Bear Creek Arsenal AR10 Gen 1 upper

[LRRPF52]

With that rear sight on the M4 detachable carry handle assembly, you can dial elevation with the elevation wheel, but it’s calibrated for M855 from a 14.5” barrel with a 25m zero.

It’s a waste of time for me with irons though.

The 1-8x28 LPVO will break on an AR-10 if it’s Chinese-made. I’ve seen that happen over many years of running courses, warning people not to bring those types of scopes, then they show up with them anyway and they break on morning 1.

The AR-10 is one of the most brutal platforms on optics because of how massive the BCG is. There are 3 spikes on an accelerometer that show the initial peak in chamber pressure, then the bolt slamming into the breech, followed by the carrier slamming into the barrel extension. AR-10s will smash a scope’s internals for sport if they aren’t built tough.

 

[TGW79]

With that rear sight on the M4 detachable carry handle assembly, you can dial elevation with the elevation wheel, but it’s calibrated for M855 from a 14.5” barrel with a 25m zero.

It’s a waste of time for me with irons though.

The 1-8x28 LPVO will break on an AR-10 if it’s Chinese-made. I’ve seen that happen over many years of running courses, warning people not to bring those types of scopes, then they show with them anyway and they break on morning 1.

The AR-10 is one of the most brutal platforms on optics because of how massive the BCG is. There are 3 spikes on an accelerometer that show the initial peak in chamber pressure, then the bolt slamming into the breech, followed by the carrier slamming into the barrel extension. AR-10s will smash a scope’s internals for sport if they aren’t built tough.

He brought up a couple of very good points. Like the detachable carry handle rear sight for example. And the lpvo. I asked about the lpvo and they specifically said that it was designed for a very particular 5.56 / 223 load out of a 16 inch barrel.

That's one of the reasons I haven't bothered putting it on. It's far from being anything top shelf.. but I have a few of them and they work quite well on the AR-15 platform.

Somebody suggested that I go with an acog. But I'm pretty certain the acog was not designed for the 7.62 x51/.308...

That's why for now I'm just sticking with the iron sights.

Being a father of five daughters with three of them living here.. I don't know when I'll be purchasing more accessories for it but until then I'm just going to rock the iron sights and adapt to them to the best of my ability. The AR-10 platform is not a self-defense weapon as far as it's usage here. 11 lb.. that's a bit much.

I'm thinking about throwing a bipod onto it and getting a decent scope and pushing it to see how far I can take it. The majority of it is going to rest on my skills or lack thereof.

I have a pair of go to self-defense weapons for this house. I have my 92fs full size Beretta on the nightstand and attached to the wall I have a Mossberg 590 A1.

I think it's an a1. Regardless I love that thing.

I do appreciate reinforcing and confirming what I had been led to believe regarding my current site setup and that of the lpvo.

When I get it into its final configuration I will put another image up.

Stay safe out there, keep carrying and God bless.

 

[LRRPF52]

Here is my forecast for what will happen with that rifle:

Either your extractor, extractor pin, or firing pin will break within the next few hundred rounds.

The action spring and extractor spring will wear and change shape and you will start to see failures to feed and extract.

You will start to see the gas tube flange wear down as well, followed by short-stroking/FTExtract/stove pipes.

I hope I’m wrong, but these are generally the case with value-based .308 rifles.

 

[That308Guy]

Here is my forecast for what will happen with that rifle:

Either your extractor, extractor pin, or firing pin will break within the next few hundred rounds.

The action spring and extractor spring will wear and change shape and you will start to see failures to feed and extract.

You will start to see the gas tube flange wear down as well, followed by short-stroking/FTExtract/stove pipes.

I hope I’m wrong, but these are generally the case with value-based .308 rifles.

Even with the replacement bolt from BCA fixing the headspace issue, mine was still leaving ejector gouges in the brass. I've since upgraded to a dual ejector Toolcraft bolt, and installed a custom length buffer tube. I used a standard rifle length buffer, machined it to the length I needed for the new tube, and used a Tubbs flatwire spring. Recoil is noticeably reduced, ejection pattern is good, and the brass still looks fantastic after firing. I would recommend the Toolcraft bolt upgrade to anyone with an AR-10.

 

[LRRPF52]

Even with the replacement bolt from BCA fixing the headspace issue, mine was still leaving ejector gouges in the brass. I've since upgraded to a dual ejector Toolcraft bolt, and installed a custom length buffer tube. I used a standard rifle length buffer, machined it to the length I needed for the new tube, and used a Tubbs flatwire spring. Recoil is noticeably reduced, ejection pattern is good, and the brass still looks fantastic after firing. I would recommend the Toolcraft bolt upgrade to anyone with an AR-10.

I didn’t even know that Toolcraft had an after-market dual ejector option. Good to know, though I have never had ejection issues with AR-10s.

That wide ejector placement helps to control the eject angle at which the spent case exits the ejection port, while also providing positive and consistent ejector force with 2 less-weighted springs, vs 1 single spring and plunger.

