Have some lower parts around so looking at putting together a new budget upper; or even better, buying an assembled upper.
Most of the uppers I have left are PSA and they have been great.
Wondering how they compare to budget manufacturers like CBC, Radical and Bear Creek.

This thread isn't for the AR snobs...  lol

Had bear creek and PSA they are pretty much the same.  So if you are ok with PSA you will be good with bear creek.

In fact just ordered a 16" upper form them earlier this week

Radical had a bad rep for awhile, but maybe they have fixed their issues?

In for info about Bear Creek's quality.

Stick with PSA for complete kits.   I use Bear Creek for spare barrels mainly.  All are decent.

I concur with PSA.

I have finished several of their kits
with completed uppers. That's the
easy button.

John

I understand.  I was just wondering how other uppers compared to PSA.

I have several PSAs, as noted, and never an issue. But PSA doesn't have what I am looking for at the moment.

PSA has 2 different 18" FN chrome lined barreled uppers for sale right now for $399. If I was buying an upper today for an AR-15, I would buy one of those.

Not sure why anyone looking for budget parts would look anywhere other than PSA.

Gigantic sample pool has only a few screw ups and they back their products 100%. No they’re not DD, but why try some questionable components when PSA is fine?

Easy
Because PSA hasn't had $200 16" 300 BO Uppers when I look.  If they did, I wouldn't be looking anywhere else.  Now if I were looking for 556/223 I would have bought their $200 one (only because I don't need another LPK or stock kit)

Ordered a Radical for $125 plus ship without BCG/CH.

Only Bear Creek item I have is the Trash Panda barrel, and anther that will be delivered tomorrow, and I think it works just fine, fed right. I would love to try Bear Creeks' side charger upper someday, but my budget is too tight that right now. The gunsmith who built my rifle has used their products in the past and has no complaints.

I have two really nice ARs, a Daniel Defense and a BCM.  I couldn't resist picking up a radical arms with an mlok rail on black friday.  A LGS had them for $400 out the door.  I have been wanting a budget gun that I could beat and not feel guilty about getting scratched and dinged up.  I put 350 rounds through it today with zero issues.  No testing for accuracy or anything just function.  So far so good.

This.

Personally have seen Radical's products.  Will never consider purchasing anything from them.

I have PSA and BCA products and have had no issues with either.

I have five PSA uppers in .300bo, 9mm, 7.62x39 and 6.5grendel.
All are good shooters, no assembly issues.

I’ve also had a 7.62x39 10” upper from Radical Firearms for a few years. No issues with a loose barrel extension. Seems to shoot as well as my Draco AK pistol. But I hear bad things about their customer service. So if there’s issues, you’ll probably be wishing you were dealing with PSA.

I put a lower together for a co-worker who wanted his first AR. We’re local to PSA but they didn’t have anything in his price range. Another shop had CBC uppers, they looked good and with an FN bcg he had just a few bucks more than a PSA. I’ve not shot it so can’t comment on accuracy but he’s had no problems.

I also got an Anderson 10” 5.56 upper I put on a pistol lower. Have not shot it much yet but it keeps up with my BCM 14.5” upper.

I just got in a BCA 20” 6.5 Grendel complete upper this week, was just too cheap to pass on. Haven’t gotten it to the range yet but I gotta say, cosmetically, it may be my best looking upper. Appears to be assembled right. In 6.5 the BCA barrels can be hit or miss but some of them shoot surprisingly well.

I’d recommend any of these brands. PSA will have the biggest selection, if you want a lightweight upper w/mid length gas system, PSA has a budget setup.

First pistol upper I bought was inexpensive radical 10.5 a couple years ago.  No issues, decent round count on it.  Subsequently PSA’s prices dropped, have 6 or so uppers from them. One had misaligned gas tube that I fixed.  I’ve also had good luck with inexpensive Del-Ton and AR-stoner uppers.  Personally, I prefer any inexpensive upper over my much pricier Colt or Daniel Defense equipment since it bothers me less to treat it like the consumable item it is.