Bear Creek's New Bc-201 Rifle In-depth Review

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Now, in decades gone by, they used to say there were only two types of riflemen, those which owned Marlin Model 60s and those who fancied Ruger’s 10/22. Both of these designs have proven hugely popular, with over 11 million Model 60s and well over 7 million 10/22s being sold. Many a young shooter has cut his teeth on one or the other. My first semi-automatic rifle was a Marlin Model 60 and I still own a few today. So, I am an unabashed Model 60 fan. That said, there is no argument over which rifle series has greater aftermarket support. When it comes to receivers, barrels, parts and accessories, the 10/22 rules the roost.

With that in mind, I decided to take a look at a new rimfire offering from Bear Creek Arsenal. While Bear Creek Arsenal is known for their economical AR-15 rifles, their new BC-201 is based on the hugely popular 10/22. Yes, a 10/22, but with a number of upscale features. When Bear Creek began designing their BC-201 they decided to incorporate a number of features which would appeal to serious shooters. This sets it apart from a “budget” style rifle. I’ll delve into the specifics in a moment, but let’s first touch on why you should consider a rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle.

The diminutive .22 LR is a fantastic hold-over from the 19th Century. It’s small, light, fairly quiet, easy to suppress, capable of startling accuracy and very effective if properly placed. It’s a wise choice to have some form of .22 LR in your tool box. Hunting rifles in this caliber tend to be light, easy to carry and economical. The little rimfire has long been the go-to cartridge for putting meat on the table.

With the current high cost of center-fire rifle ammunition, the economical .22 LR makes a lot of sense. It is a fantastic round for plinking, recreational shooting, training, and having fun with family and friends. Due to its low cost, you can spend productive time on the range without setting your wallet on fire. This makes it an excellent cartridge for marksmanship training. I shoot a large amount of .22 LR each month practicing, trying new things and learning. Of course, the .22 LR is also a very popular competition cartridge.

In years past, .22 LR ammunition was widely available in grades running from economical bulk pack all the way up to loads suitable for international competition. Better still, much of it was priced very economically. Sadly, all of that changed with the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the following panic buying of firearms and ammunition. The one caliber many shooters and hunters never dreamed would disappear was .22 LR. But it did. After the shelves were stripped bare, and remained that way, prices went through the roof. 550 round bulk packs which once sold for $15 suddenly sold for $100, if you could find them.

This had the unfortunate effect that many people who began shooting in the years after the Sandy Hook tragedy were never introduced to .22 LR firearms. So, many are unaware of their value for recreation, hunting, serious training or competition. Luckily .22 LR ammo prices have dropped and there are great deals to be had. I have been “buying it cheap and stacking it deep” as the old saying goes! Recently, I have been buying cases of 5,000 rounds of .22 LR for the same price 500 rounds of .223 Rem costs. That is a lot of shooting, and fun at an economical price. I highly recommend having a firearm or two in .22 LR in your collection. It makes good economic sense, especially in the times we live in.

My love of .22 LR rimfires piqued my interest in seeing how Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-201 rifle would perform. When I first heard Bear Creek was going to be offering a model based upon the 10/22 design I expected it to be “cheap” economy model. I was surprised to learn Bear Creek went in a different direction. The BC-201 is built on a beefy billet receiver machined from 7075 T6 aluminum which incorporates an integral MIL STD 1913 Picatinny rail machined into the top. This facilitates quick and easy mounting of optical sights. Inside the receiver is what Bear Creek refers to as a “high-performance bolt with an enhanced firing pin” which they claim provides both improved durability and accuracy. The bolt is machined from E9310 steel. Bear Creek redesigned the side-charging handle and patented their design. Their extended charging handle is large, nicely contoured and easy to manipulate.

Installed in the front of the action is a 16-inch match grade barrel machined from 416R stainless steel. The heavy profile barrel has a diameter of 0.920-inch and features an 11-degree target crown on the muzzle. While the muzzle of my review rifle is not threaded, Bear Creek will be offering rifles with threaded muzzles in the near future. Keep in mind sound suppressors are exploding in popularity. This in turn has led to increased demand for firearms which can mount them straight out of the box. Much to their credit Bear Creek has responded by offering what many shooters are asking for.

The barreled action is installed in one of Hogue’s popular over-molded stocks. The stock is comfortable and features sling studs on the butt and fore-arm. Plus, the stock has classic looks. Examining the BC-201 you’ll note the controls are pretty straight forward. It has an easy to operate cross-bolt safety in front of the trigger guard. A quick push and you can go from safe to fire, if you’re right handed. The design also incorporates an ambidextrous paddle style magazine release. This is long enough to be easy to manipulate. Plus, you can manually lock the bolt open. The bolt handle is mounted on the right side of the receiver.

