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Anyone get one of the bear Creek 22lr uppers?

29K views 75 replies 24 participants last post by  colonelhogan44 
#1 ·
I know BCA gets poo-poo'd by a lot of people, but I've got a couple of their uppers in 7.62x39, and and quite happy with what I got for the $...i haven't had any issues with mine, which leads me to be interested in their dedicated 22LR upper (currently out of stock)...their upper is based on their Gen II side charging, which I am a big fan of.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone here got one of them when they were available, and what your thoughts are one them.

Not looking for opinions on any other 22LR upper or conversion kit...just this one.

Thanks,
DW
 
#8 ·
I can't tell from their site if the 16" Heavy Barrel upper is $269 or $289??:confused: They show one HB16" upper at the LOWER price as Out of Stock, and the same, but HIGHER priced unit as --you guessed it-- In Stock? The uppers look identical, and come with one CMMG mag. Not sure what to make of that pricing strategy... Either way, though, pretty good price for a complete 22AR upper. If I didn't have four or five .22AR uppers already I might be tempted:D:D
 
#5 ·
BCA

I bought a BCA 6.5Grendel 20" complete upper years ago and was happy with the build quality & performance.

The biggest complaint I see with BCA is with their centerfire barrels, they're inexpensive but some get a great one, others get a bad one. I wouldn't use one for a build, but BCA always seems to address any accuracy issues so their customer service seems great.

BCA had some pistol length uppers in stock too. All the BCAs seem to run heavy barrels, no pencil profile barreled uppers.

BCA is using the Nordic setup, not the CMMG setup. Both are good, but the CMMG setup has more aftermarket parts.

Keep an eye on the sale price, when they first came out, they were $280, then 2nd batch was $380 'on sale', then $320. Later they came back down to $280. BCA is like PSA, they regularly run great sales so unless you have to have it, you'll save a lot with a little patience.
 
#6 ·
Finally got to the range with mine yesterday & FTF or FTE %%%% near every other round.

Running it on a PSA or Anderson lower (I'll have to look again lol), CMMG lpk & CMMG mil spec FCG. Also running the better-mag adapter to use my m&p15-22 mags.

It was well lubed. Tried different ammo including Federal & CCI. Anyone else have issues with theirs?
 
#23 · (Edited)
I've been pleased with BCA uppers (same with PSA) no matter what the brand snobs say…I ordered the .22 LR upper three weeks ago and BCA had it on my porch in four days ��…my range time with the upper on my AERO build lower using the magazine that came with the upper had zero issues with any ammo I used, except for the Remington "ThunderTurds" which had FTE/FTF…plus the usual duds….I had zero issues with the magazine that came with the upper (they look exactly like the same 3 magazines that came with the CMMG .22LR BCG I purchased from Brownell's…the BCA upper was way more accurate than the CMMG BCG kit (I am a big fanboy of CMMG) I feel that it is the result of the 16" in 12" twist in the BCA compared to the 9" in 12" twist in my my AR barrel I've been pleased with my BCA uppers as well as PSA �� good vibes to you on your upper������ edit to add the Black Dog Magazines might be the trick for aftermarket magazines…they are the bomb in my SIG 522.
 
#29 ·
I received my BCA 16" barrel, upper the other day. Putting it on a Ruger lower with a nice Rise trigger. Looks well crafted. Only extra scope I have for it is an older Swift 6 X 18 AO. But it will do for testing how it shoots..

Sent from my SM-A516U using Tapatalk
 
#32 ·
I know BCA gets poo-poo'd by a lot of people, but I've got a couple of their uppers in 7.62x39, and and quite happy with what I got for the $...i haven't had any issues with mine
I'd be curious to know a little more about their 7.62x39 uppers. I have a lower sitting around and the last thing I need is another. 223/5.56 so I am planning on a 7.62×39 build. Their uppers are on my short list but there's not a ton of info on them. And what info there is is very mixed reviews.

Did you buy a complete upper from them with BCG? If you did get the BCG from them did you have to install a new firing pin, and if not what BCG are you running? Did you have to enlarge the gas port or was it fine? Have you been running steel cased ammo without issues? What weight buffer and spring? And what mags have you been using, and if more than one type have they all been reliable?

