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BCA bolt action upper for $350? (Page 17 of 21)
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Originally Posted By GarrettJ: I'm a little late to the party here. I just received a 7.5" BCA bolt action chambered in 300BLK. Initial impressions were that this thing is never going to work well. There is enough slop that the bolt locking lugs don't like to line up correctly to release from the barrel extension. The bolt will either over-rotate just enough to hang up, or it will tip just a little so the lower lugs still hang up. I was thinking about possibly putting a small chamber on the rear corner of the locking lugs, knowing this will decrease the effective lockup area. I rotate the bolt, then wiggle, shake, jiggle, then it will sometimes pop open. While I wasn't expecting a glass-smooth action for $169, it still needs to be functional. But I wanted to go shoot it before doing anything with it. But then I find it seems to unlock reliably when running some dummy rounds through the gun. It seems having a case in the chamber aligns the bolt well enough to cycle without issue. It's only when the gun is empty that it has a problem. I'll play with it some before making any final judgement. Next issue, for those of you changing barrels or handguards, what are you using to hold the upper? It's a milled upper and doesn't have the standard exterior profile, so it won't fit in my vice block. I had another milled upper that I inadvertently squished in the vice several years ago, trying to change the barrel without a good way to support it. I'd like to avoid that if possible. This one has flat parallel sides, which the other one did not. So I may be able to just clamp it in the vice with some softeners. But I wanted to see what everyone else is doing first. My 7.62x39 and 556 function much better with live ammo on the range. Actually zero hang ups when used with ammo. They are not so great on an empty chamber when new. I probably have 50 rounds or so through my 7.62x39 and the more I use it, and shoot it the better it gets. I am using crap steel cased ammo and only cleaned it once so far, after my last quick range trip. Its quickly becoming one of my favorite rifles. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Originally Posted By ELittlefield: Yep, it's the best one on the market. The BCA bolt action and side charging uppers don't fit on it though, not with the charging handle slot support. Looks like the Geissele does not engage the charging handle slot, so should work on the BCA upper. If it doesn’t work, I’m sure I’ll be able to get some use out of it on other uppers. And I’ll pay more to buy from somewhere other than Optics Planet. I tired of their games a long time ago. As it turns out the Geissele Rod is on sale at Primary Arms. So I had to look around for another prism optic. It’s as dangerous going to that website as it is at PSA. |
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Originally Posted By GarrettJ: Looks like the Geissele does not engage the charging handle slot, so should work on the BCA upper. If it doesn’t work, I’m sure I’ll be able to get some use out of it on other uppers. And I’ll pay more to buy from somewhere other than Optics Planet. I tired of their games a long time ago. As it turns out the Geissele Rod is on sale at Primary Arms. So I had to look around for another prism optic. It’s as dangerous going to that website as it is at PSA. Originally Posted By GarrettJ: Originally Posted By ELittlefield: Yep, it's the best one on the market. The BCA bolt action and side charging uppers don't fit on it though, not with the charging handle slot support. Looks like the Geissele does not engage the charging handle slot, so should work on the BCA upper. If it doesn’t work, I’m sure I’ll be able to get some use out of it on other uppers. And I’ll pay more to buy from somewhere other than Optics Planet. I tired of their games a long time ago. As it turns out the Geissele Rod is on sale at Primary Arms. So I had to look around for another prism optic. It’s as dangerous going to that website as it is at PSA. It sure is. I had a streak in the last three weeks or so where every day, I had at least one Primary Arms order submitted, but not yet delivered. And it's ongoing. 4 or 5 orders? |
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Hello Everyone, Just a followup on my post on page 14, about the bullpup build for my uncle. As it turned out, that is now his favorite rifle for hunting. It was successfully used this past deer season out of a small blind where the characteristics of the bullpup really shined. The finished weight with the scope and an 18" barrel was sitting at 7.04 pounds and 26 1/4" OAL, chambered in 6 ARC. He was able to transition between windows with out having to move the rifle from his shoulder, dropping, or swinging the muzzle up. |
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Originally Posted By Tersoth: Hello Everyone, Just a followup on my post on page 14, about the bullpup build for my uncle. As it turned out, that is now his favorite rifle for hunting. It was successfully used this past deer season out of a small blind where characteristics of the bullpup really shined. The finished weight with the scope and an 18" barrel was sitting at 7.04 pounds and 26 1/4" OAL, chambered in 6 ARC. He was able to transition between windows with out having to move the rifle from his shoulder, dropping, or swinging the muzzle up. Extremely cool! Can you post a picture? |
