How to Clear AR-15 Malfunctions: Side Charging vs. Rear Charging

[@70bluesville]

Every company wants sales, BCA is the only company I've seen doing this type of educational/maintenance training. This really means a lot to me as a firearm owner. This says more about your company than just a good price. Thank you

[@eagz2898]

Right,me too

[@seeratlasdtyria4584]

I PERSONALLY witnessed an 82nd Abn Paratrooper use this technique during a live fire exercise on Ft. Bragg back during the VN war when his new M-16 jammed. As he struck the butt on the ground in front of him, it set off a 3 round burst, one of the rounds hitting him in the face and entering the skull where it did NOT exit, but rather whirled around inside destroying the structural integrity of his skull instantly killing him. Now laying on the ground, when we rolled his body over, his face still basically intact "FLOWED" from one side to the other, imagine a liquid face flowing inside a plastic bag. Most unique injury I ever saw. Point is this, if you EVER employ the "Butt Clear" technique, make SURE there is NO POSSIBLE WAY for your hands to slip or other wise fail to keep the muzzle AWAY FROM "YOUR BODY and anybody or anything else in the vicinity. In those days, and most likely still, a 3 round burst caused the muzzle to RISE, thus in a vertical position, rotate TOWARDS whomever is holding it. DO NOT EARN YOURSELF a DARWIN! Sorry to be so graphic, but I want everyone to burn this "picture" into their minds so they will remember and survive. (former XVIII ABN Spcl Warfare "SKYDRAGON" who was a designated Observer at Bragg that day.) As you can tell, all these decades later, the event is STILL 'burned' into my memory.

[@jaxfernandez3684]

Good story. This is why I remove magazine from rifle before malfunction clearing. If gun is in full auto or burst, and a round is let off. Only one round goes, not a full magazine.

[@Witty76]

Nice malfunction 101. I would like to recommend closing the stock ALL the way to flush when attempting the mortar technique as to not damage the lockpin nut. Yes, you lose some leverage but if you happen to break that (which I’ve seen) your whole day will have to change until fixed. Again, nice video and thanks for sharing.

[@jeffchilds7056]

^ Yes exactly this about the stock. Collapse it all the way down because I've personally seen twice somebody shearing that pin and/or cracking the stock. Just collapse the thing

[@Kataquan]

I've seen a guy pinch his fingers between the stock and extension tube when he was mortaring a rifle like that. It was a painful bloody mess

[@stevemendez3535]

I am super excited! I just purchased a 20 inch barrel right side charging for rifle chambered and 556. I am going to make this my long range rifle. The only downside so far is when I ordered it from Bear Creek Arsenal it does not come with any magazines. And also on some of the other videos, I have watched they all say that I have a little work to do once I get it out of the box. I have to check some screws and make sure things are staked

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Thanks for the order! It's always great to hear customers are excited to receive their new guns.

[@michaeltaylor7996]

Just got mine and inspected, cleaned and oiled then I was looking at sling attachments in my gun parts and then realized that BCA did us a favor and gave us 2 options per side for qd attachments cut into the handgaurd. Thanks BCA!

[@fastimpala2015]

Thank you for the informative video. It’s always nice to have someone spend the time instead of rushing through and explain every little motion the cause-and-effect. Again thank you, I look forward to purchasing The 45 ACP rifle upper & 300 blackout upper from Black Creek! I have a Springfield armory Saint Victor right now I love the rifle but I am very disappointed in customer service And I have had small issues go wrong with the rifle and I’ve tried contacting them several times and they have yet to contact me back not even once. BCA seems to have high regards by everyone who buys them with reviews and after several months of research I am getting ready to buy the product and be a lifelong customer!

[@why-be-normal7014]

Real good video I sent it to a friend who I looking to get a ar but wants all the info that what possibly can happen on a ar and he feels 10x better seeing this and actually saved it on his desktop to go back and watch it over and over. 👍👍

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Great to hear!

[@dlbracer56]

I have a BCA15 in 7.62x39 right side charger 16-inch heavy barrel. It was useless until I installed a Black Rifle Arms enhanced firing pin and heavy hammer spring and H2 buffer. It ran consistently with realistic groups. UNTIL I used some lacquer coated ammo. The lacquer melted and glued the steel case to the chamber. Broke the extractor. One email, a return call, and BCA sent an extractor FREE! (Their extractor is modified to fit the base radius of 7.62x39 and bolt face) . NOW, wrestling with BCA over a .223 Wylde that has an incorrectly cut chamber. Jams the case shoulder deep INTO the lands and grooves.

