Need help solving Bear Creek Arsenal 350 Legend jamming

[christian1]

Bought an upper from BCA for my Springfield AR. It continually jams. The bullet is caught by the bolt carrier group and stuck. Usually the bullet is stuck sideways with the bolt carrier hitting it in the middle of the cartridge. I have tried polishing the feed ramp and switching mags. I have tried two different kinds of bullets. Some jam every time. Do I need a heavier buffer tube? I know this has been a constant problem with BCA. Anyone have suggestions to get this thing running?

 

[christian1]

Anybody? Please!!!

 

[CHSD]

Do you have enough lube on the bcg?

 

[christian1]

Do you have enough lube on the bcg?

It's wet.

 

[Goatie]

I’m in the same boat with a faxon barrel Seekins upper 350 legend build. Actually 4 of them as 3 buddies and I built similar guns for Iowa deer. I’m waiting to hear back from faxon as I’ve done all of the things you’ve done. Tried 3 different brands of uppers, 3 bcg’s, 6 different mags, 5 types of ammo. Same issue. I’m hesitant to polish feed ramps and void any warranty.
I’ve also debated on polishing the chamber to see if that helps to keep the rounds from jamming like you explained.

Have you tried different ammo? I had a bad experience with browning ammo that felt as though they were a tighter chamber fit. Winchester fmj’s are catching on the ramps with their flat tips. Unfortunately none seem to work well but the browning was the worst of all I’ve tried.

 

[christian1]

I’m in the same boat with a faxon barrel Seekins upper 350 legend build. Actually 4 of them as 3 buddies and I built similar guns for Iowa deer. I’m waiting to hear back from faxon as I’ve done all of the things you’ve done. Tried 3 different brands of uppers, 3 bcg’s, 6 different mags, 5 types of ammo. Same issue. I’m hesitant to polish feed ramps and void any warranty.
I’ve also debated on polishing the chamber to see if that helps to keep the rounds from jamming like you explained.

Have you tried different ammo? I had a bad experience with browning ammo that felt as though they were a tighter chamber fit. Winchester fmj’s are catching on the ramps with their flat tips. Unfortunately none seem to work well but the browning was the worst of all I’ve tried.

Winchester Deer Season 150s with the pointed tip are the worst for one gun. I just don't know what else to do. They said I could send it back, but they aren't doing any warranty work right now. All you get is a new barrel and who is to say that will be any better?

chris

 

[FullValue]

Had a similar problem with a 300 blackout I replaced the extractor spring with a heavy upgraded spring kit. Helped my issue out.

 

[christian1]

I use the same lower with my 6.8spc and have zero problems cycling.

 

[jackle1886]

My friend and I each bought a BCA upper in 350 legend. Both were jammomatics. I tried mags, lowers and different bullets. Didn't seam to matter. Both went back to BCA and were replaced. New ones seem to run fine. Send it back!

 

[christian1]

My friend and I each bought a BCA upper in 350 legend. Both were jammomatics. I tried mags, lowers and different bullets. Didn't seam to matter. Both went back to BCA and were replaced. New ones seem to run fine. Send it back!

I have an email out to them. Seems like such a waste of time.

chris

 

[go4thegusto]

Mechanical interferences are certainly a possibility but 90% of the time AR issues are gas and/or buffer spring related. Can you cycle rounds through it manually without an issue?
If yes, then try an adjustable gas block and play with buffer springs.
I recently had an issue on mine (223 however). Opened up gas block and put in a heavier buffer spring. Solved my issue. Good Luck

 

[christian1]

Mechanical interferences are certainly a possibility but 90% of the time AR issues are gas and/or buffer spring related. Can you cycle rounds through it manually without an issue?
If yes, then try an adjustable gas block and play with buffer springs.
I recently had an issue on mine (223 however). Opened up gas block and put in a heavier buffer spring. Solved my issue. Good Luck

It has issues when manually cycling as well. Not as many issues, but it has them.

chris

 

[isu22andy]

Try the cheap winchester 180gr super x . Any poly tips wont cycle in mine

 

[christian1]

145 grain round nose FMJ won't cycle.

 

[robtattoo]

I found the only thing that cycles in mine is the winchester 180s. Even then, I had to pull the barrel & polish the living hell out of the chamber. The machining marks inside the chamber mouth were so freaking bad, the top edge of the base mouth would constantly hang up.
I've found that it's better with use (I'm at about 50 rounds right now) but it's still hanging at least twice per 10 round mag. I only bought the thing to hunt a friend's farm in Indiana maybe 1 weekend a year & it was cheaper than buying a CVA single shot, so it's going to maybe see 1 or 2 shots per year. I'm working on the principle now, that it's a single shot rifle & anything after that is a bonus.