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Originally Posted By GarrettJ: I'm a little late to the party here. I just received a 7.5" BCA bolt action chambered in 300BLK. Initial impressions were that this thing is never going to work well. There is enough slop that the bolt locking lugs don't like to line up correctly to release from the barrel extension. The bolt will either over-rotate just enough to hang up, or it will tip just a little so the lower lugs still hang up. I was thinking about possibly putting a small chamber on the rear corner of the locking lugs, knowing this will decrease the effective lockup area. I rotate the bolt, then wiggle, shake, jiggle, then it will sometimes pop open. While I wasn't expecting a glass-smooth action for $169, it still needs to be functional. But I wanted to go shoot it before doing anything with it. But then I find it seems to unlock reliably when running some dummy rounds through the gun. It seems having a case in the chamber aligns the bolt well enough to cycle without issue. It's only when the gun is empty that it has a problem. I'll play with it some before making any final judgement. My sentiments exactly. Without a round in the chamber, the bolt will over rotate causing the bolt lugs to catch on the barrel extension. The first round loaded required some fist hammering to get the bolt to seat and even more fist hammering to get it to open. After that I worked the bolt a couple hundred times and it seems to work better. I still need to test it more but so far, I got exactly what I paid for. |
I dont think this is a brains type of operation.
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Originally Posted By Tersoth: https://imgur.com/a/vLVYrm4 I dont remember how to post a pic directly, though i was able to add a link to two pics. One of them shows the rifle slung. He has a very hard time walking in the woods with his knees and back and has to use a walking stick. This set up gave him the freedom to walk the woods again. ![]()
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Originally Posted By D_Man: Originally Posted By Tersoth: https://imgur.com/a/vLVYrm4 I dont remember how to post a pic directly, though i was able to add a link to two pics. One of them shows the rifle slung. He has a very hard time walking in the woods with his knees and back and has to use a walking stick. This set up gave him the freedom to walk the woods again. https://i.imgur.com/1CnOwCH.jpeg I like that setup. Can you post all parts and caliber ? Does he have any chambering issues? |
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Originally Posted By Burnsome-: I tried to like mine, but the inconsistent bolt dynamics was more than I could bear. Worked on it for several months but finally gave up Just wasnt worth the hassle to me and went back to my Tikka and Rem 700. Real bolt guns... I should edit my own post and say there was really nothing THAT wrong with it, but it didnt quite fill the nitch (for me) of being a bolt type AR. After several attempts to smooth out the cycling I decided it wasnt quite worth the effort. Rebarreled it with a Raineer Ultramatch barrel and it easily shot MOA. My Tikka and Rem 700 shoot that or better so I guess I'm just spoiled. ETA - that bullpup looks awesome! |
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This one is chambered in 6 Arc with a custom 18" portless barrel, i dont remember what company he went with, with their matching bolt. The chassis is the Reap Weaponries - SCY, The stock is the Reap Weaponries - XPS TS-1 Originally it was a carbon fiber lower that cracked at the buffer tube receiver, changed to a standard lower. Lower parts kit is the New Frontier Armory Polymer lower parts kit. The hand guard was some generic 15" hand guard i has sitting around with a steel barrel nut. The grip is a Wilson Combat grip I had sitting around. As for cycling of the BCA bolt action, as pointed out by others, finicky at first. I am not sure if a washer was lost or if the screws were to long, but i ended up taking them to a grinder and shortened them up a very small amount. If the rear screw was torque even a bit it would bind on the bolt itself and cause the system lock up. You still have to run the action fast and hard but no real issues beyond that. As others have stated the BCA is no 700 or Tikka. As far as I know of there is only one chassis that can take a 700 action and build it into a bullpup, and that chassis is $2,500, and that does not include the action or barrel. When we built my uncles, I also built a twin of his, except i am using a VSeven 18" Poly barrel. I do have an Aly and Kaufman AKB-23 lower on the way, a bullpup manufactured lower, which i will be putting my upper on. If need be I will be modifying the BCA BCG, but cutting the back wings off. |