[@genereed3029]

I have the same issue with a brand new 223 Wilde upper. Cases getting stuck in the chamber. They want me to send it back to diagnose the problem.

[@silvergrizzly316]

Ha!🤣Ha!🤣 I was thinking 🤔 he didn't just bust up a rifle to make this video!!! 😂 I'm glad you cleared that up for me...😁👍👍

[@useruser400]

Very timely video to my KZbin feed. This stuck case just happened to me with my new BCA upper. No clue why. Maybe my can gummed up the chamber. I collapsed the buttstock to avoid damaging it, pulled on the side eject lever, and mortared the weapon. Cartridge popped out. Fortunately this happened after all the feral hogs were dead. I have since cleaned the chamber thoroughly and await my next hunt. I love the upper. I hope this jam is not a recurring theme.

[@gerardovega2453]

Grreat video, Keep up the good content! Please tell me no rifle was hurt on the making of this video...lol

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Only a fake plastic one

[@Trumplican]

in the army they taught us SPORTS. Slap the mag, pull the charging handle, observe the chamber for ejecting brass and feeding of another round ect, release the charging handle, squeeze the trigger.

[@ocho7410]

I just assembled my first BCA side charging upper and looks and feels awesome, hopefully I don't get any issues when I take it to the range and test it.🤙🏼

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Sorry to hear that! Send an email to [e-mail] and they can help you out

[@BLUDSHOTiZ]

@INVICTUS FARMER enhanced firing pin and hammer spring. Chang the mag as well. Your bolt is the issue if not. I'm on my 3rd and most recently they sent me a 556 bolt so I'm 4 months waiting on parts for an upper I've shot twice.

[@poorsoutdoors3595]

When mortaring, if it takes more than a tap, collapse the stock all the way in.

[@jacwoo7127]

Great video and very informative. Keep up the content!

[@jeffhuntley2921]

My first 7.62x39 would light strike 1 in 20. Enhanced fire pin took right care of it. Early promag 7.62 AR mags were crap:)

[@twa2471]

All "pro mags" magazines are crap !

[@thesouthernlife4061]

I ordered ar stoner mags from Midway USA havnt had a single issue with any of them in 7.62x39 I did have to polish my feed ramp and make it a better angle bc I would get hollow point rounds hanging up every now and then only when I racked the charging handle slowly going fast like when it fires had no issues so I extended the feed ramp angle for the rounds to slide up into the chamber better wasn't a mag issue just a round issue fmj worked perfect and never had problems when firing just letting charging handle go slowly but hey pistols do that to sometimes best to pull back and let go

[@reefread1234]

I watch this video and also for pistols you can divide blank rounds and do the same thing the simulate a malfunction. I found that when you do live fire training and then slip in a blank in the magazine but be random so your caught of guard it really helps like he said to emotionally train through malfunctions when they are real

[@greg1358]

Enjoyed the video... Thanks

[@Lito_-we4xy]

My current issue with my right side charge is the spent shell is not ejecting and jamming the next round in there so I have to remove the magazine and finger it out like you have shown. It does this frequently as of now. I can't figure out what is causing the issue

[@Drkushpharm]

Ive had to do a morter and im having problems with the spent casing not ejecting and trying to "double" feed tried to disassemble and cleaning everything very thoroughly and im still having the "double" feed problems. Any idea what could be causing the problem? It's a back charging ar-15

[@Ronin-sh7pg]

ok bear creek I've already asked once maybe second time is the charm?? I bought a ar10 upper with rear charging and put it on my dpms lower. I have been having feeding issues, lite primer strikes and bolt getting locked up live with round in chamber. I put an adjustable buffer weight, tried my bros psa lower and still having issues. Should I send it back to get looked at by y'all???????

[@wattzzdevelopment3404]

Excellent Video

[@dans6476]

i fuckin died when you charged the target lmao

[@philweed1603]

No you didn’t. Don’t lie.

[@dans6476]

@@philweed1603 this is a automated response from Dan S. Dan is unable to reply because he's dead.

[@jaxfernandez3684]

The reciprocating charging handle is often criticized, but your fingers shouldn’t be anywhere near it while shooting. Your hands should be on the pistol grip and the handguard, only touching the charging handle when reloading or clearing a malfunction. A side-charging handle also doubles as a built-in forward assist, removing the need for extra mechanisms. In contrast, traditional ARs need an ambidextrous charging handle, bolt face changes, and two pluggable receiver holes to achieve a similar setup, which adds cost. The small, removable nub on a side charger is cheaper and more practical. Additionally, using a long optic on a traditional AR makes the rear charging handle difficult to reach, whereas a side charger avoids that problem entirely. Some say ‘just use the bolt release,’ but what if it fails? What if there’s a ‘death jam’? A rear-charging AR leaves you without a way to clear the malfunction. With a side-charging AR, you’re always directly manipulating the bolt, preventing any malfunctions from leaving you stranded. There’s no need for extra steps or tools-just use the system as it’s designed, and you’re ready for anything.

