I have several BCA uppers in several calibers. They all do what they were designed to do at an affordable price. My only complaint would be the weight. I’ll spend the extra hundred bucks on a pencil barrel and another couple on an ultralight hand guard if I’m gonna carry it around all night chasing critters. Seems the older I get, the lighter I want it.
Bought a BCA Golf Ball Stainless fluted 18. I'll tell you my overall experience. I had a lot of decent parts laying around in stainless and titanium so I decided to do a "Bling" assembly. I bought the barrel from Primary Arms on sale for $99. When I received the barrel it looked pretty decent but needed some cleaning and polishing. Looks great now. There was just a tad of micro filing to be done in a few areas and then I polished the hell out of the feed ramps with Mothers and hit any other rough spots. Next I checked the gas hole. Fine. The range. I zeroed the rifle with some cheap Federal ammo and moved on to various hand loads to see what I could get. I had measured to the lands and backed off 20 thousandths so these loads were for this barrel to be clear. Had a SWFA HD 16x optIc for the test. can't remember the Speer 60 ish boat tail target loads I was using off the top of my head, but I got a .58 at 100 yards, and by far was the best I could do. The lighter Hornady vmax bullets in the 50 grain range didn't fair so well. A few just over 1 moa but the trigger I was using was a RRA Match 2 stage at 5.5 lbs so a lighter trigger may have helped with some better groups after I started getting fatigued, (Was Hot Out). All in all I'm sure it's plenty accurate once you find what your barrel likes to shoot. Takes a lot of incremental powder test to hone it down. Thats the case with most rifles. You can have a $400 barrel that might not shoot better than the $100 barrel until you do the work to find what it likes to shoot. It's a 1moa capable barrel as advertised. The price is good on these vs the quality imo. I'd buy another. Kinda like that black spiral version. In my experience you do get what you pay for in most respects, but often you can get a good shooting cheap barrel. However, the chances of getting a bad one increases exponentially. A good friend of mine works for a manufacturer. The quality can vary for to many reasons to list. The more expensive barrels use better barrel stock, better inspection/QC , more looked over shorter runs on the manufacturing end and better methods on the rifling process. Still... out of spec happens. Happy shooting
@@stonekold, i have a DD 1:7 chrome lined barrel. Not sure if that would make a difference, but i can shoot 45 grain rounds sub moa. Not tryn to argue, just wanted to share my experience. Also they were 223 not 556.....not sure if that would matter either.
Thank you, I appreciate someone taking their valuable time to make a video to help others. Right after watching this I went to closely inspect the feed ramps on my $100 BCA 10.5" SS 300 Blackout barrel. Happy to find they're very nicely made. Smooth lips and clean cuts.
I've got 2 of those I'm working on now but having issues with extraction. It will shoot np but if I want to eject a live round, it gets stuck and I have to slam the charging handle on the bench to get the round out. Did you ever have similar issues or polish/dehorn them? Also do you run suppressed?
For $10 more he could have had the barrels Nitride protected. I bought one of those "Bear Claw" 16" SS 416R .223 Wilde Nitride Coated Uppers from Davidson Defense. Came with Aero NiB BCG's, Aero Receiver, and cheap 15" handguard for $304 on sale with a FREE JMT 3.5lb adjustable trigger. I could barely carry it. I sold it to a neighbor a year later for $300 and I swapped my DPMS bolt for the Aero, and kept the JMT trigger. He's happy and my back feels better carrying my Lightweight profile barrel. I never shot it so the part about the back was a guess, but my neighbor says it shoots great (plus he is only 45yo, so that youngster can carry it, not me).
Wow, I forgot about this 6 year old post. Since I'm here I'll update. The gun has been through quite a few updates. I have a suppressor now and the $100 barrel is still accurate with no issues whatsoever. I painted it black with high temp spray paint. No problems.
Lol, you guys crack me up, you guys keep buying junk and they'll keep producing junk! But hey it's your time and money! But, when we have shallow pockets, I guess we all make justifications that just don't make any sense when we are desperate.
I have a Bear Creek barre like the black one with the shiny grooves in it. This barrel is 416 SS that is black nitrided inside and out. Thus when the spiral flutes are cut that exposes the SS material.
Bought a BCA AR in 7.62x39 through Classic Firearms. Have put well over 1,000 rounds of steel case Russian ammo through it, and am completely satisfied. After the first 100 rounds, where you experience normal break-in hiccups, have not had any failures. It runs as good as my Saiga!!
Love my BCA 7.62x39 upper have not had any issues with it that haven't been ammo related(light primer strike damn Tulammo). Since I've started shooting wolf flawless. It runs like a taped ape with wolf ammo. Great vid brotha.
@@michaelsorrell9922 even without doing that i never had any issues and im pretty sure after a few shots all the corners gets smoothed out on their own ... part of the break in process
I have multiple BCA barrels and have yet to have one fail to feed or eject. They also are decent shooters with good quality ammo. All of them have at least 500 rounds through them with no problems. I just prefer to save my money on optics or triggers than bragging rights about a barrel that may or may not shoot any better.
After several months of research I used a Faxon barrel on one of my AR builds (18" Gunner in .223 Wylde), and a Ballistic Advantage on my other AR build (18" Fluted in .223 Wylde). Right out of the box Faxon's Nitrite finish is distinctly impressive. Treated inside and out left little to no copper fouling during the Break-In Process. At the range she is delivering Sub MOA groupings and greatly surpassed all of my expectations. Ballistic Advantage makes great barrels too, but does not offer the QPQ Nitrite finishes, NP3 Barrel Extensions, nor the excellent profiles as Faxon does. I will use Faxon's barrels exclusively from here forward. I also see that Faxon now offers S&W M&P barrels for the 4.25" 9mm! Outstanding! I have been waiting for just this. I do hope that Faxon will expand the selection of calibers at some point, (.45 ACP) :-) Thank you Faxon! You have done EXCELLENT work!
I have a bear creek and its been great for me. I may only shoot 500-700 rounds a year so a top tier barrel really wasnt worth it. Bear creek has done really well for its price.
RowdyRides you are right on track here. Beer creek barrels are spot on for the average shooter and they're POU. I've bought 7 or 8 BCA barrels this year in every size and shape, they all performs great. I need to do a part 2 on this video now these barrels are all in firearms.
Placed a 20" nitride BCA barrel on my LR308 1st group w/168 gr Match under 1/2 " 100 yrds. have a BCA 16" stainless, sub moa with 69 gr match, you decide.
Looks don’t mean much but I’ve had some issues with large imperfections in my feed ramps particularly with my bca 10.5 medium contour barrel that caused some feeding issues. I did lightly sand and polish the ramps to correct the problem. Bottom line for the money they’re fine barrels but quality is lacking in some areas as far as consistency and finish in important areas. Doesn’t mean they won’t work.
I have 4 barrels from BCA and they are all Nitride. None of these issues. I don't buy parkerized and SS barrels so I can't say much about them. May be BCA get the Nitride barrels from a different manufacturer or those barrels come from line that machined really well, may be the workers in other lines are not that articulated when setting and running those machines. this vid is 2016.
I've had nitride SS and parkerized barrels all my bca are fine and for less then 100 bucks that's. A steel even got a SS hbar 5R rifled barrel for my 6.5 Grendel shoots. . 751 moa average with handloads at 100yds 123gr match monster bullets using SW match rifle powder
I'm pretty sure the bear claw spiral fluted barrel is 416R stainless steel. I have one of their stainless steel spiral fluted heavy barrels and the feed ramps looked very well finished. As far as one inch groups go that would be under perfect conditions, like free floated barrel and really good ammo. I get 1to 1 1/2 inch groups. But as long as BCA keeps making quality affordable barrels I'll keep buying them.
