firearms so long not sure I'd know how to use them. lol Appreciate the replies.

ETA. PSA is selling both upper/BCG 5.56 for $118.99

[Tom]

I'm new to this forum and glad to see no one bashing on BCA!! Yes, they can be hit or miss, I've build many rifle/pistols with their barrels, bolts, uppers etc... but for the money you should expect somewhat of a gamble.. This time of year their customer service is lacking but they of course are slammed with orders. Most other times they are quick to reply and fix issues I've had. I just received their upper/bcg (6.5G) combo ($99) and an 18" hvy fluted 1:8 5R 6.5G barrel ($65) and I'm excited to build my first 6.5 Grendel.

Tom

[Tom]

Les, you probably already know this, but a little trick to divert that excess gas is to lay a bead of RTV on your charging handle in space btw it and the upper. Use a thin coat of vaseline on the upper so it doesn't stick to it. Let cure and pull back to clean vaseline off the upper Leave red or paint black to hide. Creates a seal that will at least divert the gasses out the sides and not in your face.

Tom

[Frontier Gear]

I've used and/or sold at least 20 of the BCA side charging upper receivers. They do need the blue thread locker on the charging handle, but other than that they have been great. Their barrels are kind of hit-and-miss (so to speak), but I've never had an issue with the upper receivers or BCGs.

[R2BRO]

there are some claims that side charging = unprotected bolt exposed to dust = disadvantage/reliability issue in a field;
is the above claim valid or no?

[NeilVT79]

there are some claims that side charging = unprotected bolt exposed to dust = disadvantage/reliability issue in a field;
is the above claim valid or no?

Yes, technically speaking, since there is no dust cover you have a higher likelihood of dirt getting into the action.

I dont own any side chargers but do have a few slick side uppers i run often. Ive never had an issue with dirt or debris while running drills or all day hunts. It would probably prove to be troublesome in a sandy desert environment or extremely muddy.

[DDRanch]

Looks like they are out of stock

[bj139]

Looks like they are out of stock

If I wait long enough they go out of stock and I save money. I just saved $120.

[Sixoeight]

The claim about being open to dust and debris is limited in truth at best. Are you going to take this rig out into the desert for 6 months? Probably not. None of my guns have ever had mud poured into the action and I don't think they ever will. Even in a SHTF scenario you won't realistically be army crawling through a swamp. If that doesn't settle it just consider other guns with non sealed actions: almost all shotguns, all bolt actions, ak, sks, fal, G3, etc etc. We don't live in the movie red Dawn and even if something like that happened we won't all turn into Rambo's in the jungle. I don't even bother closing the dust cover on my rifles with one.

[depletedyourcranium]

Just watch InRangeTV's testing of the AR15. Even with the dust cover open, the rifle still functions fine when exposed to mud and debris directly over the ejection port. It outperformed most other rifles in the same test, including an AKM pattern rifle.

Now the port on a side charger is slightly larger... so it could perform differently than a standard AR15. I still think its sealed up enough to not be a problem.