20" Bear Creek Arsenal 6.5 Grendel Upper

[Hollis]

I'm new to this forum and I'm sorry if this topic has been addressed previously (I'm sure it has), but I wanted to get input from those who have experience with 6.5 Grendel uppers from BCA. I just bought one with 20" Nitride fluted barrel (https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/cat...q=UA6.5RHB2018). It has all the specs I wanted at a great price. I'm hoping for the best, but I know you generally get what you pay for and this was a lot cheaper than everywhere else I was looking.

[Rosecrans1]

As you have read here and online elsewhere, there are far more bad stories than good. My experience was far from good. BCA appears to have a great front office though so if your upper shoots poorly, keep sending them back and you may get a good one. remember that few barrels shoot well from the start and clean it well including the chamber VERY well before firing.

[slip357]

I was having the same thoughts when i built my first grendel, i had a spare upper receiver from a disappointing 300 BLK and didnt want to invest a lot of money in a barrel in a caliber i didnt know that much about.
I ordered a 20 inch fluted AR stoner barrel from Midway USA , i was a little disappointed with the factory rounds i was getting right at an inch with hornady black box at a 100 yards. Then i tried my first reloads for 6.5 and the combination i came up with just because of what powder i had on hand and i was getting 1.5 incg groups at 300 yards and never looked back.

[1Shot]

All I can say is good luck. With BCA it is a roll of the dice. I went the "cheap" route also and as the old saying is "live and learn". The 20" upper I got from BCA shot like a shotgun. I had to do phone tag for over 2 weeks before I got to talk to the warrantee person to get a pick up ticket to send it back. Turn around was 10 days and they replaced the barrel. After my shoot and clean brake in routine and then putting 60 rounds through the bore it started to shoot consistent without a flier just under 1" five shots at 100 yards with certain hand loads. It is picky as to what it wants to shoot. In the process of playing UPS tag with BCA I built another rifle from the ground up. I used an 18" Oden Works barrel package and it shoots really well but the barrel cost more than the whole BCA upper but you get what you paid for. Only thing I can tell you is that if the barrel will not shoot to suit you I would just get one of the group buy barrels that you can find on this forum and use your BCA parts and just replace the barrel. You can change the barrel yourself easy with very little tools. Check out YouTube and see how to do it.

[Keef]

The two I bought have been great! One complete upper and one barrel. I will buy from them again.

[Jeepster18_88]

I'm sure you read my response on the other post about BCS. My suggestion would be to fit it up and shoot it right away to see if it shoots. Mine did great at 40-50 yards but it couldn't group at 100 yards which doesn't make any sense to me. I too have great products from Radical Firearms and was hoping that BCA would be similar quality but that definitely wasn't the case. I think you misread the warranty because it doesn't guarantee 1moa groups. It merely states that they aim for that. I'm going back and forth with BCA right now to get mine replaced, but in the meantime I bought an upper from Diamondback and I'll be shooting it today to test it out. It was a little more expensive, but it also came with a magazine and is lighter weight than 16" RF guns even though it has 2 more inches of barrel. Good luck and I hope you have a better experience with BCA.

[Hollis]

Sounds like great advise. I appreciate it! I want to get deeper into building/fixing rifles, so changing the barrel might be a fun project, but, hopefully, I'll get lucky and this won't be necessary.

[Hollis]

This is what I hear from many, as well as horror stories. I hope I have the same result as you. I'll keep you posted.

[Hollis]

Yes, I did read your other posts, which led me to start this post specifically on this topic.

I have heard from multiple places that they do guarantee 1 MOA with no modifications. I'll go back and verify. I appreciate your input.

[Wanderson]

I guess I got lucky with my 20” stainless BCA upper. No functional issues.
My shooting skills are pretty mediocre so I’m not a good benchmark for MOA but my BCA shoots Wolf steel & Hornady Black as well as my PSA 12” upper and both group better than my BCM 14.5” pencil barrel 5.56 upper.

So for $240 for a complete upper that’s a good deal. But I’m also not crazy enough to expect Porsche performance for a Kia price. There’s a reason top shelf barrels sell for more than a complete cheap upper.

[FANGGHOSTWOLF]

Does it seem the BCA 416R barrels out doing the 4150cm? That is as to coming to the user with good results? I'm still happy with my 24" SS set up.

[Jakegsxr11]

416R barrels are inherently more accurate than an identical 4150 counterpart due to its better machinability. 4150 is better at high heat situations (full auto) and wear resistance (barrel life). So if that is what we are seeing with BCA that would make sense.

[CaptnC]

I don't have one of their complete uppers, but I do have two of their side charge uppers (6.5 Grendel and 7.62X39) with their BCG. Both have been perfect.

I also have 4 barrels. 16" SS 7.62X39, 18" SS, 20" CM and 24" SS 6.5 Grendel.

The 7.62X39 is a night vision rig that I only plan to shoot 100 yards with. The three 6.5 Grendel ring 8" steel at 400 yards without even trying.

Personally I'm thinking they have gone too cheap on their "mil-spec" uppers and something is not plumb. I have been reading up on accurizing AR's and making sure the upper is square has has been one way to shrink groups down.

I ask the guys here if anyone has pulled an upper apart to see what was going on...but all I have gotten was crickets.

I from a generation that repaired things, so I tend to try and do that with anything I'm having an issue with.

Yes I know..."Warranty!" Well if you can't take it apart inspect what you've got and can't put it back together...I guess your stuck with having someone else fix everything for you...

[FANGGHOSTWOLF]

BCA barrels are nitrate finish only. No nitrate bore. My first barrel was a 4150 20". Had a bad spot in the chamber but shot fair. Replacement was the 24" 416r. It came out of the box shooting much better than the first. No at 100 yards and still braking in it will shoot 1moa if I do my part. Warranty was smooth and fast. Not the best barrel on the market but is doing the job for me. THANKS

[6.5grendelpaul]

im a newbie to this group and i also built an ar 6.5 grendel from bca. a 24 inch barrel, bedded,and weaver 6.5-20 scope . right out with hornady black shoots moa and just under . thought that was outstanding without being broken in. ive made up some rounds using 120grain noslers and h335 and 8208 xbr ,ill let you know how it shoots when we get some decent weather but im sold so far on bca ..not bad for us poor folk