BCL 102 Receiver Set cerakoted in FDE

My BCL 102 receiver set arrived.  Two weeks and change from the time I ordered to the time it arrived at my door.  Some people have waited the better part of half a year for their complete rifle, only to end up swapping out most of the parts anyway when they customized their rifles.  I didn't mind the wait because it gave me a chance to see if there were any bugs in the first few batches, as well as give BCL a chance to work them out.  Also, I wanted to see how well these things performed.  After shooting my buddy's rifle, I was sold.  

The proprietary parts that came with the receiver set.  I heard the first few batches were missing some of these so those customers got theirs mailed out to them separately.

I was pretty impressed with the fit and finish.  This surprised me because under their previous name, North Eastern Arms (NEA), they had a horrible reputation for making substandard and poorly finished firearms and firearm parts that were prone to breaking, not functioning, or fitting poorly. 

I did not detect a significant amount of machine marks, but there were a few minor ones.  I personally don't care, but I'm, just reporting what I see.  There was a minor blemish above the selector hole in the upper receiver, and there are minor machine marks under the cerakote by the lip of the mag well.   

It sure does appear to be a seamless fit.

Although it's hard to see, I held a flashlight behind the receiver set and barely any light got through the seams.  

Another thing I tried was the A2 rifle length receiver extension.  As per Midwayusa.com, the product name for this is:

This is a DPMS Receiver Extension Buffer Tube AR-15 A1/A2 Stock 

The one I ordered for my buddy was:

AR-Stoner Rifle Extreme Duty Buffer Tube Assembly LR-308 A2 Stock Aluminum Black

Anyway, I will have to talk to my buddy and look at his 102 again, because the one I odered for my buddy was able to capture the buffer retainer, the one I got for myself does not.  Fuck.

The receiver set compared to other Tan/FDE/Coyote brown finishes.

On top of my Mk18 Block II clone (which in itself is 50 shades of FDE)

Compared to my Cadex Lite Strike

Compared to my PGW LRT-3, which is a different color than the Steiner M5Xi Coyote Brown.

A few other parts showed up this weekend as well.  

1. AR Stoner Bolt Carrier Group LR-308 308 Winchester Nickel Boron finish
2. DPMS Ejection Port Cover LR-308 Matte (parkerized finish)
3. DPMS Ejection Port Cover Pin LR-308 Matte
4. DPMS Ejection Port Cover Spring AR-15, LR-308
5. PRI Big Latch Over-sized Charging Handle Latch AR-15, LR-308 Steel Matte

I'll update this post if I find that any of these parts don't fit/work.

To continue with the M110 clone theme (reminder, this is not going to be a faithful clone), I also got a Knight's Armament Folding Micro Rear Sight, 200-600 meter adjustable P/N 25650.  I have one of these on my Mk12 clone build and have never used it, and probably will never use this one either, but it's well made and will probably function as required if needed (and if I ever get a front sight, lol!).

The Nickel Boron (NiB) from Midway seemed like it was finished VERY nicely.  

I think the staking of the gas key screws could have been a bit more aggressive, but let's see what happens in the long run.  This product is so new, they don't have any reviews of it yet.

The firing pin retaining pin is not the standard cotter pin style.  It came out pretty easily, which concerns me a bit, but once in the upper, I think it's captured and won't fly off into space.

I still don't know what the correct way is to test the gas rings, but the bolt wasn't as loose as the factory BCL BCG so maybe that's a good thing?

I noticed the firing pin did not have a spring like the factory BCL one.  To be honest, I don't know a thing about ARs in 308, so I can't really speak to the benefits of one design over another.  To me, this one seemed very much like a scaled up AR15 BCG.

I should get the go-no-go gauges to make sure this thing is good to go.  Here's where the BCG sits fully seated.

A collection of parts I have collected so far.  I still need the gas block (.875"), gas tube (mid length), LPK, and maybe a front BUIS.

So, I said I wasn't going to start piecing this thing together until I had all the parts, but I couldn't resist.  I really like the Badger Ordinance Tac Latch, but since I was going for a certain look, I decided to swap it out in favor of the PRI unit.  I was going to buy a complete PRI Gas Buster charging handle for 308, but I didn't feel like fitting one to the receiver so since I had a spare BCL unit laying around, I decided to just swap the latch. 

Next was the dust cover.  I had no idea which dust cover to order, so I took a gamble and ordered a DPMS pattern one.  Next was to figure out how to install it.  I haven't done many of these, so I just used my Mk18 Block II as reference.

The universally hated wing logo from BCL, which seems to be finding it's way onto every new part they produce.

Thankfully, I had a solution for my rifle.  

And just to make sure the rear BUIS would not interfere with mounting glass, I did a quick test fit and it seems okay.

Since this is a Canadian made rifle, I had a feeling any screw would be metric, and sure enough, the two Allen screws that came with it were metric.

***ETA*** 10Jun18: You need to really pay attention to this part, apparently the two screws are two different sizes.  I didn't pay attention to this as you will read about later. 

I also dug out a few spare LPK parts from my spare parts bin so I figured I'd at least install the front pivot pin.

Fit like a glove.

As I mentioned earlier, the receiver extension I had would not capture the buffer retainer.  I may try my buddy's and if necessary, order another one from MidwayUSA.

Lastly, I had a spare Norgon ambi mag release.  It installed just like normal.

The only thing I see people having an issue with is the mag release fence which surrounds the button.  If you have fat fingers, you may not be able to depress it easily.