Man has an intrinsic need to create. Sometimes we create things of breathtaking beauty. Other times, we “bubba” up some Mosin Nagants, hydro dip Remington Model 8s, or, in my case, MacGyver an oddball AR-15 abomination that probably shouldn’t exist.
What exactly am I looking at here? That’s a bolt-action bullpup AR-15-ish rifle. It is weird, it is clunky, and it is a total blast.
Budget Parts and Some Odd Solutions
The heart of this build is a Bear Creek Arsenal bolt-action upper. It’s a 5.56 variant that cost me all of about $180. I chose 5.56 simply because it’s cheap to shoot and this gun has no mission other than range day entertainment.
The lower is a Triad modular bullpup chassis. These are designed for uppers that don’t require a receiver extension (a buffer tube), like the BRN-180. For an optic, I went with a Swampfox TriHawk 3X prism. I needed something with short eye relief due to the bullpup configuration, and I wanted a bit of magnification without taking up too much rail space.
Gunsmithing (Term Used Loosely Here)
This wasn’t a simple slap-it-together project. I ran into two major hurdles:
- The Bolt: The BCA bolt handle is the same length as a standard side charging bolt. To get it to cycle within the chassis without protruding awkwardly, I had to take a grinder to it and cut a portion off. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.
- The Handguard: The BCA handguard was too wide for the Triad chassis. Rather than playing the “buy and return” game with online retailers, I took the path of least resistance: I rotated the handguard sideways. It’s janky, but it fits. It’s the ghetto SRS you have at home.
Why Does This Thing Exist?
Originally, I bought the BCA upper for a standard lower with a folding stock, kind of a poor man’s Mini Fix. But when I realized I had the Triad chassis sitting around, a plan — or a fever dream — formed.
I don’t have a tactical reason for this gun. I just like weird, dumb things. While high end bolt-action bullpups exist, they’re incredibly expensive. This el cheapo variant allowed me to experience the ergos of a bullpup bolt gun without the four-figure price tag.
The Suppressor Goal: One actual benefit to this design is its length. Even with a suppressor, it stays incredibly short. Because of its manual action, it should be whisper-quiet with subsonic .223. However, BCA over torques their muzzle devices so aggressively that I haven’t been able to get the flash hider off yet. I need a reaction rod and a lot more leverage to win that battle, but I’ll get there.
With a $180 upper, your expectations for performance have to be realistic. I headed to the range with the cheapest ammo I had on hand, which was steel-cased Tula, to see what the ghetto SRS can actually do.
To The Range
At 100 yards, the accuracy was about what you’d expect from a budget Bear Creek Arsenal barrel. I was consistently punching 4-inch groups. While that’s far from precision grade, it’s perfectly adequate for a just-for-fun build.
If you were to feed it match-grade brass and hand it over to a more talented shooter, those groups would likely shrink noticeably. However, even under perfect conditions, nobody should expect sub-MOA performance from an upper in this price bracket.
The real challenge at the range was the action itself. To put it plainly, the bolt movement is incredibly stiff. It’s the least refined bolt action I have ever operated, as it has a tendency to bind if you don’t use a specific technique. I found that you have to apply inward pressure, pushing the bolt against the receiver wall to get a relatively smooth cycle.
Beyond the physical effort required, I discovered some specific quirks affecting reliability. You can’t baby this gun. It requires an aggressive, high-energy pull and push to ensure it cycles properly. The large bolt handle BCA provides is actually a godsend here, as it gives you the leverage needed to manhandle the action.
Pro Tips
I also learned a few pro tips for anyone brave enough to replicate this build. First, only load your magazines to 29 rounds. If you try to seat a fully loaded 30-round magazine, the upward pressure from the stack causes the bolt to bind on the first round…every single time.
Second, magazine choice is critical. Mags with polymer feed lips like Magpul PMAGs work significantly better. When I tried using Lancer or aluminum magazines with metal feed lips, the friction increased dramatically, making the gun much more prone to sticking.
Despite the binding and the effort required to cycle it, the rifle proved to be reliable in its own way. It consistently loaded and ejected. Even when the action felt like it was fighting me, it never actually failed to go “bang.” Seeing small steel targets swing and trying to time the second shot to hit them on the upswing is genuinely satisfying, even if you have to work for every single round.
The Verdict
Recoil is negligible (it’s just .223, after all) and despite the stiff action, it’s reliable. It loads and it ejects.
Overall, this isn’t a “good” gun, but it is a fun gun. If you want a precision instrument, look elsewhere. You should check out the YouTuber 12 Spies for a much more refined version of this concept. But if you want a cheap, weird conversation starter that lets you plink steel in a unique way, the ghetto SRS delivers.
Slaves need guns too. As long as master gives her/his position.
Permission
Its got this sort of weird ‘almost right’ look – kinda like a Cybertron Transformer that got stuck while transforming.