joepistol
Well-Known Fanatic
as described below.. my purchase arrived & I've made a couple of range trips.. here's a report on the first one:
I found a sale on a BCA AR in the Found-A-Deal forum on a local firearms site. & since I'd never even seen a BCA product, (and I like the 7.62 X39 round) decided to give it a try, & ordered one. Here's a link to it : https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/762...wer-rifle.html
I was curious about BCA products, having no experience, I started a thread on my local forum, asking about them.
I was disappointed at some of the responses posted,.. too many respondents posted their thoughts & opinions about the company and their products,
though they did not have any actual or purchase experience ..which is what was requested.
I appreciated the + and - comments from those that had actually purchased BCA products. Was also nice to hear that the company seems to correct any issues that purchasers experience. Responses were similar to my experience with PSA products.. some had good experience, others not so good.. This has been my experience with PSA as well. Any brand firearm may have issues, the difference becomes how well the company addresses issues that do arise. I placed my order on Oct 12th..and after getting an email confirmation of my purchase..waited. Checks on the BCA site listed this about their processing orders :
"Please allow 1-14 business days for orders to process after submitting. Our company policy is 1-14 business days for processing, but we work very hard to get orders out as quickly as possible. Most (but unfortunately not all) of our orders are processed and leave our building within 3-4 business days. We want to make sure that we set the proper expectation so we can under promise and over deliver! "
I've been impressed with the speed that many online retailers process & ship orders..( including Combat Armory) can't say the same for BCA.
Received the notice that my order had processed on Oct. 21st.... so, not exactly fast, but within their stated time frame.
Arrived @ my FFL on the 24th, was examined & picked up the next day. No visible flaws or defects noted.
I've read comments where posters stated that a firearm "looks , or feels cheap " ..
This statement always makes me wonder what objective criteria is used to make such a subjective observation ?
Poorly finished metalwork ?, rough action ? flawed finish of materials ? sloppy assembly resulting in poor fitting of parts ?
I found none of this on my BCA rifle. No rough or poor finish, bolt & charging handle felt smooth, bolt release functions easily, mag drops when released.
Finish is flat black, but smooth / even in appearance. Sliding stock locks firmly in place. Upper fits snugly against the lower,
No gaps or movement between the upper and lower receivers. Trigger pull is heavier than I prefer, which is true of almost every firearm I've owned.
Most get lighter springs, a "trigger job", or replacement drop in trigger, for lighter, smoother function...so no surprise here.
A side charging handle is new to me, I like the way it functions.. it should make charging the rifle with a scope mounted, easier.
Cleaned the bore, removed the bolt, cleaned & lubed with FP-10. I had no scope mount or scope ready to mount,
but did have a set of taken-off iron sights, found in a drawer that easily mounted. Found a stud to mount on the barrel shroud,
so a bipod could be attached. Rifle didn't come with a mag, so got a new one from my stash.
Ready to hit the range for an initial shoot.
Headed to the range yesterday. Started shooting @ 25 yds. , as that's as far as I can see to use iron sights effectively on the target I use.
I shot 1 box of Fiocchi factory loads & 2 boxes of my hand loads. I had used different bullets in my loads, 1 box using 123 gr FMJ pills,
& 1 box using plastic-tipped 125gr Jacketed bullets. Shot about 1/2 box of my 123 gr FMJ w/o incident.
1st 3 shots were touching each other.. nice. Switched to the plastic-tipped rnds ,& an issue arose.
Chambered rnd, trigger pulled, = "click".. not bang.
Unfired rnd. was difficult to eject. This repeated with several more rnds. No firing pin impression on the primers.
A downside to the side-charging handle is that you need to remove the "handle" to remove the bolt..& need a allen wrench to remove the handle.
Learning this when I cleaned the rifle last night, I had brought one along with me. Removed handle & BCG.
Examined firing pin, bolt face, checked firing pin protrusion..looked for foreign material in bolt /action...all appeared normal.
Reassembled rifle, a few of the plastic tipped rnds fired..noticed the bolt wasn't completely closing on some of them.
Examined rnds.. I noticed some marks on the chambered, but unfired bullets..maybe this particular bullet has a different ogive / diameter ?
One that doesn't fit well with this rifle's chamber dimensions ?
I'd brought these rnds. along, as my past experience was, this bullet / load combination provided the best accuracy from my PSA 7.62 X 39 AR upper.
I switched to the Fiocchi factory loads, they chambered, fired, & ejected without difficulty. As did my 123 gr. FMJ reloads.
Had several groups with shots touching.
Kept trying & eventually all rds fired from this rifle. I did have a few failure to feed issues, which I believe to be magazine related.
Unfortunately, I didn't take extra mags (I have several brands) This mag was factory fresh-never used before.
I should have taken my P mag, or other mags I've used in the past that have never had an issue.
I need to check dimensions of the plastic tipped bullet rnds, to see how they compare to the factory rds. & my FMJ loads.
Will mount a scope, so I can more accurately evaluate this rifle's accuracy.
Though the trigger seemed heavy initially, I had shot several groups that touched.. with all ammo I shot.
'course this was at only 25 yds.. but it's promising.
I'd say.. so far, rifle is good..I'm satisfied with it's performance,.. but need to do some fine tuning.
