1st range report on a Bear Creek Arsenal AR rifle in 7.62 X 39

[joepistol]

Found a sale on a BCA AR in the Found-A-Deal forum, & since I'd never even seen a BCA product, (and I like the 7.62 X39 round) decided to give it a try, & ordered one. Here's a link to it : https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/762...wer-rifle.html

I was curious about BCA products, having no experience, I started a thread, asking about them.
I was disappointed at some of the responses posted,.. too many respondents posted their thoughts & opinions about the company and their products,
though they did not have any purchase experience ..which is what was requested. I appreciate the + and - comments from those that had actually purchased BCA products.

Was nice to hear that the company seems to correct any issues that purchasers experience. Responses were similar to my experience with PSA products.. some had good experience, others not so good.. This has been my experience as well. Any brand firearm may have issues, the difference becomes how well the company addresses issues that do arise. I placed my order on Oct 12th..and after getting an email confirmation of my purchase..waited. Checks on the BCA site listed this about their processing orders :
"Please allow 1-14 business days for orders to process after submitting. Our company policy is 1-14 business days for processing, but we work very hard to get orders out as quickly as possible. Most (but unfortunately not all) of our orders are processed and leave our building within 3-4 business days. We want to make sure that we set the proper expectation so we can under promise and over deliver! "

I've been impressed with the speed that many online retailers process & ship orders..( including Combat Armory) can't say the same for BCA.
Received the notice that my order had processed on the 21st.... so, not exactly fast, but within their stated time frame.
Arrived @ my FFL on the 24th, was examined & picked up the next day. No visible flaws or defects noted. I'd read comments where posters comment that a firearm looks , or feels " cheap " .. this always makes me wonder what objective criteria is used to make such a subjective observation ?
Poorly finished metalwork ?, rough action ? flawed finish of materials ? sloppy assembly resulting in poor fitting of parts ?

I found none of this on my BCA rifle. No rough or poor finish, bolt & charging handle felt smooth, bolt release functions easily, mag drops when released.
Finish is flat black, but smooth / even in appearance. Sliding stock locks firmly in place. Upper fits snugly against the lower,
No gaps or movement between the upper and lower receivers.Trigger pull is heavier than I prefer, which is true of almost every firearm I've owned.
Most get lighter springs, a "trigger job", or replacement trigger, for lighter, smoother function.
A side charging handle is new to me, I like the way it functions.. it should make charging the rifle with a scope mounted, easier.

Cleaned the bore, removed the bolt, cleaned & lubed with FP-10. I had no scope mount or scope to mount,
but a set of taken-off iron sights found in a drawer easily mounted. Found a stud to mount on the barrel shroud,
so a bipod could be attached. Rifle didn't come with a mag, so got a new one from my stash. Ready to hit the range for an initial shoot.

Headed to the range yesterday. Started shooting @ 25 yds. as that's as far as I can see to use iron sights effectively on the target I use.
I shot 1 box of Fiocchi factory loads & 2 boxes of my hand loads. I had used different bullets in my loads, 1 box 123 gr FMJ
& 1 box plastic-tipped 125gr Jacketed bullets.
Shot about 1/2 box of my 123 gr FMJ w/o incident. 1st 3 shots were touching each other.. nice. Switched to the plastic-tipped rnds ,
& an issue arose. Chambered rnd, trigger pulled = "click".. not bang.
Unfired rnd. was difficult to eject. This repeated with several more rnds. No firing pin impression on the primers.
A downside to the side-charging handle is that you need to remove the "handle" to remove the bolt..& need a allen wrench to remove the handle.
Learning this when I cleaned the rifle last night, I had brought one with me. Removed handle & BCG.
Examined firing pin, bolt face, checked firing pin protrusion..looked for foreign material in action...all appeared normal.
Reassembled rifle, a few of the plastic tipped rnds fired..noticed the bolt wasn't completely closing on some of them.
Examined rnds.. I noticed some marks on the chambered, but unfired bullets..maybe this particular bullet has a different ogive / diameter ?
One that doesn't fit well with this rifle's chamber dimensions ?

I'd brought these rnds. as past experience was, this bullet / load combination provided the best accuracy from my PSA 7.62 X 39 AR upper.
I switched to the Fiocchi factory loads, they chambered, fired, & ejected without difficulty.
Had several groups with shots touching.

Kept trying & eventually all rds fired from this rifle. I did have a few failure to feed issues, which I believe to be magazine related.
Unfortunately, I didn't take extra mags (I have several brands) This mag was factory fresh-never used before.
I should have taken my P mag, or other mags I've used in the past that have never had an issue.

I need to check dimensions of the plastic tipped bullet rnds, to see how they compare to the factory rds. & my FMJ loads.

Will mount a scope, so I can more accurately evaluate this rifle's accuracy.
Though the trigger seemed heavy initially, I had shot several groups that touched.. with all ammo I shot.
'course this was at only 25 yds.. but it's promising.
I'd say.. so far, rifle is good..I'm satisfied with it's performance,.. but need to do some fine tuning.
This always the case, in my experience.

[Jailer]

Nice write up and update on your purchase. I like my side charger BCA but will likely not get another one for the reasons you stated. It's a lot easier to field strip a standard upper, no tools involved.

[hendo]

I was impressed with mine, and it works great w C products 28rd mags. The issue I had was with rounds like golden tiger and other lacquer coated. The tighter AR chamber doesn't like it, and caused the issue you described i.e round didn't fully seat, no strike on primer and hard to eject. With that said, switched to wolf polyformance and it ran like a champ

[pickford44]

Fantastic write up! Glad you have had an overall good experience like myself. I as well share the struggles of a side charger on my 450 bm but just pack accordingly when I take it into field. Can’t wait until gun season to take it back out. Congrats on the purchase!

[MCPO_SOCM_RET]

Glad to read a well written first hand experience. And even better that you seem to be happy so far - give the 'ol girl a few more workouts and let us know how you feel about it. Hopefully everything will settle in and you got yourself a keeper.
Thanks for taking the time to write this up. Looking forward to an update with a few hundred more rounds through it.

[joepistol]

Here's the 1st 3 shots on target from my BCA 7.62 X39 rifle..forgot I'd taken a phone pic.
I was pretty excited to see this..shows great potential, IMO.
It's from only 25 yds. but as said, that's as far as I can see & use the iron sights that I put on the rifle for it's initial outing.
These were my FMJ hand loads..

[JDG]

That’s the kind of groups I was getting. Thanks for the review

[joepistol]

I posted my review on another site I visit, and a member there posted a link to an online test of the same rifle..
That "testers" impression of the BCA AR , (same one as I purchased) was favorable as well.
Here's a link to that test :https://www.snipercountry.com/bear-c...r-15-review-2/

Apparently BCA heard from other purchasers, (or potential customers ) that the white lettering on their rifle was not liked,
and they stopped highlighting their logo on the receiver in white. At least I'm happy that my rifle has no white lettering on it.
Also very happy I bought my rifle @ a much lower than mentioned price.

After my 1st range trip, I installed a CMC 3.5# drop in trigger ..Joe Bob Outfitting had a good ( & timely )sale, then
I ordered a set of scope rings and installed a Vortex Diamondback HP 4-16 X 42 rifle scope.
My 2nd range trip had me shooting groups @ 50 yds. very similar to the pic posted from my shooting @25 yds. in above post..
after a few sight-in shots, and these groups were in the bullseye.. shooting with my 123 gr FMJ hand loads.

Only shot another 20 rds or so,( as I'd taken 3 other rifles to the range) I had no issues at all with the rifle this outing..
though haven't figured a way to use my brass catcher, yet. It's on my "to do" list.