Bear Creek Arsenal now posting pictures of groups at 100 yards on their website

[slappyhooper]

I still occasionally buy BCA barrels and test them.

For reference, every single build I do has the following done:

1. Lap/square the upper receiver
2. Use stainless steel shim stock to ensure a very tight fit between upper receiver and barrel extension
3. Upper receiver barrel nut threads greased with Aeroshell 33
4. Threads seasoned by torquing barrel nut on/off 3x before final torque value of 30-80 lbs/ft
5. Ensure perfectly straight and aligned gas tube with no interference.
6. Crush washer pre-crushed to allow muzzle device to be torqued on 1/16th of a turn past hand tight.
7. Scope properly installed and tightened with blue loctite several days before the range trip.
8. Lower receiver has an accuwedge for a super tight fit between upper and lower, and a 4 lb, polished adjusted trigger.
9. All shots conducted from a concrete shooting bench using sandbags and a rear squeeze bag

I've purchased a BUNCH of BCA barrels, and most do pretty well for the money. A few shoot lights out, but most are pretty....rack grade.

I bought a Parkerized 16" m4 profile Grendel barrel. It was turning in groups of about 3 MOA with ELD Match, 7-8 MOA with 123 SST, and about 12-13 MOA with Wolf Steel cased.

It was so bad that I thought there was no way it was the barrel. I changed out scope and scope mount. Same results.
I went home and tore the entire upper receiver down and rebuilt it, making sure everything was perfect. Same results.

I sent the barrel back to BCA and they replaced it with the same model.

This one shot SLIGHTLY better, only slightly. 123 ELD shot similarly, and Wolf Steel 100's shot into about 9-10 MOA.

I sent the barrel back and got an 18" heavy profile fluted 1:8 5r rifle barrel.

This barrel shoots acceptably. It still hates 123 SSTs, but it shoots 123 ELD-M into about 1 MOA, and Wolf Steel 100's into about 3 MOA. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. Further, as it breaks in, it's really tightening up groups.


The thing with BCA you have to understand, is you ARE the QC when you buy their products.
they're generally fine, and most barrels will shoot 1.5 MOA with good ammo, but there are ridiculously bad barrels that make their way out the door too, and it happens more often than most places.

I've made something of a hobby out of shooting their cheap offerings to find something I like, but YMMV.

[crusader18]

Oh, sort of like hunting videos.

Yeah, but you show video of your misses too. In North Texas, hogs fear you.

[AgedWarrior]

A few years ago, desiring a 6.5 Grendel, I decided to try my hand at a build with an 80% lower, and I got a good deal on a BCA upper. Part of my goal was trying to see how inexpensive I could do the project. I am pretty pleased with the BCA barrel (18”); it gives sub MOA groups with some loads, MOA with others. I have never had a reason to be displeased with it at all.

I recently helped a friend who wanted an AR in 6.5 Gr to hunt hogs in Texas with his 16 year old son. A good friend of mine helped them assemble what they wanted and it too has a BCA barrel. I helped them mount the Vortex scope and soon they were working to get it sighted in for a planned trip. They brought the rifle back to the friend who had helped them because they could not get the rifle to shoot much better than 3-4MOA using Hornady Black ammo. Long story short, they swapped the scope and got no change and then swapped the barrel with another BCA barrel and still no apparent change. The friend helping them is an expert who builds and repairs all sorts of firearms, and he checked the gun out very carefully finding nothing wrong with it. He called BCA and talked to them and they, of course, asked what ammo were they shooting. They had used two different Hornady loads, but all Hornady. So, the guy at BCA suggests trying a different brand because they have been experiencing difficulties with Hornady in their 6.5 barrels. My friend suggested that sounded like a lame excuse (bovine defecation) and suggested they might be sending the barrels back. He called me later and after we talked a bit, I agreed to trying some different ammo in the gun since we needed to get it done ASAP and nobody in our area carries 6.5 ammo within 70 miles.

After verifying the scope mount again, I went out with the son and I shot a group with the Hornady Black and it was giving me about 3.5 MOA at 100. The next load I tried was using Speer 120 GD bullets with a load that was shooting sub MOA in my CZ and Howa and MOA in the AR. I do not like doing something like this typically because I prefer to safely working loads for any particular rifle, but this was about a grain and s half below maximum and good performer in three rifles. Bottom line, it shot MOA easily. We are going to work up some loads with various bullets next month for their rifle to see what it really likes, but in the mean time I fessed up some ammo for them to use since it shot great in their rifle.

I share this just as a bit of info to go along with what has already been spoken.