Bear Creek Arenal .350 Legend upper, a review.

[Handsome Rob]

Do not waste your money with these idiots. I bought a .350 Legend upper from these comedians & after cleaning off all the shipping oil, stripping, cleaning & lubricating the bolt & bcg correctly, it literally would not feed a single round. Everyone I spoke to told me to use NOTHING but a CMMG mag & that's exactly what I have. After 4 days of no returned emails, I decided to pull it down & figure out what was going on. First off, the muzzle break wasn't correctly indexed (literally 60° off center) & was barely hand tight. The gas block was only held in place by 1 of the 2 set screws. The barrel nut itself was tight, but incorrectly torqued. That was the least of it....

The feed ramp was a mess of machining marks. The chamber mouth was rough & not at all finished & I have no idea what was used to ream the chamber, but it honestly looked like an un-lubricated 1/2" drill bit. I had to lap & polish EVERYTHING. I miked the chamber, after 3hrs of polishing & it's still within spec, but only just. That's how deep the scoring was..... After hours of polishing, it's now feeding as it should, although I've yet to shoot it. 

Bottom line, I tried to contact BCA to see about a return for inspection but they simply haven't responded to a single email. I will never, ever do business with these clowns again. Their assembly QC, on this upper, was literally non existent. 

As far as AR parts go, they are a complete ####-show.

[MacGyver]

That’s really disappointing. Not terribly surprising this day and age - but disappointing for sure.

Let us know how it shoots. 

[DL126]

I bought a 7.62x39 upper from them last year,because I couldn't find one anywhere else.
Nor parts to build one.

It took me a bit to figure out they had put a 556 firing pin in it.
I had to replace that to eliminate FTF's.
Using Federal Fusion ammo, it'll put 5 shots into one ragged hole at 36 yards.
Don't get too excited, that hole is kinda large. 
Different story with combloc steel case.
I don't remember ever having 2 holes touching while using whatever I have thrown in that ammo can. Tul, Wolf, Brown Bear. A 7.62x39 soup of whatever.

Installed an adjustable gas block which turned out to be a waste of $.
The gas port was small enough that I have to run the AGB wide open for it to cycle.
I expected it to be way to large.

Overall, I'm satisfied with it.
Installed an Eotech HS and use it for deer hunting.
Got one on the first trip out with it at about 35 yards.

 

Hope you get yours straightened out Rob.

Edited September 23, 2021 by DL126

[deerslayer]

A friend bought one of their side charging uppers.  I was a little suspicious because it was surprisingly cheap, but the thing runs like a sewing machine.  I don't think I want one, though.  

[Chucktshoes]

The varying reports are indicative of the issues one finds with budget line manufacturers like BCA. Wildly inconsistent QC and poor customer service. 
 

Sometimes you get everyone doing their job right and turning out a great product, and sometimes you get Friday afternoon garbage. 
 

Sorry you got the latter, Rob. 
 

 

[19_A_CPT]

My only problem has been on the 450 Bushmasters their gas ports are way undersized. My 7.62x39, 308, and 6.5 Creedmoors all ran as intended. 

Ugly they are, work they do. 

Then again, im not quite the perfectionalist as Rob is. 

Cheaper is Cheaper. 

[SmokyBaer]

I was gonna go with them next time around but maybe not now.  Like said, today's times of quality control leaves a lot to be desired.  Will most likely rebarrel with a Wilson tube and grab a Duramag from C-products.  They had a LOT of good things to say at the NRA show a while back.

Best of luck tuning that Bear Creek 350.  Awesome little round.
Anxious to hear the range report.

[Handsome Rob]

23 hours ago, SmokyBaer said:

I was gonna go with them next time around but maybe not now.  Like said, today's times of quality control leaves a lot to be desired.  Will most likely rebarrel with a Wilson tube and grab a Duramag from C-products.  They had a LOT of good things to say at the NRA show a while back.

Best of luck tuning that Bear Creek 350.  Awesome little round.
Anxious to hear the range report.

Thanks for the reminder! 

I installed a PA 1-4X24 sfp in a 1-piece mount, grabbed up a selection of ammo & hit the range. After a rough bore sighting & getting on paper at 100yds I shot for groups: (all groups were 5 rounds) 

145gn FMJ..... terrible. Honestly couldn't shoot better than a 4" group. Damn. Didn't want to feed 50% of the time. I had to just pop the bolt back a quarter inch & release it to chamber half the rounds. 

150gn PSP..... still garbage. Had the same feeding issue, groups hovering around 4" with the occasional 3" Recoil felt surprisingly mild & ejection was perfect. Started to get really dejected at this point. Started fantasizing about breaking out the angle grinder & gas-axe.......

180gn SP..... Well. Now we're cooking with charcoal! Only 1 failure to feed out of 40 rounds. Buttery smooth. First group shot went dead center, 1.5" high & about 1.5" in diameter. Hmmm..... second 5 went into the exact same group. Okay then! I continued with the same target, same group & put the next 30 shots into the exact POI of the first 2! 40 round group into under 2" with a 4 power scope?! Oh HELL yes!!

All is redeemed, life is good & I'm starting to fall for this thing.

 

I'm headed up to Indiana for my hunt next Wednesday, for 5 days so hopefully, fingies crossed, I'll be able to give a decent report on how it does on game.

[SmokyBaer]

AWESOME NEWS!  

[KahrMan]

That is awesome Rob.  Hope you slay on of those Indiana giants!