I did what grizzlypeg did and to my surprize some of the mil spec componants I ordered for the build were out of spec. I was well prepared to do a bit of work on both the BCL upper and lower with my tool and die and machining background but I did not have to. I bought a BCL upper and lower combo when they were on sale for $89 which included the take down pins. I was thinking that I would atlease need to use a wedge but the upper and lower's tolerances were spot on which is a lot more than I can say about my Norc and M&P15.
For $89 I was impressed to say the lease. Guess I got lucky according to the neigh sayers but for that price I was willing to take the chance. An inexpensive lower such as an Areo is around $100 and a stripped upper with td pins is another $200 so yah... beat up on BCL all you want but I think they are great at that price point. I built that BCL AR with a 14" barrel, comp muzzle break, free float Mlok hand guard, Magpul stock, Anderson stainless trigger and hammer combo, two 10 round pistol mags, (these are all new parts from TNAs) and after delivery and taxes for $550 in total. And I grab a Simmons Whitetail 1.5x5x20 from SFRC on sale which cost me another $102 to my door.
How does it shoot...? I put it up against my $2600 DD and I could shread just as hard and with the same accuracy and reliability. The BCL was the crowd's favourite at the club, for no other reason that it cost $550 to build and kept up with my DD one double tap after the next. Truth be told, I was pleasently surprized also. So would I personally buy another BCL upper and lower, heck, if they were on sale again, I would buy 5. Is BCL for everyone? Perhaps not for those who really don't know what they are looking at or understand the mechanics or don't want to trouble shoot when something goes wrong. And things will and do go wrong even with your commercial ARs such are you M&P. The only way to reduce the risk of buying a lemon is to buy a higher end product such as a DD. No shame in throwing money at something if you just don't know anything about or want the hassle of dealing with a quality control issue.