I know it's a lot of questions but it's hard to find info on these that's consistent. I appreciate any info you could share as it will help me in making a decision.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Yes, I bought a complete Gen I upper with the BCG...(have since done the Gen II upgrade...love it). I agree a lot of the reviews on BCA in general aren't stellar. Many of them are from years ago, and I think in the last year or 2, they've made strides forward to make their products either better or the quality more consistent. Just keep your expectations in check...it's a budget upper and priced as such. I can, have and will recommend them. I can also say, from experience, their customer service is excellent.

Honestly, I have no idea what weight buffer I have. When I built my first AR lower, I told the gunshop guy that I was going to build it in 7.62x39...he just handed me a buffer kit and said this will work, so i'm thinking it was just a standard ar-15 kit?...I can tell you it was an Anderson pre-packaged buffer tube kit.

Anyway, the only issue I had (and I sent it back for it...turned out I could have fixed it) was that it would jam when feeding. There was a shim in the extractor (?) that didn't need to be there, so there wasn't enough movement for it to fully snap over the rim...something like that. Anyway, they took it out, test fired it 12x and sent it back, no issues since. I did buy my upper before they started shipping them with enhanced firing pins, so I added one and a power spring to mine even before firing.

I shoot steel case...cheapest stuff I can find, out of it (wolf/tula/some old Chinese stuff/random branded/etc.). I haven't had any issues since getting it back. It's a fun plinker and i'm sure with good ammo it would drill them in. I usually shoot at 50 yards and i'd say 1"+ is what i'm getting...but that's the nature of the crappy cheap 7.62x39 ammo...it's just not that accurate.

As for mags I went with what BCA recommended...ASC. I've got 2 each of 5 & 10 rounders...no issues. My only 2 gripes with them, is that they aren't marked for caliber, and the only visible difference between the 5 & 10 is a "SS' mark...on the 10's. I am curious to check out some other brands of mags.

For the price of the BCA uppers, I don't think you can go wrong.

Back to the BCA 22lr uppers...just ordered mine today :t

DW

p.s. I should clarify something...The second 7.62x39 upper I got I never fired. It was their rear charging carbine upper. I ordered it in April 2021. Opened the box, took a quick glance, thought it looked great and put it back in the box. I took it out again a couple weeks ago and noticed when it was assembled, the punch slipped off the forward assist pin, and there was a dent. The area also looked to have been ground and coated in black. Anyway, I sent it back asking for store credit, expecting the 15% restocking fee. They ended up refunding the whole amount. Instead of just getting a replacement, I opted for the 22 upper. I just bought a mini 30 and have no need for another 7.62x39 rifle
 
#33 ·
I have four center-fire uppers from Bear Creek and have been satisfied with each one. Mine are all billet rear-charging, with 16" barrels and 12" hand guards. They include: 5.56, 6.5 Grendel, .300 AAC and 7.62x39.

All of them worked right out of the box, and while none of them are match guns, they all shoot inside 2" at 100 yards with bulk-type ammo. They all do much better with premium ammunition, but I bought them for plinking with bulk stuff, so they don't see much of the costly ammo.

Good luck.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I built this 7.62x39 pistol using their billet side charging upper and 7'' handguard. at the time their 7.62x39 BCG was out of stock so I ordered their 5.56 side charging BCG and ordered a bolt from right to bear arms and a redXarms extended firing pin. the lower is an Aero Precision with a hyperfire 24 3G trigger. the barrel is from green mountain barrel company and is 8.5 inches long with a 1 in 8 twist that will run subs and has a .310 bore. some barrels for the 7.62x39 round use a 308 bore which will work but the diameter of the bullet from what I read online is closer to .310 so I went that route. I used a Kaw Valley precision linear comp with 5/8x24 (30 cal) threads. I used an H3 buffer with a Damage industries chrome silicone-enhanced recoil spring. the only mags that are known to work reliably with 7.62 are C-Products DuraMag SS 7.62x39 mags, ACS mags are known to jam. the thing runs flawlessly and eats cheap Tula ammo with no issues. and as nevadany mentioned don't use the rubber O'ring that's under the extractor just the spring, otherwise, you will prematurely break extractors. oh and the barrel uses a pistol length gas system, don't go any longer than carbine gas at the most and you will be fine.



