Testing out my BCL 102 with Balliatic Advantage 6.5cm barrel

So, I was testing out my BCL 102.  I wasn’t sure if the thing was going to kaboom or not (hence the gloves and the eye pro).

The first time I had the thing out, I had all sorts of problems like FTE, FTF, stove pipes, double feeds and just poor cycling in general.  When my buddy watched from the side, he noted the shell casings would just dribble out, if they ejected at all.

My pal who works at the LGS suggested the rifle was undergassed so I drilled out the gas port from 1/16^th to 5/64^th,

Anyway, I took the rifle out after enlarging the gas port and it still had the same symptoms.  I got home and tried to cycle rounds through it, but I wasn’t even able to extract any rounds by racking the BCG back and forth.  So, I decided to swap out the Midwayusa AR Stoner NiB BCG and threw in a DMPS one I had laying around and I was able to extract and eject rounds just fine.

So, here I was at the range, testing the rifle under live fire and it seems to be cycling fine now.  I shot 4 groups but then the Armalite bolt catch sheared.

I’ve read that Armalite bolt catches have been known to fail, even during the US military’s SASS trials.

Anyway, I installed a filthy commie bolt catch from a Norinco, hopefully they are made of the same steel as their receivers and share the same strength qualities.  I’ve sent Wolverine an e-mail today (7Aug18) regarding the Armalite bolt catch (because I purchased the LPK from them), let’s see what they say.

The groups weren't outstanding, but I'd say they weren't horrible for a semi-auto.  I'd say about 1moa-1.5moa.  The reason I say not great is because I shot .65moa with my buddy's rifle, but the reason could be any number of things.  First, I was more comfortable behind his rifle.  His scope was mounted a bit further forward, resulting in a comfortable view behind the glass.  Second, his rifle had probably seen more than 100 rounds, so his barrel was nicely broken in.  Third, I could just be a really lousy shooter and was just lucky, lol!

Anyway, let's hope the Norinco bolt catch holds up and maybe Wolverine Supplies will have some good news about broken Armalite bolt catches.

Future BCL102 build

Testing out the Ballistic Advantage 18.5" 6.5 CM AR-10 barrel on the BCL 102 at the Abbotsford Rod and Gun Club

Finally got my buddy's 02 running.  Unfortunately, we cannot confirm exactly what was causing it.  So, we originally had the 18.5" Christiansen Arms AR10 Carbon Fiber .308 barrel on there, but my buddy wanted to try the 18.5" Ballistic Advantage 6.5CM barrel.  

When we lined up the base of the aftermarket barrel with BCL's factory barrel, we noted the gas block was set further back on the barrel.

As a result, the gas tube would sit deeper in the upper receiver, but neither of us had any idea if this would affect cycling.  Both after market barrels were the same in this respect, so I wasn't sure changing barrels was going to affect cycling in this case, but he wanted to try it so we threw it on.

They are advertised as 18" barrels, but when I measured the .308 CF one from end to end, it was exactly 18.5", and the 6.5cm barrel is longer.  I swear, sometimes Canadian gun laws are so fucking retarded.

I also noted that his BCG was bone dry the last time he took his rifle out, so I lubed up the BCG with CLP.  We threw on a Vortex Razor HD Gen II and grabbed a few boxes of Hornady 147gr ELD Match and drove it out to the Abby range to test her out.  



Alex shot the four groups on the bottom sheet.

4 round group, so not counting this one.

Since he was pretty satisfied that his rifle was finally running properly, I took it for a test drive and shot 1 group on the top sheet:

I'd say that's ok for a semi auto NR rifle.

I took a few other rifles out for fun, but didn't try to shoot any groups.  I found out though, that my Norc M14 doesn't seem to like Norc ammo,  It was cycling Hornady Steel Match just fine, but not the 7.62 for some reason.