The rifle feeds from standard 10-round 10/22 magazines, and one came with the rifle. It will also feed from other capacity 10/22 pattern magazines and I used a 25-round Ruger magazine during testing as well. The BC-201 does feel good in the hands and shoulders nicely. Bare weight of the rifle is 6.5 pounds. Handling wise it, well, feels like a high-end 10/22 with a bull barrel. The Hogue stock is comfortable and nicely contoured.

                                   
                                   
                               

To see how Bear Creek’s BC-201 performed, I mounted a Swampfox 1-10x24mm Arrowhead scope. This is a second focal plane design, with a bright illuminated “Guerrilla Dot Mil Long” reticle. Usually, and in the past, I have gravitated towards 2-7x scopes on my .22 LR rifles, but this Swampfox Arrowhead seemed the perfect size and offered magnification running from 1x to 10x. Typically, scopes in this particular magnification range are scary expensive but this model of Arrowhead has a reasonable MSRP of $495. I then added a leather Montana sling and a quick detach bipod. All dressed up, with a 25-round magazine inserted, the BC-201 looked really nice.

Next, I rummaged about in my gun room and came up with a variety of .22 LR loads for testing. I tried to include a good mix to see what the rifle is capable of. Four five-shot groups were fired from a rest with each load at 50 yards. Groups fired at 25 yards would have looked better, but I feel 50 yards tells a bit more about what a rimfire rifle is capable of.

I found the Bear Creek very comfortable to fire from the bench. The trigger surprised me as it is both light and breaks crisply. This trigger is a definite aid to accuracy. The reticle in the Swampfox scope also made shooting groups on paper easier. Magazines inserted easily, locked into place securely, and rounds fed smoothly from the magazine. The safety clicked nicely from safe to fire and the stock is comfortable. I had perfect test conditions on one day at the range while on another I had winds gusting up from eight to 12 mph, so less than ideal. That said, the BC-201 proved to be a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, everything did not go smoothly at the range. As soon as I began testing, I noted this rifle did not like high velocity ammunition. I experienced consistent failures to feed as I began to zero the optic and get a feel for the rifle. This happened with ammunition with an advertised muzzle velocity of 1,255 fps and higher. Switching to standard velocity and subsonic ammunition cured the feeding issue and the BC-201 proceeded to run flawlessly. This is one area where .22 Long Rifle chambered firearms differ from their center-fire relatives. Semi-automatic rimfires typically prefer certain types of ammunition. Often, it has to do with a velocity range and sometimes with a bullet shape. I have a .22 LR handgun which will only reliably function with loads with an advertised velocity of 1,255 fps and higher. In the case of the BC-201, this example simply prefers standard velocity and subsonic ammunition.

Accuracy from the bench at 50 yards ranged from so-so to pretty good depending upon the load. Best accuracy was obtained using Aguila’s 40-grain SE Subsonic load which averaged 0.9 inch at 982 fps. This load did a best of four rounds in 0.6 of an inch with the fifth bringing the group out to 0.9 of an inch. Next up was Wolf Performance Ammunition’s Match Target 40-grain load which averaged 1.3 inches at 1,063 fps. This load did a best of four rounds in 0.65 of an inch with all five in 1.3 inches. Finishing out the top three was Aguila again, this time with their Super Extra standard velocity load. This averaged 1.4 inches at 1,070 fps and had a best of four rounds in 0.9 of an inch and all five in 1.2 inches.

With my 50 yard bench testing completed, I moved on to some fun recreational shooting. I began by firing the BC-201 off the bipod at 100 yards. I have various steel silhouettes, plates, and plate racks set up on my range. These proved no match for the Bear Creek/Swampfox combo. During this portion of testing, I noted the BC-201’s over-size charging handle works really well with an optic mounted. Without an optic mounted it looks a bit large, but after you mount a scope you can see it’s a very practical size.

Next, I moved to shooting from position at 75, 50, and 25 yards. I have a small Action Target Rimfire dueling tree, and the BC-201 and a 25-round magazine proved a lot of fun. The rifle balances well, hangs nicely offhand, and would be a very capable small game gun. It’s certainly a fun plinker. Again, the trigger is very good on this example which enhanced its performance.

Since its introduction, the 10/22 has steadily become very popular and today the design is an accepted standard for many companies building rifles, parts and accessories. A number of my friends swear by them. The mechanism is well thought out and simple to operate. Handy, reliable, fun to shoot, and accurate it’s easy to see why the basic 10/22 design has flourished. Bear Creek Arsenal’s BC-201 is an appealing offering with some nice features. Suggested retail of this model is $345. It’s a pretty solid value when compared to competing models with similar features. 

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