BCL 102 impressions

[Leonidas]

I have now fired a couple hundred rounds of various types and want to report on a few minor issues. Overall I still like the gun and think it’s worth buying.

1. Bolt machining.
- machine marks especially in the “tail” of the bolt look like they were done with a Dremel tool. Bolt is hard to insert into carrier.

-firing pin is also very roughly machined


2. FTE and FTF
- I’ve had about 4-5 of each. This seems to be getting better as the gun breaks in but gun consistently fails to feed from XCr pistol mags. Other failures with PMags. The supplied DH mag runs very well.

3. Ejection port cover prevents receiver from closing
-port door hits raised area of the lower receiver. Will post a photo. Not a huge issue just annoying every time I close up the receivers

 

[redbirddog]

on the FTE and FTF......yes. I had a lot of issues as well, its even worse in Negative temperatures. I hope I can work out the gremlins before next deer season even if I only load 3-5 rounds. I went with a bunch of XCR mags because they are steel and have a lower profile than the stock mag. I hate to lose confidence but when a gun goes click because a round fails to feed, might as well use it as a club...good think the thing is a pig and has weight.

The gun does need some refinements and attention to details....but I still giggle hunting with an AR10. I hope to have it running 100% this summer.

 

[hawk-i]

I've been shooting Winchester Power Point 150 gr soft nose...have yet to have a ftf/fte using unmodified XCR-M pistol mag or supplied factory mag....Gen 2 rifle.

 

[tharkhold]

I have now fired a couple hundred rounds of various types and want to report on a few minor issues. Overall I still like the gun and think it’s worth buying.

1. Bolt machining.
- machine marks especially in the “tail” of the bolt look like they were done with a Dremel tool. Bolt is hard to insert into carrier.View attachment 180333

-firing pin is also very roughly machined
View attachment 180334

2. FTE and FTF
- I’ve had about 4-5 of each. This seems to be getting better as the gun breaks in but gun consistently fails to feed from XCr pistol mags. Other failures with PMags. The supplied DH mag runs very well.

3. Ejection port cover prevents receiver from closing
-port door hits raised area of the lower receiver. Will post a photo. Not a huge issue just annoying every time I close up the receivers

Jeesus... i dont think that's NEA/BCL's normal 'finish' (yeah I know...). The firing pin I had on my 102 had a way better finish.

Maybe call them and send them a pic of your pin? Your pin looks like a part that was exposed to corrosive ammo and not cleaned for the last 70 years.. lol

 

[DILLIGAF]

NEAs are project guns. And the price reflects it. They are enought threads on this forum that points out how crappy NEAs QC is.

The lack of QC shouldn't come as a suprise to anyone anymore. .

On the plus side. Once your AR10 is dialed in they are a blast to shoot. Might have to upgrade a bunch of parts for that to happen.

 

[tharkhold]

NEAs are project guns. And the price reflects it. They are enought threads on this forum that points out how crappy NEAs QC is.

The lack of QC shouldn't come as a suprise to anyone anymore. .

On the plus side. Once your AR10 is dialed in they are a blast to shoot. Might have to upgrade a bunch of parts for that to happen.

Yeah, but this looks like reverse-QC...

 

[Leonidas]

Disappointing to need a replacement firing pin and bolt on a brand new gun. I'll contact them and see what they say about replacing parts under warranty.

 

[skoal]

Disappointing to need a replacement firing pin and bolt on a brand new gun. I'll contact them and see what they say about replacing parts under warranty.

You must not have done your homework before buying, as dili says their projects guns and most people have scrapped almost the entire gun to get them to work properly. That's the reason I've backed out of both pre orders I hate having to modify new #### to get it to work right.

 

[GrizzlyLC]

I'm hoping to avoid these issues with just buying the receiver and building myself. will cost more in the end though, but at least its a NR AR10ish rifle

 

[Leonidas]

Does anyone know if the Brownells AR10 BCG works with a gen 2 102?

And for the record I still like the gun. My cerakote and virtually all other machining is pretty close to perfect. They can make good stuff, just need better QC...

 

[tharkhold]

Does anyone know if the Brownells AR10 BCG works with a gen 2 102?

And for the record I still like the gun. My cerakote and virtually all other machining is pretty close to perfect. They can make good stuff, just need better QC...

yes, bought one for my ex-102, and it worked.

