Anyone heard of bear creek arsenal barrels???

[6brman]

so I just got back from the range and two of my friends picked up some 20 and 24in bear creek arsenal barrels (fluted and spiral fluted) and tried them out. They shot great and good groups. Anyone else know about them???

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

They are a decent "for the money", whatever the fuck that means, barrel. I have no clue why I wanted to test a "cheap" barrel for a under 100 yard blaster so ended up going with the bear creek listed below. It's a 16" heavy 1"9 ss that ended up being less than $90 to my door. Below is a section of a write up I did on another forum b4 I knew the hide was back.

b4 i can shoot it, and log the results I gotta assemble it.
To give the barrel a fighting chance I decided to make it the weakest link in the upper.
Here's the parts break down:

Vltor VIS3 upper
Vltor .750 gas block
DSG Carbine gas tube
Colt BCG
and the Bear Creek Barrel

all the other add on will be listed as I complete the rifle build.
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prior to loading the barrel I ran a patch through it:
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I greased the barrel extension:
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Generally this is the spot where I would post pics of the rest of the barrel install... not the case with this assembly!
Even well lubed when I went to install the barrel it only went in a quarter inch. At first I thought, ****, this barrel extension is out of spec! so i took two different mics and measured up the extension, 1.000 on both. If we play it be the numbers milspec is .9980 so we are talking .002" of an inch over. I've installed many barrels over the years and usually the receiver gobbles them up with very little resistance. I tried to again, nope, quarter inch in at best.
Called VLTOR and asked about it, guy on the phone said, " Ya, things can get tight with our receivers. Load the barrel into the receiver as deep as you can, then tap it in by dropping the end of the receiver on a padded bench top."
After about 5 minutes, nothing. I pulled out a brand new 1" lapping bar and measured it, 1.000. tried running it through the receiver and it acted just like the barrel. After what seemed like 1 hour ( 13 minutes) i had finally lapped the receiver. Almost nothing was taken off. Reinserted the barrel and for the next 10 minutes did as VLTOR directed till finally the barrel seated. I sure hope to god this barrel isnt a lemon cause the way it fits into this upper is a dream!

Torques the barrel nut to 40 foot lbs:
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centered and tightened the gas block:
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And here you go!
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[ROLEXrifleman]

If at times I come off a bit condescending, it's cause I am.
I'm doing this post in the same manner of the other posts I did about the barrel, purely stating facts.
When it comes to things they either work or they don't. I hate the terms " for the money " or " you get what you pay for " so they wont be used here.

First off, everything worked as designed to do so. From the $60 gas block to the $200 stock and all points in between. Could you have paid less for other items that do the same job as the ones I purchased and had then perform in the same manner, yup you sure can. So excuse me if I'm not saying catch phrases like "best in the price range" here cause that's just nonsense. The parts used cost XXXX dollars and functioned as advertised for the the 55 rounds I sent down range.

Secondly, I had forgotten exactly how much I hate the buffer spring sound in the extension till the other day. By the 5th round I was going crazy. But I only had time to think about that when I wasn't complaining about the two stage match trigger. I hate two stage triggers.

Third, there was no ritualistic magic performed on the barrel during shooting. None of this shoot one clean crap. No special bore lube or break in procedures. I just shot the damn thing.

And finally, i did this testing during my lunch hour at a training session we had going at the Westville correctional facility. I was tired and grouchy and have no doubt I'll squeeze better groups out of this gun. It was shot at 55 yards then moved to 105 yards. For this day Black Hills 52gr match ammo was used. The bench was an old shaky fold up one that fits in my trunk and it was set up on soggy wet grass. Not the best platform. The targets are printable ones who's squares are each 1"x1".

give me a sec to load some pics........

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I had to step it up so I had to shoot a couple 5 round groups. The 1st 5 rounds were to readjust the scope for the distance change. The flyer I threw due to a damn wasp that decided to hover around me when I broke the shot. The 2nd group can speak for itself. I have no doubt I can squeeze these groups tighter. I naddition I will be experimenting with other grain bullets and powder loads so there will be more follow up in the weeks to come

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So, what are your thoughts on the BCA barrel?

That was all done late summer early fall 2016. Since thenit has had many more rounds thorugh it and I cam say, the barrel is a sub MOA shooter at 100 yards

 

[6brman]

So it looks like with some love on the handloading end she will be a nice shooter!!!

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

I've fed it 53 gr Vmax and 69 gr SMK with little prep work to the cases. I've loaded up some 55 gr ball that I plan to test out in the next few weeks in it.

 

[6brman]

Ok I'm gonna get the 24in 1-8 twist if I get a chance this weekend. Looks to be decent enough for me.

 

[Migtek02]

Ok I'm gonna get the 24in 1-8 twist if I get a chance this weekend. Looks to be decent enough for me.

Greetings, did you get the barrel and how did it perform? is it 223, 6.5? what ammo are you shooting with it?

 

[black5.3]

They are located about a hour from me in sanford, nc. They have decent stuff for sure that is prices great. They usually do a veterans day barrel give away and they give away like hundreds of select barrels and you only have to pay shipping after you show proof of service. This past year i just got a 16” stainless .223 wylde heavy profile that i got chopped down to 12”... that barrel only cost me $10...

 

[Qazwsx]

good to know there are budget barrels out there that perform

 

[doug ballew]

I'm wanting to build a 458 socom
Bear creek arsenal has several complaints with BBB
Does anyone have recommendations where to buy parts?

 

[Tim808]

Just know that the trade off is customer service.

Their website claims they will get back to you in 1 day for warrranty issues which sounds great but hasn’t been my experience.

To be fair, it is December and they may be short staffed. Also, the pricing is really low so I don’t expect good service or a good quality product.

Shipping was fast. Maybe too fast, I got sent the wrong item.

It may even be the wrong caliber. It has a muzzle device that is not shown on any of the 7.62x39 uppers.

I’d remove the rail to check the caliber but the screws don’t appear to be hex/allen or torx....seems like a cross hybrid where you could use either of them. I don’t want to attempt removing the screws till bca confirms what type they are.

Did learn a good lesson about uppers. Never assume the item received = item ordered. Remove the handguard/rail to confirm the caliber, twist and profile. Double check the caliber by chambering a round....just in case the guy who does the engraving/lasering is hung over and forgot to change the settings.

 

[Olen_4504]

I'm wanting to build a 458 socom
Bear creek arsenal has several complaints with BBB
Does anyone have recommendations where to buy parts?

FYI i have a RRA .458 socom complete upper listed in the PX section for well under retail price. 14.5" pin and welded brake

 

[buffalowinter]

I bought one...and then bought a couple more. I think they guarantee 1 moa accuracy...in any case, I got 1 moa accuracy. Barrels were well less than $100. I like 'em.
From their warranty:
"Our customers can expect Bear Creek Arsenal’s rifles to compete with some of the best rifles in the industry, with a performance of 1” grouping or better at 100 yards. "