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BCA bolt action upper for $350? (Page 2 of 21)
| They probably want u to buy a complete upper or complete rifle. Least they made it accept reg ar barrels and bolts. I think it's cheap enuff for people if they don't like the barrel offering they can just swap it out of their choice. Only time will tell but I don't have high hopes. I will be getting a x39 when they get in stock and I will play around with that and also 300blk and 6.8spc barrels. |
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Originally Posted By Normlizer: They probably want u to buy a complete upper or complete rifle. Least they made it accept reg ar barrels and bolts. I think it's cheap enuff for people if they don't like the barrel offering they can just swap it out of their choice. Only time will tell but I don't have high hopes. I will be getting a x39 when they get in stock and I will play around with that and also 300blk and 6.8spc barrels. |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: Care to provide any reasoning for that line of thought, other than general pessimism? Inquiring mind would like to know. Given that they could probably sell the combo carrier+handle+upper+rear plug for $200-$250, and not have the assembly cost (in addition to barrel, bolt, muzzle device), I'd think it'd be a profitable decision to make at some point. The head of their sales department told me they won’t be offering the upper receiver and bolt as a standalone product for sale I’m hoping they change their mind, I’d love to do a build |
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Now that's a good piece of information to have. Maybe the more people that inquire, the more likely they are to change their minds as they'll see the demand. So... in the meantime, suggestions for an unwanted, unneeded BCA 16" 5.56 nitride barrel? I've never used the EE, but is a BCA bolt + barrel even worth the time to re-sell? I'll have one upper soon, but I'll be hesitant to buy more without kit availability. ----------------------------------- Topics Covered in Each Page Because an index is convenient * Discussions of most price changes/sales excluded from index
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: Now that's a good piece of information to have. Maybe the more people that inquire, the more likely they are to change their minds as they'll see the demand. So... in the meantime, suggestions for an unwanted, unneeded BCA 16" 5.56 nitride barrel? I've never used the EE, but is a BCA bolt + barrel even worth the time to re-sell? I'll have one upper soon, but I'll be hesitant to buy more without kit availability. Maybe put it up for $45-$50 and see if someone wants it for a truck gun upper. Or build a lamp out if it
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Originally Posted By VTD: Or build a lamp out if it ![]() Wouldn't be the first lamp I've made out of gun. I made my brother a lamp similar to the one from Great Outdoors out of an broken down ancient 12 ga side-by-side. It still technically is a functional firearm, as it has all its parts and the bores are unobstructed. With it attached to its base, shooting would be... awkward. And destroy the lampholder, bulb, and shade, obviously. And again, thx for information. |
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Originally Posted By Normlizer: 458 socom suppressed would be fun also. Love the guy on yt Coyote down that has a bolt 458 socom. You see that monster 570 grain LeHigh bullet he shoots with it subsonic? Sadly, the cartridge is .02" too long to fit in a standard AR platform, other wise....I suppose you could handload them and seat .02" deeper and make it work...I dunno. All I know is, the videos he shows of him hitting deer, OMG. The bullet slap on the deer is louder than the gun. |
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Originally Posted By EDL: You see that monster 570 grain LeHigh bullet he shoots with it subsonic? Sadly, the cartridge is .02" too long to fit in a standard AR platform, other wise....I suppose you could handload them and seat .02" deeper and make it work...I dunno. All I know is, the videos he shows of him hitting deer, OMG. The bullet slap on the deer is louder than the gun. Originally Posted By EDL: Originally Posted By Normlizer: 458 socom suppressed would be fun also. Love the guy on yt Coyote down that has a bolt 458 socom. You see that monster 570 grain LeHigh bullet he shoots with it subsonic? Sadly, the cartridge is .02" too long to fit in a standard AR platform, other wise....I suppose you could handload them and seat .02" deeper and make it work...I dunno. All I know is, the videos he shows of him hitting deer, OMG. The bullet slap on the deer is louder than the gun. Yea i love his vids. Watching the bullet drop is crazy. |
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Well I put it together and shot 35rds off my back porch. I was hoping it would feed a bit more smoothly. You really have to shove the bolt forward with some force. Could be my big fat berry's 220s too. I'll try some different loads and mags and see if it helps. Working the action empty feels pretty good although the short bolt rotation takes some getting used to. 7.5" .300blk SBRAttached File |
