Bear Creek Arsenal 7.62 x 39 Complete Upper ?

[My Toy]

My Brother is looking at this complete upper receiver to be able to shoot .30 cal ammo on his existing Bushmaster AR lower. He wants 7.62 x 39 as opposed to 300 BL as the ammo is less expensive and he doesn't handload. Does anyone here on MDS have any experience with the quality of Bear Creek Arsenal uppers in general or the 7.62 x 39 in particular? Here is a link to the upper in question.

BC-15 | 7.62x39 Upper | 16" Parkerized Heavy Barrel | 1:10 Twist | Carbine Length Gas System | Standard Handguard | Front Sight

The Bear Creek Arsenal 16" 7.62x39 AR-15 Complete Upper comes with a BCG and charging handle and will fit on any mil-spec AR-15 lower!

www.bearcreekarsenal.com

 

[DutchV]

Bear Creek is about the worst you can get. But some guys will say they work fine.

I wouldn't take it for free.

 

[gwchem]

Bear Creek is about the worst you can get. But some guys will say they work fine.

I wouldn't take it for free.

This is a much nicer review than I could give.

 

[chale127]

My 300 BO upper eats whatever I throw at it..
Is it the best? hell no, but it goes bang when I want it to and doesn't go bang when I don't want it to

 

[smdub]

BCA has a pretty horrible reputation.

That said, don't buy a rifle length x39 upper w/ carbine gas length anyway. x39 already has much more recoil than 5.56. Carbine gas is going to make it extremely difficult to tune it down.

 

[Squaregrouper]

They are the kings of hit or miss. Some are absolute garbage, yet others work fine.
I have a BCA .450BM upper that is reliable and shoots 1.25" groups at 100yds. To be honest, I wouldn't have bought it had it been more than the $200 I paid for it as a complete upper. (I bought it as used/unfired)

 

[FZRracer400!]

I’ve got a BCA 308 upper. Accuracy is actually great, I’ve got to be honest . However They put the wrong length gas tube in, and wouldn’t answer my emails in regards to it. All they did was send me a new tube……of the same incorrect length. Had me chasing my tail when I first built the rifle……aside from good spring/buffer/mag combos for the lower half. All that said, it was a shits and giggles project at the time, that sweat equity turned it into a nice hunter………but I’d never get another BCA

 

[guzma393]

I bought a fair share of bca uppers for non serious range burner plinking use and they do the job. I had a couple where the gasblocks came loose but that was it.

 

[RAF]

Bought a 7.62x39 BCA upper from Classic Firearms some years back. So far, it's been fine. It eats up steel cased Wolf, damn accurate, only thing I've done is put a longer firing pin in it. About the best $199 I've ever spent.

 

[GuitarmanNick]

My BCA 5.56 upper came with a chamber not even cut enough to fire .223 and was popping primers at the first outing. Absolutely zero free-bore which created a dangerous firearm and splattered my face with debris on firing.

It was cheap enough that I bought another barrel and replaced it.

Friends don't let friends buy BCA!

 

[Hibs]

Bear Creek is about the worst you can get. But some guys will say they work fine.

I wouldn't take it for free.

Absolutely agree. My buddy and I tried 4 of them. All junk.

 

[outrider58]

My advice; if you want a BCA because of the cost, by all means buy one. When you get it, take it completely apart and rebuild it from the ground up. That way, you'll at least know it is put together right.

 

[My Toy]

Thanks for the replies. I related these experiences to him and he decided to bail out on the BCA upper.

 

[tallen702]

Huh. I've had zero issues with my 7.62x39 BCA complete upper. Bought the upper and BCG as a combo and it shoots great. It'll eat any ammo I throw at it without any problems. Accuracy is fine, no issues with chambering, gas block, etc.

 

[clandestine]

He made a good choice. BCA puts out some really questionable stuff.

 

[mikem623]

Are all the negative remarks about BCA first hand experience or just hearsay

 

[Squaregrouper]

Are all the negative remarks about BCA first hand experience or just hearsay

Clandestine (the poster above you) is one of the most knowledgeable AR gunsmiths on the east coast.
That being said, I got a BCA for dirt cheap and have been quite happy with it.

 

[chale127]

Generally a combination of both...
There is at least one opinion in this thread I know comes from factual, first hand info, and most likely multiples of experiences that I trust wholly even though my personal experience differs (see above posts)....I chalk my experience up as luck in this case.

 

[bibitor]

Clandestine (the poster above you) is one of the most knowledgeable AR gunsmiths on the east coast.
That being said, I got a BCA for dirt cheap and have been quite happy with it.

When I was younger and poorer I bought a BCA complete 7.62x39 AR for $300.

Then I took the remainder of my budget and signed-up for Clandestine's AR Armorer 101 class.

The rifle had only one minor flaw in it's manufacturing, the gas key screws, which we replaced in the class.

I still have the rifle and it still runs great, probably 2K rounds through it over the years.

This is not an endorsement of BCA, just another perspective on weighing your options when you're on a limited budget. I'm glad I bought the rifle because it meant I was able to afford Clandestine's course.

 

[Doco Overboard]

I own one Bear creek product but I sure hear many negatives about them and read them first hand here.
Gotta be something more to it than their products just are no good.
I guess I just got lucky for the purpose but no complaints out of me so far.
I must say though however, the bolt carrier wasn’t much better in appearance than some Kyber pass products I’ve observed In the past but I knew I wasn’t buying a Cadillac either when I bought it.
I’ve killed deer with products with a worse reputation that’s for sure.