Looking for a fast shooting and hard hitting big game rifle?
I take a look at Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-15 in .450 Bushmaster and BCA Branded Red Dot Sight combination for those quick big game shot hunting opportunities.
Growing up during Ohio deer seasons back in the 1980’s, deer drives with smooth bore shotguns and rifled slugs was the way it was done. Rifles, other than muzzleloaders, were strictly unlawful. Open iron sights, or even just a plain ‘ole front bead shotgun sight, was the normal. Maybe a fancy friend had a small scope or one of those new ‘fangled red dot scopes later with a rifled barreled shotgun loaded up with B.R.I. sabot slugs…
Times have certainly changed for deer hunting game laws in the modern times. Here is Ohio, now “straight walled rifle cartridges” are legal for deer gun season. The hard hitting .450 Bushmaster cartridge is a great pick. A fast shooting BCA AR-15 chambered in .450 Bushmaster would be a great choice. Add a modern BCA Red Dot Scope and the modern deer drive rifle is born. With that thought in my mind, I contacted my friends over at Bear Creek Arsenal to see if I could review such a game changing rifle and scope combination.
A very short time later my favorite local gun shop, Finest Firearms, received the highly anticipated Bear Creek Arsenal AR-15 .450 Bushmaster Complete Rifle and BCA Branded Red Dot Sight. Let’s take a look at what this combination offers:
This Bear Creek Arsenal AR-15 .450 Bushmaster Complete Rifle has a 16″ heavy barrel with a parkerized finish, and features a 1:24 twist, with a carbine gas system. It includes the BCA Talon 15″ MLOK split rail, an M4 flat-top 7075 forged aluminum upper receiver, a BCA AR15 Bolt Carrier Group, Flash Hider, rear charging handle, and mil-spec forged AR-15 multicaliber lower.
| Color | Anodized – Default |
|---|---|
| SKU | CRF-1037-450CHB16124P.875FL-15ASR |
| Weight (lbs) | 7.750000 |
| Manufacturer | Bear Creek Arsenal |
| Magazine Capacity | N/A |
| Barrel Length | 16 |
| Profile | Heavy Barrel |
| Twist | 1:24 |
| Barrel Finish | Parkerized |
| Material | 4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium |
| Thread Pitch | 5/8 x 32 |
| Caliber | .450 Bushmaster |
| Feed Ramp | Single |
| Flutes | Non-fluted |
| Gas System | Carbine |
| Gas Block System | 0.875 |
| Charging Style | Rear Charging |
| Classification | Rifle |
| Platform | AR-15 |
| Bolt Material | E9310 |
| Receiver Material | Forged |
Now what about that Red Dot/Green Dot Sight? Well this is what BCA says about it:
High Quality BCA Branded Red Dot Sight. Switch between a Red or Green Reticle depending on your preference to greatly improve accuracy and performance. For any situation, this sight fits on any 20mm Mount Rails and comes with lens covers. No matter the occasion, this Bear Creek Arsenal Red Dot sight is the right choice.
Adjustment Type: 1/4″ Clicks
Red Dot Size: 4 MOA
Field of View: 60
Mount Rail Diameter: 20 mm
Lens Covers Included: Yes
- Red Dot/Green Dot
- Reticle Type: Mil-Dot
- Type: RIFLE
- Illuminated Type: Red and Green with 5 level brightness adjustment
- Magnification: 1 X
- Field Of View(@100yds): 60 degree
- Tube Diameter: 40mm
- Objective Diameter: 35mm
- Eye Relief: Flexible
- Exit Pupil Diameter: 80mm
- Length: 120mm
- Height: 3.03inch
- Weight: 475g
Package Includes:
1 X Cleaning Cloth
1 X Instruction Manual
*Battery not included*
Battery Type: 3 V/CR2032
Right away I found the handling characteristics of the Bear Creek Arsenal AR-15 .450 Bushmaster Complete Rifle to be very comfortable and extremely lively in my hands. On a quick shooting deer drive or other situation where you need a heavy caliber and a fast handling carbine this one is certainly top notch.
The impressive flash hider tones down the flash signature quite well and even helps mitigate the recoil that a larger caliber .450 Bushmaster chambered rifle certainly might have.
A thoughtful addition to the rifle shipped was a small bottle of Shooter’s Choice FP-10 CLP Lubricant. Never run any weapon dry! Make sure you lube first!
Range day came on a pleasant October morning. I chose to test Bear Creek Arsenal AR-15 .450 Bushmaster Complete Rifle and the Bear Creek Arsenal Red Dot sight with Hornady’s 250 grain FTX loads. They are marketed as running 2200 FPS at the muzzle. Now that is very impressive!
I have long been a fan of the Hornady FTX projectiles in a larger caliber firearm and this will be my first time trying the Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-15 in .450 Bushmaster and BCA Branded Red Dot Sight combination with them.
I chose the 100 yard range at my local gun club for testing. Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-15 in .450 Bushmaster and BCA Branded Red Dot Sight combination sure is a sight to behold when she’s ready for action!
Right away I was on target. First shots ran low, and I increased the elevation until I achieved the 3 shot group below (actually 5 shot group but I patched the earlier 2 shots). At 100 yards using the 1 magnification red dot or green dot sight I was able to group the Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-15 in .450 Bushmaster quite tightly off a bench rest. To say that I was impressed is taking it lightly!
While testing out the Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-15 in .450 Bushmaster and BCA Branded Red Dot Sight combination I had no malfunction problems with either product. Those big .45 caliber projectiles slammed the target down range hard and really made the hanging steel plates dance at that distance. The spent cartridge brass landed about 5 feet to my right. This is not your ordinary caliber AR-15! In a hard use platform like the AR-15 design, bad weather and other dangers will not affect it. Try that with your vintage walnut stocked family heirloom deer rifle. Save that one for the gun rack at home.
In summary after testing the Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-15 in .450 Bushmaster and BCA Branded Red Dot Sight combination I can honestly state it is a solid choice for big game and big fun! I look forward to using it this December deer gun season to maximize my chances on a large, sneaky Ohio whitetail trophy buck.