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That rig looks sweet. They currently don't seem to have a short action version of this, so 8.6 blk would be out of the question. But, it would be cool. That said, for those who want to see them offer this as a kit, it can't hurt to take 5 minutes, fill out their "contact us" customer service page (https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/customer-service ), and tell them you're interested in the upper receiver & carrier as a kit. I chose to mention that I had already purchased one, but further purchases would only occur if/when it becomes available as a kit. Don't be nasty. Don't exaggerate what you're actually interested in. Just give them a reason to see profit in offering it as a kit, and let them see the interest. It might change their minds. |
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@ninja99 @VTD -- how do the barrel extension feed ramps match up with the feed ramp extensions machined into the upper? I got my upper today. Initial inspection, I noticed the feed ramp extensions in the upper were cut deeper than those in the barrel extension -- less than ideal. ninja99, is there any chance that's part of the feeding issues you're having? Noses of bullets catching in there? Also, did the .350 Legend barrel have a single wide feed ramp, or M4 feed ramps? Anyone else with one of these uppers have feed ramp extensions cut too deep? Given the unique nature of this upper (thus making "solution: get new upper" unfeasible), is there a proper way to address the overly deep feed ramp extensions of the upper? And how big of an issue would these be with a large bore, single feed ramp round like .458 SOCOM? I'm not terribly concerned about this, but receiver feed ramp extensions issues are a actually a category of problems I've managed to avoid thus far in my AR building experience. |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: @ninja99 @VTD -- how do the barrel extension feed ramps match up with the feed ramp extensions machined into the upper? I got my upper today. Initial inspection, I noticed the feed ramp extensions in the upper were cut deeper than those in the barrel extension -- less than ideal. ninja99, is there any chance that's part of the feeding issues you're having? Noses of bullets catching in there? Also, did the .350 Legend barrel have a single wide feed ramp, or M4 feed ramps? Anyone else with one of these uppers have feed ramp extensions cut too deep? Given the unique nature of this upper (thus making "solution: get new upper" unfeasible), is there a proper way to address the overly deep feed ramp extensions of the upper? And how big of an issue would these be with a large bore, single feed ramp round like .458 SOCOM? I'm not terribly concerned about this, but receiver feed ramp extensions issues are a actually a category of problems I've managed to avoid thus far in my AR building experience. The ramps seem fine in the upper. They could match up with the ramps in the barrel extension a little better but It's the lug edges at the top of the feed ramps that I'm catching on. Barrel is PSA It's smooth until this point: Attached File Attached File I'm going to polish them and see what happens. |
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Ah! I've had similar .300 BLK feeding issues. The edges where you see the copper building up, address those. With every 300 BLK I own, I have not only polished the feed ramps, but I rounded those edges off using very fine metal files (round, flat, curved, as appropriate), and 1k+grit sandpaper. Very very slowly, and very gently, with the chamber protected from any slip of the hand, of course. Don't try to recontour the feed ramps beyond this if you can't accept messing up the barrel if you get it wrong. Every bit of copper on there took energy to strip it off the bullet, and that energy is taken away from the energy used to chamber the round. Energy wasted. (anyone down with entropy?) Also, doesn't hurt to polish the face of the bolt. 1k grit sandpaper laid on a flat surface, like a mirror. Just gently smooth the front of the lugs and the rest of the face. Ammo slides up it with less resistance then, and it sits flatter against the barrel when bolt is closed. And if your feed lips on your mags are really rough on the underside, address that, too. Those are the 3 addressable points the cartridge is contacting when it's depositing those copper chunks on the edges & corners of the feed ramps. At least, that's what I see. |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: @ninja99 @VTD -- how do the barrel extension feed ramps match up with the feed ramp extensions machined into the upper? I got my upper today. Initial inspection, I noticed the feed ramp extensions in the upper were cut deeper than those in the barrel extension -- less than ideal. ninja99, is there any chance that's part of the feeding issues you're having? Noses of bullets catching in there? Also, did the .350 Legend barrel have a single wide feed ramp, or M4 feed ramps? Anyone else with one of these uppers have feed ramp extensions cut too deep? Given the unique nature of this upper (thus making "solution: get new upper" unfeasible), is there a proper way to address the overly deep feed ramp extensions of the upper? And how big of an issue would these be with a large bore, single feed ramp round like .458 SOCOM? I'm not terribly concerned about this, but receiver feed ramp extensions issues are a actually a category of problems I've managed to avoid thus far in my AR building experience. Mine has standard M4 feed ramps. Matches up fine with a normal BCA 10.5" .300 AAC barrel. The extensions on both the .300 AAC and original 350 Legend barrels look the same. @VTD was the one having difficulty feeding. I shot mine this weekend for the first time. The very first round had a hard time extracting, but that was the only issue. No problems feeding, cycling, extracting or ejecting after that. I used Lancer 300 Blackout mags. Put 20 rds of supers and 40 rds of subs through it. |
