Good video. I have a BCA barrel and upper in a budget build with a Anderson lower. It's obviously not a match rifle but I like it and have put 1000+ rds of steel through it, never a problem. It's not fashionable but neither am I
I had a 10.5 stainless ar bear creek Arsenal 223 Wylde chambering. Shot great (after I corrected the horrible tooling marks in the feed ramps). The left feed ramp had such a big dimple in it, it actually caused damage to the rounds and had to be filed slightly before polishing could make it somewhat acceptable. However by the multitude of blemished barrels and obvious qc issues I’ve seen I am assuming they have Ray Charles checking these barrels before shipping.
Thanks for your video on this Bear Creek Arsenal 16" barrel. I am considering buying this barrel chambered in 5.56 NATO from Primary Arms which has it on sale now on 1 Jan 2019 for just $44.99. I was considering getting a 10" free float hand guard with barrel nut which I found at Ali Express for just $18.00 with the $3.00 promo code for being a new buyer. Yes it has to come all the way from China but hey, it's just a hunk of machined aluminum right? My question to you is do you think a 10" free float hand guard is long enough to go past the gas block? Oh, and did you buy your low profile gas block from Primary Arms ? They have them for $21.00 I think.
Proper ammo in the warranty is referring to proper weight bullets, correct seating depth from the lands, proper powder, proper charge weight, proper case. The proper shooting technique they are referring to in the warranty is benchrest shooting. Using a heavy and solid rest, not touching the barrel, free floats, controlled breathing, shooting between heart beats, accounting for wind, and proper trigger work. The x must be on target when trigger breaks no jerks.
To test a rifle you must load your own ammo. I make sure everything is within .05 grain of it self. .05 grain projectile, .05 grain casing, and .05 grain of powder. I will shot 5 rounds that weigh the exact same, then you have an accurate test.
No you do not need to use hand loads to test a rifle. In fact almost all rifle manufactures warn and recommend against reloading. All 1 MOA guarantee's I have seen in the industry always state something like " With Premium or Match Factory Ammunition". Since mass produced rifles are never identical and people do not have access to infinitely variable factory ammo reloading allows you to tune the ammunition tot he rifle and will often allow a person to turn a turd into a champ! A well machined rifle though should be able to group nicely with a variety of well made factory ammo. He had enough variety that it should have liked something! The above tells us something is not right or ideal about this set up.
Your video is ten times better than any that I have made, which is Zero. :-) So thanks for taking the time to make the vid. I have to agree with some of the other posts in that your front rest is not very stable, you don't have a rear rest, and you are not using the proper form for best accuracy. Considering that, IMO, you got what I think are decent groups with what are probably some shooter induced fliers. However, I'm not sure that the test was a fair test to the barrel. I've been tempted to try one, but I don't own any BC barrels, so I have no dog in the fight. You are approximating what I consider to be general conditions in a typical deer blind though. Most would agree that some barrels seem to prefer certain ammo, and that seems to be the case here. I would consider this more like a real world test of various loads and also a test of what the shooter can do under less than optimal conditions. Considering the "almost offhand" technique, and lack of proper equipment needed to really test the barrel, you shot better groups than most of the guests that I take hunting on my lease, even after I give them front and rear sandbags and show them how to use their support hand to control the rifle stock. In fact, I'll probably start making them shoot like you did on the range, no rear rest for one thing, so I know what they are capable of in the blind. To get the groups that you did without proper rests, I suspect that you probably have pretty good trigger control most of the time. so I'd love to see you post a follow up using some rock solid front and rear rests and really reduce all the variables to just the barrel. I think with better rests, you will have much better groups.
Humm... looks like the Anderson 16" M4 profile (1:8 twist) barrel worked much better?? I know my Anderson is producing tighter groups at 100 yards from a rest. Both the Anderson and Bear Creek barrels are under 100 bucks.
Any updates on this barrel now that you've had it for a few months? I just received one for free since BCA was giving away 5000 of them to Vets on Veterans day, saw your video and agree that the accuracy should improve after being broken in and a good cleaning.
In all my years of shooting I have never seen a barrel break in and tighten up by an 1.5 inches. In my experience a barrel only gets about a max of 20% better after break in and that is with a barrel that has some type of grouping. That stuff you were shooting was randomness. You would have got the same results from a smoothbore muzzleloader. They did not air gauge that barrel or if they did nobody cared what the end run was. Air gauging is done to check the manufacturing processes once the barrel is done. More than +/- .0003" and the barrel is junk. I am going to guess your barrel has a larger diameter at the crown than the chamber. The bullet just kind of rattles out of the barrel. It would explain the lower weights grouping better.
