New member.
Joined because I’m considering replacing my Mini-14 with an AR. Doing my research I have decided on a BCM RECCE ELW 5.56.
Everything I’ve found about BCM is very positive, so I’m interested to know if anyone has had negative experience with their BCM or with the company before I, uh . . . pull the trigger.
Thanks!
A friend of mine bought an 18” SPR upper that would shoot 2 MOA plus with match ammo. He called BCM and they stated it was the shooter and the ammo for poor accuracy, but they reluctantly let him send it back on his dime for evaluation. They sent it back without warning with four test targets over 3 MOA and stated it was “in spec”. He was a bit upset.
My 16” upper was sub-MOA from day one. Eventually his started to tighten up after four or five hundred rounds to about 1-1.5 MOA. He’s ok with it now, but wasn’t pleased with customer service or the fact that their “precision” upper shooting 3 MOA meets their standards.
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I sent a 300 blk barrel back that was jacked; 4-5” at 100 yds with 110 Barnes Supers.
They replaced the barrel and confirmed it was the barrel; not me or ammo.
All of my other BCM gear has been GTG.
I’ve run BCM stuff hard. I really like their materials and execution. Buy with confidence.
I have a 14.5" ELW w/13"KMR rail and a BCM BCG that I bought in 2014 which has been flawless. I have made many, many purchases from them and they are top shelf. Check out their ELW BFH uppers.
I didn’t much care for their Keymod vertical grip. It came loose constantly, and without me even shooting the rifle! It could have been user error on my part, though. Also, I decided to sell my KM rail and go with M-LOK, so I never bothered to call them and ask for help/replacement. But yeah, that was my negative experience with BCM. Every other experience I’ve had with their product quality and customer service has either met or (greatly) exceeded expectations. No company is perfect and everyone makes a lemon once in awhile. But BCM has a very good batting average.
My experience has been good. No issues from either of my BCM rifles.
I think you will find even the very best companies have lemons, negative feedback, and downright haters. I do not own one, but their rep, speaks for itself. BCM may not be perfect, but it does not get much better. Dont think about it too much. You made an excellent choice in configuration. Buy with confidence!
Two BCM uppers I run hard on Mega lowers. 16" and 11.5" ELW KMR-As. They’re great.
I’ve sent several thousand $$$ to BCM over the years and never had a problem. I don’t run my stuff near as hard as some of the guys here but with enough different uppers/parts I’d have seen something by now.
BCM is my starting point. Solid stuff.
Any negatives you will hear are far far outweighed by the number of people who had either had zero problems or had problems that we rectified by CS.
People seem to have issues with gen3 pmags once in a while.
I have a bcg, pistol grip, charging handle, and foregrip and all have worked as advertised.
I would put the polymer on par with magpul stuff as far as the user is concerned (i would guess magpuls is actually ‘better’ material but i cant tell the difference).
A friend has an 18” SS410 upper that has been extremely accurate and reliable(consistent sub moa 5-shot groups with handloads). Never dealt with CS.
I own several BCM products and have yet to have had a bad experience.
If you consider them as a relatively “young” company, then also consider their impact on the market and their very, very few detractors.
There was a time when the market was saturated with questionable manufacturers and wildly varying levels of quality, it was in that market that BCM came in and raised the bar for quality and consistency.
Nope, not a one.
BCM & Colt are the two AR manufactures I recommend to friends. Haven’t gotten a lemon or issue with either brand… but we are dealing with mechanical devices made of manufactured parts…
I prefer MLOK over KM personally if that is an issue. If going lightweight… don’t weigh it down with a bunch of crap as it defeats the purpose.
The two real downsides I can think of about BCM(or what people will call downsides).
First is that BCM has been more about the parts being in spec for function instead of looking pretty. Colt and KAC do the same thing. This bothers some people but from my experience BCM’s stuff usually looks good. Others have complained about it.
Second is accuracy of the barrels. Many seem to shoot for lack of better wording “mil-spec”. Most are not MOA guns, more like 1.5 to maybe 2.5 moa. Again some have problems with this. The guns are made to be run hard and the accuracy is by no means bad on most of them. Again not really a ding, they are fighting guns, not bench rest guns.
Overall I’d say BCM is one of the best options out there. Their product has been well proven by being run hard and abused. If you wanted a sub moa gun I’d look elsewhere though.
I will only say that their Keymod grip stop seemed to never really secure to a PWS rail that I’ve never had any other issues with. But the 1 BCM upper that I do still have is an absolute favorite and is overly accurate for a $450 upper (20" A4 build) I have also owned a 16" upper (non Cold hammer forged) that was also equally amazing. BCM overall is just a great brand.
I have 2…both mid length and no complaints from me…
My personal experience and observation, albeit limited, is that their QC is generally good, but when things slip through, CS is used to not having their product quality questioned and respond in a way that is not up to the standard modern consumers expect in the Walmart/Amazon era.
The vast majority of BCM complaints have been petty, that doesn’t mean they have never had actual issues, but they tend to be few, and taken care of pretty quickly.