Wanted to point out that BCA actually has a WIDE selection of nitrided barrels in many calibers. They aren't limited to parkerizing by a longshot. I've bought several BCA barrels in stainless and carbon with a nitride finish. For most needs, if I'm building from scratch, I can't find a better barrel in a price I can afford, or at least one that I'd shell out the money for. For example at PA I picked up a 6.5 Grendel heavy 20" spiral fluted 416R 5R rifled barrel for about $55+shipping. Looks smooth and well finished. Haven't assembled it yet but have no concerns about the accuracy, since the others have all been great so far. You may want to polish the feed ramps or they may be fine. I think the most I've paid for one of their barrels was $110 for a 24" stainless heavy spiral fluted Grendel. Heck of a lot of barrel steel for the price. For the money (and maybe 20-30 minutes of your time of you want a nicer-looking feed ramp and it didn't come that way), I don't know that you can get much better. I believe most (if not all) are guaranteed MOA or better with match-grade ammo (though some take a few boxes of ammo to get there). MOA, $50-100, your choice of stainless or nitride/parkerized stainless 416R, or 4140 with nitride or parkerizing, and numerous profiles (heavy; bull; pencil; etc.), lengths, fluting options (no flutes or straight, spiral, hornet (missing 1 or 2?) flutes), target crown or threaded, and almost every standard-ish cartridges (223 Wylde, 300 Blackout, 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, 7.62x39, 9mm, 450 Bushmaster, 458 SOCOM, and I BELIEVE 224 Valkyrie)... I'm not convinced that spending 2-10x as much on a barrel will get me 2-10x better performance or utility. I wouldn't use them for a 458 or 450, since those take some more finesse (stick with Tromix. Period. Wish I had.). There are also a few combinations they haven't made yet (16" Blackout heavy in Nitride or stainless with a pistol length gas system; 16"or 18" heavy/SOCOM 6.8 SPC in Nitride or Stainless; 277 Wolverine...), so they aren't the total solution, but they are getting there.
Thanks for the comment! You are spot on here. This video was made 2 years ago when BCA just started selling these barrels. I have used probably 30 since this video
I run bear creek on all of my guns, and use them on 90% of my builds. Always shoot under 1". Normal accuracy with good ammo is 3/4" or better. Hand loads have gave 1/2" with some.
Benjamin Brown I have used 8 that I can think of. The only issue I've had was in assembly on one last month. The shoulder for the gas block was oversized. 3 different gas block could not be installed. I had to cryo the barrel and torch the block to get it installed. It was on a 7.5inch 223 barrel.
GunsWithGage I've got to say for the money they just can't be beat. Polishing the feed ramps is to be expected, and I have had a couple that have had issues with the timing of the barrel extension and the gas port. Not sure which is done first but crazy to have a gas block sitting at the 1 or 11 o'clock under the hand guard. That's ezzagerated slightly but other than that all has been well. Any precision build is a drop in Lija...... other end of the spectrum and well worth the change!...Dig the vids, and keep them rolling.
I have B C A in three builds in different rifles and calibers. Tack drivers they all are with Hornady ammo..Way better than I need for their intended purpose of hunting. My barrels are all from within this last year and the finish and ramps are as good as my $800.00 Wyndham.
I just recently bought two SS barrels from BC. One is a 20" 223 Wylde, and the other is a 20" 6.5 Grendel. Both of them have nicely finished feed ramps. So either you got a bad one, or BC has made improvements over the past year.
Vito Monopoli thanks for the comment, I agree with you that they have definitely updated their quality since this video. I am still buying BCA barrels and they are much better quality. I bought a 7.5inch 223, 16inch 223 SS diamond flute and another SS fluted barrel last month. They all look alot better than the barrels in this video. I should do an updated review on them
Thank you for your reply. It is nice to know that some people do more than just get on RUclips and talk. I learn a lot of things by watching RUclips, and I like passing on what I kown too.
mixflip I build everything, so no. But if I didn't, and I wanted a cheap throw around gun, I may buy one. I would probably get the side charging complete gun.
We have used both BCA & Faxon barrels with success. BCA barrels tend to be pretty accurate, in my experience. Some info from our BCA factory tour... gear-report.com/bear-creek-arsenal-review-gear-report-road-trip-factory-tour REALLY love the Faxon Flame barrel on our 2016 custom build: gear-report.com/ar-15-custom-rifle-build-2016
Good luck, bro! BCA is one of the most frustrating brands we have EVER dealt with in 8 years of reviewing stuff. They are so stuck in the OEM, high-volume output mindset that they can't seem to wrap their heads around how retail brands work. I know the owner and live close to the factory and I still have an incredibly difficult time getting any sort of follow-up from them. It is sad since their barrels seem to test well and are often more accurate than others anywhere near the price range.
I love my Faxon barrel !! Barrel should be the number one part in your AR that is the best then everything else!!! You buy Barrel first and then everything else do not cheap out on barrel
If you oil that parkerizing, it turns a really nice charcoal black over time after getting hot when shooting. Like seasoning a nice cast iron pan. And if you don't like that look, then Cerakote sticks to parkerizing beautifully with no sand blasting prep work needed. Just soak in acetone, then Cerakote it.
I have a couple of Bear Creeks. They shoot really well and for the price you can't beat it. Also that bear claw is not 4150 it's 416R steel for those metallurgist out there
Great review. I was looking at the Bear Creek Bear Claw 16" barrel. Looks like your middle barrel. They are currently Nitride treated, and ISO 9002 standard.
jr10 thanks for the comment, you are correct! They have added more information on the website for most of their products compared to when I purchased from them. They are really growing now
Use a Dremel to smooth out the sharp edges of the feed ramps and then a polishing wheel to polish the feed ramps and you will feed smoother and prevent gouges in your brass shoulders for reloading!
After using probably 50 faxon and BCA barrels since then, I now only used Faxon. BCA is fine if you want to build on a budget, but the prices have come down so much across the board, I just used better parts now.
I bought a .223 bca complete upper for 199$ from classic firearms. Its accurate and reliable, but ur right bca products are not "polished up" like the more expensive brands. I think thats how they cut costs
I hate to nit pick but not all 3 of those barrels are 4150 steel, the Faxxon and the spiral fluted barrel are stainless, both are probably 416 stainless. the only one that is parkerized is the upper barrel which is also the only one that is an m4 profile.
You are right about the bear claw barrel. It is Nitride coated and 416 stainless. At the time of purchase, BCA did not have that information correct on their site. The company has grown alot and posted the actually info since this video was made. The Faxon barrel is 4150
I bought a new 6.5 Grendel 24" upper from BCA with an HBAR profile and it shoots awesome! I'm talking 1” groups or *smaller* @ 100 yds ! I don't know, maybe I lucked out and got a great barrel...who knows! Also, if I was going to spend alot of $$ on a new barrel I would get one from Precision Firearms. They are better than what I've heard about Faxon barrels. *I'm not saying that Faxon barrels are bad in the least.* It's just that I looked around on different forums and found out that PF are just as, if not slightly, better than Faxon barrels. And you can configure them from a lot of options! The same thing goes for Krieger barrels. You can go to their website and you have *even more* options to choose from! They're *not cheap* by any means, but definitely worth the money!! You'll know where those thousand dollars went!
I'll take a BCA barrel over my 1/9 DPMS barrel any day. BCA's 1/7 socom barrel tends to stabilize my 62gr ammo better and to think I spent a $100 more on my DPMS barrel.