The real question is, is this 410, 416 or 416r. Or even 410r. If it’s not a 416r barrel, than it can’t reliably be compared to a 4150 CMV barrel. Myself, I prefer stainless for extreme distance because of less barrel distortion and more competition type shooting. But 4150 is far more durable than stainless in corrosion aspect of things. Feel free to ask any other questions:)
@@Ky_Mycology I have a question I am building a 10.5 300 blackout pistol with a ss 1/7 twist barrel 416r do I need to oil the inside of the barrel a tad bit before and after each shooting session to resist corrosion?
J. Rodriguez honestly it’s a good idea to thoroughly clean your barrel and bore after each trip to the range. When breaking a barrel in, it is advised to take a few shots then clean and lube the barrel, then take a few more shots, then clean and lube. This is the proper way to break in a barrel.
You should've waited a little bit. I bought one of those same barrels from the same place, for $49.00. I still need to lap the front of my upper, so I haven't used it yet.
You need to study up on twist rates. For your barrel the best bullets will be 62grs to 77 grs . My opinion 62 grs will be the best but that is guess but an experienced guess. Light bullets less than 62 grs and bullets heavier than 77 grs are not going to give the best accuracy. The twist rates are wrong. Without break in it is harder to see. Clean all the copper out of the barrel. When the patches come out with no black or blue color. Then go back and shoot your 62 gr and 77 gr bullets again. Shoot two fowler shots first then shoot groups. I bet 2 cents your groups will improve. If you really want to squeeze the absolute best groups out of a barrel you should break it in. Shoot one clean for 10 shots then five shots and clean x 2. Then load your own ammo custom for. The rifle. I use BCA barrels and get 3/4 inch groups with factory ammo and less than 1/2 inch with my custom ammo. Shooting is as simple or complex as you make it. But hitting the bulls eye is proof
My stainless Bear claw spiral fluted 16" .300 blackout is the most boring shooting AR ever, it constantly puts rounds in the same hole at 100yards yawn ...at the range people couldn't believe how it shot ..I was so happy ..my 10.5 Bear Creek .300 pistol shoots 1/2 to 3/4 inch at 100 yards . The real difference is that the pistol gets hot after 15 rounds and the stainless 16" doesn't seem to get hot until I get around 60 rounds in about half an hour,it's warm and can hold without gloves..
you need to look at my channel. I have bore scoped two of their 20 inch heavy 6.5 Grendel barrels. they aren't pretty inside. the last one might shoot out and I might use some lapping bullets in it to try to clean it up some. on the other side, a buddy of mine purchased a complete 6.5 Grendel upper from them and it shot 3/4 inch 100 yard groups with a load he worked up for a different rifle. it might shoot better, then again it might be at its best with his load for the other rifle.
derekthegreatgonzo I watched your video. Good job on the things to look for. Lots of Gunbroker sellers are using Bear Creek components. I watch many channels, yours and this one included, I see variance in quality, for every bad review, you see a good one, so appears, with Bear Creek, it's the luck of the draw, you get a good shooter or you don't. When you fork over 200-500 plus for a bbl. You expect more. Even then, you may not get it. I recently bought from Primary Arms, two 7.62x39 BCG's, QPQ Nitrided. Great bcg cut, angled not rounded, superb finish, no machine marks. When they arrived they had been drop shipped from Bear Creek.
and there is the problem. nobody making their own stuff any more. they just drop ship from somebody else. have have one of bear creeks 6.5 Grendel bcg's coming also. I figure it should hopefully match up to the chamber.
BCA does not say they are 5 shot groups. They may be using three shot groups. The factory most likely uses a test fixture for the barrels, not a rifle, per se. They are testing the BARREL, and only the BARREL, you are testing a RIFLE with the barrel as part of that assembly. Your bench rest equipment is hardly "appropriate shooting techniques" . Several of your groups had "flyers", which usually indicate a failure of technique of some sort. Flinching, insecure rest, inconsistent handload, poor handloading techniques, etc. OR a mechanical problem...poor trigger, loose parts/scope/sights, etc. I have never attributed flyers out of a group to the barrel or rifle. A "flyer" is an anomaly. The one constant in the equation IS the barrel. All the bullets from all the loads are traveling through the same barrel. If the results of ALL loads are not the same (they never are) then the CAUSE for the discrepancy is NOT the barrel. Blaming a flyer on the barrel is the same as saying the barrel is the CAUSE that one load is not as accurate as another. It simply can not be. A couple of your groups were more like buckshot patterns. The rifle doesn't like that load...doesn't work. Doesn't matter if it worked in another rifle...or 6 other rifles. It doesn't work in that one. Blame it on "harmonics" and move on to another load. Get a better rest arrangement and I bet you can make 1 moa groups with loads which work well in that rifle. The rifle will talk to you and tell you which load it likes...you just have to find it. I have 3 BCA complete uppers and I have been very satisfied with the results. I have used the money I saved on BCA uppers and Anderson lowers to equip each rifle with a quality, drop in, trigger unit. This seems to be the most cost effective improvement one can make to an AR rifle.
