Bear Creek Arsenal 22 WMR range time. Had a few hiccups, but it runs great now

Realized the Bear Creek Arsenal 22 WMR upper needs a truly milspec lower parts kit (or at least not one with stronger hammer spring), and the black dog mags really need to be seated well in the mag well to function properly.
Once I got the correct lower Kit on this upper, it did run great. I’ll take it out again soon and hopefully get it to run even better. I still only have about 350 or so rounds through this upper.

[@JG-xt9io]

I've learned a lot watching people and seeing things happen, it sucks when you go out and nothing goes your way. I appreciate you showing what happened and then letting us know what happened or went wrong so we are better educated if we have the problem happen to us or someone we know.

[@crankygunreviews]

I try to be educational and not just show failures and say this or that sucks, I have an investigative mind, and like figuring out the issues

[@sonnygunz9207]

I love 22mag too! I like seeing it chambered in an AR rifle. I’m glad you got issues figured out.

[@crankygunreviews]

Thanks, I’m glad it’s working well now too

[@michaelshaffer8451]

When I went through Air Force basic training in the late 80s, my first experience with firing an M-16 was with a .22lr conversion kit. Everyone in our group couldn’t fire more than 6 or 7 rounds before the gun would either misfire, stovepipe or fail to load from the magazine. Once you ran into an stoppage, all you could do was to freeze in whatever position you were in with the barrel aimed down range, hold your right hand up and wait for the range master to come and trouble shoot it. At the time, I thought to myself that I hoped I’d never get deployed to any combat zone because the M-16’s reliability is so poor that I’d be killed as soon as my boots hit the ground. It was the same thing all over again at the AF Security Police Academy. Still using the .22 conversion kits and STILL fighting to get every round down range before the gun jammed. It wasn’t until I got to my first base in Germany that I was able to fire my M-16 with actual 5.56 ball ammo, and may I say, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! It shot like butter, no jams and I was hitting center mass ALL day long. I found out later that we SHOULD’VE been using 5.56 in the SP Academy, but that the 5.56 was supposed to be in the armory at the range had been “misallocated/diverted” somewhere between purchase and delivery. Looking back on it, the 70s and especially the 80s were rampant with Fraud, Waste and Abuse… basic items were 10 times more expensive for the military to purchase than for the civil population… as an example, a simple $30 Stanley hammer at a hardware would cost the military $300 and would go through God knows how many different approval processes before it was delivered. Proof that “the good old days” weren’t always as we’d like to remember.😬

[@crankygunreviews]

Thanks for the story. I love hearing about peoples experiences. And yea, I have heard countless stories about military training not being as people expect, and also that anything the government buys cost 3x or more and has a long time to get it

[@dlbracer56]

In 1973-1988, as a USAF Security Policeman, all we used was 5.56 FMJ.

[@jamesdietz6899]

Just ordered this upper yesterday. Hope my Aero Precision lower works with it!!

[@crankygunreviews]

If it has mil spec parts you’ll be fine

[@scubasteve3032]

Thumbs up for the mag dropping out.😂 I did the same thing when I got mine.

[@crankygunreviews]

Lol, yeah I show my mistakes as well

[@rafaelcastaneda3139]

Super cool man, good vid. I’ve been eye balling this upper. I want the 20” ss barrel. I have one of their 450 bushmaster uppers works good.

[@crankygunreviews]

I would say make sure you use Mil Spec lower, not any enhanced parts. A stronger hammer spring was the issue with mine

[@eaglepointtactical8532]

i like that FDE mag release.

[@crankygunreviews]

@@eaglepointtactical8532 me too- subtle little accents make the gun pop

[@VitalArms]

The black dog mags don’t seat well with 14 rounds so when you reduced it to 13 it worked fine. You’ll notice with 14 the spring/follower travel is maxed out

[@crankygunreviews]

If you hold the bolt back them load them, they work fine for me.

[@naughtystep285]

I’m grateful I found your channel. I learn something new every time. Thanks for posting even when things aren’t perfect. That’s life. I’m here to learn. Good to know Bear Creek fixed the problem. What is “MOE”? I need a dictionary of gun terms!

[@crankygunreviews]

Magpul Original Equipment

[@naughtystep285]

@@crankygunreviews Thanks! I got as far as M.

[@crankygunreviews]

🤣🤣

[@dlbracer56]

I have 3 BCA15 in different configurations. All three needed some tweaking or slight modifications to run, fire, and cycle properly. THAT said, all three shoot better than the shooter holding it. I get realistic groups from sight in at 100 yards to effective fire 300 - 400 yards. A very good quality unit at affordable prices.

[@crankygunreviews]

Glad to hear some others that like them. Too many keyboard commandos bashing stuff they’ve never even tried

[@johnpoole8321]

Good content. Way to show the mistakes .Ti's how we learn.

