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Bear creek arsenal upper quality (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/1/2025 7:23:24 PM EDT
| Was looking at one of their stainless 6.5 grendel uppers. How is the quality? |
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No personal experience but when the name comes up, I see a lot of people discuss issues and having to return them. Customer service seems decent. That said, if you are shooting 6.5G, you're probably going to be expecting good performance because of the premium you will be paying in ammo. Good barrels aren't cheap. |
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I have had a dozen or so BCA uppers. mostly in 7.62x39 and those are great. I did have one in .223 and it was not great to shoot but was better than my stainless barreled PSA upper. I also had 2 of their dedicated .22 uppers. They were good but rarely got used so I sold them. I'm pretty sure most of the other responses here have no experience with BCA other than reading about the illegal raid about 10 years ago. Yes i have rifles with bigger names and rifles that shoot better but over all I'm been very happy with my BCA stuff. As to quality? I don't know but I've run thousands of rounds through my 7.62x39 ar's with zero issues. |
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Originally Posted By UrbancommandoX: Was looking at one of their stainless 6.5 grendel uppers. How is the quality? Literally, Hit or Miss. I have a 6.5G upper from them. I got it YEARS ago and have killed many deer with it. It isn't a sub MOA barrel but it will kill deer 200y and in which is what I got it for. |
ARFCOM GD hates everything so don't freak out if you catch grief for what you like. Unless you like AKs, then GFY.
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Originally Posted By RattleCanAR: Literally, Hit or Miss. I have a 6.5G upper from them. I got it YEARS ago and have killed many deer with it. It isn't a sub MOA barrel but it will kill deer 200y and in which is what I got it for. Originally Posted By RattleCanAR: Originally Posted By UrbancommandoX: Was looking at one of their stainless 6.5 grendel uppers. How is the quality? Literally, Hit or Miss. I have a 6.5G upper from them. I got it YEARS ago and have killed many deer with it. It isn't a sub MOA barrel but it will kill deer 200y and in which is what I got it for. What barrel or complete upper would you recommend? |
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Originally Posted By King_Mud: What do you want it for? Like the guy just above, a 200y deer blaster? Probably fine. A longer range target upper? Probably not a good idea. It’s like buying the cheapest rifle off the rack at WalMart and I wouldn’t pretend otherwise. Deer, hogs, target shooting. All three to 200 yards. Maybe psa complete upper or one from bill alexander. |
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Originally Posted By UrbancommandoX: What barrel or complete upper would you recommend? I have 16in. I got it 10 years ago (roughly). I have no idea what they offer now. |
ARFCOM GD hates everything so don't freak out if you catch grief for what you like. Unless you like AKs, then GFY.
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Originally Posted By UrbancommandoX: Deer, hogs, target shooting. All three to 200 yards. Maybe psa complete upper or one from bill alexander. I would get a PSA long before I would get a BCA these days. |
ARFCOM GD hates everything so don't freak out if you catch grief for what you like. Unless you like AKs, then GFY.
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Originally Posted By GrizzlyAdams: Cheap. Fast. Good. Pick 2. Order and give us a review. This is good advice since your chances are one will have issues. I've seen too many BCAs transferred through with issues straight from the factory and ones that come in for work to trust my luck with them. |
| My personal experience.... KaBoom! |
So... I find comfort in the fact that if Trump has to work so hard to go to Heaven, then there is a shit load of Democrats that have no f-cking chance to go anywhere but HELL. Sometimes it is entirely appropriate to kill a fly with a sledge-hammer.