 
#36 · (Edited)
Thank you for the info. I just ordered a Bear Creek 7.62×39 full upper kit today. Definitely hard to beat with the BCG for under $300. I was planning on doing a higher end build but it seems kind of pointless to spend more $ when I don't have to.

I just finished a high end AR build today that ended up going about $1,000 over budget. The only good thing is I now have a Hiperfire Hipertouch Elite (24 3G) trigger for my 7.62×39 build. Was planning on using it in the AR build but decided to go with a Geissele SDE and keep the Hiperfire for the hard cased 7.62x39 ammo.

I already put the lower together, so once the upper arrives from Bear Creek I can put it on and it will be done. I think all in I'm only at around $600 for the whole ×39 build. Wish I could keep my AR-15 or even my rimfire builds that cheap.

Edit: The upper that I ordered is a 16" with a carbine length gas system and what they call their 300 BO feed ramps. I run J&P tuned & polished centerless ground chrome silica buffer springs in all my builds and will be using the same in this. I am going to start with an H1 buffer per recommendation but I have a bunch of buffers so I can make any weight I want if I need a heavier one. I will be using C-Products mags as that seems to be what everyone suggests.
 
#37 · (Edited)
You're very welcome, glad to help, and yeah I know about spending on these things. my high-end ARs have criterion barrels and SSA-E triggers. and I believe their 300 BLK ramp is just one big ramp so they basically grind out one of the locking lugs. the only downside is you lose some support of the bolt but they are not the only ones to do that. but if you ever break a bolt that may be the cause. mine has standard M4 feed ramps and feeds just fine. oh and hyperfire does make a spring kit for these triggers just for 7.62x39 it is even harder hitting.
 
#40 ·
I had to grab a couple things from Primary Arms so I added an H3 buffer to the order. I could have just made one but it was only like $30 so if I don't end up using it no big deal.

Yes their 300BO ramp is essentially an m4 with the middle ground out which seems to make sense in theory anyway.

I've heard so many mixed reviews about whether to use ASC or C Products mags. I think I'll just grab one of each and see which one (if either) works best. I also heard their were lots of issues with the extractors shearing off very quickly. Hopefully they took care of that issue on the Gen 2. If not I have about a half dozen 5.56 extractors that are supposed to work just fine.

I also ordered a couple extra enhanced firing pins. I like to have plenty of extra parts for all my firearms so if I need to replace something I already have it.
 
#39 ·
Bear Creek 10.5" pistol upper

Received mine a couple weeks ago. First 40 rounds had failure to feed, bolt wouldn't travel far enough rearward after firing to reset the hammer and the final round I fired evidently the previous round didn't get the case cleared and didn't allow the bolt to completely close. Had an out of battery firing - bullet made it about 4" into the barrel. Disassembled the upper and polished everything I thought might be dragging and the feed ramp.

Fired 150+ rounds through it the other day and works much better. Likes higher velocity ammo in order to function, (CCI AR Tactical, Mini Mag HP's and some older Remington Hi-Velocity). Best group @ 50 yards was 1-5/8" for 10 rounds with a new 1-4X scope. Might do better with more magnification. I put it on a PSA pistol lower with their 2 stage trigger. Had another out of battery discharge but on this one the bullet cleared the barrel. Both rounds that happened to were Aguila High Velocity.
 
#41 ·
I purchased a BCA complete upper in 7.62X39 and was warned you might need a different buffer, firing pin etc. I mounted it on a cheap PSA lower and it has functioned flawlessly with steel cased ammo and some brass cased reloads. The accuracy actually surprised me:1-inch groups at 50 yards with steel cased Wolf Polyformance ammo. BCA claims that they reworked the FP and design their uppers for steel cased ammo and it looks like they really did!
 
#42 ·
I hope so, I have about 10,000 rounds of Wolf steel cased ammo that I'd like to be able to shoot out of it. I've got plenty of brass cased stuff as well but I'd rather save that and shoot the cheaper stuff. I don't need extreme accuracy with this rifle. I'd be happy with around 3 moa but from what everyone says they're pretty accurate. I also didn't realize that BCA guarantees 1 moa @100 on all their uppers with barrels 16" and over. That's pretty impressive for the price point.
 
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