BCL 102 catastrophic failure

[b_w.]

I had to lock Tite my barrels to stop the barrel from twisting the index pin under the threading...

 

[slash547]

let us know when you get it. I'm patiently waiting for my replacement, 2 weeks after getting the RMA label and a week after their having received my lemon rifle (and I've been chasing this for months prior to getting even this far)

They have a new warranty support person - contact Hailey at support@blackcreeklabs.com
She has been very responsive

 

[Mark-II]

Interesting, I sent my 102 back with a prepaid shipping label (to much movement between the Upper and lower receivers) on July 8, they received it on July 15 and they shipped me out a new rifle on July 18. It's supposed to arrive to me via UPS on July,24. I sure can't complain about the service.

They have a new warranty support person - contact Hailey at support@blackcreeklabs.com
She has been very responsive

That, unfortunately, is not my experience. I'd been waiting for a return label since May, and only finally got action this month. I've not received any further communication since getting the label and confirming with them that I had sent it off. I tend to email them every 2 weeks to remind them that rifle #3xx, paid for in 2017, still isn't working properly in 2019.

 

[Sinasta]

They have a new warranty support person - contact Hailey at support@blackcreeklabs.com
She has been very responsive

God help her.

I had to lock Tite my barrels to stop the barrel from twisting the index pin under the threading...

That should not be happening unless your barrel extension or upper is extremely out of spec. A bit of a wiggle is common but not the index pin going under the threads.

 

[Wal-Mart Greeter]

I had to lock Tite my barrels to stop the barrel from twisting the index pin under the threading...

Wait, are you saying that you found the index pin under the barrel nut threads and you just put it back into place and added thread locker? You do realize loctite will release when heat is applied? For example, the heat from a hot gun barrel...

You need to get that gun back to BCL. It’s not fixed.

 

[slash547]

My buddy at work just bought a BCL 102 with an 2018 stamp on it. He has not shot it yet. I’ll get pictures of the bolt lugs (chamfered or chipped question will be answered) and see if the barrel extension is misaligned.

Just saw pictures of his unfired BCL 102. His barrel extension looks correctly indexed to the barrel and the back of the bolt lugs are chamfered. You can also see the back of the bolt lugs chamfer in this article, note comparison to other AR bolts with square lug backs where they focus on the ejector pin.
https://www.huntinggearguy.com/rifle-reviews/bcl102-review/

 

[b_w.]

Wait, are you saying that you found the index pin under the barrel nut threads and you just put it back into place and added thread locker? You do realize loctite will release when heat is applied? For example, the heat from a hot gun barrel...

You need to get that gun back to BCL. It’s not fixed.

I glued the barrel extension into the upper receiver with high temp compound to hold it in place while torquing the barrel nut. Without it the metal was so soft that the barrel was twisting in the receiver. Install was with the Brownells tool. Found this putting multiple 102s together and all have held up fine.

 

[Wal-Mart Greeter]

I glued the barrel extension into the upper receiver with high temp compound to hold it in place while torquing the barrel nut. Without it the metal was so soft that the barrel was twisting in the receiver. Install was with the Brownells tool. Found this putting multiple 102s together and all have held up fine.

I understand that the barrel will not suddenly twist itself out of position once the nut is installed. What I mean is why would you let the manufacturer get away with that? Why would you accept that, you payed for a rifle that shouldn’t need special treatment to not explode. What if someone removes that barrel down the road and doesn’t pay attention when installing the new barrel, it will pop right over under the threads if it’s already wrecked...

 

[weasel1]

After vacation/shift work I discovered this thread... crap. I inspected my rifle today and everything appears to be indexed correctly. My bolt does have the chamfer. That said, I'm a little concerned and I'm thinking I should be getting a new bolt. Any recommendations? I primarily am using this as a plinker and it's my main deer rifle. For my purposes, I can't see a need for an exotic bcg, but I think a new bolt would be wise.

 

[Sinasta]

After vacation/shift work I discovered this thread... crap. I inspected my rifle today and everything appears to be indexed correctly. My bolt does have the chamfer. That said, I'm a little concerned and I'm thinking I should be getting a new bolt. Any recommendations? I primarily am using this as a plinker and it's my main deer rifle. For my purposes, I can't see a need for an exotic bcg, but I think a new bolt would be wise.

You'll be fine.

 

[weasel1]

Probably true.

 

[tiriaq]

Here's what I don't understand: The barrel slides into the upper. A collar screws onto the upper, which will support the tubular handguard. A bushing screws into the collar, to hold the barrel in place.
What is putting so much torque on the barrel that the indexing pin is being driven under the threaded part of the receiver extension?

 

[Twan]

Here's what I don't understand: The barrel slides into the upper. A collar screws onto the upper, which will support the tubular handguard. A bushing screws into the collar, to hold the barrel in place.
What is putting so much torque on the barrel that the indexing pin is being driven under the threaded part of the receiver extension?

Maybe torquing the flash hider or muzzle break on? About the only thing I can think of that would be applying a rotational torque to the barrel/extension.

 

[tiriaq]

If the barrel is held, torqueing on a muzzle device applies no force to the upper.
If the upper were held, there would be torque applied to the upper. But brakes aren't installed with a 3 foot cheater on the wrench.

 

[Ditch Doc]

For those of us, like me, who is trying to learn but is not quite there yet how can I tell if my barrel is OK?

 

[slash547]

After vacation/shift work I discovered this thread... crap. I inspected my rifle today and everything appears to be indexed correctly. My bolt does have the chamfer. That said, I'm a little concerned and I'm thinking I should be getting a new bolt. Any recommendations? I primarily am using this as a plinker and it's my main deer rifle. For my purposes, I can't see a need for an exotic bcg, but I think a new bolt would be wise.

New bolt will have the same chamfer at the back of the lugs if received from BCL. Check out Grapeshots comments page 28 regarding the chamfer and lock up

 

[b_w.]

Here's what I don't understand: The barrel slides into the upper. A collar screws onto the upper, which will support the tubular handguard. A bushing screws into the collar, to hold the barrel in place.
What is putting so much torque on the barrel that the indexing pin is being driven under the threaded part of the receiver extension?

With the Brownells tool you turn the upper and barrel while the barrel nut wrenche is locked in the vice vs a reaction rod that holds the barrel steady while you turn the wrench....and it is soft ####ty metal.

 

[BattleRife]

What is putting so much torque on the barrel that the indexing pin is being driven under the threaded part of the receiver extension?

The barrel nut (or equivalent bushing) is torqued onto the receiver, so if the assembler supports the receiver there should be no torsion on the barrel, aside from a little bit from friciton of the barrel nut. However, if the assembler chooses to support the barrel, either with old style barrel vise jaws or with a reaction rod, the barrel will stand still while all the torque applied to the receiver causes it to twist, with just the index pin in its slot to resist that torsion.

The thing is, that scenario would cause the index pin to bear on the right hand side of its slot, in this case the index pin has dug into the left hand side of the slot. The most common situation that would cause that is if someone put a whole bunch of torque on a muzzle device while supporting the assembly via the upper receiver.

 

[Jacqson]

That, unfortunately, is not my experience. I'd been waiting for a return label since May, and only finally got action this month. I've not received any further communication since getting the label and confirming with them that I had sent it off. I tend to email them every 2 weeks to remind them that rifle #3xx, paid for in 2017, still isn't working properly in 2019.

Sorry to hear that. Hope everything gets worked out quickly for you.

 

[weasel1]

New bolt will have the same chamfer at the back of the lugs if received from BCL. Check out Grapeshots comments page 28 regarding the chamfer and lock up

I saw that. That's why I was thinking about getting something non BCL.