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Their 5.56 barrels can be OK. I have kept one of them. But that is only one out of three. The other two were problematic at best. And BCA's bolt carrier groups are hot garbage IMO. Beat by an ugly stick and dragged down 15 miles of bad road. There are other affordable options that give better consistency and performance. Can BCA make good stuff? Sure. But, are you actually saving money to buy three of the same item in order to find one that works? No. And that's my issue with BCA their consistency pretty much isn't. |
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I have a few, good luck so far. Bolt action 7.62x39 has been good to go so far. Took some break in to get smooth but now it's one of my favorite range toys. 22LR dedicated upper has been excellent to date. It will eat any type of ammo I feed it. Not accurate with all the different kinds of 22LR, some are more accurate than others. 556 side charging upper has been solid. Runs very well. I have a 20" 556 bolt action upper I haven't had a chance to get out to my range yet, but initial inspection doesn't raise any red flags. I put that one on a Spikes lower. Tried to build it up to be a 556 AR15 version of my heavier target rifle, a Remington model 700 30-06 in an archangel stock. Used the same Vortex scope and bipod for both. Just got a regular 556 rear charging upper attached to a freshly assembled lower and hope to test it out soon. Price was right for the FDE cerakote option. Topped it with a Vortex LPVO. |
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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I have a 20" stainless BCA in 6.5G. I guess I got lucky. Mine is a tack driver. Paid $265 for the upper. Put an ATN night sight on it and use it for coyote. 100 yards with factory Hornady Black 123 gn ammo. Below is the rifle and 10 shot group, 8 to the right, then a slight adjustment on the scope for the last two: https://imgur.com/gallery/20-M7u0lSD#YP1wZMC |
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Originally Posted By EDL: I have a 20" stainless BCA in 6.5G. I guess I got lucky. Mine is a tack driver. Paid $265 for the upper. Put an ATB night sight on it and use it for coyote. 100 yards with factory Hornady Black 123 gn ammo. Below is the rifle and 10 shot group, 8 to the right, then a slight adjustment on the scope for the last two: https://imgur.com/gallery/20-M7u0lSD#YP1wZMC @EDL Was that price including the BCG? |
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Originally Posted By sigman68: @EDL Was that price including the BCG? Originally Posted By sigman68: Originally Posted By EDL: I have a 20" stainless BCA in 6.5G. I guess I got lucky. Mine is a tack driver. Paid $265 for the upper. Put an ATB night sight on it and use it for coyote. 100 yards with factory Hornady Black 123 gn ammo. Below is the rifle and 10 shot group, 8 to the right, then a slight adjustment on the scope for the last two: https://imgur.com/gallery/20-M7u0lSD#YP1wZMC @EDL Was that price including the BCG? May be irrelevant but I don't think I have seen a BCA upper for sale on their site that didn't include a BCG. Everything I got over the last year or two has included a BCG. |
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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Gotta save money somewhere 😉 |
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: May be irrelevant but I don't think I have seen a BCA upper for sale on their site that didn't include a BCG. Everything I got over the last year or two has included a BCG. It's rare, but sometimes on their sale stuff you'll find some without a BCG, but generally, they do come with one. |
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I have only gotten two complete BCA uppers, and one of those were so that I could put a different barrel on it. However, I have several BCA barrels, in different calibers. They have good to decent accuracy. The bores seem tight. I just slugged two 10mm bores, and got .399. Tight, but within spec. But, I lap all BCA barrels before I shoot them. The 10mm barrels have a tight spot right around where the gas port would be. But then, I haven’t tested them for accuracy, and I didn’t get them for just paper punching. I’ve had to slightly modify a couple of BCA uppers so they would work on a PSA lowers. The curve of the upper at the rear didn’t match the curve of the lower. Their 22 Mag upper is one of the most accurate rifles I own. I do like their side charge receiver design better than some of the other ones out there. Though I do wish they made an ambidextrous design similar to Delta Team Tactical’s. But, all in all, I don’t have much to complain about with BCA. |
| I picked up 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster uppers from them because I wanted to try out the calibers on the cheap with the plan to upgrade later. Honestly, for the limited amount I use them (very occasional range trips and hunting, so very few rounds comparatively speaking) they've been pretty good, beyond my expectations anyway. Good enough for any hunting I'm doing here. Buddy got a .223 upper from them, it was hot garbage. Thing couldn't hit water if it fell out of a boat (and honestly that what he should've done with it, go throw it in a river). So my personal experience has been 66% positive. Take that for what you will. |
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Originally Posted By HobbitHunter: There are so many more reputable companies making 6.5g barrels, why them? Ive met bill alexander so his are an option, psa is an option. Thinking about a faxon 16 midlength with yhm flil up front sight gas block. What do you recommend? Im open to opinions. |