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Just my thoughts, as a guy who is a heavy bolt action user on other platforms for hunting and plinking. Sure, an AR bolt action upper turns an AR lower into a "bolt action style" rifle but it's not really a bolt action rifle. It's a manually operated AR15 upper. I have several different Remington's: 600, 700, 7. Howa, Ruger. From a strictly bolt action perspective even a basic Ruger ranch is a "better" bolt action rifle than a BCA bolt action upper slapped on an AR lower. With that being said it does what it's intended to do. Be a budget friendly manual operated upper. Anything in the same category is easily 5x the cost, and probably better. I had looked (online because they are nowhere to be found in any LGS) at pump and bolt action ARs for years but wasn't ready to spend 1k+ for just punching paper in my backyard. For me it's just another addon kit for my adult lego sets. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
| Thanks for the information. May start buying the parts to make a nice bolt action bullpup. May consider a different caliber as would probably want a 16 inch barrel for supers. Already have 2 sweet 308 bolt actions, Seekins and savage, so will look at other options. |
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Originally Posted By Bearcat24: Thanks for the information. May start buying the parts to make a nice bolt action bullpup. May consider a different caliber as would probably want a 16 inch barrel for supers. Already have 2 sweet 308 bolt actions, Seekins and savage, so will look at other options. |
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: Just my thoughts, as a guy who is a heavy bolt action user on other platforms for hunting and plinking. Sure, an AR bolt action upper turns an AR lower into a "bolt action style" rifle but it's not really a bolt action rifle. It's a manually operated AR15 upper. I have several different Remington's: 600, 700, 7. Howa, Ruger. From a strictly bolt action perspective even a basic Ruger ranch is a "better" bolt action rifle than a BCA bolt action upper slapped on an AR lower. With that being said it does what it's intended to do. Be a budget friendly manual operated upper. Anything in the same category is easily 5x the cost, and probably better. I had looked (online because they are nowhere to be found in any LGS) at pump and bolt action ARs for years but wasn't ready to spend 1k+ for just punching paper in my backyard. For me it's just another addon kit for my adult lego sets. I think there are somethings that the AR BCA "Bolt Action" and the Uintah Precision brings that a standard bolt action doesnt. I personally am a fan of the AR ergos. The ones that come close to that, that i can think of is the Sig Cross series, Q Fix series, and the Ruger Precision. |
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Originally Posted By Tersoth: out of curiosity how would you classify the Uintah Precision uppers? I think there are somethings that the AR BCA "Bolt Action" and the Uintah Precision brings that a standard bolt action doesnt. I personally am a fan of the AR ergos. The ones that come close to that, that i can think of is the Sig Cross series, Q Fix series, and the Ruger Precision. Originally Posted By Tersoth: Originally Posted By thederrick106: Just my thoughts, as a guy who is a heavy bolt action user on other platforms for hunting and plinking. Sure, an AR bolt action upper turns an AR lower into a "bolt action style" rifle but it's not really a bolt action rifle. It's a manually operated AR15 upper. I have several different Remington's: 600, 700, 7. Howa, Ruger. From a strictly bolt action perspective even a basic Ruger ranch is a "better" bolt action rifle than a BCA bolt action upper slapped on an AR lower. With that being said it does what it's intended to do. Be a budget friendly manual operated upper. Anything in the same category is easily 5x the cost, and probably better. I had looked (online because they are nowhere to be found in any LGS) at pump and bolt action ARs for years but wasn't ready to spend 1k+ for just punching paper in my backyard. For me it's just another addon kit for my adult lego sets. I think there are somethings that the AR BCA "Bolt Action" and the Uintah Precision brings that a standard bolt action doesnt. I personally am a fan of the AR ergos. The ones that come close to that, that i can think of is the Sig Cross series, Q Fix series, and the Ruger Precision. I would classify it as too expensive for me to bother with. For the price tag of the Uintah I would get something like this instead: https://www.kimberamerica.com/mtn-ascent-peak I think a lot of my opinion and reasons are more bias towards my interests and hobbies. #1 being backcountry hunting and carrying a rifle all day. I prefer light weight. My current is a Howa Superlite in 308 topped with a Leupold. Next after that is just plinking on my small backwoods personal range. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: I would classify it as too expensive for me to bother with. For the price tag of the Uintah I would get something like this instead: https://www.kimberamerica.com/mtn-ascent-peak I think a lot of my opinion and reasons are more bias towards my interests and hobbies. #1 being backcountry hunting and carrying a rifle all day. I prefer light weight. My current is a Howa Superlite in 308 topped with a Leupold. Next after that is just plinking on my small backwoods personal range. I was hoping for your opinion between the Uintah and BCA as the Uintah was more of a traditional 3 lug design. I like to hear others points of view and ideas, helps to see things from different perspectives. |
