The Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact: Gem or Garbage?

I’m not blindly loyal to any firearms manufacturer. Most of them have hits and misses. So when the opportunity to try something new rolls around, I’m usually interested. Recently I got the opportunity to test the Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact and this is how it went.

Disclosure: Bear Creek Arsenal provided the pistol to us at no cost. That will not influence our opinions.

Who is Bear Creek Arsenal?

If you’re active in the world of budget ARs, Bear Creek Arsenal (BCA) is probably a name you’re familiar with. But if you’re not in that community, you may not be familiar with them. BCA is based in Sanford, NC and has long been involved in the manufacture of AR pattern rifles and components. In the past, I’ve purchased 3 AR uppers from them, one in 5.56 mm, one in 7.62×39 and one in .22 LR. I’ve been happy with all 3 purchases.

Recently, BCA got into the striker-fired handgun market with their Grizzly pistols, based on the Generation 3 Glock handguns. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t super excited about this gun. Higher-priced companies like Shadow Systems have been making Glock clones for a while and even budget-build competitor Palmetto State Armory has one at nearly an identical price point. What I soon found out was the Grizzly was more than just a Glock clone.

Buy a BCA Grizzly Compact here.

The Specs

Normally at this point, I do a chart comparing the pistol being reviewed and a comparable one. Unfortunately, I can’t do that this time because of some logistical issues (I’m writing this on the road) and I forgot to take measurements earlier.

Here’s what we do know: This is a Glock 19-sized pistol, using a flush-fit 15-round magazine. The version we tested had a threaded barrel made of 416R stainless steel. There are several different choices for barrel finishes or choosing between fluted and non-fluted.

The gun’s optics-ready slide is cut for an RMR pattern and has window cuts in the slide as well. The weight on it is approximately 20 ounces. The frame features a full Picatinny rail if you decide you want to throw a light on it.

The iron sights are steel, unlike the plastic sights Glock still insists on using. My sample had 3 dot sights. They are not night sights per se. They are photoluminescent, the fancy way of saying ‘glow in the dark’. While they did glow a little, I was underwhelmed with that feature.

What’s in the Box?

Opening the box is kind of fun. There is an overlay that looks like a bear footprint which was a nice touch. The Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact ships with 2 magazines, some stickers and a gun lock. Since I live in a free state, my magazines were 15-round capacity. Both were KCI manufactured.

First Impressions

Immediately looking at the gun, I thought ‘Hmm, this looks really nice’. The stainless steel barrel contrasted with the black frame and the slide nicely. Even the screws for the optics cover were stainless. It just looked classy. The slide had good, usable serrations front and back.

Picking the gun up and holding it for the first time also held some surprises. I had read the press release about the gun when it was being released and they referred to the grip texture as a “Bear Fur Stippling”. I’ll admit thinking that sounded a little cheesy and I figured it was going to be a little bit of a failure. I was wrong. It may look a bit strange if you stare at it, but the texture in the hand feels…well, it feels right. More on the texture later. There is also an index point on both sides above the trigger guard that is well-textured.

Everything felt solid. The fit and finish was very good. The finish on the slide was a deep black that looked like it belonged on a more expensive gun. The Glock-style trigger had minimal take-up and a pretty good break. My sample was between 4.5 and 5 pounds. The rest was short, audible and tactile.

Shooting Impressions

The gun shipped with some oil on it, so I decided to shoot it right from the box to see how it would perform. On the first trip, I fed it mostly Fiocchi 115 grain FMJ. I also threw in a little Sierra 115-grain hollow points. To do the initial shooting, I used the KCI magazines that shipped with it, some Glock OEM magazines, Magpul mags and a couple from Amend 2.

Initially, I just wanted to see if the gun would function well out of the box. I loaded up a few mags, ran a target out to about 7 yards and let it rip. Immediately I started to appreciate the Bear Fur Stippling. Like the Springfield Armory Echelon and the Walther PDP, the texture became more functional during use. It wasn’t as aggressive as the S&W 2.0 texture, but it was a much more useful and secure feeling than the Glock Gen 3 texture.

Then I brought my target back and was pleased to see that the Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact had some pretty good accuracy. For the first 200 rounds, I was mainly looking at the reliability of the gun. I wasn’t trying to shoot groups, but the Grizzly was holding up its end for sure. Shooting at 10 yards, it was easy to keep everything in the 9 ring, with most being in the 10. Truth be told, the ones in the 9 were me being sloppy and not on the gun.

