BCG question

[Creeky73]

hey guys, long time since I posted here, hope everyone is doing well.

So, as the title states, question about bcg's. I'm aware of the things to look for in basic mil-spec bolts and carriers, but I am thinking about buying a new one, and getting one either chrome or nickel boron. I was hoping someone could school me as to whether one is preferred over the other as far as wear resistance, ease of maintenance, etc, or if there are some things about either process that I should know/consider before making my decision. I am also wondering about the Young National Match carriers, and whether these provide any further benefit aside from the chroming that I should consider. I also want it to work well with an A5 buffer system, so I thought I would mention that on the outside chance that it might make some kind of difference.

thanks

[alamo5000]

My opinion based on some experience and on reading here...

The coated, nickel, chrome or whatever you want to call it... they tend to stain after extended use so that snazzy color that attracted you to the carrier in the first place won't last forever. I could be wrong about that though.

I've also heard that those types of BCG's claim to be easier to clean and are supposedly self lubricating to some degree... but in that same note, they will get discolored as I said, and they supposedly tend to not hold the actual lube of your choice as well as others.

I also think all these whiz bang BCGs are not going to add to the accuracy of your rifle a bit. At best you will be able to tell people you have one.

Me personally I don't have a whole ton of experience but I prefer the phosphate ones myself. I also asked similar questions and the type of material they use to make them matters. Carpenter steel is easier to machine and work and heat treat and all that... there are other metals that will also work provided they are treated properly. That said those other metals supposedly are a bit more finicky as to heat treatment or whatever.

[Creeky73]

My opinion based on some experience and on reading here...

The coated, nickel, chrome or whatever you want to call it... they tend to stain after extended use so that snazzy color that attracted you to the carrier in the first place won't last forever. I could be wrong about that though.

I've also heard that those types of BCG's claim to be easier to clean and are supposedly self lubricating to some degree... but in that same note, they will get discolored as I said, and they supposedly tend to not hold the actual lube of your choice as well as others.

I also think all these whiz bang BCGs are not going to add to the accuracy of your rifle a bit. At best you will be able to tell people you have one.

Me personally I don't have a whole ton of experience but I prefer the phosphate ones myself. I also asked similar questions and the type of material they use to make them matters. Carpenter steel is easier to machine and work and heat treat and all that... there are other metals that will also work provided they are treated properly. That said those other metals supposedly are a bit more finicky as to heat treatment or whatever.

so here's the thing: the color is actually not any part of the reason why I'm thinking of getting one. I had always surmised that the reason you would get this would be the supposed ease of maintenance and the possibility of being able to run dirty after a point that a standard bcg would foul to the point of failure. Now, I'm definitely aware that there are people who will get these for no other reason than it looks pretty and ups the final price they paid for their gun, but that's actually not my intention at all. If you're gonna tell me that these things don't aid in ease of maintenance or dependability/reliability one iota, then I would have to think twice about getting one :)

edit: this is also why the discoloring effect would have no bearing on my decision. If it actually made the gun...ahem "better"...I could easily live with the stains popping up.

[UWone77]

I'm not saying you should get one, but I've got 3 Young Manufacturing Chrome BCG's. One I used on a duty gun for 5+ years. As far as cleaning goes, they work as advertised. Literally wiped it down and it was clean. Sometimes, the bolt tail would need a good scrubbing, but it never caked on like on a phosphate.

For the money are they worth it? Only you can decide that. I usually get NiB carriers the last several years, only because they are basically the same price as phosphate ones.

[alamo5000]

From what it sounds like the only real 'benefit' would be just being able to wipe it off a little bit easier than phosphate.

If you are going to run a BCG until it fouls up and causes a failure due to not cleaning it...that sounds to me like it would take a lot of shooting. If you shoot suppressed it would be a lot. If not suppressed it would be even more.

Sounds to me based on UW's comment that the net overall benefit would be a slight bit more ease in cleaning it as in routine maintenance. You just have to figure if it's worth X amount of dollars for that. But at the end of the day you're still going to have to clean it sometime or somewhere on a fairly regular basis.

My opinion would be if you can get a reasonable deal then why not give it a shot. But if they are trying to charge you an extra hundred bucks for it... maybe not.