[@ocean374]

Awesome information thanks for sharing

[@chadly19]

well they're a lot better at making rifle uppers than they are youtube videos lol.. but I am thankful for that. Love my bca side charger

[@jcramer20]

Whats the main cause of the BCG to become stuck where you have to mortar the rifle? And does the round in camber fire when mortaring?

[@Fabyfakid]

A stuck casing, could be due to the casing spliting after firing the round, or if the round was reloaded the casing wasn't properly resized.

[@jcramer20]

@@Fabyfakid It never fired when the BCG got stuck and was a new round, what would cause it then?

[@somethingaboutachainsawgam8137]

I have a side charging "Beowulf" upper with a round in the chamber and the charging handle will not budge at all. I tried the mortar method with 0 budging of the charging handle at all. Any advice or should I just take it to a gunsmith or send it back?

[@oigliyj]

use a paint can opener to pry the cartridge out of the chamber.

[@somethingaboutachainsawgam8137]

@@oigliyj how can I do that if the charging handle will not let the bcg move at all? It's stuck. The gear looking thing on the front of the bolt carrier group needs to turn to allow it to be pulled back and there is no way that I can figure out to turn it.

[@Bboybe16]

Where can I purchase more magazines for my BCA 22wmr AR? I'm having trouble finding compatible mags for this rifle. Will the Hexmag HX15/30 Series 2 (it's marketed as a multi-calibur magazine, compatible with .223,5.56,300BLK, & "more") work with this rifle?

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

That magazine will not work. Check out Black Dog Machine .22 WMR magazines

[@scotttoomey7347]

You guys are awesome. Only issue I have with BCA is the you have way too many great items to buy. If I stop have so many boating accidents , I would have to keep reordering. Lol. Keep up the great work BCA.

[@ejpeter2775]

What are the reasons for a round to get stuck in the barrel?

[@bemo4313]

Over expansion of the case can be one of the reason. Can also be an extractor problem.

[@ejpeter2775]

@@bemo4313 thanks

[@jeremykc76]

What broke off when you threw the rifle at the Target?

[@alepepperoni2563]

Magazine?

[@plunderfull6305]

I'm considering a side charger, but I'm not sure there is a benefit over a rear charger beyond preference. Perhaps I'm missing something.

[@chriscerta9821]

The advantage is for longer scopes that may impede reaching the charging handle. As the side charging is attached to the bolt itself

[@Tayne195]

The biggest advantage of a side charger is that it's cool

[@jbarres80]

Crazy how in NY and Ca we can’t take our magazines out So how would clear out rounds

[@shitcreekwarrior8794]

You can still mortar the gun if you do it safely. It will just send a new round in the chamber once you clear the jammed one.

[@jbarres80]

@@shitcreekwarrior8794 yep shot last week for 1st time and had that happen

[@tempestblack2771]

And when a shell is jammed in the chamber but the bolt-face sheered the rear of the shell casing off?

[@Fabyfakid]

Lock the bolt to the rear and contact the rso.

[@davechristensen5217]

if you have a bear creek arsenal this is a regular accuranes

[@michaeldyer6079]

What about failure to feed? Thats the issue I'm having with a 10.5 5.56 upper i have got from you, and the very 1st. Time I took it out.

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Send an email to [e-mail] and they can give you advice as what to do or get it fixed if necessary through our warranty program

[@Fabyfakid]

Failure to feed could be a magazine issue.

[@lxy4564]

What happens when side charger doesn't to charge after firing a round? The one I bought and arrived last week had a malfunction where the charger doesn't charge and it appears the gas tube doesn't produce enough gas.

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Hey Lenny, send an email to [e-mail] and they advise you as what to do

[@billcapaul2932]

Had a similar problem with 3 rifles and carbines bought from a competitor near the same time. Determined the gas ports were drilled too small for the barrel length. A quick drill out at the gunsmith and all is good.