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Originally Posted By Tersoth: First, thanks for your reply. I was hoping for your opinion between the Uintah and BCA as the Uintah was more of a traditional 3 lug design. I like to hear others points of view and ideas, helps to see things from different perspectives. Originally Posted By Tersoth: Originally Posted By thederrick106: I would classify it as too expensive for me to bother with. For the price tag of the Uintah I would get something like this instead: https://www.kimberamerica.com/mtn-ascent-peak I think a lot of my opinion and reasons are more bias towards my interests and hobbies. #1 being backcountry hunting and carrying a rifle all day. I prefer light weight. My current is a Howa Superlite in 308 topped with a Leupold. Next after that is just plinking on my small backwoods personal range. I was hoping for your opinion between the Uintah and BCA as the Uintah was more of a traditional 3 lug design. I like to hear others points of view and ideas, helps to see things from different perspectives. Glad to help. I do think the BCA bolt action upper could be a good base to build a precision AR. The question for me would be, is it worth spending the money, and doing the fine tuning? Maybe? If you already have a precision barrel maybe, you are part way there and it would make sense from that perspective. I think a purpose-built bolt rifle would probably be a better investment if the goal is precision and you didn't already have AR parts to work with. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: Glad to help. I do think the BCA bolt action upper could be a good base to build a precision AR. The question for me would be, is it worth spending the money, and doing the fine tuning? Maybe? If you already have a precision barrel maybe, you are part way there and it would make sense from that perspective. I think a purpose-built bolt rifle would probably be a better investment if the goal is precision and you didn't already have AR parts to work with. Originally Posted By thederrick106: Originally Posted By Tersoth: Originally Posted By thederrick106: I would classify it as too expensive for me to bother with. For the price tag of the Uintah I would get something like this instead: https://www.kimberamerica.com/mtn-ascent-peak I think a lot of my opinion and reasons are more bias towards my interests and hobbies. #1 being backcountry hunting and carrying a rifle all day. I prefer light weight. My current is a Howa Superlite in 308 topped with a Leupold. Next after that is just plinking on my small backwoods personal range. I was hoping for your opinion between the Uintah and BCA as the Uintah was more of a traditional 3 lug design. I like to hear others points of view and ideas, helps to see things from different perspectives. Glad to help. I do think the BCA bolt action upper could be a good base to build a precision AR. The question for me would be, is it worth spending the money, and doing the fine tuning? Maybe? If you already have a precision barrel maybe, you are part way there and it would make sense from that perspective. I think a purpose-built bolt rifle would probably be a better investment if the goal is precision and you didn't already have AR parts to work with. The neat thing about a precision bolt AR is that you can put virtually all of the money into your barrel and scope. You already own the adjustable stock, and match grade AR triggers are extremely cheap. |
| Not going to lie, I'm still wanting to do one of these in .357 magnum. I'm going to wait until spring to see if their PCC uppers come out, but Ron Williams might still be willing to do .357/.44/.50AE bolts and barrels. It's been a few years since I've talked to him, but he used to do custom DI AR uppers in those calibers. |
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Originally Posted By Bearcat24: Going to back off on the 338 ARC. Don’t want to buy another suppressor. Considering the 6mm ARC but not sure I want to reload another caliber. Do plan on the bullpup setup though. Just not sure which caliber I want in it. What sized suppressors do you have? |
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Originally Posted By ELittlefield: What sized suppressors do you have? 30 cal. Another reason to consider the 6MM ARC. Will decide after I get that lower, which won't be for a few months. Christmas has priority for now. Already shoot 190 subs from my BO with a sandman s and my Hogster Vibe thermal. |
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Originally Posted By Bearcat24: 30 cal. Another reason to consider the 6MM ARC. Will decide after I get that lower, which won't be for a few months. Christmas has priority for now. Originally Posted By Bearcat24: Originally Posted By ELittlefield: What sized suppressors do you have? 30 cal. Another reason to consider the 6MM ARC. Will decide after I get that lower, which won't be for a few months. Christmas has priority for now. Just my opinion, but 6mm ARC shines at longer ranges. I think any bullpup stock you're able to put this on will have a pretty poor trigger, which will make longer range shooting less enjoyable. 300 Blackout is an incredibly fun caliber with a silencer. |