 

[anton520b]

BCL 102 is not a firearm I would ever trust with my life, but it's fun to be invested perpetually in it trying to make it work, the sorry part is that it's a money pit without a bottom to be seen (been there already lol)... I went ahead and purchased Rob. Arm. XCR-M as in terms of reliable function under harshest of conditions it can not be beat by other weapon systems, not to mention an ease of calibers or barrels changing... They have sure gone far away from the early versions and worked out all their quirks.

 

[bananarama]

Does anyone know if the Brownells AR10 BCG works with a gen 2 102?

And for the record I still like the gun. My cerakote and virtually all other machining is pretty close to perfect. They can make good stuff, just need better QC...

my aero precision BCG did NOT work on my gen2, given that the brownells one is an exact clone...

 

[cr5]

NEAs are project guns. And the price reflects it. They are enought threads on this forum that points out how crappy NEAs QC is.

The lack of QC shouldn't come as a suprise to anyone anymore. .

On the plus side. Once your AR10 is dialed in they are a blast to shoot. Might have to upgrade a bunch of parts for that to happen.

A project gun is $1000 not $2000, they advertise it as a functioning and well built quality product but delivered a project rifle to many. I bet that the Wolverine/Kodiak 180C will be higher quality on average than the BCL rifle and it's half the price.

Everyone should know by now that BCL products are a roll of the dice but unfortunately it seems that many people just like that it's a NR AR-10 for $2000 then realize later that $2000 is just the beginning if you actually want it reliable and accurate.

 

[hawk-i]

I must be lucky with my 102...no function issues to date. ..happy with it so far!

 

[DILLIGAF]

A project gun is $1000 not $2000, they advertise it as a functioning and well built quality product but delivered a project rifle to many. I bet that the Wolverine/Kodiak 180C will be higher quality .

Its a 800$ stripped receiver set that allows you to build a pretty decent AR10 for under 3K. As for the 180c its nothing remotely close to an AR10 and it looks like crap. I rather wait for the ATRS MVs and build a bass a$$ NR AR.

 

[meatball74]

Its a 800$ stripped receiver set that allows you to build a pretty decent AR10 for under 3K. As for the 180c its nothing remotely close to an AR10 and it looks like crap. I rather wait for the ATRS MVs and build a bass a$$ NR AR.

I agree with the 180c comment here. it looks so out of date - like an AK prototype. The 102 has had issues, no doubt there, but its presents itself so much better than the 180c and to comment on what the 180c's build quality will be compared to the 102 at any point of the 102's evolution is premature.

 

[Epoxy7]

A project gun is $1000 not $2000, they advertise it as a functioning and well built quality product but delivered a project rifle to many. I bet that the Wolverine/Kodiak 180C will be higher quality on average than the BCL rifle and it's half the price.

Everyone should know by now that BCL products are a roll of the dice but unfortunately it seems that many people just like that it's a NR AR-10 for $2000 then realize later that $2000 is just the beginning if you actually want it reliable and accurate.

I just saw the very latest received by the owner last week BCL 102 in person last night. It looked pretty good. Fit/finish was decent which is always a good initial sign but far from the whole picture. The BCG looked good with a nice smooth finish and correct bolt/gas ring tension. The gas key was finished unlike the older ones. The flash hider and stock are garbage. But no big deal as most have their own preferences and the firearm is inexpensive enough that most will be putting what they want on it. Trigger needs work. But after looking at the trigger internals, I think I could get it decent without spending any money or very little. I really liked the looks of it and the contours on this "Gen 2" version are smart as they seem to slim the rifle up and make it seem a lot less bulky than a traditional AR10. For an out of the box AR10 rifle it was actually lighter than I expected. It balanced right at the front of the magwell which is good. A lighter handguard or a 12" version would make it even lighter. But I really liked it as an overall out of the box product. It's a jack of all trades. The ambi controls worked well and looked decent enough. Out of the box these offer a lot and you would be into much higher priced AR308 rifles to get the same level of features that are included (I mean real features not the earlier flaws). I was pleasantly surprised. BCL seems to be listening to the customers complaints and addressing them. I look forward to seeing how it shoots with appropriate AR10/AR308 suitable ammunition.

On a side note, there are now more than 1000 BCL 102 rifles out in the wild based on the serial numbers I've seen.

The Wolverine rifle looks interesting. But the AR10/AR308 platform is really my favourite for semi auto rifles. It's extremely versatile. Plinker, hunting, and you can do it up for target/precision as well. The AR10/AR 308 rifle makes a mockery of the ideas some have of semi auto black rifle accuracy.