[@lxy4564]

@@Bear_Creek_Arsenal Thanks for the info, I have send the upper back and waiting for it to be fixed or replaced :) Thanks again

[@lxy4564]

It has been 3 weeks and the upper still has not been repaired even though I bought it new and broke upon arrival. How long usually is the RMA process? @Bear Creek Arsenal

[@savage-dl9gw]

My side chargeing handle won’t even eject the round if I Manuel pull it with chargeing handle

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

We are very sorry to hear that. Please submit a warranty request on our website and we will certainly assist in getting this rectified. Here is a video that will guide you through the warranty process: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4OVc2VtjNmikK8 We look forward to getting you shooting again.

[@ej300k5]

Nice

[@connorwhitney6829]

Pulling the stock out will bend the buffer tube if you slam to hard

[@innercityprepper]

buffer tubes are cheap. Head wounds, not so much.

[@philweed1603]

@@innercityprepper Better to collapse the stock is what he’s saying, dummy.

[@thesouthernlife4061]

Dude said you not trying to butt stroke the ground 🤣😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@ParishSouth]

You should add the latest in side charging, or rather "forward charging" system to your review. Namely, the "Pump Style" forward charging system by Bilson Arms located in south Louisiana. KZbin channel: www.youtube.com/@bilsonarms. IMO this is where "charging" should take place. in the palm of one's hand. No taking the stock of the shoulder or eye off the target to pull the charging handle at the rear of the upper receiver.

[@innercityprepper]

Upper @1:02 now being sold as a BLEM

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Fortunately it was plastic

[@nintendokid312]

Lol you can use the forward assist, if it doesn't go all the way in.... uh oh, now it won't open. Thats why I dont really understand the point of a forward assist, because if the bolt doesn't go all the way down on its own, I feel like that would happen

[@alejandroacosta8717]

👍👍

[@cyclicm1622]

Decent video, but you completely forgot how nice it runs side charging with a lefty.

[@johnnyrichardson5190]

what are you doing with that sig "tread" in a bear creek vid ? hummmm/ ?

[@joeycrooker1282]

SPORTS

[@twa2471]

LOL,,,Both of those act just as bad as my new BCA gen 2 , 7.62X39 side charging upper. IF and that's a BIG IF ,,I can even get a round to chamber to AT ALL, 3/4 of the rest of time I end up with light primer strikes as well. With 6 Failures out of a 10 round mag pretty consistently is just not acceptable,,call me fussy ! It seems like you've had allot of experience clearing jams and failures to fire but ya know what,,,,,,,, I'M GETTING DAMN NEAR AS PROFICIENT CLEARING FAILURES TO FEED AND FAILURES TO FIRE WITH THIS NEW UPPER I GOT FROM YOU GUYS TOO! I'm Still waiting to hear back from BCA even though a ticket has been generated on the 21st, PLUS I never got the "free" canted sights as advertised when I bought it. NOT so happy at this point,,,,,,,,,

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

Very sorry to hear that! Due to high demand our customer service team is a bit behind at the moment. They should be contacting you very soon

[@twa2471]

@@Bear_Creek_Arsenal I'll believe it when I see it ! " Running a bit behind" ,,well I guess maybe they are !!! I've been trying to contact you numinous times ever sense 4/8 about the "free sights" not being included in my order or even being able to add them to my cart without being charged for them. As soon as I received the order confirmation receipt I called and left a message to the "sales dept. " about it . I've heard nothing back so far. As well as hearing nothing about solving all my other issues after trying sense the 16th. It won't function at all with soft point ammo and barley will with FMJ ammo. Of any brand or description, and I've tried 6-7 different types/ brands of ammo. My own reloads work best and even then I can only get 4 soft point rounds out of a 10 round mag to feed or fire. Pretty disappointing sense this was my 3rd purchase with you,,,,,and likely my last at this point.

[@jaico5538]

@@twa2471 did you install an enhanced firing pin?

[@kevinroberts781]

BCA you know better than to make this video! BCA rifles never jam brother.

[@diegogamboa8466]

Both my uppers did. That’s why I’m here

[@somethingaboutachainsawgam8137]

Mine did

[@bobbylunsford1212]

Once you do business with BCA you can never get in touch with them again..

[@afghanyeti]

I really hope my new BCA upper works better then that one 😳. I don’t want to have to beat it like a Bongo Drum to work.

[@Bear_Creek_Arsenal]

We used dummy rounds and purposely caused it to jam

[@afghanyeti]

@@Bear_Creek_Arsenal Cool.

[@rickconnock7578]

Hahahaha AAAAAAGHHH

[@garyrobertson5629]

Do not buy this company's products! They refuse to replace a broken screw!!!

[@jamesheath831]

Cripe. This guy’s primary language is not good English. He needs to use the same name for a part every time. 😡