You can’t accurately test the grouping on a gun without it being on a sled or other stabilizing platform. Throwing the rifle on a wobbly front rest and against your shoulder introduces way too many variables and for all we know those awful groupings are because of you and not the rifle. I’ve had BCA uppers and never had any issues with their accuracy.
Good intentions, and good test. But not exactly a precise, or scientific judgment of the barrel in question. Your video is certainly admirable, though! In my opinion
Good video. I have a BCA barrel and upper in a budget build with a Anderson lower. It's obviously not a match rifle but I like it and have put 1000+ rds of steel through it, never a problem.
It's not fashionable but neither am I
If it puts the rounds where you want it then that's what matters most. Doesn't have to be a $3500 Knights Armament rig.
You really putting out some high quality videos, and I appreciate the info you gathered
bad shooting techniques, would not take his advice
I had a 10.5 stainless ar bear creek Arsenal 223 Wylde chambering. Shot great (after I corrected the horrible tooling marks in the feed ramps). The left feed ramp had such a big dimple in it, it actually caused damage to the rounds and had to be filed slightly before polishing could make it somewhat acceptable. However by the multitude of blemished barrels and obvious qc issues I’ve seen I am assuming they have Ray Charles checking these barrels before shipping.
Well done! I know how much work goes into a video like this.
Wow Mahalo for take time to do this...Awesome 😎🤙
your wide groups are you moving around
appropriate ammo probably refers to the weight, as different rates of twist stabilize certain bullets and not others
Thanks for your video on this Bear Creek Arsenal 16" barrel. I am considering buying this barrel chambered in 5.56 NATO from Primary Arms which has it on sale now
on 1 Jan 2019 for just $44.99. I was considering getting a 10" free float hand guard with barrel nut which I found at Ali Express for just
$18.00 with the $3.00 promo code for being a new buyer. Yes it has to come all the way from China but hey, it's just a hunk of machined
aluminum right?
My question to you is do you think a 10" free float hand guard is long enough to go past the gas block?
Oh, and did you buy your low profile gas block from Primary Arms ? They have them for $21.00 I think.
Proper ammo in the warranty is referring to proper weight bullets, correct seating depth from the lands, proper powder, proper charge weight, proper case. The proper shooting technique they are referring to in the warranty is benchrest shooting. Using a heavy and solid rest, not touching the barrel, free floats, controlled breathing, shooting between heart beats, accounting for wind, and proper trigger work.
The x must be on target when trigger breaks no jerks.
To test a rifle you must load your own ammo. I make sure everything is within .05 grain of it self. .05 grain projectile, .05 grain casing, and .05 grain of powder. I will shot 5 rounds that weigh the exact same, then you have an accurate test.
No you do not need to use hand loads to test a rifle. In fact almost all rifle manufactures warn and recommend against reloading. All 1 MOA guarantee's I have seen in the industry always state something like " With Premium or Match Factory Ammunition". Since mass produced rifles are never identical and people do not have access to infinitely variable factory ammo reloading allows you to tune the ammunition tot he rifle and will often allow a person to turn a turd into a champ! A well machined rifle though should be able to group nicely with a variety of well made factory ammo. He had enough variety that it should have liked something! The above tells us something is not right or ideal about this set up.
Nice job. Straight to the point.
your wrong this dude cant shoot
Your video is ten times better than any that I have made, which is Zero. :-) So thanks for taking the time to make the vid. I have to agree with some of the other posts in that your front rest is not very stable, you don't have a rear rest, and you are not using the proper form for best accuracy. Considering that, IMO, you got what I think are decent groups with what are probably some shooter induced fliers. However, I'm not sure that the test was a fair test to the barrel. I've been tempted to try one, but I don't own any BC barrels, so I have no dog in the fight.