I was on 22modsforall.com, looking at Bear Creek barrels and near the bottom they state "All of our barrels go through a 100% inspection process...what ever that means...i still bought an upper and im actually very impressed with it! Functions flawlessly, very clean, nice m-lok rail, screwed on to an Anderson receiver👍. For the price, honestly, they're unbeatable. Ive heard about fit and finish issues with them(mostly finish and usually exclusively on the barrels) but never mechanical issues. Im not a guy that cares very much about fit and finish anyways, as long as it consistently functions correctly then im in....and it does....so, I am...
Its parkerized.....vs nitride.... how tf do you even compare 2 different finishes? Idk about when you made this video but currently they provide both and stainless ootions. Would you compare faxon nitride vs a bear stainless?
I’m new to guns in general, should lips of a round of ammunition fit flush in the barrel of a brand new barrel. I ask this question because I just bought a new 5.56 bear creek barrel and got the idea to see if the projectile part of a round would fit in all the way in the tip of the barrel. It does not, is this normal?
i tried using a jewelry file to smooth out my bca beo chamber lugs and feed ramp and its still cutting my lead and brass. If i buy a dremel, what attachments do i need to really smooth out the corners? also i cant take the barrel out because its a side charging upper and i only have the armorers block for normal receivers :(
I think a lot of people dismissing the barrels due to the cost, meaning PSA or Classic Arms selling them at $79 should look at the retail price first. Meaning that even though I am buying a 16" fully assembled upper including BCG and changing handle @$199.99, the retail price normally runs $285.99 and my lower from PSA normally runs @$287.99 but I just paid $129.99 with free shipping plus $30 for the transfer fee and BG check through my fav FFL So I am essentially getting a $573.98 AR-15 for $330.00. Granted you do get what you pay for but for a budget/first time build you can't really complain about minor cosmetics that you can fix with roughly 30 minutes of work. Now, you can go the route my neighbor went and build from scratch and spend $ 900 for parts but I can attest that if you try to resale your upper for $600.00 like he is doing, don't count on a quick turn around. His has been on consignment for the last year and a half. LOL, he tried to get me to buy it but then I founded out it was just the upper, sorry I have seen completed rifles for that amount. His chambered for .308/7.62x39. DPMS AR10 Oracle RFLR-OC .308 Win / 7.62 NATO 16-inch is $635 out of the box.
The feed ramps look horrible on that cheaper barrel. A few minutes with some needle files should clean it up. Then you can polish it with a dremel. What can you expect for $70? They should clean up easy. Just go slow.
The barrel extension, ie. feed ramps, is a completely different piece from the barrel. The outside of the barrel is cosmetic, subjective, coated to deter oxidation, and normally covered by your choice of rail. The most important part of a barrel is the rifling, and how well it shoots. Run a bore cam through and show us what it looks like.
It's time for someone to develop a RUclips channel lecturing on the difference between cosmetics and function. In some cases, presenters, use terms and words that could be easily be applied to describing a beauty contest. Gentlemen, we're not judging a beauty contest. We're judging function. Does it work? In the world of firearms beauty does not trump function. No one coming through my front door uninvited is interested in whether my barrel is shinny. Likewise, neither am I. I want to know that if I pull the trigger the gun goes "bang" and the uninvited person's body makes a "thud" when it hits the floor. Can I get and amen?
Tough choice? $200 for a barrel with polished feed ramps. $72 for a barrel that needs a little polishing (Or maybe none). I bought a BC 6.5 Grendel barrel and cheap leftover parts to assemble a new deer rifle. At a hundred yards with cheap Russian steel cased to sight in it was awesome. I never expected that accuracy.
i just ordered a Bear Creek Arsenal 16" Contour 1-7 twist Parkerized 5.56 NATO Mid Length Barrel and looked all over for the thread pattern. you wouldnt happen to know what it is would you?
Ive got a couple BCA Barrels that shoot Sub MOA.. But they were not cheap..I imagine the Cheap ones a what I call 2nds...Thats why they are cheap. The outer finish dont make a shit on how they shoot.They could be Diamond Fluted and not shoot accurate.Good video..We have to keep the companies on their toes or the QC gets slack and fades.Thanks
how to they shoot ? I have seen the cheapest shoot better than the most expensive . I Smith my weapons so it's a pleasure to polish the ramps to a mirror finish.
Adam Long they all are perfectly reliable. I agree with you on polishing, and doing extra work to the barrels. I am the same way. I have not shot them for absolute accuracy
Great video! You answered all of my questions. I just stumbled upon the Faxon barrels. I've been looking for a good 14.5 pencil barrel in a sub Noveske price range.
I am new to guns, an in buying a new bear creek 5.56 barrel, I found that a 5.56 round does not fit completely flush in the breach of the barrel. Also the projectile part of a 5.56 round does not fit in the tip of the barrel. The diameter of the projectile seems to be too big. Are these normal configurations, or is the circumference of either the inner part of the barrel, or the projectile, too small or to big? Because they just don’t fit.
Everything you describe is normal. The extractor has to grab the case so a small part of the base will always stick out of the chamber if you just drop the round into the chamber. The projectile should never fit all the way into the muzzle of the barrel because the bore has to be a little under-sized so that the rifling can spin the bullet to stabilize it in flight.
Ar 15 is a tool it will be scratched, dented and abused in its life. Buying a gun for looks is stupid. When you use that Snapon wrench do you polish it back up? Bca barrels shoot fine.
For my use, this 14.5inch barrel will have a silver soldered (permanently attached) Ti long flash hider to make it rifle length for a rifle build. If I were building a pistol I would go 7.5 inch. I do not like 10.5 inch barrels
I just bought a Bear creek 5.56 barrel. Before attaching it to my upper, I tested to see if my 223 ammunition would fit in the chamber of my newly purchased barrel. It did not, is there something about the barrel I should know about? Is there something out of the box, that should be done to the barrel, giving regular 223 round will fit in the chamber? I’m asking these questions because this is my first pistol build, so naturally I’m thinking I must have done something wrong. Thank you for all your help.
Troy Lowe it will fit in there no problem. Clean the chamber well. The rounds were not meant to be pushed in like that. They need to he slammed in like the bolt of the gun does when in use. Bear Creek has come a long way with their barrels since the video. I'm still using then today! Good luck with your build buddy
Sounds normal. Clean it good and put it together. The extractor has to grab the case so a small part of the base will always stick out of the chamber if you just drop the round into the chamber. The projectile should never fit all the way into the muzzle of the barrel because the bore has to be a little under-sized so that the rifling can spin the bullet to stabilize it in flight
I have one of the early bear claw fluted barrels and it has been flawless....cant speak to quality as of the past few years though...I've moved on to ballistic advantage and am currently looking at a faxom for a 9mm carbine build I'm working on.
I d take even a bad wore out barrel in my ar15 over the khar 380 i had. With the peaceful demonstrations i need to be able to administer proper lead enemas on people who need them. I did get a low buck non chrome barrel for 125.00. I was happy to have found it. Everything is sold out or backordered. I can upgrade another day. My CAR 15 clone / Larry Vickers rifle look just fine. Now need some ammo. 40 rounds are not enough. Better than fists tho for now
I have 4 Bear Creek barrels and 1 faxon barrel I got from Brownells. I have never had a problem at all with Bear Creek. The faxon barrel not only doesn't shoot good, I had to polish the feed ramps on it just to get a good feed and ejection. Brownells seemed like I was bothering them so after 5 calls to them the best I got out of them was a effort to sell me something else. I asked them why should I purchase anything else from them when they are going to charge me 2 times what I can get it from Bear Creek for and Bear Creek barrel and upper works? If it works and accurate, who cares what it looks like? Its not a beauty contest.