Have you ever seen dual ejector swipes from brass flow into the ejector channels?

 

[That308Guy]

I didn’t even know that Toolcraft had an after-market dual ejector option. Good to know, though I have never had ejection issues with AR-10s.

That wide ejector placement helps to control the eject angle at which the spent case exits the ejection port, while also providing positive and consistent ejector force with 2 less-weighted springs, vs 1 single spring and plunger.

Have you ever seen dual ejector swipes from brass flow into the ejector channels?

Not yet, but I've only run about 50 rounds through with the new bolt. You can barely even see the contact points on the cases, so I'm hoping there's no issues after it's good and broken in. Weather's warming up fast, so I'll keep you updated if I have any issues!

 

[Genesis1984]

The only way to properly do a Mk11 clone is with an SR25 EMR/LWMR as the foundation...That said, another member, @Blackfoot 7 here did a pretty good clone using a few non-standard parts. He used a Ranier Arms Match Mk11 Mod 0 profile bbl with appears to be an SR25 upper and lower but he can correct if wrong. That particular barrel doesn't show on their website but it's worth a call into them to see if they'd produce it for you.

You could possibly use another receiver set (maybe AERO upper/lower) but anyone wanting to do a Mk11-ish build off of non-standard upper/lower receiver sets would have to confirm/deny.

Blackfoot 7's thread on that rifle is here.

Clone bullshit is dumb as fuck anyway (as an sr25 owner, i wouldnt buy another) but bca is below bottom of the barrel. Like.. theres the bottom of the barrel, and bca, which is buried 6 feet under it

 

[LRRPF52]

If someone gifted me a BCA rifle, I would scratch their name off my Christmas card list, unless it was someone who just didn’t know any better and was trying to be nice.

 

[Gunnersmate]

An update on my Bear Creek upper.
I now have around 100 rounds through my rifle. I've tried several scopes along with open sights on the upper.
I settled on a Eagle Eye Optics 1-4.5 power scope. The adjustments are rock steady from recoil and the zero stays on.
I held a "Hostage" Good guy, bad guy AR500 targets set to 200 meters today. Not a long range but a challenging match in our winds. I only shoot my hand loads in my rifles and found a dupe of M80 Ball ammo that shoots out to 600 yards very well. We had a sighting in AR550 steel target 1/4 man size torso. The rifle now broken in was stacking the bullets one on top of another. I won the match. I machined and built the 80% lower. The trigger pull could be a little lighter but, it has no creep.
I've read many $3,000 plus dollar AR-10 owners blast the Bear Creek uppers as you-know-what quality. I have not seen this at 200-500 meters on steel and paper.
The barrel has a Match chamber and you load for it or use the recommended ammunition. My rifle did not have one FTF or FTE. All fired brass went to 2 o'clock at eight feet
Once our Windy Season has blown itself out, I'll try the rifle at 800 yards on our man full size torso target. Both, M80 Ball as well as M-118 Long Range loads.

 

[WindstormSCR]

I've read many $3,000 plus dollar AR-10 owners blast the Bear Creek uppers as you-know-what quality. I have not seen this at 200-500 meters on steel and paper.

congratulations, you rolled the dice and got lucky.

local at the gun shop got unlucky, was talking to him about where to send his upper to do a complete recrown since the threads were so off-axis it would have baffle struck his suppressor.

 

[Gunnersmate]

An update on my Bear Creek upper.
I now have around 100 rounds through my rifle. I've tried several scopes along with open sights on the upper.
I settled on a Eagle Eye Optics 1-4.5 power scope. The adjustments are rock steady from recoil and the zero stays on.
I held a "Hostage" Good guy, bad guy AR500 targets set to 200 meters today. Not a long range but a challenging match in our winds. I only shoot my hand loads in my rifles and found a dupe of M80 Ball ammo that shoots out to 600 yards very well. We had a sighting in AR550 steel target 1/4 man size torso. The rifle now broken in was stacking the bullets one on top of another. I won the match. I machined and built the 80% lower. The trigger pull could be a little lighter but, it has no creep.
I've read many $3,000 plus dollar AR-10 owners blast the Bear Creek uppers as you-know-what quality. I have not seen this at 200-500 meters on steel and paper.
The barrel has a Match chamber and you load for it or use the recommended ammunition. My rifle did not have one FTF or FTE. All fired brass went to 2 o'clock at eight feet
Once our Windy Season has blown itself out, I'll try the rifle at 800 yards on our man full size torso target. Both, M80 Ball as well as M-118 Long Range loads.

 

[LRRPF52]

All fired brass went to 2 o'clock at eight feet

This means the cyclic rate is too fast and excessive parts wear is underway.

100rds isn’t anywhere near enough to put faith in the rifle.

Here’s a thread on the Hide about Eagle Eye Optics.

When you see scopes like this, hand them to your kids to mount on airsoft or nerf guns:

 

[Gunnersmate]

I guess I lucked out.
Not my scope.