This is always the case, in my experience.
I found a sale on a BCA AR in the Found-A-Deal forum on a local firearms site. & since I'd never even seen a BCA product, (and I like the 7.62 X39 round) decided to give it a try, & ordered one. Here's a link to it : https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/762...wer-rifle.html
I was curious about BCA products, having no experience, I started a thread on my local forum, asking about them.
I was disappointed at some of the responses posted,.. too many respondents posted their thoughts & opinions about the company and their products,
though they did not have any actual or purchase experience ..which is what was requested.
I appreciated the + and - comments from those that had actually purchased BCA products. Was also nice to hear that the company seems to correct any issues that purchasers experience. Responses were similar to my experience with PSA products.. some had good experience, others not so good.. This has been my experience with PSA as well. Any brand firearm may have issues, the difference becomes how well the company addresses issues that do arise. I placed my order on Oct 12th..and after getting an email confirmation of my purchase..waited. Checks on the BCA site listed this about their processing orders :
"Please allow 1-14 business days for orders to process after submitting. Our company policy is 1-14 business days for processing, but we work very hard to get orders out as quickly as possible. Most (but unfortunately not all) of our orders are processed and leave our building within 3-4 business days. We want to make sure that we set the proper expectation so we can under promise and over deliver! "
I've been impressed with the speed that many online retailers process & ship orders..( including Combat Armory) can't say the same for BCA.
Received the notice that my order had processed on Oct. 21st.... so, not exactly fast, but within their stated time frame.
Arrived @ my FFL on the 24th, was examined & picked up the next day. No visible flaws or defects noted.
I've read comments where posters stated that a firearm "looks , or feels cheap " ..
This statement always makes me wonder what objective criteria is used to make such a subjective observation ?
Poorly finished metalwork ?, rough action ? flawed finish of materials ? sloppy assembly resulting in poor fitting of parts ?
I found none of this on my BCA rifle. No rough or poor finish, bolt & charging handle felt smooth, bolt release functions easily, mag drops when released.
Finish is flat black, but smooth / even in appearance. Sliding stock locks firmly in place. Upper fits snugly against the lower,
No gaps or movement between the upper and lower receivers. Trigger pull is heavier than I prefer, which is true of almost every firearm I've owned.
Most get lighter springs, a "trigger job", or replacement drop in trigger, for lighter, smoother function...so no surprise here.
A side charging handle is new to me, I like the way it functions.. it should make charging the rifle with a scope mounted, easier.
Cleaned the bore, removed the bolt, cleaned & lubed with FP-10. I had no scope mount or scope ready to mount,
but did have a set of taken-off iron sights, found in a drawer that easily mounted. Found a stud to mount on the barrel shroud,
so a bipod could be attached. Rifle didn't come with a mag, so got a new one from my stash.
Ready to hit the range for an initial shoot.
Headed to the range yesterday. Started shooting @ 25 yds. , as that's as far as I can see to use iron sights effectively on the target I use.
I shot 1 box of Fiocchi factory loads & 2 boxes of my hand loads. I had used different bullets in my loads, 1 box using 123 gr FMJ pills,
& 1 box using plastic-tipped 125gr Jacketed bullets. Shot about 1/2 box of my 123 gr FMJ w/o incident.
1st 3 shots were touching each other.. nice. Switched to the plastic-tipped rnds ,& an issue arose.
Chambered rnd, trigger pulled, = "click".. not bang.
Unfired rnd. was difficult to eject. This repeated with several more rnds. No firing pin impression on the primers.
A downside to the side-charging handle is that you need to remove the "handle" to remove the bolt..& need a allen wrench to remove the handle.
Learning this when I cleaned the rifle last night, I had brought one along with me. Removed handle & BCG.
Examined firing pin, bolt face, checked firing pin protrusion..looked for foreign material in bolt /action...all appeared normal.
Reassembled rifle, a few of the plastic tipped rnds fired..noticed the bolt wasn't completely closing on some of them.
Examined rnds.. I noticed some marks on the chambered, but unfired bullets..maybe this particular bullet has a different ogive / diameter ?
One that doesn't fit well with this rifle's chamber dimensions ?
I'd brought these rnds. along, as my past experience was, this bullet / load combination provided the best accuracy from my PSA 7.62 X 39 AR upper.
I switched to the Fiocchi factory loads, they chambered, fired, & ejected without difficulty. As did my 123 gr. FMJ reloads.
Had several groups with shots touching.
Kept trying & eventually all rds fired from this rifle. I did have a few failure to feed issues, which I believe to be magazine related.
Unfortunately, I didn't take extra mags (I have several brands) This mag was factory fresh-never used before.
I should have taken my P mag, or other mags I've used in the past that have never had an issue.
I need to check dimensions of the plastic tipped bullet rnds, to see how they compare to the factory rds. & my FMJ loads.
Will mount a scope, so I can more accurately evaluate this rifle's accuracy.
Though the trigger seemed heavy initially, I had shot several groups that touched.. with all ammo I shot.
'course this was at only 25 yds.. but it's promising.
I'd say.. so far, rifle is good..I'm satisfied with it's performance,.. but need to do some fine tuning.
This is always the case, in my experience.
