Bear Creek Arsenal is known for their budget AR-15s, AR-10s, AR9s, and basically a budget everything in the Armalite rifle world. They’ve done some odd guns and odd calibers, so being odd isn’t too unusual from the brand. However, I would have never predicted that Bear Creek Arsenal would do something as interesting as a quasi-AR-based lever gun. They call it the MaulAR.
Inside the MaulAR
I swung by their booth to check it out. It’s an odd agglomeration of a fairly large rifle wearing a massive muzzle brake and a familiar Magpul SGA stock. This is seemingly the fourth AR-like lever gun I’ve seen in a short time period at SHOT, so maybe it’s catching fire.
The MaulAR at SHOT 2024 is a big gun, and some of the size and weight came from the fact it’s chambered in 450 Bushmaster. That’s a mighty big round. It’s not the only caliber they plan to produce either. We’ll see popular calibers like 5.56, .300 Blackout, and .350 Legend as well.
The rifle and its lever can stop at 90 degrees or so, and this makes it possible for the MaulAR to use any length AR mag without any issues.
The upper and lower designs are both proprietary. The bolt is radically different, so the lower can’t accept random uppers. The action was surprisingly smooth, and while the rifle was heavy, it was nice and balanced.
The magazine release is a standard AR design, which places it fairly far from the trigger. It’s a bit awkward, and speed reloads will be…interesting. The safety is now a crossbody design positioned above and slightly behind the trigger.
Henry, Fightlite, and Bond are also producing AR-inspired lever action rifles, but I’m willing to bet the MaulAR will be significantly less expensive than the competition. BCA advised of a release later this year, so keep your eye out.