6.5 Grendel Bear Creek Arsenal Upper

[SenseiB]

I purchased a 20" Bear Creek Arsenal 6.5 Grendel upper in June and matched it with my Bushmaster lower...finally took it to the range to sight in my optics. The jury is still out as I was using wolf ammo to get me on paper without breaking the bank but the mil spec trigger and trigger pull put me all over the place (squeeze, keep squeezing, keep squeezing.... when is this darn thing going to break? Bang!! pulled it) by the time I was ready to use Hornady Black ammo I brought, last call for rounds down range. No I'm not blaming the ammo or trigger pull but I haven't forgot the marksmanship skills I learns in the 'Corps way back in the day. I'm in the process of building a lower to swap with various caliber uppers... any advise on a good trigger with 3 to 4 lb pull that not going to break the bank?

[Kswhitetails]

LaRue MBT. Alllll day looooong. You really cannot beat it for the money, and you’ll never be in the hole with it. $87 right now with a 2-3 week wait. You absolutely can’t go wrong with it.

[41bear]

^^^^^^^
What he said!

[A5BLASTER]

Joebobs trigger adjustment kit.

Reduces power springs and a tension screw to take out the creep in the trigger, reduced power springs will get you down to 4 pounds of pull.

Cheap way to get a better trigger.

Are step up to a SSA-E and have the top end trigger and not look back.

[mdewitt71]

LaRue MBT. Alllll day looooong. You really cannot beat it for the money, and you’ll never be in the hole with it. $87 right now with a 2-3 week wait. You absolutely can’t go wrong with it.

Best $100 trigger (now on sale) you will find for sure.

[1Shot]

joeboboutfitters.com has POF 3.5lb drop in triggers that come with KNS anti rotating pins for $139.95 . This is a GREAT trigger. I have 4 of them. I like the straight trigger because it adds some reach to the trigger and does not put a cramp in my trigger finger like a curved trigger does. Also when I place my finger at the bottom of the straight trigger it seems that the trigger feels even lighter. I know it has to do with leverage on the trigger but it feels lighter. Good luck with the BCA because it is a crap shoot if you get one that will shoot reasonable. I have one that I had to send back to the factory and have re-barreled because it would not group at all. Every shot was a flier. With new barrel it took around 100 rounds down the tube to get consistent grouping. It has been very picky as to what it will shoot well but I have found a load consisting of Hornady case, CCI 450, 28 grs IMR 8208, 120 Speer Gold Dot, from base of case to ogive 1.725 which is roughly COAL 2.279. This is too long to work through Elander magazines but works through ASC and AR Stoner mags. This runs average 2550 fps from my 20" 5R barrel. This rifle also shoots well with 120 Sierra Pro Hunter bullet with 28.5 grs IMR 8208 at COAL 2.250 . When I do my part these loads will average 3/4" outside to outside.

[Kswhitetails]

1Shot, love ya man, but if a curved trigger shoe puts a cramp in your finger, it needs some more exercise my friend.

[mdewitt71]

I have a couple Gieselle triggers, two CMC flat triggers, a POF, a Spikes NiB, and a Rise Armament trigger and IMHO they have nothing on the Larue MBT-2.
I want to be a fan of the flat riggers cuz, they look way cool but, I really don't care for em much...

$$ for $$ I think Larue hit a home run with theirs. When I let people try it out at the range they usually opt to get one for themselves.
I am making an order for 3 of them next month for Christmas gifts haha.

[SenseiB]

Thanks All!! I probably will order the Larue trigger for the build and Joebobs trigger adjustment kit for the existing lower. I've used JoeBobs a few times and they are great..

[SenseiB]

Yea, I am hopeful on the BCA but I should've just spent the $200 more for a better quality upper... I have a feeling that even though I was using Wolf ammo, the groups at 100 yards should've been better... I'll change the trigger or trigger springs and go from there. Worse case I have to send the upper to BCA and/or buy a better quality upper. I may go out Sunday with the Hornady Black ammo and try again.

[A5BLASTER]

Yea, I am hopeful on the BCA but I should've just spent the $200 more for a better quality upper... I have a feeling that even though I was using Wolf ammo, the groups at 100 yards should've been better... I'll change the trigger or trigger springs and go from there. Worse case I have to send the upper to BCA and/or buy a better quality upper. I may go out Sunday with the Hornady Black ammo and try again.

Even with a top end barrel your be super lucky to get better then 2moa groups with wolf at 100, it uses a under sized bullet and is not really designed for any groupings like a match or even hinting bullets can do.

A better grade barrel would for sure help the groups, buy a group buy barrel and replace the bca barrel.

[Frontier Gear]

Does your BCA have 5R rifling? Mine did and I was lucky to keep it on paper with Wolf ammo. It liked the ELD-M though and shot quite well with it. It even took a deer at 230 yards. If you have a bad trigger though, that needs fixed first. Otherwise you are just wasting ammo. Mine had a RA-140 trigger in it which worked well for me. It may not be the best trigger out there, but it made a world of difference with my shooting.

[SenseiB]

A5: I wasn't expecting stellar performance from Wolf as I basically just used it to get on paper as I don't want to spend ~$1.00 per round sighting in an optic (bad experience with a Burris optic on my standard AR even after bore sighting)… I may be expecting more but the trigger pull does currently suck.


Frontier Gear: not sure abt the rifling. I just ordered the Larue trigger as recommended in this thread and I may order lighter springs for my Bushmaster lower as well. Its all learning experience … I just want to keep the learning from killing my bank account...LOL

[grayfox]

SB,
Roger on a better trigger, you can cut 1/2-1" off of your groups with a decent pull.
The comment on the Wolf ammo is that bimetallic rounds (and undersized as the Wolfies are) simply don't do well in 5R rifling. Nothing wrong with enfield, or 5R or 4R or etc...

Do think about getting a better optic and cantilever-mount, however... again this is all my 2 cents'...

Don't let the "$1.00/round" scare you, a tight mount and a good scope should only take 4-5 shots to get zeroed, once you have properly bore-sighted. I've done this a lot...
The Hornady AG-123 rounds are about 70 cts/round, Hornady black are about 85 cts...
The only other variable I've seen that impedes zeroing is use of a bipod at the bench... I recommend a bench rest or good solid sandbag for front rest, and bag for the rear. Nice and steady.

[SenseiB]

grayfox… here's why I'm not quick to jump on good ammo to get on paper. I mounted a Burris optic on my 5.56 AR, I bore sighted the optic, and then it took 70+ rounds to get it sighted in. I had two range officers trying as well as the optic was WAY off (it wasn't loose either)... eventually I was good but it made me question the bore sight tool... which, in the case of the 6.5, was good. Granted, I'm not an expert on optics as I hardly ever used them so after the 70 round incident I did my home work and took the advise of using cheap ammo initially. I really appreciate all the advise and comments on this thread... I wish had joined earlier.