Bear Creek Arsenal Bear Pump (.450 Bushmaster, 18")

The Bear Pump is Bear Creek Arsenal's first pump-action AR-15, and this is the .450 Bushmaster rifle with the 18-inch barrel. Instead of using gas to cycle, the action runs by hand: pull the sliding forend rearward to extract and eject the spent case, push it forward to chamber the next round. Everything behind the upper is a standard AR-15 lower with a mil-spec trigger, so AR grips, stocks, and lower parts carry over.

The barrel is an 18-inch heavy-profile 4150 chrome moly vanadium tube with a parkerized finish and a 1:24 twist, capped by a muzzle brake. A 15-inch M-LOK split rail surrounds the pump forend, and a full-length Picatinny top rail runs from the receiver forward for an optic. Bear Creek lists the rifle at 7.7 pounds with the bolt carrier group and charging system included and no magazine in the box.

.450 Bushmaster is a straight-wall big-game cartridge, which makes the Bear Pump a deer and hog rifle first. The pump action is the point: it gives AR ergonomics to shooters who want, or are limited to, a manually operated rifle. Some states regulate AR-15 receivers or named models as well as semiautomatic actions, so check your state's law before buying.