BCM Europearms BCM-15 rifle: a cutting-edge AR-15, made in Italy
IWA 2017 - The BCM Europearms company showcased the BCM-15, a totally Italian-made modern sporting rifle offering many innovations that make it more than "just another AR-15"
The Italian-based BCM Europearms S.r.l. company showcased the BCM-15 rifle at the 2017 edition of IWA OutdoorClassics
Headquartered in northern Italy, the BCM Europearms brand is mostly known for its line of long-range bolt-action rifles used, among others, by the Italian Special Forces community. New this year from the Company, showcased at IWA OutdoorClassics despite still being in its final development stages, is an AR-15 type semi-automatic rifle conceived specifically for the civilian market – a strong message of resilience against the so-called EU Gun Ban.
But the BCM Europearms BCM-15 semi-automatic rifle is not just another AR-15: it offers a plethora of tweaks to the design that are typical to the flair and inspiration of the company owne, Mr.Gianmattia Molina, and that make it a potentially cutting edge choice among modern sporting rifles.
Among the peculiar features of the BCM-15 rifles is the use of MRR multi-radially rifled barrels
The BCM-15 is chambered for the .223 Remington / 5,56x45mm NATO caliber, and feeds through standard STANAG 4179 AR-15 type magazines. It is based on a direct gas impingment system, and uses a low-profile gas valve; all controls are ambidextrous; the upper receiver is machined from a solid billet of 7075 T6 aluminum alloy, the lower receiver is likewise CNC-machined from a semi-finished forged block, and the ventilated low-profile handguard is extruded out of a section bar of the same material. Finishes planned are either MIL-SPEC black hard anodization or desert tan Cerakote.
And that is what the BCM-15 has in common with other AR-15s out there. What tells it apart is the MRR ("Multi-Radial Rifling") barrel, which is 14.5" long in the prototype – other lengths will be available in the future – and comes with the company's own machined flash hider. Engineered by Gianmattia Molina and manufactured in Italy to be used chiefly on the Sabatti line of bolt-action high-accuracy rifles, the MRR barrels offer superior ballistics, accuracy and overall performance in all platforms.
Pierangelo Tendas – senior editor for GUNSweek.com – inspects the BCM-15 prototype with Gianmattia Molina, the owner of BCM Europearms
Other differences include the use of both an ambidextrous T-shaped cocking handle and of a reciprocating charging handle that also dubs as a forward assist and eliminates the need for a standard FA button. But the true innovation is the use of a modified spring system behind the bolt carrier group that allows the BCM-15 to do without a standard recoil buffer, to mount a folding stock and to actually shoot with its stock folded without the need of a proprietary BCG, and still using an M4-type collapsible stock mounted on a MIL-SPEC buffer tube.
The sample showcased at IWA featured a Law Tactical hinge for the buffer tube and stock, but in the production-grade samples, all the components will be manufactured in-house by the company.
The BCM Europearms BCM-15 rifle should be finalized in the months to come. What we can tell so far is that, judging from what we could see, the BCM-15 shows that radical innovation in the field of the AR-15 platform is no longer an American monopoly – and even more so with the further tweaks that Mr. Molina confessed to have in store for the design, a potential game changer on the European market.