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Originally Posted By ELittlefield: Just my opinion, but 6mm ARC shines at longer ranges. I think any bullpup stock you're able to put this on will have a pretty poor trigger, which will make longer range shooting less enjoyable. 300 Blackout is an incredibly fun caliber with a silencer. |
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Originally Posted By ELittlefield: Just my opinion, but 6mm ARC shines at longer ranges. I think any bullpup stock you're able to put this on will have a pretty poor trigger, which will make longer range shooting less enjoyable. 300 Blackout is an incredibly fun caliber with a silencer. If it takes a standard lower parts kit, it should be able to use a Timney or AR Gold trigger. Unless I read it wrong on the list on that build. |
| Out of curiosity... Has anyone found a source for a replacement spring that goes in between the bolt and carrier body?? The boy bought a second hand upper and it's missing the spring... Would like to buy a few. BCA will send one under warranty but won't sell a couple. They did give me a spring spec. so that I could maybe source a replacement. |
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Originally Posted By Bric: Out of curiosity... Has anyone found a source for a replacement spring that goes in between the bolt and carrier body?? The boy bought a second hand upper and it's missing the spring... Would like to buy a few. BCA will send one under warranty but won't sell a couple. They did give me a spring spec. so that I could maybe source a replacement. Post the spring specs, I am sure someone will find them for you. ETA/ I know I don't mind keeping spare parts around and would probably grab a couple to toss in the parts bin. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Here are the specs. they gave me for the spring the goes between the bolt and the carrier body directly from the email Not sure of the accuracy, at a quick glance the #'s look off. Just passing along what was sent... Series = Standard compression series (inch) Outside Diameter (inch) = 0.42 Hole Diameter (inch) = 0.438 Rod Diameter (inch) = 0.323 Free Length (inch) = 0.50 Rate (lb/in) = 34 Solid Height (inch) = 0.19 Wire Diameter (inch) = 0.042 Material = Music Wire Load at Solid Height (lb) = 11 Ends = Squared and Ground Active Coils = 2.54 Direction of Wind = Factory Option Finish = Zinc Plate and Bake per ASTM B633 |
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Originally Posted By Bric: Here are the specs. they gave me for the spring the goes between the bolt and the carrier body directly from the email Not sure of the accuracy, at a quick glance the #'s look off. Just passing along what was sent... Series = Standard compression series (inch) Outside Diameter (inch) = 0.42 Hole Diameter (inch) = 0.438 Rod Diameter (inch) = 0.323 Free Length (inch) = 0.50 Rate (lb/in) = 34 Solid Height (inch) = 0.19 Wire Diameter (inch) = 0.042 Material = Music Wire Load at Solid Height (lb) = 11 Ends = Squared and Ground Active Coils = 2.54 Direction of Wind = Factory Option Finish = Zinc Plate and Bake per ASTM B633 I'm surprised they bothered to give you all that, but wouldn't go to the parts bin and mail you one. |
| Also, follow what Preacher had posted in the beginning regarding rounding the back edge of the bolt locking lugs. Doesn’t take much at all and it significantly smoothed up the locking/unlocking of the bolt. Especially since you’re not going through mags at a time and letting it naturally wear in. Lastly, I put in a POF roller cam pin which I feel (maybe just in my head) helped a bit more. I initially took the standard cam pin and made it more oval than rectangular and that seemed to help as well (before I put the POF in), if you want to save a few bucks. |
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Originally Posted By Bric: Eagle1899 and Hijo202.... Thanks much for the advice and links!! Looks like that's my easiest route. Now just gotta figure out how to get around the $15 shipping...lol Sourcing one from a local industrial supplier would be way cheaper. I was able to get gas tube roll pins locally for a fraction of their usual price. |
| Just bought the 308 stripped upper. Plan is to do 308 for now and when 8.6 becomes more readily available swap the barrel. Can’t decide if I want to do a 12” pistol build or a 16” build with a folding stock/brace. I got time though because I’m going to work on fine tuning the bolt and send it out to get coated in a grey PVD like I did my 300blk |
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Attached File 7.5” 338 ARC, my “Subsonic Sniper Solution”. Will obviously be SBRd and also want to swap the handguard. Should be a really fun little plinker! |
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Originally Posted By Tersoth: Has any seen anything about this? Supposedly a change to the bcg. https://imgur.com/a/NwuAyju img link format is not working.. Uploaded to arf: Attached File |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Originally Posted By bluedog82: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/499242/IMG_0809_jpeg-3711555.JPG 7.5” 338 ARC, my “Subsonic Sniper Solution”. Will obviously be SBRd and also want to swap the handguard. Should be a really fun little plinker! Cool build! welcome to the community. |
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BCA bolt action upper for $350? (Page 17 of 21)
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