Is a 250$ .458 SOCOM upper worth it?

[HerrNuguri]

Hi folks, I've been thinking about getting a different caliber upper for my AR-15. .458 SOCOM seems to be an option, but I don't know much about this caliber so I have some questions. 1,) Is it accurate? 2,) Will I need to swap my buffer&spring for this caliber? 3,) Is side-charging upper reliable? I plan to put a scope on the upper, and an upper with a side charger will be easier to work with. 4,) Can this caliber be used for hunting? This is the actual upper I've been looking at, https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/bca...lok-split-rail Does anyone know anything about BCA? The price seems to be okay for a complete upper assembly, considering I should be able to simply swap to this upper and hit the range.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[Quiet]

Does anyone know anything about BCA?

Previous thread on Bear Creek Arsenals

[tabascoz28]

Left is a Bear Creek, Right PSA
You can see that the channel is very shallow. I'm going to dremmel it a bit but you get what you pay for. I think my pistol upper was $197 shipped.

[HerrNuguri]

Previous thread on Bear Creek Arsenals

Previous thread on Bear Creek Arsenals

[HerrNuguri]

Left is a Bear Creek, Right PSA
You can see that the channel is very shallow. I'm going to dremmel it a bit but you get what you pay for. I think my pistol upper was $197 shipped.
[ATTACH]897840[/ATTACH]

Left is a Bear Creek, Right PSA
You can see that the channel is very shallow. I'm going to dremmel it a bit but you get what you pay for. I think my pistol upper was $197 shipped.
[ATTACH]897840[/ATTACH]

[tabascoz28]

I have a side charger and if you really think about it it's not worth the price. If it was the same price go for it. I have one, almost never have to side charge. Paid $250 for a billet upper stripped...

I have a 10.5 and 7.5 in 556, some people say 11.5 is the minimum for useful power. The air force had one that was a 10 with a long half silencer on it, GAU-5/a/a. The guy that sold me his pistol lower gave me a picture of him carrying it. I have a 9mm upper also in 5.5, just wanted to see how short I could get it.

[HerrNuguri]

I have a side charger and if you really think about it it's not worth the price. If it was the same price go for it. I have one, almost never have to side charge. Paid $250 for a billet upper stripped...

I have a 10.5 and 7.5 in 556, some people say 11.5 is the minimum for useful power. The air force had one that was a 10 with a long half silencer on it, GAU-5/a/a. The guy that sold me his pistol lower gave me a picture of him carrying it. I have a 9mm upper also in 5.5, just wanted to see how short I could get it.

[Flintlock Tom]

I've built several rifles (and a pistol) on BCA parts, including a complete .450 Bushmaster side-charging upper. I've found the quality to be fine. All work as advertised with the exception of the .450: I've had feeding issues, but I suspect it's a "magazine issue" and not a problem with the upper.
I have no experience with .458 SOCOM.

[BigPimping]

Spend a little more on a barrel. In the long run, you'll be glad you did.

[kcheung2]

Any specific caliber is no more or less accurate than any other caliber. It's the quality of the barrel & ammo that determines precision.

There are 3 main qualities for guns: cheap, readily available, and good quality. The conventional wisdom is (at best) one can get 2 of those 3 qualities. Based on your comments, you seem to have a fixation on price. We all consider the price, but many of us also consider value. Most of us have heard of BCA, and yet we stick with other brands or at least go in with a realistic expectation.

[hermosabeach]

I purchased a socom before doing research

If you will shoot it a lot or hunt, I’d go with tromix

Some cut locking mugs so they feed better
The bolt will fail over time and will need to be replaced
(Not the carrier)

The .458 forum is not very active
The .458 Facebook is more active

The forum has a wealth of knowledge and reloading info.

[Sam .223]

I have a low end upper, it has a few issues with chambering the 458, I've tried different ammo and different mags and still has the same issue. I'll be ordering a tromix barrel and bolt to clear this problem up.

[tabascoz28]

Sounds like you live in a free state (250$ is for the complete upper assembly including bcg and ch, doesn’t seem too bad to me)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

First it was a stripped billet, not complete.
It's not a free state thing. Anyone can order an upper for anything they want, I happen to have a pistol lower that was registered as a semi pistol, cost a pretty penny (500+dros+ppt so 54,719 pennies) and neutered with a maglock using 10rd mags.

But yeah, the BCA upper was complete with BCG and charging handle delivered for under 200.

[jager56]

[M1NM]

458 Socom is a good caliber. Your 30 round 5.56 mags become 10 round Socom ones with a swap of the floorplate stamped 458 Socom.
My 16" Tromix upper has worked flawlessly with factory and reloads.