Hey guys! Just wanted to throw out a PSA for anyone looking at AR uppers or parts. I currently own 2 complete upper receivers from Bear Creek Arsenal and I’m having some problems with them. Shooting wise they’re not bad. They cycle better than expected and the accuracy isn’t all that horrible. My issue comes down to quality control and all the other pieces separate from the barrel.
First issue I had was when I bought my first AR upper and lower back in college (not a lot of money to my name.) I had an Anderson lower which is standard, but the barrel nut/quad rail would hit making it so I couldn’t attach the upper to the lower. After some filing I got it to fit. Second issue I found was on a 6.5 Grendel upper. Again gun shoots well, but after some shooting the hand guard would slide forward about a quarter inch. No matter how hard I tightened or altered it, it would not stay in place. To fix this issue, I ended up saying screw it and just flipped my cantilever scope mount backwards so that it holds onto the receiver instead of the bridge area between the two. Lastly, I was cleaning the upper mentioned from the first issue and noticed some silver showing. After looking closer, I realized the quad rail was cracked. What caused this was a set screw that if tightened too much, would put enough pressure from the barrel nut area outward that it can crack the hand guard.
So final thoughts are, the prices are where they’re at for a reason. After building a sweet (and wayyy too expensive) AR-10, I cannot go back to cheap. Stick with a reputable company or be prepared to make some changes or even replace parts earlier than you’d ever expect. Jim, I know you have a new BCA upper in .450 bushmaster, so hopefully you’ll have different results than me!