| I shoot with a couple of guys that bought their bolt action uppers in 350L. Both guns shoot accurately enough to hit 6” steel plates on our 200 yard range, but on both uppers they have to pound on the bolt with their palms to get them to open up after firing. I was interested in one until I saw that. |
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Originally Posted By UrbancommandoX: Ive met bill alexander so his are an option, psa is an option. Thinking about a faxon 16 midlength with yhm flil up front sight gas block. What do you recommend? Im open to opinions. Faxon (i have their discontinued 20" 6.5g 4150cmv nitride gunner barrel, new version is 416r nitride) Grendel hunter seems to get good reviews (i do not own one). |
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Originally Posted By RattleCanAR: I would get a PSA long before I would get a BCA these days. Originally Posted By RattleCanAR: Originally Posted By UrbancommandoX: Deer, hogs, target shooting. All three to 200 yards. Maybe psa complete upper or one from bill alexander. I would get a PSA long before I would get a BCA these days. BCA is where I go to buy things NOBODY else makes at a low price point. Their bolt action uppers are extremely cool, but they have some serious quirks. And their side charging uppers work well. I also just bought an 8.6 Blackout upper from them, for the same reason. They're simply the only players in the game at such a low price point. I would not bother buying common caliber, or standard AR parts from them. PSA's track record is better. 6.5 Grendel can have some quirks. I think of it as a cartridge to be used for precision purposes. The ammo is too expensive to just go out and bump fire into garbage (which I love doing with cheap 5.56), and I only want a premium barrel and bolt maker because of how close to the edge the 6.5 case head and taper pushes the AR design. Diagnosing extraction issues gets really expensive with premium 6.5 ammo. |
| I bought one of their 6.5G side charging uppers to try- I like the side charger although it could be better its not all that bad - better than their bolt action IMO... but the chambers are crap... I sent two back for rings/gouges/debris in the chamber - the replacements were much better but still not up to other makers standards... out of 5 barrels I have sent 2 back and 2 I consider marginal, but will live with. However I recently got a 300BO from them that looks entirely flawless with the borescope... I was impressed-however I still havent gotten to the range to shoot it.. |
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Originally Posted By MallNinja531: I picked up 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster uppers from them because I wanted to try out the calibers on the cheap with the plan to upgrade later. Honestly, for the limited amount I use them (very occasional range trips and hunting, so very few rounds comparatively speaking) they've been pretty good, beyond my expectations anyway. My brother bought me 450 BM upper from Bear Creek earlier this year. I haven't shot it yet. What kind of accuracy are you getting from yours and what loads are you running? |
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I’m a little late to your party, but I own a couple 5.56 uppers from them, as well as a complete AR10 from them. Mind you I’ve replaced the BCG in the AR10, just because I know their BCGs can fail, but regardless. I’ve had no issues out of their uppers. One of the 5.56 I have is the side charging. The rest are standard, including the 308. They are cheap and work for the most part. I just ordered a 7.62x39 upper for my next build. |
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Originally Posted By RattleCanAR: I would get a PSA long before I would get a BCA these days. Originally Posted By RattleCanAR: Originally Posted By UrbancommandoX: Deer, hogs, target shooting. All three to 200 yards. Maybe psa complete upper or one from bill alexander. I would get a PSA long before I would get a BCA these days. |
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They're not really precision or high quality, but that doesn't make them a bad purchase. They have some neat novel, non-milspec products (side charging carriers, bufferless PCCs, bolt-action AR uppers). Their receiver and handguard designs lean toward minimized machining time to save money where it can be saved, but the ones I've encountered are also fairly sturdy because of that extra bulk. But weighty and inelegant. I primarily have bought novel parts from them -- bolt action upper kits, side-charging uppers, side-charging carriers. I have purchased one complete bolt-action upper (before they sold the kits), and I swapped the barrel, bolt, and handguard. I personally avoid their barrels and bolts. Many people get products that work well from them from the first shot. Many people get products that work well after a little work (polishing rough feed ramps, removing and properly shimming/ torquing over-tightened barrel nuts, polishing various surfaces on bolt or carrier, truing the receiver face, breaking in, etc.). Some people get a bad product that needs to be exchanged. They're usually really good about that, from all I've read. If you are willing to risk spending time either sending back a bad one or cleaning up an imperfect one, and if it doesn't have to be a lightweight or especially aesthetically pleasing, then BCA's a good choice. They will absolutely save you money. If you get a highly precise barrel out of them (<~1 MOA), you're lucky. 1-2 MOA, moderately lucky, but common enough. Most are 2-3 MOA barrels, though sometimes when they overtorque their barrel nuts, they reduce their own barrel precision in their upper builds. I'm pretty sure I've read posts from a couple people who removed the barrel nut then installed it properly and saw notable precision from their BCA upper. You're not likely to get a >= 4 MOA barrel, but it happens, and they're good about exchanging bad product. If you were to set your expectations, I'd say if you're ok with a 3 MOA or better barrel, you'll almost certainly be fine with whatever arrives. If you want a < 2 MOA barrel, you're running a risk of being disappointed or at least having to spend time working on it or replacing it through their customer service. edits: Replacing stuff I accidentally deleted |