Doing a comparison with out going indepth ( borescoping, headspace gauging, range reports and other checks ) isn't a comparison, what this does is show its Visual appeal!
Ok i have a question. Besides the "looks" was the faxon more accurate or were they pretty much the same. They got a 6.5 grendel bca barrel on sale for 50$ and a faxon 6.5 on sale for 165$. Is the faxon worth 125$ more or is the bca accurate enough? Thanks!
@@ScrapMetalBomb lol yea i dont understand why some1 would judge something they never tried. I ended up going with the faxon 6.5grendel since well the 6.5 is suppose to be a precision build so i didnt want to take any chances
I also ended up buying a 7.62x39 upper from bca for 230$ complete with bcg and charging handle, the finish is a little rough but i must say for a 230$ upper it functions flawless and is more accurate than a ak47 with russian steelcase 7.62x39 ammo. I will be using bca agian for reliable budget builds thats for sure
I could not get my Alexander 18" 6.5 barrel to shoot under 1". I bought a 20" BC barrel and now shoot sub 1 " groups. I always polish my own ramps. I will buy all my barrels from Bear Creek from now on.
BCA barrels, in my experience, are cr@p. Those rough edges on the ramps cut groves/scratches into the bullet which varies from bullet-to-bullet (think "fliers"). Something you didn't check for in this video - the freebore: BCA barrels tend to not have any. I think they ream the chamber first, then cut the rifling all the way to the neck. No freebore causes unpredictable ballistics & chamber pressures. An easy test is to load a round from a mag and eject it without firing it, then inspect the bullet.
How do you like your bca barrels still all my guns have had them....pretty good fucking barrels. My parkerized 223 wylde barrel with 1:8 rifpe length gas system 20in after break in with 100 to 150 rounds cleaning then a few rounds to prep the bore like 10 or 20...i tesr accuracy and habdloading match ammo....average of .871 moa without a bipod or vise just a bag and benchresting....very happy for 78$ barrel
All I see is that the bear creek barrels don't have polished feed ramps. The lugs are supposed to be crisp. The wear ring on the heavy barrel is where the gas block was installed for testing....if they guarantee 1" or less at 100 then it's a good barrel
I got in on that deal and only had to pay $10 in shipping for an M4 barrel.. I'm impressed with with their appreciation.The feed ramps seem fine although I may polish them up. I hadn't looked at BCA before, but now I will for the future, and in buying parts to finish the build with the barrel they sent me.. I'll probably give it to my son as his first AR. GWG - thanks, great video. Subscribed.
@@MyBacktrail awesome! Man I wish I had caught that! The barrels have improved since I made those video 2 years ago. I purchase several a month as well as Faxon!
just bought a bca hbar barrel on primary arms site. for a 60.00 sale price tag, i hope i made a good choice. i would prefer a medium contour, but could not pass up the price. plus, i like to try out names i have never used.
Jamy Xiong Woah nice score!! That is half the price I put for mine. I still haven't shot mine, but you can see it on the gun if you look at my side charging ar15 video.
damn. thought i was on my youtube account...darn you wife. yeah, i was going to finish my build for next year, but with all these sales, i just couldnt pass it up. going to build a low budget type rifle with omni hybrid upper and lower receivers.
You are comparing nitride finish to parkerized. Nitride is more expensive and a better finish. Therefore it should LOOK BETTER. But looks is not the question. How do they compare shooting? This depends on a many things machining being second in my opinion. Twist rates and bullet weight first. Bore scope them! Then shoot them. Correct bullet weight for twist. Good trigger work!
Just built a lightweight with a Faxon 16 inch pencil barrel and it is very accurate and I'm happy with Faxon highly recommended.
I have several BCA uppers in several calibers. They all do what they were designed to do at an affordable price. My only complaint would be the weight. I’ll spend the extra hundred bucks on a pencil barrel and another couple on an ultralight hand guard if I’m gonna carry it around all night chasing critters. Seems the older I get, the lighter I want it.
Bought a BCA Golf Ball Stainless fluted 18. I'll tell you my overall experience. I had a lot of decent parts laying around in stainless and titanium so I decided to do a "Bling" assembly. I bought the barrel from Primary Arms on sale for $99. When I received the barrel it looked pretty decent but needed some cleaning and polishing. Looks great now. There was just a tad of micro filing to be done in a few areas and then I polished the hell out of the feed ramps with Mothers and hit any other rough spots. Next I checked the gas hole. Fine.
The range. I zeroed the rifle with some cheap Federal ammo and moved on to various hand loads to see what I could get. I had measured to the lands and backed off 20 thousandths so these loads were for this barrel to be clear. Had a SWFA HD 16x optIc for the test. can't remember the Speer 60 ish boat tail target loads I was using off the top of my head, but I got a .58 at 100 yards, and by far was the best I could do. The lighter Hornady vmax bullets in the 50 grain range didn't fair so well. A few just over 1 moa but the trigger I was using was a RRA Match 2 stage at 5.5 lbs so a lighter trigger may have helped with some better groups after I started getting fatigued, (Was Hot Out). All in all I'm sure it's plenty accurate once you find what your barrel likes to shoot. Takes a lot of incremental powder test to hone it down. Thats the case with most rifles. You can have a $400 barrel that might not shoot better than the $100 barrel until you do the work to find what it likes to shoot. It's a 1moa capable barrel as advertised.
The price is good on these vs the quality imo. I'd buy another. Kinda like that black spiral version. In my experience you do get what you pay for in most respects, but often you can get a good shooting cheap barrel. However, the chances of getting a bad one increases exponentially. A good friend of mine works for a manufacturer. The quality can vary for to many reasons to list. The more expensive barrels use better barrel stock, better inspection/QC , more looked over shorter runs on the manufacturing end and better methods on the rifling process. Still... out of spec happens.
Happy shooting
Scott H. Thank you for this Information! Awesome comment. I'm pinning this one for people to read
GunsWithGage - thanks. You should do a video on grades of BCG too.
Scott H. Great idea. I can do this!
He never mentioned his twist rate, the rounds he used would require 1:9 1:10 - 1:7 will not shoot light 50 grain rounds
@@stonekold, i have a DD 1:7 chrome lined barrel. Not sure if that would make a difference, but i can shoot 45 grain rounds sub moa. Not tryn to argue, just wanted to share my experience. Also they were 223 not 556.....not sure if that would matter either.
Thank you, I appreciate someone taking their valuable time to make a video to help others. Right after watching this I went to closely inspect the feed ramps on my $100 BCA 10.5" SS 300 Blackout barrel. Happy to find they're very nicely made. Smooth lips and clean cuts.
I've got 2 of those I'm working on now but having issues with extraction. It will shoot np but if I want to eject a live round, it gets stuck and I have to slam the charging handle on the bench to get the round out.
Did you ever have similar issues or polish/dehorn them? Also do you run suppressed?
For $10 more he could have had the barrels Nitride protected. I bought one of those "Bear Claw" 16" SS 416R .223 Wilde Nitride Coated Uppers from Davidson Defense. Came with Aero NiB BCG's, Aero Receiver, and cheap 15" handguard for $304 on sale with a FREE JMT 3.5lb adjustable trigger. I could barely carry it. I sold it to a neighbor a year later for $300 and I swapped my DPMS bolt for the Aero, and kept the JMT trigger. He's happy and my back feels better carrying my Lightweight profile barrel. I never shot it so the part about the back was a guess, but my neighbor says it shoots great (plus he is only 45yo, so that youngster can carry it, not me).