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I wasn't confused about who had the feeding issues. I dropped both your names in then typed out my post. Forgot to move names to the proper places. My bad, there. Thanks for the response on the other things -- like the feed ramps on the .350 L. I'm gonna be quietly driven nuts waiting for my .338 ARC barrel from McGowen that I want to use with this receiver... Or maybe I could pull the trigger on a .458 SOCOM rifle barrel. (I already have a 10.5" .458 S pistol, so I already have mags and ammo.) X-Caliber is having 20% off for Valentines right now, so that's an option. No gas port is an option on their order page. Hmm..... I've considered .375 SOCOM, but I feel I'd lose going that route a lot as I'm not a reloader. |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: Ah! I've had similar .300 BLK feeding issues. The edges where you see the copper building up, address those. With every 300 BLK I own, I have not only polished the feed ramps, but I rounded those edges off using very fine metal files (round, flat, curved, as appropriate), and 1k+grit sandpaper. Very very slowly, and very gently, with the chamber protected from any slip of the hand, of course. Don't try to recontour the feed ramps beyond this if you can't accept messing up the barrel if you get it wrong. Every bit of copper on there took energy to strip it off the bullet, and that energy is taken away from the energy used to chamber the round. Energy wasted. (anyone down with entropy?) Also, doesn't hurt to polish the face of the bolt. 1k grit sandpaper laid on a flat surface, like a mirror. Just gently smooth the front of the lugs and the rest of the face. Ammo slides up it with less resistance then, and it sits flatter against the barrel when bolt is closed. And if your feed lips on your mags are really rough on the underside, address that, too. Those are the 3 addressable points the cartridge is contacting when it's depositing those copper chunks on the edges & corners of the feed ramps. At least, that's what I see. Thanks! |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: Ah! I've had similar .300 BLK feeding issues. The edges where you see the copper building up, address those. With every 300 BLK I own, I have not only polished the feed ramps, but I rounded those edges off using very fine metal files (round, flat, curved, as appropriate), and 1k+grit sandpaper. Very very slowly, and very gently, with the chamber protected from any slip of the hand, of course. Don't try to recontour the feed ramps beyond this if you can't accept messing up the barrel if you get it wrong. Every bit of copper on there took energy to strip it off the bullet, and that energy is taken away from the energy used to chamber the round. Energy wasted. (anyone down with entropy?) Also, doesn't hurt to polish the face of the bolt. 1k grit sandpaper laid on a flat surface, like a mirror. Just gently smooth the front of the lugs and the rest of the face. Ammo slides up it with less resistance then, and it sits flatter against the barrel when bolt is closed. And if your feed lips on your mags are really rough on the underside, address that, too. Those are the 3 addressable points the cartridge is contacting when it's depositing those copper chunks on the edges & corners of the feed ramps. At least, that's what I see. I dressed the sharp edges and gave everything a polish and it's feeding very smoothly now. |
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Originally Posted By Southernfried: Are the barrels from bear creek have different feed ramps ? Since you said the barrel was a PSA? Tks I couldn't get a good picture but the feed ramps in the 5.56 barrel look like normal M4 feed ramps. It's a 16" barrel with a blocked off mid-length gas port. |
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On teardown of the upper, I have a couple observations. Not criticisms or complaints, just observations for anyone wondering about these receivers/uppers. 1) FINISH: I was pleasantly surprised by the upper. The edges aren't sharp (with one exception), but also not overly rounded. The anodizing is smooth and solid. Pleasantly surprised. I wonder about wear and tear on outside corner of the ejection port where the charging handle locks. It is a sharp corner, and I can see why you wouldn't round it off, but at the same time can already see wear on it from manually cycling the receiver a few dozen times. 