You are approximating what I consider to be general conditions in a typical deer blind though. Most would agree that some barrels seem to prefer certain ammo, and that seems to be the case here. I would consider this more like a real world test of various loads and also a test of what the shooter can do under less than optimal conditions. Considering the "almost offhand" technique, and lack of proper equipment needed to really test the barrel, you shot better groups than most of the guests that I take hunting on my lease, even after I give them front and rear sandbags and show them how to use their support hand to control the rifle stock. In fact, I'll probably start making them shoot like you did on the range, no rear rest for one thing, so I know what they are capable of in the blind.
To get the groups that you did without proper rests, I suspect that you probably have pretty good trigger control most of the time. so I'd love to see you post a follow up using some rock solid front and rear rests and really reduce all the variables to just the barrel. I think with better rests, you will have much better groups.
My stainless 20” hbar was 10 moa at best. Bore scope showed the crown was rough. Cleaned that up and it shoots much better.
How much did the barrel weigh?
Are you sure the flyers weren't your fault.
Humm... looks like the Anderson 16" M4 profile (1:8 twist) barrel worked much better?? I know my Anderson is producing tighter groups at 100 yards from a rest. Both the Anderson and Bear Creek barrels are under 100 bucks.
What about psa barrels .?
Thanks for the video.
Fantastic video. Thanks man.
Any updates on this barrel now that you've had it for a few months? I just received one for free since BCA was giving away 5000 of them to Vets on Veterans day, saw your video and agree that the accuracy should improve after being broken in and a good cleaning.
Jeff Leigh I got one too. I’ll save this video, and do some shooting and post my results
I'm here for the same reason. . Hopefully find some good news about this barrel. Taking it out this weekend
In all my years of shooting I have never seen a barrel break in and tighten up by an 1.5 inches. In my experience a barrel only gets about a max of 20% better after break in and that is with a barrel that has some type of grouping. That stuff you were shooting was randomness. You would have got the same results from a smoothbore muzzleloader. They did not air gauge that barrel or if they did nobody cared what the end run was. Air gauging is done to check the manufacturing processes once the barrel is done. More than +/- .0003" and the barrel is junk. I am going to guess your barrel has a larger diameter at the crown than the chamber. The bullet just kind of rattles out of the barrel. It would explain the lower weights grouping better.
The real question is, is this 410, 416 or 416r. Or even 410r. If it’s not a 416r barrel, than it can’t reliably be compared to a 4150 CMV barrel. Myself, I prefer stainless for extreme distance because of less barrel distortion and more competition type shooting. But 4150 is far more durable than stainless in corrosion aspect of things. Feel free to ask any other questions:)
Cerakote has nothing to do with Barrel material. I would never Cerakote a stainless barrel.
@@Ky_Mycology it is for corrosion resistance.
@@Ky_Mycology I have a question I am building a 10.5 300 blackout pistol with a ss 1/7 twist barrel 416r do I need to oil the inside of the barrel a tad bit before and after each shooting session to resist corrosion?
J. Rodriguez honestly it’s a good idea to thoroughly clean your barrel and bore after each trip to the range. When breaking a barrel in, it is advised to take a few shots then clean and lube the barrel, then take a few more shots, then clean and lube. This is the proper way to break in a barrel.
@@Ky_Mycology thanks Mr. Grinch I appreciate your help I want so sure if I made a good idea with a ss barrel
You should've waited a little bit. I bought one of those same barrels from the same place, for $49.00. I still need to lap the front of my upper, so I haven't used it yet.
My friends was doing 6moa smh. I seen a ton of them do that bad or worse
on BCA thats bs of all the ones I've used and for the department they have always been great shooters
You need to study up on twist rates. For your barrel the best bullets will be 62grs to 77 grs . My opinion 62 grs will be the best but that is guess but an experienced guess. Light bullets less than 62 grs and bullets heavier than 77 grs are not going to give the best accuracy. The twist rates are wrong. Without break in it is harder to see. Clean all the copper out of the barrel. When the patches come out with no black or blue color. Then go back and shoot your 62 gr and 77 gr bullets again. Shoot two fowler shots first then shoot groups. I bet 2 cents your groups will improve.
If you really want to squeeze the absolute best groups out of a barrel you should break it in. Shoot one clean for 10 shots then five shots and clean x 2. Then load your own ammo custom for. The rifle.
I use BCA barrels and get 3/4 inch groups with factory ammo and less than 1/2 inch with my custom ammo.
Shooting is as simple or complex as you make it. But hitting the bulls eye is proof
Your 'rifle rest' is wobbling all over the place, and you need a rear bag for proper support. Get some better equipment.
fucking thank you someone else finally sees it
Yeah, he didn't have a good set up
you tellem, NANCY! good job.
My question is besides looks what do you say about a barrel outter in crome/stainless look, is it durable or not?