Wow, I forgot about this 6 year old post. Since I'm here I'll update. The gun has been through quite a few updates. I have a suppressor now and the $100 barrel is still accurate with no issues whatsoever. I painted it black with high temp spray paint. No problems.
Lol, you guys crack me up, you guys keep buying junk and they'll keep producing junk! But hey it's your time and money! But, when we have shallow pockets, I guess we all make justifications that just don't make any sense when we are desperate.
No they're not
I have a Bear Creek 300 blackout barrel it is awesome it is freaking accurate as hell
I have a Bear Creek barre like the black one with the shiny grooves in it. This barrel is 416 SS that is black nitrided inside and out. Thus when the spiral flutes are cut that exposes the SS material.
Bought a BCA AR in 7.62x39 through Classic Firearms. Have put well over 1,000 rounds of steel case Russian ammo through it, and am completely satisfied. After the first 100 rounds, where you experience normal break-in hiccups, have not had any failures. It runs as good as my Saiga!!
Dave Reid this is awesome!! Thanks for the comment, I got one of th some in 7.62x39 for my grandfather. He has only Shot it 100 times or less I think
Bought same 7.62 and looked fine to me but smoothing out feed ramps is something I'd expect any owner to do for himself if he's concerned.
Love my BCA 7.62x39 upper have not had any issues with it that haven't been ammo related(light primer strike damn Tulammo). Since I've started shooting wolf flawless. It runs like a taped ape with wolf ammo. Great vid brotha.
@@michaelsorrell9922 even without doing that i never had any issues and im pretty sure after a few shots all the corners gets smoothed out on their own ... part of the break in process
I have many bear creek barrels, run just fine, and I'm not giving double for 5 min polishing time
I have multiple BCA barrels and have yet to have one fail to feed or eject. They also are decent shooters with good quality ammo. All of them have at least 500 rounds through them with no problems. I just prefer to save my money on optics or triggers than bragging rights about a barrel that may or may not shoot any better.
I'm looking at buying one and cutting it down to a custom length for my suppressor. Do you know if they're concentric to the bore?
@@Randy_84 if what is that question dosent make sense when you add a muzzle attachment dont use a crush washer should work just fine???
My cousin spray painted his barrel with high temperature spray paint and made his look just like the faxon barrel if not better.
@@VibingCat39 😂
Thanks for making a video! Let us know if we can ever help.
For sure!! Definitely do like your products, and I plan on buying more.
GunsWithGage next lets compare a $12 trigger group to a $200 trigger group.
After several months of research I used a Faxon barrel on one of my AR builds (18" Gunner in .223 Wylde), and a Ballistic Advantage on my other AR build (18" Fluted in .223 Wylde). Right out of the box Faxon's Nitrite finish is distinctly impressive. Treated inside and out left little to no copper fouling during the Break-In Process. At the range she is delivering Sub MOA groupings and greatly surpassed all of my expectations.
Ballistic Advantage makes great barrels too, but does not offer the QPQ Nitrite finishes, NP3 Barrel Extensions, nor the excellent profiles as Faxon does. I will use Faxon's barrels exclusively from here forward. I also see that Faxon now offers S&W M&P barrels for the 4.25" 9mm! Outstanding! I have been waiting for just this. I do hope that Faxon will expand the selection of calibers at some point, (.45 ACP) :-)
Thank you Faxon! You have done EXCELLENT work!
I have a bear creek and its been great for me. I may only shoot 500-700 rounds a year so a top tier barrel really wasnt worth it. Bear creek has done really well for its price.
RowdyRides you are right on track here. Beer creek barrels are spot on for the average shooter and they're POU. I've bought 7 or 8 BCA barrels this year in every size and shape, they all performs great. I need to do a part 2 on this video now these barrels are all in firearms.
Placed a 20" nitride BCA barrel on my LR308 1st group w/168 gr Match under 1/2 " 100 yrds. have a BCA 16" stainless, sub moa with 69 gr match, you decide.
I can say from experience. Bearcreek makes good barrels. Looks mean nothing when they shoot just as good and last just as long.
Charley Crawford let them buy other brands for 200 !!! Honestly the less people buying from bca the more availability for me 😊
@@milleniumann28 Yup!
Looks don’t mean much but I’ve had some issues with large imperfections in my feed ramps particularly with my bca 10.5 medium contour barrel that caused some feeding issues. I did lightly sand and polish the ramps to correct the problem. Bottom line for the money they’re fine barrels but quality is lacking in some areas as far as consistency and finish in important areas. Doesn’t mean they won’t work.
I have 4 barrels from BCA and they are all Nitride. None of these issues. I don't buy parkerized and SS barrels so I can't say much about them. May be BCA get the Nitride barrels from a different manufacturer or those barrels come from line that machined really well, may be the workers in other lines are not that articulated when setting and running those machines. this vid is 2016.
I've had nitride SS and parkerized barrels all my bca are fine and for less then 100 bucks that's. A steel even got a SS hbar 5R rifled barrel for my 6.5 Grendel shoots. . 751 moa average with handloads at 100yds 123gr match monster bullets using SW match rifle powder
How do you review a rifle barrel without a range report?
It isn't really a review, just a comparison and my thoughts of them on the table
I'm pretty sure the bear claw spiral fluted barrel is 416R stainless steel. I have one of their stainless steel spiral fluted heavy barrels and the feed ramps looked very well finished. As far as one inch groups go that would be under perfect conditions, like free floated barrel and really good ammo. I get 1to 1 1/2 inch groups. But as long as BCA keeps making quality affordable barrels I'll keep buying them.
Wanted to point out that BCA actually has a WIDE selection of nitrided barrels in many calibers. They aren't limited to parkerizing by a longshot.
I've bought several BCA barrels in stainless and carbon with a nitride finish. For most needs, if I'm building from scratch, I can't find a better barrel in a price I can afford, or at least one that I'd shell out the money for. For example at PA I picked up a 6.5 Grendel heavy 20" spiral fluted 416R 5R rifled barrel for about $55+shipping. Looks smooth and well finished. Haven't assembled it yet but have no concerns about the accuracy, since the others have all been great so far.
You may want to polish the feed ramps or they may be fine. I think the most I've paid for one of their barrels was $110 for a 24" stainless heavy spiral fluted Grendel. Heck of a lot of barrel steel for the price.
For the money (and maybe 20-30 minutes of your time of you want a nicer-looking feed ramp and it didn't come that way), I don't know that you can get much better. I believe most (if not all) are guaranteed MOA or better with match-grade ammo (though some take a few boxes of ammo to get there). MOA, $50-100, your choice of stainless or nitride/parkerized stainless 416R, or 4140 with nitride or parkerizing, and numerous profiles (heavy; bull; pencil; etc.), lengths, fluting options (no flutes or straight, spiral, hornet (missing 1 or 2?) flutes), target crown or threaded, and almost every standard-ish cartridges (223 Wylde, 300 Blackout, 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, 7.62x39, 9mm, 450 Bushmaster, 458 SOCOM, and I BELIEVE 224 Valkyrie)...
I'm not convinced that spending 2-10x as much on a barrel will get me 2-10x better performance or utility.
I wouldn't use them for a 458 or 450, since those take some more finesse (stick with Tromix. Period. Wish I had.). There are also a few combinations they haven't made yet (16" Blackout heavy in Nitride or stainless with a pistol length gas system; 16"or 18" heavy/SOCOM 6.8 SPC in Nitride or Stainless; 277 Wolverine...), so they aren't the total solution, but they are getting there.