2) ALIGNMENT: The barrel and handguard, as installed, were misaligned . Barrel to the left, handguard to the right. In my experience, this indicates a receiver needs truing, but... 3) HANDGUARD: Pleasantly surprised by the design. It'll never be a precision rail for mounting aiming devices, as the handguard is loose on the barrel nut, and the screws hold it in place. I would prefer if this fitting were much more snug, but if it were, then it wouldn't be as adjustable as it is. The looseness of the handguard to barrel nut fit combined with the rotational tolerances provided in the screw holes on the handguard make for easy installation and minimal issues timing it. So, maybe the barrel is true, and the handguard just wasn't aligned. The rest of the handguard's design and manufacturing impressed me. The finish is good. On the inside of the rail, M-LOK slots are on a milled-flat surface, not part of a radius, so M-LOK nuts spread their force evenly over as large of an area as possible. Yet, the final few inches of the handguard, the inside opens back up to a slightly wider circle to allow tucking of a greater selection of muzzle devices and cans to fit under there. Overall, very good rail design. I'd prefer tighter tolerances and a snugger fit myself, but for what it is, it pleasantly surprised me. 3) BARREL INSTALLATION: The barrel nut was torqued to easily over 100 lbs. After heating with a heat gun, my torque wrench still wasn't breaking it free at 90 or so LBS. Switched to a breaker bar then, and using more force got it loose. Properly greased when installed, and a shim underneath. What's the point of shimming if you're gonna over torque anyway? So, maybe the over-torquing played a role in the misalignment. I think I'll true the receiver while I'm deciding on and/or waiting for a barrel. In my experience, billet receivers are far less likely benefit from truing as their machining tends to be more precisely aligned, but I've encountered some that benefit from it, sometimes just because of uneven anodizing/other finish. Overall, I'm happy with what's in my hands to work with at this point. |
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Originally Posted By Normlizer: They probably want u to buy a complete upper or complete rifle. Least they made it accept reg ar barrels and bolts. I think it's cheap enuff for people if they don't like the barrel offering they can just swap it out of their choice. Only time will tell but I don't have high hopes. I will be getting a x39 when they get in stock and I will play around with that and also 300blk and 6.8spc barrels. 7.62x39 bolt action upper is back in stock. Just ordered one. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Originally Posted By thederrick106: 7.62x39 bolt action upper is back in stock. Just ordered one. Originally Posted By thederrick106: Originally Posted By Normlizer: They probably want u to buy a complete upper or complete rifle. Least they made it accept reg ar barrels and bolts. I think it's cheap enuff for people if they don't like the barrel offering they can just swap it out of their choice. Only time will tell but I don't have high hopes. I will be getting a x39 when they get in stock and I will play around with that and also 300blk and 6.8spc barrels. 7.62x39 bolt action upper is back in stock. Just ordered one. Thanks I'm kind of holding off for the 18" version I hope they will offer. |
| I need another project like an extra hole in my head, I'm in for one like a few others I assumed that the side charger would act as a straight pull, it did not. I had a lot of extraction problems finally had to gas the upper, I have several barrels, a carbon fiber handguard and a form 1 can all lined up like pretty maids and a pile of 220gr projectiles. |
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Originally Posted By LnWlf: The head of their sales department told me they won’t be offering the upper receiver and bolt as a standalone product for sale I’m hoping they change their mind, I’d love to do a build Originally Posted By LnWlf: The head of their sales department told me they won’t be offering the upper receiver and bolt as a standalone product for sale I’m hoping they change their mind, I’d love to do a build Originally Posted By LnWlf: The head of their sales department told me they won’t be offering the upper receiver and bolt as a standalone product for sale I’m hoping they change their mind, I’d love to do a build Just saw this on their page..........Upper bcg combo kit LOL now I have plan lol |
Proud member of "Ranstad's Militia-The Fantastic Bastards"-----that is all I got to say
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Originally Posted By Southernfried: Just saw this on their page..........Upper bcg combo kit LOL now I have plan lol |
Shoot straight and tell the truth!
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Originally Posted By Southernfried: LOL right after posting I thought, maybe I should have planned, bought, then posted lol.... |
Shoot straight and tell the truth!
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Originally Posted By Southernfried: Just saw this on their page..........Upper bcg combo kit LOL now I have plan lol Just got one. They owe me an apology
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| Pretty interesting use of $190 for a upper/bolt. I think it could be sorted into a decent folding unit by cutting the bolt carrier. It almost looks like the tail is to keep stuff out of the upper. A large frame unit would also be very interesting, |
Its to late for the boots, save your watch!