[@crankygunreviews]

I agree!

[@asbunce]

Get yourself in the habit of using a quick push/pull when seating your magazines to confirm you have it properly seated. I had that drilled in me when first carrying an AR and it has not failed me yet. Good content. I have this upper, too, and am working through the quirks as we speak. Mine is on an Anderson lower with milspec FCG and carbine-length gas tube. It doesn't feed and will often double-fire. I have another lower on my Mk12 clone with a Geiselle two-stage trigger in it and a rifle-length buffer tube. I am thinking about swapping the light weight buffer to that just to see if it cycles.

[@crankygunreviews]

Good advice on the mag loading… I did notice those likes the charging handle to the rear when inserting my mags… You have to use the buffer and spring they send you with the gun. Anything that has a shorter length buffer will allow the charging handle to smash the receiver and will eventually break the mounting screw, and bend the alignment pin on the charging handle… ask how I know… the issues with this one not resetting the hammer was due to an “enhanced” hammer spring which I assume is heavier than mil spec. The round did not have enough power to throw the bolt back fast enough or hard enough to reset the hammer. I swapped to my mil spec lower half way through the video, and it worked perfectly

[@VitalArms]

How do you have a carbine length gas tube on a rifle that is simple blowback?

[@ToddTheGunGuy]

Sorry having issues. It ain’t easy being a KZbinr🤙

[@crankygunreviews]

Yep, but I’m real, I don’t make it look like it’s all rainbows and sunshine :)

[@ToddTheGunGuy]

@@crankygunreviews Ha ha good point.

[@billjensen6216]

Great video, even with the issues you were having. I would like to know if your brass was bulging near the base? Thanks for the video

[@crankygunreviews]

I didn’t notice the brass bulging, but I’ll check next time I’m out with it

[@billjensen6216]

@Cranky Gun Reviews Thank you, sir.

[@crankygunreviews]

@@billjensen6216 you’re welcome

[@joemorganeatmyshortschannel]

dedicated lowers are where its at

[@crankygunreviews]

Yep. And now I know which one works with which upper :) it’s ok to have a heavier hammer spring in the 7.62 upper, they sometimes need more umph to hit the firing pin on steel cased ammo anyway

[@jmoss7550]

I have bought 3 complete rifles from Bear Creek Arsenal and have never had problems. I don't mix uppers and lowers.

[@crankygunreviews]

Well, I built both of these lowers, and this was the first time I tried either one.

[@pab1ofresh529]

10:22 that happened to about 50% of the rounds ive fired through mine. theres no feed ramp so it keeps getting caught between bolt and flat face of chamber. very disappointed

[@crankygunreviews]

Round nose ammo does that far less than hollowpoint in my experience - mine got better as time went on, I’m due for an update video on this guy.

[@Riley_1955]

Love 22 mag myself and have a Uberti stallion revolver and a Rossi RS22M rifle in 22 mag and just love them ..... And just seen that BCA has these uppers and might get one but I was wondering how the accuracy was ?.

[@crankygunreviews]

Accuracy has been good enough for me. I’m not a marksman but I’d say accuracy was similar to my Ruger American in 22wmr. It’s got a heavy barrel and upper receiver so it’s pretty stable

[@Riley_1955]

@@crankygunreviews If I get one it will have that Magpul furniture you have on yours .... It'll either be FDE or OD green.

[@crankygunreviews]

@@Riley_1955 I’ve been a big fan of FDE lately. I was resistant to Magpul because it’s so popular, but it’s popular because it’s good.

[@samuelsherwood298]

The recoil spring Probably just needs broke in , use some Hot rounds

[@crankygunreviews]

Could be. I think sometimes uppers and lower do need to break in to each other.

[@WilliamMcNett]

Speed loader what? I just ordered that upper.

[@crankygunreviews]

No speed loader… make sure You use a carbine buffer with the spring and buffer Bear Creek sends with this upper.

[@MultiSweener]

Where do you go from there?

[@crankygunreviews]

What do you mean? The issues with it not cycling was due to the hammer spring being too strong in the first lower, I swapped to another lower in the end of the video, and all the issues were gone. I just swapped the FDE furniture to the lower that works, and it’s good now.

[@MultiSweener]

@@crankygunreviews I get the issues part. And I get the review part. But in a real issue, this fails. So, where do you go from there?

[@crankygunreviews]

@@MultiSweener transition to sidearm :)

[@MultiSweener]

@@crankygunreviews 2 different animals. But I feel your frustration. We need reliable go to's.

[@crankygunreviews]

@@MultiSweener this is a toy to me, and realistically, I think with the owner I finished the video with, I’d trust it. I put a lot of ammo through it after the video was done, and it was about 98% reliable- had one light load.

[@naughtystep285]

Heh heh…can I complain now?

[@crankygunreviews]

You can complain whenever lol