Thanks for the comment! You are spot on here. This video was made 2 years ago when BCA just started selling these barrels. I have used probably 30 since this video
@@GunsWithGage Pays to check the time stamp :)
@@haozhongze your comment is great, because it's updated info that people need to know!!
I run bear creek on all of my guns, and use them on 90% of my builds. Always shoot under 1". Normal accuracy with good ammo is 3/4" or better. Hand loads have gave 1/2" with some.
Benjamin Brown I have used 8 that I can think of. The only issue I've had was in assembly on one last month. The shoulder for the gas block was oversized. 3 different gas block could not be installed. I had to cryo the barrel and torch the block to get it installed. It was on a 7.5inch 223 barrel.
GunsWithGage I've got to say for the money they just can't be beat. Polishing the feed ramps is to be expected, and I have had a couple that have had issues with the timing of the barrel extension and the gas port. Not sure which is done first but crazy to have a gas block sitting at the 1 or 11 o'clock under the hand guard. That's ezzagerated slightly but other than that all has been well. Any precision build is a drop in Lija...... other end of the spectrum and well worth the change!...Dig the vids, and keep them rolling.
Makes me glad I chose to buy my upper from Bear Creek. If I had to pay top dollar for parts, I'd never be able to to afford to go shooting.
I like DTT for non critical parts but go in a little on the barrel and BCG and trigger
I have B C A in three builds in different rifles and calibers. Tack drivers they all are with Hornady ammo..Way better than I need for their intended purpose of hunting. My barrels are all from within this last year and the finish and ramps are as good as my $800.00 Wyndham.
I just recently bought two SS barrels from BC. One is a 20" 223 Wylde, and the other is a 20" 6.5 Grendel. Both of them have nicely finished feed ramps. So either you got a bad one, or BC has made improvements over the past year.
Vito Monopoli thanks for the comment, I agree with you that they have definitely updated their quality since this video. I am still buying BCA barrels and they are much better quality. I bought a 7.5inch 223, 16inch 223 SS diamond flute and another SS fluted barrel last month. They all look alot better than the barrels in this video. I should do an updated review on them
Thank you for your reply. It is nice to know that some people do more than just get on RUclips and talk. I learn a lot of things by watching RUclips, and I like passing on what I kown too.
Would you buy a Bear Creek Arsenal complete AR15? I don't know anything about them.
mixflip I build everything, so no. But if I didn't, and I wanted a cheap throw around gun, I may buy one. I would probably get the side charging complete gun.
We have used both BCA & Faxon barrels with success. BCA barrels tend to be pretty accurate, in my experience. Some info from our BCA factory tour...
gear-report.com/bear-creek-arsenal-review-gear-report-road-trip-factory-tour
REALLY love the Faxon Flame barrel on our 2016 custom build:
gear-report.com/ar-15-custom-rifle-build-2016
I read the article. Awesome job. Thanks! I think I need to do a review of their products for sure.
Ok great info. I build as well as buy...but I also review products so I was just wondering what others think of BCA.
Good luck, bro!
BCA is one of the most frustrating brands we have EVER dealt with in 8 years of reviewing stuff. They are so stuck in the OEM, high-volume output mindset that they can't seem to wrap their heads around how retail brands work. I know the owner and live close to the factory and I still have an incredibly difficult time getting any sort of follow-up from them. It is sad since their barrels seem to test well and are often more accurate than others anywhere near the price range.
Thanks for the video.
Yessir! This video is pretty dated now, but Bear Creek Arsenal is making better barrels than ever. Most of them are 1moa rated
Faxon's machine work is superb. But then again, they have machined parts for equipment sent to other planets.
I love my Faxon barrel !!
Barrel should be the number one part in your AR that is the best then everything else!!! You buy Barrel first and then everything else do not cheap out on barrel
I still use Faxon solely to this day for my personal firearms!
I bet that's why the Government uses Faxon barrels.
Faxon is also ISO 9000 certified and has another (I think higher) cert pending.
Faxon has been my go to on my last 4 builds. Great barrels.
I just hit a 1000yd gong with wolf military classic out of a BCA 18” barrel that I bought from BKF. I would say the barrels shoot fine.
Nice honest no bulshit assessment I like it.
BCA black nitrided barrels looks great and are very accurate!
Yes they shoot really nice!
If you oil that parkerizing, it turns a really nice charcoal black over time after getting hot when shooting. Like seasoning a nice cast iron pan.
And if you don't like that look, then Cerakote sticks to parkerizing beautifully with no sand blasting prep work needed. Just soak in acetone, then Cerakote it.
Wow great tip on the cerakote!
I have a couple of Bear Creeks. They shoot really well and for the price you can't beat it. Also that bear claw is not 4150 it's 416R steel for those metallurgist out there
Thanks for thr comment! You are right about this. The bear claw barrel is stainless
Also has nitride over the SS.
Great review. I was looking at the Bear Creek Bear Claw 16" barrel. Looks like your middle barrel. They are currently Nitride treated, and ISO 9002 standard.
jr10 thanks for the comment, you are correct! They have added more information on the website for most of their products compared to when I purchased from them. They are really growing now
I really was torn between your Faxon pencil and the Bear Claw. In the end I went with the fluted look. I think it looks pretty cool.
Thanks Again.
Use a Dremel to smooth out the sharp edges of the feed ramps and then a polishing wheel to polish the feed ramps and you will feed smoother and prevent gouges in your brass shoulders for reloading!
Can you elaborate more on where to smooth them out. Having crazy deep gouges
The 2 buttstocks on the table. What brand and model is the black one?
This video was made several years ago. Just wondering if you put these barrels in anything and how they shot and if you still feel the same way.
After using probably 50 faxon and BCA barrels since then, I now only used Faxon. BCA is fine if you want to build on a budget, but the prices have come down so much across the board, I just used better parts now.
I bought a .223 bca complete upper for 199$ from classic firearms. Its accurate and reliable, but ur right bca products are not "polished up" like the more expensive brands. I think thats how they cut costs
Nice to see a comparison. Bear Creek just hit a bit of a speed hump with the INS raid.
Straight from the manufacturer: they are 4150 Gun Quality Steel, Heat Treated to RC 28-32 Hardness, and Stress Relieved.
Where is your accuracy test? Did BCA do MOA or close? How much better did Faxon shoot?
Bear Creek offers tons of different finishes and all my experience they shoot and function great
I hate to nit pick but not all 3 of those barrels are 4150 steel, the Faxxon and the spiral fluted barrel are stainless, both are probably 416 stainless. the only one that is parkerized is the upper barrel which is also the only one that is an m4 profile.
You are right about the bear claw barrel. It is Nitride coated and 416 stainless. At the time of purchase, BCA did not have that information correct on their site. The company has grown alot and posted the actually info since this video was made.
The Faxon barrel is 4150
Hate to nitpick you both but its actually 416r
I bought a new 6.5 Grendel 24" upper from BCA with an HBAR profile and it shoots awesome! I'm talking 1” groups or *smaller* @ 100 yds !
I don't know, maybe I lucked out and got a great barrel...who knows!
Also, if I was going to spend alot of $$ on a new barrel I would get one from Precision Firearms. They are better than what I've heard about Faxon barrels. *I'm not saying that Faxon barrels are bad in the least.* It's just that I looked around on different forums and found out that PF are just as, if not slightly, better than Faxon barrels. And you can configure them from a lot of options! The same thing goes for Krieger barrels. You can go to their website and you have *even more* options to choose from! They're *not cheap* by any means, but definitely worth the money!! You'll know where those thousand dollars went!