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Originally Posted By Sailormilan2: I have only gotten two complete BCA uppers, and one of those were so that I could put a different barrel on it. However, I have several BCA barrels, in different calibers. They have good to decent accuracy. The bores seem tight. I just slugged two 10mm bores, and got .399. Tight, but within spec. But, I lap all BCA barrels before I shoot them. The 10mm barrels have a tight spot right around where the gas port would be. But then, I haven’t tested them for accuracy, and I didn’t get them for just paper punching. I’ve had to slightly modify a couple of BCA uppers so they would work on a PSA lowers. The curve of the upper at the rear didn’t match the curve of the lower. Their 22 Mag upper is one of the most accurate rifles I own. I do like their side charge receiver design better than some of the other ones out there. Though I do wish they made an ambidextrous design similar to Delta Team Tactical’s. But, all in all, I don’t have much to complain about with BCA. @Sailormam2 I have couple of Gen 1 psa 20" rifles in .308 and was wondering how much carving is needed make Bear Creek upper fit a PSA lower. $300 BC upper to play with beats a $500-750 PSA upper for just something to play with. Currently loading lighter weight 6.5G loads and thought that having a 6.5 creedmore upper to use up the heavy for 6.5G bullets if they don't workout for the Grendels. Even Psa states their current generation isn't a good match for their Gen1 lower. If I am going to be "adjusting " things I would rather adjust a cheap part |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: They're not really precision or high quality, but that doesn't make them a bad purchase. They have some neat novel, non-milspec products (side charging carriers, bufferless PCCs, bolt-action AR uppers). Their receiver and handguard designs lean toward minimized machining time to save money where it can be saved, but the ones I've encountered are also fairly sturdy because of that extra bulk. But weighty and inelegant. I primarily have bought novel parts from them -- bolt action upper kits, side-charging uppers, side-charging carriers. I have purchased one complete bolt-action upper (before they sold the kits), and I swapped the barrel, bolt, and handguard. I personally avoid their barrels and bolts. Many people get products that work well from them from the first shot. Many people get products that work well after a little work (polishing rough feed ramps, removing and properly shimming/ torquing over-tightened barrel nuts, polishing various surfaces on bolt or carrier, truing the receiver face, breaking in, etc.). Some people get a bad product that needs to be exchanged. They're usually really good about that, from all I've read. If you are willing to risk spending time either sending back a bad one or cleaning up an imperfect one, and if it doesn't have to be a lightweight or especially aesthetically pleasing, then BCA's a good choice. They will absolutely save you money. If you get a highly precise barrel out of them (<~1 MOA), you're lucky. 1-2 MOA, moderately lucky, but common enough. Most are 2-3 MOA barrels, though sometimes when they overtorque their barrel nuts, they reduce their own barrel precision in their upper builds. I'm pretty sure I've read posts from a couple people who removed the barrel nut then installed it properly and saw notable precision from their BCA upper. You're not likely to get a >= 4 MOA barrel, but it happens, and they're good about exchanging bad product. If you were to set your expectations, I'd say if you're ok with a 3 MOA or better barrel, you'll almost certainly be fine with whatever arrives. If you want a < 2 MOA barrel, you're running a risk of being disappointed or at least having to spend time working on it or replacing it through their customer service. edits: Replacing stuff I accidentally deleted Good post. While I haven't swapped barrels or worried about MOA so far, all my bolt action BCA complete uppers have worked very well for what they are. I have no delusion that they are a high-end precision upper but just a solid range plinker. As someone in a ban state the affordable bolt action uppers have really filled a void for someone like me who enjoys adult lego kits. After a few successful bolt action uppers out of the box I went for a dedicated 22lr, and it runs well (as I posted prior.) I have since added a couple other uppers, a rear charging in 556 and one in 7.62x39 that I just finished putting together. While my semi uppers have to ride on a thordsen stocked lower I am looking forward to getting them out to my range once some snow melts. ARs for me are just range toys, I have regular bolt action rifles for precision and hunting. |
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 !!!
