Bear Creek (I know...) bolt action upper in 6.5 grendel - New

[grayfox]

So, Bear creek has released some 6.5 grendel uppers, 22", 20", 16", in an AR15 bolt action. $350-ish bucks and your own lower... no ffl.
I'm watching this, as if they are or could be any good, they would be a lower cost alternative to the uintah's... Which are great, but now their upper is $1200+.

I think any barrel could be swapped in, and they seem to use standard AR15 bolts. The carrier is modified, the upper is modified, and the internal parts are a bolt, firing pin and a spring. Following it to confirm that a common bolt/FP can be used to improve the quality, and then put on your favorite barrel... voila! modest-price, AR bolt action!

Was actually hoping some other mfrs would get into this game, I mean, I love my 6Arc uintah but cannot afford them now at these prices. Bidenflation has rocketed way ahead of my pension.

[A5Blaster Number 2]

🤔🤔🤔 I may go this route if I can change out to a preferred barrel and bolt of my choosing.

Heck I'm rolling in cash doing the work I do now and I still won't pay what uintah wants for their product.

[grayfox]

From what I recall via some vid/first look (I forget which one), they address the gas port with a steel sleeve, and a set screw to lock it down. 0.750.
So my thinking goes, use your favorite barrel or from your fave mfr, swap over the lock-sleeve, this way any 0.750 gas port barrel can swap in.
Any handguard/barrel nut, any of your bolt/firing pin combos (I add these 2 together in case BCA uses that awful non-spec FP ala old toolcraft ones... or 0.125 face depth bolts).

[m796rider]

That's interesting... Even a barrel and handguard swap would put you at half the cost of a Uintah upper.

[jasper2408]

Something to keep in mind, when I was thinking of buying a Uintah bolt action upper(about 2-3 years ago) I checked with Uintah about using a TriggerTech trigger and they said that I would have to grind about 1/2 of one side of the hammer face to clear everything. I did not buy one because of that as I use a TriggerTech trigger.

That problem might be fixed now as I have not checked lately. Might be worth checking with BCA though before buying. Just my .02

[Les Staley]

Has anyone tried the Kali-Key bolt action conversion for the AR 15? Just over $200. I’ve never seen one but it looks pretty good on paper.

[grayfox]

I have tried it. It does seem like a good idea, but it is still a BEAR to open the bolt. There is no assist with getting the bolt to start rotating --

[LRRPF52]

When you have no gas system in a regular AR, the cam pin becomes the bolt handle when looking for cam-over and extraction force.

Because there is very little leverage, it’s hard to unlock the bolt and extract the spent case.

On a bolt gun, imagine a longer arm attached to the cam pin for unlocking and extraction force.

[m796rider]

I ordered the cheapest upper they had (350 Legend) since I have the barrel, bolt, and handguard I want to use. I guess we'll see how good a non-reciprocating BCA upper can be...

[grayfox]

Please keep us posted.
I would say you're a brave guy but don't want to pre-judge it.
Maybe it works out ok...

[endurokids3]

Definitely following this.

[m796rider]

Got the upper in today. Swapped out the barrel, bolt, and handguard. Everything is standard AR15 except for the carrier and cam. Cam path is very different from a standard AR15 - just straight back, no dogleg. I left the buffer tube and spring in place to give little bump to returning the bolt to battery. You really have to be positive with your manipulations to get reliable extraction and feeding, especially with a full mag.

Optics mount is arriving tomorrow, then I can do some zeroing and initial accuracy testing. The barrel is an Odin Works 18" stainless.

[grayfox]

Great info! And thanks for posting.
So what you've found, though is a standard AR bolt will still operate fine in this bolt action with unlock going the opposite direction (up vs down in AR).
The bolt knob operation direction is opposite (up to unlock) of a regular AR (bolt goes down to unlock) If I understand it correctly. I kind of thought you might have to use a left hand AR bolt...
I took a couple of my bolts and they looked like they would still work but wasn't sure.

The uintah bolt (one-piece within the bolt-action etc, so proprietary) and prop. barrel extension, I have that so will compare.
Uintah in their documentation say that only a few triggers will work with their prop setup... I would expect that this setup would be ok with most triggers.

How hard was it to get the handguard/barrel nut loose and off the rig? I too will have a diff handguard I will use.
I thought I saw (in a u-tube) that they block the gas port with an 0.750" sleeve, so that would be transferable to your new barrel.
A bit torn between doing an 18" grendel bolt action, or 18" 300-hamr (have both), since I already have a 22" howa in grendel that I like.
Kind of a shorter-range, lighter wt, inside the blind type of bolt action.

But putting this on my radar screen for sure!

[m796rider]

Great info! And thanks for posting.
So what you've found, though is a standard AR bolt will still operate fine in this bolt action with unlock going the opposite direction (up vs down in AR).
The bolt knob operation direction is opposite (up to unlock) of a regular AR (bolt goes down to unlock) If I understand it correctly. I kind of thought you might have to use a left hand AR bolt...
I took a couple of my bolts and they looked like they would still work but wasn't sure.

Extraction and ejection seem to work just fine. I did remove the gas rings from my Grendel bolt since the BCA bolt had no gas rings installed. Locks back just fine using the bolt catch.

The uintah bolt (one-piece within the bolt-action etc, so proprietary) and prop. barrel extension, I have that so will compare.
Uintah in their documentation say that only a few triggers will work with their prop setup... I would expect that this setup would be ok with most triggers.

How hard was it to get the handguard/barrel nut loose and off the rig? I too will have a diff handguard I will use.
I thought I saw (in a u-tube) that they block the gas port with an 0.750" sleeve, so that would be transferable to your new barrel.
A bit torn between doing an 18" grendel bolt action, or 18" 300-hamr (have both), since I already have a 22" howa in grendel that I like.
Kind of a shorter-range, lighter wt, inside the blind type of bolt action.

But putting this on my radar screen for sure!

I used a pair of groove-joint pliers with the handles shoved into a cheater bar to get the barrel nut off. Seemed torqued to the higher end of the spec, but ultimately no big deal (especially when compared to a bolt gun barrel). I did use the included barrel sleeve on my replacement barrel -- single set screw, easy peasy as long as your gas block journal is .750". My AR15 receiver blocks worked just fine, as did my Geissele reaction rod.

[m796rider]

The BCA upper works well! It's very fun to shoot, especially suppressed. No gas to face, very quiet. Extraction must be very positive on your part, but it's not a problem. Bolt lift is just a few degrees so it's pretty darned fast.

Decent accuracy for shooting with frozen fingers on a milspec trigger. These were 120gr Barnes handloads using TAC. The group is below my POA due to the suppressor being added after zeroing.