Qpq nitride is a molecular level surface treatment, not a coating.
I'll take a BCA barrel over my 1/9 DPMS barrel any day. BCA's 1/7 socom barrel tends to stabilize my 62gr ammo better and to think I spent a $100 more on my DPMS barrel.
Inexpensive would be a better word than CHEAP!
I was on 22modsforall.com, looking at Bear Creek barrels and near the bottom they state "All of our barrels go through a 100% inspection process...what ever that means...i still bought an upper and im actually very impressed with it! Functions flawlessly, very clean, nice m-lok rail, screwed on to an Anderson receiver👍. For the price, honestly, they're unbeatable. Ive heard about fit and finish issues with them(mostly finish and usually exclusively on the barrels) but never mechanical issues. Im not a guy that cares very much about fit and finish anyways, as long as it consistently functions correctly then im in....and it does....so, I am...
Its parkerized.....vs nitride.... how tf do you even compare 2 different finishes? Idk about when you made this video but currently they provide both and stainless ootions. Would you compare faxon nitride vs a bear stainless?
faxon heavy fluted vs wilson combat super sniper or criterion hybrid for precision?
BCA barrels are air gaged and are also available in nitride and 5R rifling
I’m new to guns in general, should lips of a round of ammunition fit flush in the barrel of a brand new barrel. I ask this question because I just bought a new 5.56 bear creek barrel and got the idea to see if the projectile part of a round would fit in all the way in the tip of the barrel. It does not, is this normal?
Troy Lowe it will not go all the way in easily. Don't try to do that haha.
completely normal. The lands of the rifleing are actually smaller in diameter than the bullet.
The Bear Creek Arsenal is also a Black Nitride Finish. I own 3 of them.
i tried using a jewelry file to smooth out my bca beo chamber lugs and feed ramp and its still cutting my lead and brass. If i buy a dremel, what attachments do i need to really smooth out the corners? also i cant take the barrel out because its a side charging upper and i only have the armorers block for normal receivers :(
I think a lot of people dismissing the barrels due to the cost, meaning PSA or Classic Arms selling them at $79 should look at the retail price first. Meaning that even though I am buying a 16" fully assembled upper including BCG and changing handle @$199.99, the retail price normally runs $285.99 and my lower from PSA normally runs @$287.99 but I just paid $129.99 with free shipping plus $30 for the transfer fee and BG check through my fav FFL So I am essentially getting a $573.98 AR-15 for $330.00. Granted you do get what you pay for but for a budget/first time build you can't really complain about minor cosmetics that you can fix with roughly 30 minutes of work. Now, you can go the route my neighbor went and build from scratch and spend $ 900 for parts but I can attest that if you try to resale your upper for $600.00 like he is doing, don't count on a quick turn around. His has been on consignment for the last year and a half. LOL, he tried to get me to buy it but then I founded out it was just the upper, sorry I have seen completed rifles for that amount. His chambered for .308/7.62x39. DPMS AR10 Oracle RFLR-OC .308 Win / 7.62 NATO 16-inch is $635 out of the box.
I have 2 bca uppers and they performed better than what I paid for them on budget builds u get more than what u pay for
Bear creek barrels are just fine. They run all day long!
The feed ramps look horrible on that cheaper barrel. A few minutes with some needle files should clean it up. Then you can polish it with a dremel. What can you expect for $70? They should clean up easy. Just go slow.
Exactly - you're buying parts to build your own - part of that is finishing the parts; and cleaning them up, polishing them, etc., is part of it.
Go back to school.
The barrel extension, ie. feed ramps, is a completely different piece from the barrel. The outside of the barrel is cosmetic, subjective, coated to deter oxidation, and normally covered by your choice of rail. The most important part of a barrel is the rifling, and how well it shoots. Run a bore cam through and show us what it looks like.
How about including ac urzcy in your comparison?
1:01 actually the spiral fluted bca barrel is nitrided... I have that barrel. And it's MOA or less guaranteed.
Yep, don't know why he doesn't know that with all the gun tools/equipment he has
That ring on the fluted heavy is there because they test fire every barrel
It's time for someone to develop a RUclips channel lecturing on the difference between cosmetics and function. In some cases, presenters, use terms and words that could be easily be applied to describing a beauty contest. Gentlemen, we're not judging a beauty contest. We're judging function. Does it work? In the world of firearms beauty does not trump function. No one coming through my front door uninvited is interested in whether my barrel is shinny. Likewise, neither am I. I want to know that if I pull the trigger the gun goes "bang" and the uninvited person's body makes a "thud" when it hits the floor. Can I get and amen?
AMEN!
Tough choice? $200 for a barrel with polished feed ramps. $72 for a barrel that needs a little polishing (Or maybe none). I bought a BC 6.5 Grendel barrel and cheap leftover parts to assemble a new deer rifle. At a hundred yards with cheap Russian steel cased to sight in it was awesome. I never expected that accuracy.
I'm glad I got Faxon !!!
I Cerakoted my barrel 4 years ago and it looks like it was Nitride treated (but it is not). Stuff really works
i just ordered a Bear Creek Arsenal 16" Contour 1-7 twist Parkerized 5.56 NATO Mid Length Barrel and looked all over for the thread pattern. you wouldnt happen to know what it is would you?
Thanks man good video good info.
Thank you! Even though the video is dated now, most of the info is still accurate.
BCA has come along way. They now have cold hammer forging. Same machines and process as Daniel Defense, FN, etc.
Take a drink every time he says umm. No one would survive
Did you do the accuracy reliability test on these barrels?
Ive got a couple BCA Barrels that shoot Sub MOA.. But they were not cheap..I imagine the Cheap ones a what I call 2nds...Thats why they are cheap. The outer finish dont make a shit on how they shoot.They could be Diamond Fluted and not shoot accurate.Good video..We have to keep the companies on their toes or the QC gets slack and fades.Thanks
Thanks for the comment, and this is some good info. BCA has gotten better, i did this video when they were very new to the civilian market
How did the Bear Creek barrel perform?
how to they shoot ? I have seen the cheapest shoot better than the most expensive . I Smith my weapons so it's a pleasure to polish the ramps to a mirror finish.
Adam Long they all are perfectly reliable. I agree with you on polishing, and doing extra work to the barrels. I am the same way. I have not shot them for absolute accuracy
+GunsWithGage
I hand load my ammo run max powder and have pretty good accurate rounds less moving around from wind the faster it fly's.
Great video! You answered all of my questions. I just stumbled upon the Faxon barrels. I've been looking for a good 14.5 pencil barrel in a sub Noveske price range.
Stanley Potter Thanks! All of the Faxon stuff is really great quality, but they don't charge it up just because they can.
I am new to guns, an in buying a new bear creek 5.56 barrel, I found that a 5.56 round does not fit completely flush in the breach of the barrel. Also the projectile part of a 5.56 round does not fit in the tip of the barrel. The diameter of the projectile seems to be too big. Are these normal configurations, or is the circumference of either the inner part of the barrel, or the projectile, too small or to big? Because they just don’t fit.
Everything you describe is normal. The extractor has to grab the case so a small part of the base will always stick out of the chamber if you just drop the round into the chamber. The projectile should never fit all the way into the muzzle of the barrel because the bore has to be a little under-sized so that the rifling can spin the bullet to stabilize it in flight.
Where is the testing of these barrels?
Ar 15 is a tool it will be scratched, dented and abused in its life. Buying a gun for looks is stupid. When you use that Snapon wrench do you polish it back up? Bca barrels shoot fine.