 

[35remy]

I recently picked up one of BCA’s .350 legend uppers when they came back in stock. I was apprehensive at first for the reasons described above, but the price was right so I thought I would give it a try.

THE GOOD: They must have made some changes in the way they leave the factory. My upper came with a shiny polished chamber and feed ramp that hasn’t had a jam or failure to feed with any ammo other than 124 XTP’s. I’ve run Win white box 145’s, Win 180 power point, Win 150 deer seasons, as well as 165 FTX reloads and 124 XTP reloads. Admittedly, the 124’s were tough to feed if I didn’t apply positive pressure to the bottom of the magazine. I believe a slight beveling at the front of the mag may fix the issue, but I don’t plan on running 124’s very often.

THE STRANGE: I’ve have had some strange pressure signs on my brass that don’t appear to have any common factor other than the rifle. All of the ammo described above had a few pieces of brass that were noticeably bulged near the case head, and some had extractor marks. This was true for both the factory ammo tested as well as the reloads. Probably close to a third of the brass had to be thrown out after my last range session.

So, while I cannot complain about the reliability of the upper to “go bang,” I am concerned that there may be another issue. I plan to run about 100 rounds of different ammo through my CVA Scout .350 to see if it produces any similarities. I will update soon.

 

[Krystian3]

I recently picked up one of BCA’s .350 legend uppers when they came back in stock. I was apprehensive at first for the reasons described above, but the price was right so I thought I would give it a try.

THE GOOD: They must have made some changes in the way they leave the factory. My upper came with a shiny polished chamber and feed ramp that hasn’t had a jam or failure to feed with any ammo other than 124 XTP’s. I’ve run Win white box 145’s, Win 180 power point, Win 150 deer seasons, as well as 165 FTX reloads and 124 XTP reloads. Admittedly, the 124’s were tough to feed if I didn’t apply positive pressure to the bottom of the magazine. I believe a slight beveling at the front of the mag may fix the issue, but I don’t plan on running 124’s very often.

THE STRANGE: I’ve have had some strange pressure signs on my brass that don’t appear to have any common factor other than the rifle. All of the ammo described above had a few pieces of brass that were noticeably bulged near the case head, and some had extractor marks. This was true for both the factory ammo tested as well as the reloads. Probably close to a third of the brass had to be thrown out after my last range session.

So, while I cannot complain about the reliability of the upper to “go bang,” I am concerned that there may be another issue. I plan to run about 100 rounds of different ammo through my CVA Scout .350 to see if it produces any similarities. I will update soon.

Did you have any more info on the pressure issues? I just ran into the same thing. I sent the ammo back to Hornady and they said they'd test it to make sure it's fine. Although after testing some other ammo and seeing high pressures on different boxes it no longer seems like an ammo issue. It seems like some ammo is done but others aren't almost as if the upper can only marginally handle the upper limit of pressure.

 

[RockAndSage]

The first thing that comes to mind with those photos, is that the casing is being extracted while the bore is still under pressure. If it were just one side, like with a Glock, I might suspect an unsupported chamber. But those look more donut-like. The only thing that makes sense is that the casing is partially outside of the chamber while the bore's under pressure.

If this is the case, it indicates that the pressure curve of the powder burn inside the bore is occurring too close to the gas port, resulting in a lot more gas and higher gas pressure going down the gas tube and into the gas key and starting the extraction process with the BCG, before the bullet fully exits and the bore de-pressurizes. This can happen with gas ports/blocks that are too close to the chamber, or with powder that is a slower-burning variant.

In either case, an adjustable gas block would likely solve the problem. Rifle Speed's adjustable gas system would be something to look into.

One final thing that comes to mind, is if there is some sort of obstruction at the far end of the chamber, where the casing is stopped by the rim in the chamber, at the neck. It's a guess, but it may be possible that a little fouling or even poor machining might still allow the round to chamber and fire - maybe combined with some looser tolerances between the bolt lugs and the barrel extension, and the casing might be a hair too far back out of the chamber during firing, or be squirting out just that little bit. That seems less likely, but it's the first thing I'd check.

 

[Ringbill27]

I built a 350 legend and had this issue. I swapped in a H2 buffer which did help. I found the issue was mostly in the mag. I found that there was way too much tension in the rounds so I clipped 8ish loops of the unexpanded coils of the spring and expanded two to get the proper tension. I then ground the front lip down because the mouth of the case was catching the lip.

This relieved most of the jamming but still have the occasional jam. I’ve been thinking of swapping out the gas block for an adjustable one then going to a stand buffer.

Edit: didn’t realize this post was from 2022. O well someone can use this info.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

The problem is Bear Creek Arsenal. They are junk. They are cheap for a reason.

I could help diagnose any AR problem, but with BCA components, my first answer is to get rid of the BCA components, at least the barrel. Starting here eliminates the most likely variable and will save time, ammo and money in the end.