[alamo5000]

http://soldiersystems.net/2015/05/09...nk-proctor-14/

"I got a new upper from BCM last year, and I wanted to see how well/long the Lucas Extreme Duty Gun Oil would work with just a single application. Since around November of last year I have put the rifle through some pretty hard use and put somewhere around 30K rounds through it: 7 classes in deserts, 4 classes in the rain, and a bunch of time in my pelican case that has dust, sand, debris, etc. in it. Well, last week it finally malfunctioned for the first time. I got the gun pretty hot several times and it got to where the carbon in the bolt seized a bit and wouldn’t let the firing pin go forward fast enough.I pulled the BCG out and put some more Lucas oil on everything and went back to shooting. I AM NOT going to clean this gun, I’m gonna keep on shooting it and see what happens should be interesting!"








The premise that you will shoot it until just the BCG is fouled up....makes you go hmmm... 30,000 rounds with no cleaning?

I can't tell if that is phosphate or not, but I don't think it matters at that point.

[Creeky73]

it probably doesn't matter at all. but I figure if I am going to get a new bgc, I might as well explore all the options and wherefores about it, right? And, like was stated, it's not like the price doubles going from basic mil spec to chromed or nickel boron, so...no I probably will not go thousands of rounds without cleaning the bcg but it would be awesome to know you had one that you could potentially abuse that way in a pinch, no?

[Former11B]

I have several types of BCGs: NiB, Chrome, and regular phosphate. The NiB was the only one to tarnish under heat/use, but in no way did it diminish the "slippery" coating. The NiB and chrome BCGs are the easiest of the two to clean, and see the most suppressed use. Nothing wrong at all with the phosphate BCGs I have, but they just don't clean as easily

[Joelski]

My vote is nitride/melonite. It's nearly as hard as chrome, nearly as slick as NiB, and cost is in between Phosphate and chrome.

[UWone77]

My vote is nitride/melonite. It's nearly as hard as chrome, nearly as slick as NiB, and cost is in between Phosphate and chrome.

Get a Fathom BCG from Guy. So far I've liked the results from my Fathom Standard carrier.

[Aragorn]

People say "wiz-bang" as if it's a bad thing.

Also people who call something "wiz-bang" USUALLY haven't actually used it.

NiB is badass. I've seen a phosphate bolt rust during the same day in rain, and it was lubed fairly heavily in Slip2000 because we KNEW we were gonna be out with it all day in the rain. Never had it happen with NiB. Corrosion resistance aside its obviously super slick. Go ahead and oil up your favorite phosphate bcg as wet or dry as you please, then with the upper seperate from the lower, retract the CH part way, then tilt the the receive back until the BCG tries to slide out and escape the upper. Try it also with a dry NiB. VERY little tilt and the NiB BCG will be smoothly and rapidly sliding like it WANTS out. A phosphate requires MUCH more tilt, and then is still lazy in its actual movement.

What I'm getting at is friction. A completely dry NiB BCG has a much lower coefficient of friction than any lubed up phosphate BCG.

Plus, again, it's WAY more corrosion resistant. Plus PLUS it'll still hold oil so now you have compounded interest.

Phosphate is lame. Nib, Ionbond, Melonite, NP3 are all way better in terms of corrosion resistance and friction, which really, what else do you need out of a BCG finish? So what if NiB gets a patina? You still get the attributes which matter and now your gun looks like you actually use it.

Failzero and Fathom Arms are the way to go.

Oh, right, and they clean way easier.

[bzdog]

From what I've heard, nickel teflon has better lubricity over time than nickel boron.

-john

[Slippers]

Once phosphate bolt carriers have worn in they're slick as snot. I can tilt my uppers forward and back just a few degrees and have the carrier slide back and forth.

Ask dstrbdmedic about my bcm upper he has on loan with 5k+ cycles on it. :)

Nothing against alternative coatings, just never been unhappy with phosphate.

[Tyrannosaur]

Fathom is the way to go... slick, never fails you and it looks badass. I have a few thousand through two and haven't ever had an issue. Buy once cry once (although the price is amazing too)

[SINNER]

FWIW I have had 2 bolts break in my life in a 5.56 weapon and both were NiB. It's a known fact that the increased hardness of NiB causes parts to become more brittle.

Phosphate or black Nitrocarburizing are much better choices IMO. The Fathom BCG's are top notch.