The Faxon kinda has a nitrite finish? You aren't sure?
for your pistol, is your preference the 14 inch barrel? or would the 10 1/2 inch be a better choice?
For my use, this 14.5inch barrel will have a silver soldered (permanently attached) Ti long flash hider to make it rifle length for a rifle build.
If I were building a pistol I would go 7.5 inch.
I do not like 10.5 inch barrels
okay. Thank you!
+GunsWithGage how come you do t like 10.5 inch barrels?
I just bought a Bear creek 5.56 barrel. Before attaching it to my upper, I tested to see if my 223 ammunition would fit in the chamber of my newly purchased barrel. It did not, is there something about the barrel I should know about? Is there something out of the box, that should be done to the barrel, giving regular 223 round will fit in the chamber? I’m asking these questions because this is my first pistol build, so naturally I’m thinking I must have done something wrong. Thank you for all your help.
Troy Lowe it will fit in there no problem. Clean the chamber well. The rounds were not meant to be pushed in like that. They need to he slammed in like the bolt of the gun does when in use. Bear Creek has come a long way with their barrels since the video. I'm still using then today! Good luck with your build buddy
Sounds normal. Clean it good and put it together.
The extractor has to grab the case so a small part of the base will always stick out of the chamber if you just drop the round into the chamber. The projectile should never fit all the way into the muzzle of the barrel because the bore has to be a little under-sized so that the rifling can spin the bullet to stabilize it in flight
Did your BCA get damaged when shipped? Cuz none of my BCA barrels look like that and i have a bunch! None have feed problems at all!!
I have one of the early bear claw fluted barrels and it has been flawless....cant speak to quality as of the past few years though...I've moved on to ballistic advantage and am currently looking at a faxom for a 9mm carbine build I'm working on.
Can you please do a follow-up video? I'm very interested on these barrels. Thank you
That’s crazy the cheap BCA barrel was such a small port .61, on their site and what I’ve seen have been very large ports.
I d take even a bad wore out barrel in my ar15 over the khar 380 i had. With the peaceful demonstrations i need to be able to administer proper lead enemas on people who need them. I did get a low buck non chrome barrel for 125.00. I was happy to have found it. Everything is sold out or backordered. I can upgrade another day. My CAR 15 clone / Larry Vickers rifle look just fine. Now need some ammo. 40 rounds are not enough. Better than fists tho for now
Did you dimple the Faxon barrel?
I have 4 Bear Creek barrels and 1 faxon barrel I got from Brownells. I have never had a problem at all with Bear Creek. The faxon barrel not only doesn't shoot good, I had to polish the feed ramps on it just to get a good feed and ejection. Brownells seemed like I was bothering them so after 5 calls to them the best I got out of them was a effort to sell me something else. I asked them why should I purchase anything else from them when they are going to charge me 2 times what I can get it from Bear Creek for and Bear Creek barrel and upper works? If it works and accurate, who cares what it looks like? Its not a beauty contest.
Bca uppers seem to be better quality than aero precision. Just throwing it out here. When I was comparing both, I might go with bca from now on.
Doing a comparison with out going indepth ( borescoping, headspace gauging, range reports and other checks ) isn't a comparison, what this does is show its Visual appeal!
Ok i have a question. Besides the "looks" was the faxon more accurate or were they pretty much the same. They got a 6.5 grendel bca barrel on sale for 50$ and a faxon 6.5 on sale for 165$. Is the faxon worth 125$ more or is the bca accurate enough? Thanks!
Have u had any first hand experience with bca?
@@jayarar6347 No reply from concerned citizen
@@ScrapMetalBomb lol yea i dont understand why some1 would judge something they never tried. I ended up going with the faxon 6.5grendel since well the 6.5 is suppose to be a precision build so i didnt want to take any chances
I also ended up buying a 7.62x39 upper from bca for 230$ complete with bcg and charging handle, the finish is a little rough but i must say for a 230$ upper it functions flawless and is more accurate than a ak47 with russian steelcase 7.62x39 ammo. I will be using bca agian for reliable budget builds thats for sure
I could not get my Alexander 18" 6.5 barrel to shoot under 1". I bought a 20" BC barrel and now shoot sub 1 " groups. I always polish my own ramps. I will buy all my barrels from Bear Creek from now on.
did you ever have a chance for accuracy comparison of these barrels?
BCA barrels, in my experience, are cr@p. Those rough edges on the ramps cut groves/scratches into the bullet which varies from bullet-to-bullet (think "fliers"). Something you didn't check for in this video - the freebore: BCA barrels tend to not have any. I think they ream the chamber first, then cut the rifling all the way to the neck. No freebore causes unpredictable ballistics & chamber pressures. An easy test is to load a round from a mag and eject it without firing it, then inspect the bullet.
How do you like your bca barrels still all my guns have had them....pretty good fucking barrels. My parkerized 223 wylde barrel with 1:8 rifpe length gas system 20in after break in with 100 to 150 rounds cleaning then a few rounds to prep the bore like 10 or 20...i tesr accuracy and habdloading match ammo....average of .871 moa without a bipod or vise just a bag and benchresting....very happy for 78$ barrel
All I see is that the bear creek barrels don't have polished feed ramps. The lugs are supposed to be crisp. The wear ring on the heavy barrel is where the gas block was installed for testing....if they guarantee 1" or less at 100 then it's a good barrel
BCA gave away a bunch of barrels for free on veterans day. I missed that deal. BCA has nitride barrels available also.
Oh that's awesome. You are right, the heavy barrel in this video was also nitride
I got in on that deal and only had to pay $10 in shipping for an M4 barrel.. I'm impressed with with their appreciation.The feed ramps seem fine although I may polish them up. I hadn't looked at BCA before, but now I will for the future, and in buying parts to finish the build with the barrel they sent me.. I'll probably give it to my son as his first AR.
GWG - thanks, great video. Subscribed.
@@MyBacktrail awesome! Man I wish I had caught that! The barrels have improved since I made those video 2 years ago. I purchase several a month as well as Faxon!
MyBacktrail I should set a reminder for next year lol
I have 3 Bear Creek builds and they run Great... IMO Bear Creek is a great value... For a lot less of my hard earn money..
the middle one is the bear claw not only is it stainless but also nitride.
Jewish Ninja Yessir you are right about both
thank you i really appreciate it!
I actually have that exact bear claw barrel from bear creek, and my only issue is when shooting in the cold. the spent cases don't eject every time
just bought a bca hbar barrel on primary arms site. for a 60.00 sale price tag, i hope i made a good choice. i would prefer a medium contour, but could not pass up the price. plus, i like to try out names i have never used.
Jamy Xiong Woah nice score!! That is half the price I put for mine. I still haven't shot mine, but you can see it on the gun if you look at my side charging ar15 video.
damn. thought i was on my youtube account...darn you wife. yeah, i was going to finish my build for next year, but with all these sales, i just couldnt pass it up. going to build a low budget type rifle with omni hybrid upper and lower receivers.
You are comparing nitride finish to parkerized. Nitride is more expensive and a better finish.
Therefore it should LOOK BETTER. But looks is not the question. How do they compare shooting? This depends on a many things machining being second in my opinion. Twist rates and bullet weight first. Bore scope them! Then shoot them. Correct bullet weight for twist. Good trigger work!
BCA has never made a 1:8 twist rate barrel in 7.62x39.
Not sure any of that is with the price difference I have two bear creak uppers the shoot great
Steven Wenner I have had good accuracy out of my bear Creek parts.