During this session, I did a lot of mag changes and came to appreciate the built-in magwell. The flare from the magwell was also an aid in keeping the gun from moving around during use. I also came to appreciate the generous undercut of the trigger guard.

Bottom line: 100% reliable right out of the box. I put 250 rounds of the Fiocchi and 50 rounds of the Sierra through it. It never hiccupped.

Second Round

Encouraged by the results of the first session, I took the gun back out for some more evaluation. No cleaning or lubricating was done. I brought my wife, daughter and son-in-law out to the range and let them test-fire it as well. I had them fire some mags with the Grizzly, then fire my Glock 19 Gen 5 right after, and then asked them to compare and contrast the two.

My daughter struggled with both guns. She is a petite young woman and has small hands. With a proper grip, she can barely reach the trigger. She liked how it felt in her hands, but the size of either gun simply wasn’t working for her.

My wife has shot the Glock 19 quite a bit, including trips to the Sig Academy with it. She liked the Bear Fur texturing better than the Glock and felt the trigger was easier to shoot accurately. When I asked which one she’d rather shoot, the Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact got her vote.

My son-in-law has big hands, so he appreciated the ability to get a full grip on the gun. He also preferred the grip texture of the Grizzly over the Glock. He also felt like the flare at the bottom of the grip helped him get back on target quicker. Overall, he chose the BCA over the Glock as well.

Overall, we put another 300 rounds through the Grizzly. Most of those were Magtech steel case 115 grain and another 25 of the Sierra hollow points. 600 rounds of FMJ, hollow points, brass and steel case. The gun never failed to function correctly.

The Magazines

As I mentioned earlier, I intentionally used a few different magazines, both 15 and 17-round capacity. All of them functioned as expected, except the Amend 2. One of the Amend 2 mags, a 17-rounder, would drop free on its own every once in a while. This did not happen with the KCI, Glock or Magpul magazines, so I’m not blaming the gun for this.

A Few Points

The Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact exceeded my expectations. But there are still a few things worth mentioning.  

As a Gen 3 clone, it is not as left-handed friendly as I wish. There is no slide release on the right side. This is one of the things that has kept me from buying Shadow Systems pistols. If you’re not left-handed, you won’t care about this, but if you are, it may matter. The mag release, however, is swappable.

The pistol also has a few sharp edges. The front of the Picatinny rail had some corners and the take-down level has some pretty sharp points. If I were going to carry this gun, I would probably smooth off the ends of the rail. I will likely smooth out the take-down lever a little as well.

The thread protector on the barrel had a tendency to loosen while shooting.  It has a lot of threads before it comes off, but it is the kind of thing that annoys me a little. I have the same issue with my Taurus TX22.

I do like that BCA puts steel sights on the gun, but the green dots aren’t as visible as I like. I’ll probably leave these on it, but if I were making this gun a home defense pistol, I’d likely replace them with something more visible.

Where Does It Fit?

So, who is the Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact for? With an MSRP of $295, this pistol is squarely in the budget gun market. This would be a great pistol for getting into shooting. It may be inexpensive, but it shoots like a more expensive gun. Frankly, I had a lot of fun shooting this thing. And I will continue shooting it. I feel like it has been reliable enough that I wouldn’t be afraid to trust it in a home defense role. If you are an experienced shooter who wants a “truck gun”, something to stash on the boat or a gun to carry around in the woods, this will certainly fill the need.

While this isn’t going to be a carry gun for me, I do plan to use it for students. It’s reliable, easy to shoot and accurate, all the things I need to build confidence in a new shooter.

As a Glock clone, you will find many parts are available for it. The gun is functionally simple to work on. As a side note, I tried it on several of my G19 holsters. It fit a couple, but most did not. The Picatinny rail was a big part of that. So don’t presume it will fit a standard G19 holster.

Buy a BCA Grizzly Compact here.

The Verdict

Would I recommend the Bear Creek Arsenal Grizzly Compact? If you want an accurate, reliable and fun-to-shoot gun with a low price tag, yes, I would. This gun punches above its weight. If I had to defend my home tonight with this gun, I’d do it with confidence.

The Grizzly line has the 101 (Glock 17 size) and 102 (Glock 19 size) versions. They have color, finish and barrel options to fit a lot of tastes. Check them out and see what appeals to you.

This post contains references to products using affiliate links. We may receive compensation if you click on links to those products and make purchases. No one has paid us for our opinions or recommendations.