My most recent Bear Creek purchase was a 7.5" side charging 308 upper. I matched it up with an aero m5 lower with Brace and have been having fun with it. Over the years I have purchased several Bear Creek items and really haven't had any issues to speak of. At this point in time with the variety in available parts, if your concerned about their quality then shop somewhere else. Finally, the date on them getting caught with illegals in their factory was in 2019 some seven years ago. They are an okay place in my book, but then I also like the late and unlamented poverty pony lowers.
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My Son in Law bought a BCA 20” 6.5 Grendel with a stainless steel barrel upper on sale in 2024 IIRC. He had never shot it but put the upper on a lower he assembled. My Grandson was coming to my house for a few days and I suggested he send the BCA 6.5 Grendel so I could test it and sght it in. I checked the bolt and carrier and everything looked fine. I measured the bolt length and bolt face depth which were in spec. I looked at the barrel and chamber which looked fine with no obvious problems. I dropped some factory ammunition with different bullets from different manufacturers into the chamber. I tried some of my reloads and everything looked good. I had recently bought some S&B 124 grain 6.5 Grendel ammunition which I used to test the rifle. My SiL had only put iron sights on the upper so I set to trying to adjust the sights. The rifle was shooting way high so I tried to adjust the front sight. I couldn’t get the rifle to shoot anywhere near point of aim at 50 yards. I was shooting at my house so I put an extra scope of mine on the rifle. The rifle shot very close to point of aim and within a couple of shots I had the rifle zeroed. The scope had previously been sighted in for another AR-15. My grandson and I shot a few groups at fifty yards and the rifle functioned 100% and the ejection pattern was at 4 o clock. I tried a few of my reloads and they to functioned 100%. It then occurred to me the SiL had used a Midwest Industries front and rear sight set. The front sight was for a gas block rail and not a free float hand guard. The gas block rail sets lower and uses a different front sight. I accused my SiL of playing games with me by intentionally putting on the wrong front sight but I knew it hadn’t even occurred to him. Overall I was pleasantly surprised how decent the rifle shot even with a mil spec single stage trigger. [url=https://flic.kr/p/2rksSUb] 
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Just assembled an Anderson lower yesterday for another BCA upper. Thordsen stock because NY. Matched the FDE with a drop in Magpul MOE hand guard. I ended up with a BCA upper that had a drop in style handguard because it was the lowest priced complete upper in 7.62x39. I have had one of their bolt uppers in 7.62x39 for about a year now and really enjoy it. I was back and forth for a while if I was even going to get a semi auto AR in 7.62x39 but I could only look at the $184 upper in my watch list for so long. Fit and finish is same as all my other BCA stuff and better than I always expect for around $200 to my door. Be interesting to see how this 7.62x39 runs as I have always read that function can be hit or miss in the AR platform and require tinker. I already have a bunch of 10 round ASC mags for my bolt variant so I will try those first. Topped it with a Sightmark Wolverine I got for less than $80 from Optics Planet. Attached File As it sets in the picture (NY legal) I am at about $500 including the optic. If I didn't need the stuff to make it NY legal such as the Thordsen stock, ambi safety which is needed with the stock, and of course a hand guard to match the Thorsden stock I already had on hand I would be just over $300 without the optic. Now just need some of this snow to melt so I can get up to my range. 
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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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Got a 7.62x39 pistol upper (10.5"). Looks great and shoots great. They did put in a cheap firing pin. I think we all know a 7.62x39 AR needs the 'enhanced' firing pin. Of course it broke and ended my range session. I picked up a couple enhanced FPs and installed one it in. It now shoots great. I originally bought a RH side charging one but returned it without firing when I realized you have to unscrew a bolt and take the charging handle off to service/clean the bolt. That's when I got the one I have now which is a traditional upper.
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Bear creek arsenal upper quality (Page 1 of 2)
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