Tag Archives: bolt gun

Shooting Sports

BCA Bolt Action Upper Fixed

I tested Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC15 bolt action AR upper and it was far from a stellar experience. BCA is known for making budget-priced ARs and components, but they also have a reputation for budget-quality construction. Out of the box, the BC15 had a rough action, as you can see in my review video.

I received some helpful comments from BC15 owners to improve the action. I stripped down the bolt and thoroughly cleaned and lightly lubed it with CLP. Reassembling, I still found that the lugs would catch and the bolt would not release reliably. I disassembled the bolt again, this time I put a buffing wheel on a Dremmel and carefully polished the lugs until I could start to see shining metal. I was careful not to grind and round out the lugs. My goal was to mechanically simulate running the bolt hundreds of times, breaking it in. After reassembly, the bolt finally ran clean and smooth.

I mated the BC15 to my Anderson lower with a CA-compliant Hera CQR stock, the same lower I used to originally test the BC15. I swapped out a Discovery Optics ED-PRS 5-25×56 for a ED-LHT 3-15×50; a smaller and lighter scope that has the same clear Japanese ED glass. I also used a Discovery Optics Lightweight cantelever mount for a better eye relief.

At the range, the experience with the BC15’s bolt was night and day compared to my original video. The bolt ran smoothly as a bolt action should run out of the box. It makes me wonder why BCA didn’t polish the bolt lugs, as I did before assembling the BC15? At the factory, this would add perhaps 5-10 minutes of work. But BCA could increase the price of the already dirt-cheap BC15 by a modest $50, which is far less than they probably pay a workshop employee per hour. Just a thought.

The ED-LHT was also a better scope for my budget AR build. It is smaller and lighter than the ED-PRS while giving me more than enough magnification and clarity to see my 4″ target diamonds at 100 yards. Though neither cleaning the bore nor adding the ED-LHT improved my 2″ group, this is still tighter than any group I’ve shot with my normal semi-auto AR.

SHOP

Bear Creek Arsenal BC15 https://alnk.to/7McEe5X

Discovery Optics ED-LHT 3-15×50
https://discoveryopt.com/   (10% discount link: MOONDOG)  

SPECS

Magnification 3x-15x
Objective 50mm
Field of View 12.6M-2.5M@100YDS
Eye relief 88mm-83mm
Exit pupil 11.97mm-3.3mm
Tube diameter 30mm
Click Value 0.1MRAD
Elevation Adj ±23.2MRAD
Windage Adj ±17MRAD
Length 333mm
Weight 792g (27.9 oz)

Shooting Sports

BCA BC15 Bolt Action AR Upper

Whether to create an even more accurate long-range rifle out of an existing AR15 or to comply with certain states unfair restrictions on semi-automatic AR15 rifles, or just for the sheer novelty of it, you can now change any AR15 into a bolt-action rifle. Bear Creek Arsenal (BCA) debuted its BC15 bolt-action AR15 uppers at SHOT Show with an upper chambered in the straight-wall 350 Legend. Finally, they’re releasing BC15’s in other popular calibers. BCA sent me a BC15 chambered in 6.5 Grendel, a thicker cartridge that offers greater accuracy and long-range stopping power than NATO 5.56, while retaining the same length.

The BC15 I received for testing definitely looked budget in terms of fit and finish. The milling on the handguard felt a little sharp and unfinished. The action felt rough for a bolt-action, and this initial impression would only be reinforced with time. I mated it to a MilSpec AR15 lower and added a Discovery Optics ED-AR 5-25×56 precision long-range scope. For the 100-yard tests, I shot Hornady 123gr SSI 6.5 Grendel.

It shot a decent 2-inch group straight out of the box. I did not have a 6.5 Grendel magazine, so I tried using a 5.56 STANAG magazine, but discovered it fed unreliably, so I chambered each 6.5 Grendel round individually. Because I was running the magazine empty, I also discovered that my lower bolt catch would lock the bolt open and prevent me from closing the bolt until I depressed the paddle.

To say that my BC15 has a rough action would be a gross understatement. Often, its lugs would fail to rotate and release after a shot or require a hard slam to close the bolt. Undoubtedly, it would run better after a break-in period, but for now, it is frustrating. What the BC15 does have going for it is its ridiculously affordable price and a MilSpec design that allows for upgrades. And out of the box accuracy it printed 1.5″ groups at 100 yards.

SHOP

Bear Creek Arsenal BC15 https://alnk.to/7McEe5X

Discovery Optics ED-PRS 5-25×56
Official Website: https://discoveryopt.com/ (10% Discount Code: Moondog)
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4ofFcnH (10% Discount Code: MOONDOG2A)

SPECS

BC15 Bolt Action Upper

Barrel Length 20

Profile Heavy Barrel

Twist 1:8

Barrel Finish Black Nitride

Material 4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium

Thread Pitch 5/8 x 24

Caliber 6.5 Grendel Type II

Feed Ramp M4

Platform AR-15

Bolt Material E9310

Receiver Material Billet

Weight 6.3 lbs

Shooting Sports

PSA Emerge Bolt Gun: SHOT Show

Palmetto State Armory are the Mad Scientists of gun makers, coming out with new designs and recreations of guns. This year they brought out over a dozen prototypes including their first bolt action rifle. The Emerge is patterned after the Remington 700 and is designed to be compatible with 700 after market parts and accessories.

The PSA Emerge will come standard with Magpul furnature and an adjustable trigger that you’d usually find with more premium builds. Not surprising as PSA is known for giving us Poors more gun for the money. The first calibers to be developed will be 308 and 6.5 Creedmor.

PSA has too many ideas and but too little engineering time so they’re asking fans to vote for their favorite prototype guns that PSA should focus on. This means the 3 guns with the highest votes will be most likely to see testing and production later this year. Cast your vote at https://palmettostatearmory.com/

Shooting Sports

Aero Solus Long Action

Last year, I had the opportunity to try out Aero Precision’s first bolt action rifle; an impressive modernized Remington 700 clone. This year Areo released a Long-Action version of the SOLUS action rifle platform, for longer magnum caliber cartridges. This version will come out later this year and promises to be a hit for ELR competitors and big game hunters.