BCA barrel is choking at the throat

[Mopardoctor]

Noticed at the LGS that about the only 6.5 ammo left was 6.5 Creedmoor so I ordered a 6.5 Creedmoor upper from BCA. Side charging, 18" SS bull barrel. At least I can use the same 6.5 bullets as my Grendel. Checked it out with a Hornady OAL gage and with their 129 G SST the freebore is around .100" short. Factory ammo won't even load. 123g SST is also short. 120 G Federal TFMJ ammo is pressed into the lands. I was able to get 100G AMAX to load at "book" length but not much jump space. PTG Uni-throat reamer is coming soon and then I'll be able to "tune" the throat to longer OAL loads. I'll be checking my Grendel throats also with this reamer.

Mopar Doctor

[A5BLASTER]

I would have saved the money on the reamer and just got rid of the BCA garbage and got something better.

[grayfox]

my $0.02. "BCA" is short-hand for steel tomato stake.

[FLshooter]

Listen to the two guys who posted above me.I’ve been there, done that. BCA barrels are a waste of ammo.It will never get you where you want to be. What I did was, put BCA upper aside and order a custom barrel from Craddock precision. I was able to sell my bca barrel to a sucker for $50. Believe me, when you put that new barrel on your upper,you will never look back.

[PVBoom]

Is it too late to cancel the barrel order?

[FLshooter]

is it too late to cancel the barrel order?

lol!

[sundowner]

Hope you have a BCA lower the ar10's do not have a standard , many wont match other brands , and yes I replaced a BCA barrel with a Sander's barrel and not looking back .

[Lastrites]

BCA, barrel change again.

[Mopar forever]

I have a question about my BCA barrel. When I load a round into the chamber and then take the round out about half way down the projectile they are 2 round cuts into it. Like 2 circles I have tried todo this with my other guns and they don’t have it. Also after about 250 round it will shoot very good for shots 1-15 rounds (.5-1moa) then it will not shoot better than 3 moa with the same ammo. The barrels not getting hot either. I let the barrel sit for 5-10 mins between groups. Now I know that my BCA is just a “tomato stake ????) but I’m wandering why and Just trying to learn More about barrels. Thanks

[Lemonaid]

A lot more information will be conveyed from a picture of the marked up bullet thus helping in the diagnosis.
A new barrel will sometimes copper foul if the throat is rough from when it was chambered. If you get heavy copper fouling from say 20 rounds that may cause poor accuracy until cleaned out and is why some barrels need a long break in period. Anyway something to check.

[Klem]

Now I know that my BCA is just a “tomato stake ????) but I’m wandering why and Just trying to learn More about barrels. Thanks

Sloppy machining, and poor quality steel - great price, but then the tears.

'You can't polish a turd' (Slate Magazine, 1976).

[Mopardoctor]

Yea, it's a potato stake so far. The short throat I think was caused by the chamber not centered with the bore and I was getting a distance to land length of 2.212. The throat reamer was just nicking a couple of lands and I opened it up to 2.261. Test bullets were still showing scratch marks from the lands so i reamed it out to 2.288 where the reamer felt like it was getting a even cut and chips showed. Bullets are not jamming in the lands now.

First time out with Federal 120G HP the first shot had a pierced primer and the scrap from that was stuck in the firing pin hole. Had a lot of failure to fires after that. Firing pin gauged out later as being .015" too long. Groups were minute of hubcap.

This upper out of the box was unsafe to fire. Fixed the firing pin and cleaned up the throat so we'll see how this poop stick does the second time out.

Mopar Doctor

[Mopardoctor]

Other problems: 1. The HUGE gas block barely fits inside the handguard and was riding at several points. 2. The rear gas plug has to be filed down on the bottom for the rear takedown pin to line up on an Aero Precision M5 lower. 3. The shipping box had the bolt handle sticking out when it arrived and the handle was scarred up and the handle screw was bent.

Midway sells this same upper for $200 more than what I paid for it.

Mopar Doctor

[NugginFutz]

Sloppy machining, and poor quality steel - great price, but then the tears.

'You can't polish a turd' (Slate Magazine, 1976).

Nor can you pick up a turd by the clean end.

Continued finagling with this upper doesn't appear to have a chance at turning out very well. In the long run, Mopardoctor, your time and effort will likely end up costing more than this potato stake is worth. Time to stop fishing and cut bait?

I've heard of BCA taking returns, but your efforts to get it able to fire (reamer, etc) might cause them to refuse.

Either way, be thankful you didn't bite on the Midway USA deal, first.

[FLshooter]

BCA is pretty lenient on their returns.They will send you another barrel, because those things are mass produced, they have plenty of them. And they’ve probably gotten them for pretty cheap.I’ve gone the return barrel route from BCA.You send them junk, they send you back junk.And all the while you’re wasting your ammo.
Best thing to do is cut your losses and re-barrel with a quality barrel.

[Wethepeople]

Having thrown out 2 BCA barrels in the past, I echo the sentiments of others. You'll have as much luck with them as shooting .223 from a 9mm barrel. Please don't ask how I know.

[Mopardoctor]

If it doesn't get any better the next time out to the range then I'll start shopping for another barrel. Any brands that shoot well, won't cost an arm ,leg, and other parts and is not on backorder?

Mopar Doctor

[Wethepeople]

Sanders Armory gas their 18", 6.5 Grendel, match grade, 416R, hand lapped 5R, 1:8 twist, in stock for $175.

[Wethepeople]

Just noticed you're looking for a creedmore. Oops.

[Wethepeople]

$300 for a Rainer match barrel, in stock. Nor sure how much you looking to spend.