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Originally Posted By kells81: Pretty interesting use of $190 for a upper/bolt. I think it could be sorted into a decent folding unit by cutting the bolt carrier. It almost looks like the tail is to keep stuff out of the upper. A large frame unit would also be very interesting, Pretty much, yep, that's what's up with the tail. Further up in the thread someone was discussing same project idea as you. I'm gonna be trimming the tails on mine so they work on an FM Ranch Lower, or any other bufferless setup. See page 1 to get an idea of how much needs to be trimmed, because it's only the narrower section of the tails. |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget:Wonder why their first offering is with that bolt, though.... but, whatever. At that price, I'm fine with it. Are you taking about the caliber when you say bolt? It looks like they have 4 different bolts available... |
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Originally Posted By ninja99: Are you taking about the caliber when you say bolt? It looks like they have 4 different bolts available... Kind of... At the time when I looked, they only had the Beowulf (ETA: which is 12.7x42, which is the also the 7.62x39 bolt) available. They've listed more products through the day. Time passes. |
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I think with purchases of any of these sets, I'll keep the BCA bolt as a spare and use a bolt matched to the barrel for any build I do with this. Either way, .375 SOCOM will be my first build on this. Tromix 21" barrel (no gas port) and bolt should be here Monday. I have a BCM MCMR rail for it (13" was on-hand, may move to 15" in future). Have temporary muzzle device. Pics in a few days. Willing to take suggestions for optics on this. re:optic selection For comparison of my preferences for roughly similar rounds, my .50 Beowulf has a Holosun green dot (circle-dot reticle) and a green laser. It's for fun/range use. My .458 SOCOM pistol has tritium irons. It's a lightweight backcountry bear/moose defense gun. My .350 Legend has irons. It's intended for relatively short range <100 yrd, typically subsonic hunting, or <200 yrd supersonic hunting, and range. My .400 Legend has a Vortex Viper 1-4, but I haven't shot it and decided if that's my optic for that upper -- or even how I feel about it. I think I'm leaning toward LPVO. Whenever my .338 ARC barrel is done, that's getting one of these too. But, there's time before that's done. A .458 SOCOM 17" bolt gun shall remain a dream for a time still. |
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Originally Posted By VASCAR2: That BCA 7.62x39 upper bolt action set would be great for a 22 ARC, 6 ARC or 6.5 Grendel build. Looks like they have most of those too. I just got my 16" 556 yesterday. Have a 7.62x39 & 20" 556 ordered as well. |
Originally Posted By ar-jedi:
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
SO MUCH WIN IN ONE POST IT COULD CRASH ARFCOM !!!
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: Pretty much, yep, that's what's up with the tail. Further up in the thread someone was discussing same project idea as you. I'm gonna be trimming the tails on mine so they work on an FM Ranch Lower, or any other bufferless setup. See page 1 to get an idea of how much needs to be trimmed, because it's only the narrower section of the tails. I'd like to amend my previous statement. The wings on the back of the carrier engage the buffer system on a standard AR only when retracted. This pressure pushes the carrier forward, and does 2 additional things: 1) it provides the forward pressure for the carrier to engage the bolt catch. 2) provides extra force to strip rounds. Neither of these are very important given the other design and functionality aspects, but these still are that create tiny changes in functionality. |
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Originally Posted By PreacherOfGadget: I'd like to amend my previous statement. The wings on the back of the carrier engage the buffer system on a standard AR only when retracted. This pressure pushes the carrier forward, and does 2 additional things: 1) it provides the forward pressure for the carrier to engage the bolt catch. 2) provides extra force to strip rounds. Neither of these are very important given the other design and functionality aspects, but these still are that create tiny changes in functionality. The wings are there to keep things out of the receiver by blocking off the track the bolt handle rides in. I cut the BCG just behind the firing pin on my side charging (straight pull) BCA receiver to allow full travel inside the upper. |
Originally Posted By Samuel L. Johnson:
He who makes a beast of himself, gives up the pain of being a man
He who makes a beast of himself, gives up the pain of being a man