My stainless Bear claw spiral fluted 16" .300 blackout is the most boring shooting AR ever, it constantly puts rounds in the same hole at 100yards yawn ...at the range people couldn't believe how it shot ..I was so happy ..my 10.5 Bear Creek .300 pistol shoots 1/2 to 3/4 inch at 100 yards . The real difference is that the pistol gets hot after 15 rounds and the stainless 16" doesn't seem to get hot until I get around 60 rounds in about half an hour,it's warm and can hold without gloves..
Compare the old military rifles that be considered a blown Barrel
That's a rifle not a shotgun
What was the twist rate for this barrel?
Jacob Rutledge It's 1:8 twist.
Hornaday you said. Lol.
Break ins are a myth. And your still using an m4 profile. Go with a heavier barrel and will be fine.
Tacticool Millenial actually they aren’t a myth. Yes many many don’t need a break in. But there is a few that do. And some things that do
you need to look at my channel. I have bore scoped two of their 20 inch heavy 6.5 Grendel barrels. they aren't pretty inside. the last one might shoot out and I might use some lapping bullets in it to try to clean it up some. on the other side, a buddy of mine purchased a complete 6.5 Grendel upper from them and it shot 3/4 inch 100 yard groups with a load he worked up for a different rifle. it might shoot better, then again it might be at its best with his load for the other rifle.
derekthegreatgonzo
I watched your video. Good job on the things to look for.
Lots of Gunbroker sellers are using Bear Creek components.
I watch many channels, yours and this one included, I see variance in quality, for every bad review, you see a good one, so appears, with Bear Creek, it's the luck of the draw, you get a good shooter or you don't.
When you fork over 200-500 plus for a bbl. You expect more. Even then, you may not get it.
I recently bought from Primary Arms, two 7.62x39 BCG's, QPQ Nitrided. Great bcg cut, angled not rounded, superb finish, no machine marks.
When they arrived they had been drop shipped from Bear Creek.
and there is the problem. nobody making their own stuff any more. they just drop ship from somebody else. have have one of bear creeks 6.5 Grendel bcg's coming also. I figure it should hopefully match up to the chamber.
For home defense it should be ok. But for accuracy I’m going Faxon
BCA does not say they are 5 shot groups. They may be using three shot groups. The factory most likely uses a test fixture for the barrels, not a rifle, per se. They are testing the BARREL, and only the BARREL, you are testing a RIFLE with the barrel as part of that assembly. Your bench rest equipment is hardly "appropriate shooting techniques" . Several of your groups had "flyers", which usually indicate a failure of technique of some sort. Flinching, insecure rest, inconsistent handload, poor handloading techniques, etc. OR a mechanical problem...poor trigger, loose parts/scope/sights, etc. I have never attributed flyers out of a group to the barrel or rifle. A "flyer" is an anomaly. The one constant in the equation IS the barrel. All the bullets from all the loads are traveling through the same barrel. If the results of ALL loads are not the same (they never are) then the CAUSE for the discrepancy is NOT the barrel. Blaming a flyer on the barrel is the same as saying the barrel is the CAUSE that one load is not as accurate as another. It simply can not be. A couple of your groups were more like buckshot patterns. The rifle doesn't like that load...doesn't work. Doesn't matter if it worked in another rifle...or 6 other rifles. It doesn't work in that one. Blame it on "harmonics" and move on to another load.
Get a better rest arrangement and I bet you can make 1 moa groups with loads which work well in that rifle. The rifle will talk to you and tell you which load it likes...you just have to find it.
I have 3 BCA complete uppers and I have been very satisfied with the results. I have used the money I saved on BCA uppers and Anderson lowers to equip each rifle with a quality, drop in, trigger unit. This seems to be the most cost effective improvement one can make to an AR rifle.
I find the same with this barrel ,,,, bear creek needs to step up,,, or take down 1” at 100 yard,,,,
You can’t accurately test the grouping on a gun without it being on a sled or other stabilizing platform. Throwing the rifle on a wobbly front rest and against your shoulder introduces way too many variables and for all we know those awful groupings are because of you and not the rifle.
I’ve had BCA uppers and never had any issues with their accuracy.
Good intentions, and good test. But not exactly a precise, or scientific judgment of the barrel in question. Your video is certainly admirable, though! In my opinion
Not trying to be mean, but you have to factor in shooter error
employee needless to say..gota go
there 60 bucks now hahah
They're*
I couldnt even make it thru the 40 second intro.
Didn't they just get raided and have 30 illegal immigrants detained? I'll stick with green mountain ,fn, ballistic advantage