Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Cycling problem

I’m a neophyte when it comes to the AR platform so I apologize in advance for any stupid questions I have.

The issue is that I have 2 Bear Creek Arsenal uppers in 7.62x39. One is a side charger and the other is the standard type AR. After firing 8 or 10 rounds the rifle stopped ejecting cases and the empty case in the chamber were extremely tight and hard to eject (extract). The exact, or seemingly exact same issue has affected both rifles.

I can send the uppers back but I wanted to check with you guys first since it’s probably something simple. Like I mentioned earlier, I have no experience working on AR’s so please bear with my ignorance.

Thanks in advance.

I don't have a 7.62x39, so this is just a generalization, so take it FWIW.

Bear Creek is noted for stuff that is about as close to low end schitt as is possible to get, (along with Radical Firearms) with a lot of rough machining being reported so my 1st guess would be a rough chamber, also perhaps a little tight, & perhaps some low(er) powered ammo that may be a little sooty..............what does the brass look like?

Could also be marginal on gas, but usually overgassing is the more prevalent issue, but since both guns are acting the same way, they may not have their gassing right as the chamber gets a little dirty.

Just guessing w/o actually seeing the gun, so good luck.

MM

Just curious if it was brass or steel cased ammo. I I had a little different problem and it ended up being the extractor. Once I figured it out, it runs like a charm. I’d look the gas system first though. Sounds like it maybe under gassed or gas block misaligned, it would not be the first with BCA I’ve heard about. Rough chambers and out of spec chambers have been issues with BCA as well.

I would look at extractors first and might look in the chamber with a real good light.

If coated steel is what you are using the coating will stick in the chamber and cause problems.

And after cleaning the chamber real good you might make sure the bolt is wet.

Thanks for the input guys.

I used a variety of ammo. Hornady Black with brass case 123gr SST. Privi Pzt brass case soft point. Wolf steel case and Red Army Steel case. It’s happening to every one every time.

It’s as if it’s not getting gas but I don’t know how to go about competently checking it.....like I said, neophyte. 😁

Your best bet is likely to just send them back to Bear Creek & hope for the best.

Once you start taking them apart, BC may not agree to take them back & fix them.

Kinda sucks, but it is what it is with builders like that. Pretty unlikely that they even fired the guns.

MM

You fix it by replacing all the Bear Creek parts with quality parts.

Along with immigration law violations.

Add improperly head spaced to your list of chamber issues. BCA has a reported history of improper head spaces as well.

The tapered 7.62x39 case it normally a pretty easy extracting case, but excessive pressure from a short head space is one more possibility.

I very much appreciate the input and suggestions I’ve gotten for you all. I’ll be sending it back to BCA and I’ll go from there. Through the years I’ve owned almost every make of AR but I never got into them preferring hunting rifles and precision shooting instead. They definitely serve a purpose, a vital purpose that has worked well for over half a century. I went with BCA as a starting point because it’s a inexpensive piece of equipment that I can fiddle with and learn the systems without worrying about ruining a high dollar rifle. If I have to make changes and upgrades to this upper I figure it’s a double bonus. Not only is the bonus the upgrading of the rifle but it also teaches me the principles and idiosyncrasies of the platform.

Thanks again guys. 👍

Well, your decision, but there's really nothing on a BC upper that I'd want to keep other than maybe the receiver itself. And that's areal qualified maybe...................

MM

I'm sorry, but I just don't understand the logic of buying the low end stuff.

You mess around with it and you mess around with it, And you finally get it running. Hey, it works!.. you say to all your friends and everybody on this board.

But for how long? And how is it going to perform under stress when you need it most?

Not for me. I'd rather buy once cry once, and know I can depend on my gear.

Ace,

A couple of comments.

First, welcome to the world of ARs!. It's a great platform, and you can make if just about anything you want with enough time and money. Especially with the low inventory levels of today, sometimes we have to buy, well, what we can get, but with an AR, there's plenty of opportunity for upgrading as your budget, tastes, and needs allow.

Yea, BCA is junk, but this will give you an excellent opportunity to lean the platform as you rebuild into something that will perform at a high level. Hang around with us, and you'll pick up plenty of pointers, and when it's over, enough parts to rebuild the old BCA's a send them down the line to a new buy, for more money to feed your well established AR addiction.

MM, gave you good advice. Send them into BCA, let them at least get them save and functioning, so you feel good about sending that collection of parts down the road when the time comes. In the process, we promise to give you more than enough idea on how to spend your AR money.

Thanks for the helpful comments guys.

On a side note, I bought the BCA uppers because I figured they’d be a good starting point for me to learn on. Taking it apart, changing parts, fiddling around and experimenting with it so that I can be “intimately” acquainted with the platform. I likely wouldn’t need to do that with an LMT or Daniel Defense nor would I want to do that to such an expensive AR.

The question was about the BCA upper was not whether it met the high standards of certain posters or if they approved of how I spend my money and nowhere did I say that those were my only AR’s, only that I was a neophyte interested in learning more about diagnosing and fixing the issues that arise.

Coincidentally I figured out the problem and fixed it. I’ve put a little over 200 rounds through both rifles and have yet to experience a FTF or eject since I remedied the problem. Before the weekend warriors jump my ass, I know 200 rounds ain’t much but it’s a start.

I thank those of you that were kind enough to reply in the spirit of the my post.

200 rounds is pretty indicative, generally good is good unless something changes or breaks to negatively impact the function.

Since both guns were malfunctioning similarly, what did you determine was the assignable cause?

What corrected it (might be obvious depending on the cause)?

MM