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Originally Posted By VASCAR2: That BCA 7.62x39 upper bolt action set would be great for a 22 ARC, 6 ARC or 6.5 Grendel build. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By Goody454: The wings are there to keep things out of the receiver by blocking off the track the bolt handle rides in. I cut the BCG just behind the firing pin on my side charging (straight pull) BCA receiver to allow full travel inside the upper. I'm kinda surprised you didn't cut a little further back, just past where the carrier (and wings) drops down in diameter. There's about 1/2" of those wings that never exit the upper receiver and are full diameter, which means that portion of the wings is a bearing surface which helps hold the carrier in alignment. Isn't it entertaining when a string of responses swings back around to the original statement? Covering the opening absolutely is the wings' primary purpose. Their existence (full length), however, does introduce a force that allows the bolt catch to hold the carrier (not the bolt itself). Without the wings, the bolt catch will not hold the carrier at all. Not really a feature or a bug, but it's good to be aware of that slight difference in functionality. Could help with trouble shooting at some point. |
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I already built a Solo 300 straight pull 300blk for super quiet subsonic shooting. This bolt action upper has me intrigued but I'm not quite sure what to do with it. What advantage would a 6.5g or 6ARC upper offer over a gas operated version? Is this bolt action platform theoretically more stable than the gas operated version? When they come out with a 308 version I might be interested, because the 308 stuff can be finicky to get running correctly suppressed/unsuppressed and it might be nice to just have a bolt action 308 that I can mount clip ons and IR lasers to easily. |
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So, we all agree a bolt-action AR is a case-use thing, right? It isn't the expected or popular form for either, but that isn't bad, it just raises that why question. For me, I can think of several general and personal reasons to go with a bolt action. 1) Quiet shooting. There is no slamming of the bolt or expulsion of pressurized gasses near the shooter's face. Add a suppressor, and for subsonics, you have a REALLY quiet platform. 2) Legal reasons. Whether it's hunting or general restrictions. (Remember, the world is bigger than 'murica, even if you don't live there.) 3) I enjoy manually cycling a gun when shooting. I have since I was a kid and first learned how to shoot. I enjoy the interaction with a machine. I like control over every aspect. I find bench shooting with a bolt gun to be like meditation and exercise, and to be really relaxing. I control and feel every aspect the the activity. I enjoy feeling every bump in feeding, feeling the changes in pressure as the round leaves the magazine, slides up the feed ramps, chambers, the bolt tightens on it, extractor snapping over the rim, the tiny oomf as the round seats and contacts the bolt face, and the slight resistance to the rotation as the chamber locks shut. (You know what's really easy to diagnose when you can feel all of that? Pretty much any feeding issue.) 4) Decrease/slow usage of expensive ammo. When shooting through an entire magazine can cost well over $50 in ammo, sometimes it's nice to not have the temptation of rapid firing. 5) Get as much power out of a round as possible. Gas removed to cycle the gun is gas not pushing the bullet. ( Bigbore has stated that with a 28" 458 SOCOM he didn't see a difference in velocity before and after barrel porting/semi-auto conversion. I feel that may be expected as 28" is beyond the length where 458 SOCOM gains significant velocity from a longer barrel, and 458 is pretty large bore compared to gas port diameter.) The amount of extra power gained by not diverting any gas will depend on multiple factors including barrel length, bore diameter, gas port diameter, case size, powder load, powder type. The physics here are such that it's very easy for a single one of those factors to dominate physics equations, but only in certain cases. ETA: 6) Weight savings (vs. semi-auto bolt) including smaller bolt, no gas port, and thinner barrel profiles w/o concern of over-heating/cycling motion/gas system ("harmonics") precision loss. 7) Build flexibility (vs traditional bolt gun) Also, to note, some good-to-suppress cartridges in the AR-15 platform (off the top of my head, w/commercially available subsonic round) beyond the .300 blk include: .458 SOCOM, .338 ARC, .350 Legend, .400 Legend, .300 Whisper. (I'm sure there's others not coming to mind.) Go up to the AR-10, and you can add in 8.6 BLK. I wouldn't presume the precision to be that much better, as parts go together the same way as they do on standard AR. But you do lose moving parts, potential burrs in the barrel near the gas port, and the extraction of gas from behind the bullet while still in the barrel. Fewer points to of possible precision loss while shooting, but the base platform isn't magically that much better. IMO. |
BCA bolt action upper for $350? (Page 2 of 21)
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