BCG question

[mtdawg169]

There are some real differences in coatings. All of my carriers are phosphate. I've used hard chromed and NiB in the past. To me, hard chrome, nitride or NP3 are the way to go. NiB stains, reportedly because it actually retains carbon in its surface pores. Microslick wears off. And TiN doesn't seem to offer anything better for the cost. Plus, it's gold.. No thanks.

I'm really not sure why hard chrome seems to have fallen out of favor, even though it's tried and true and holds up extremely well. A couple of years ago, I saw a decades old Colt M16 carrier group that was chromed and had untold thousands of rounds on it. It was slick as snot and the only thing wrong with the carrier was a damaged gas key.

Another excellent option, but hard to find, is ion bond, which is a PVD coating.

[Stone]

Mystic black from Cryptic coatings is another great option.

[SINNER]

Mystic black is just a brand name for a DLC PVD coating. Same as Ionbond and a few other trade names.

[Joelski]

I prefer succubus tears.

[Stone]

Mystic black is just a brand name for a DLC PVD coating. Same as Ionbond and a few other trade names.

True and obvious.

[Aragorn]

The common denominator here seems to be...

Everyone likes Fathom

[DUX]

So long as I've used anti-tilt followers in magazines, an extractor upgrade, an H-Buffer or more (in a carbine), and LSA lube (the original M-16 lube), I haven't had much of a problem no matter what the carrier was coated in. I'm a big believer in pragmatics over technology for the AR, but I'm in no way an expert. It's just been my experience.

[Jerry R]

NiB stains, reportedly because it actually retains carbon in its surface pores.

And stains badly if running suppressed. Ask me how I know

[Creeky73]

The common denominator here seems to be...

Everyone likes Fathom

I was noticing that myself...I checked out the video on these at Rainier, and of course it looks impressive...if you guys are backing it up, it's probably a safe bet...however, I've been somewhat out of the loop on all the latest stuff in the AR world the past couple of years and its weird to hear so many people recommending a brand that I don't remember hearing of at all. But playing around on Rainier reveals all kinds of names I don't recall, so....for what it's worth.

[SINNER]

I could not even guess how many BCG's I have between built weapons and ones I've stock piled. Fathom are some of the nicest I've used. I have one of their standard carriers in a 7.62x39 build. While another company's NiB bolt is heavily stained and worn through in spots the carrier is hard to tell from new with a quick wipe down. Nitrocarburizing is pretty hard to beat.

[alamo5000]

I was noticing that myself...I checked out the video on these at Rainier, and of course it looks impressive...if you guys are backing it up, it's probably a safe bet...however, I've been somewhat out of the loop on all the latest stuff in the AR world the past couple of years and its weird to hear so many people recommending a brand that I don't remember hearing of at all. But playing around on Rainier reveals all kinds of names I don't recall, so....for what it's worth.

Not everyone on here agrees all the time but any time you get 4 or 5 people here doing just that (agreeing on something) you can take it to the bank.

A WEVO stamp of approval should be coveted.

[Joelski]

The common denominator here seems to be...

Everyone likes Fathom

Or AXTS.

[SINNER]

True and obvious.

True yes, but not obvious that you knew that by your post.

[Brahmzy]

Actually Mystic Black is the only PLASMA PACVD coated BCG I know of.
Most other times when you see IONBond, it's the standard PVD, of which I have quite a few.
I've got quite a few of the V7 Ti IonBonded carriers and they've been doing great. Still look new and have function flawlessly. Would love to try a Mystic Black but finding a black Ti version in stock is next to impossible.

[SINNER]

Not certain where you are getting your information at but it is incorrect. PACVD actually stands for Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition. No such thing as "Plasma PACVD". The Mystic black is a high vacuum CVD process. The Ionbond is a PACVD process that is a superior application technique to the high vacuum deposition used by Mystic.

Not a single coating used today for firearms was developed strictly for firearms. These application techniques we pioneered and patented in the 50's during the development of semiconductors. GE, Raytheon and the US government hold almost all patents for these coating types. They appeared in the Motorsport industry decades before they filtered into use in the firearms industry.

And if you are reading Mystic's site for technical information, don't.

"Parts are sealed in an air tight chamber that is pumped down several atmospheres. Then a high-frequency voltage is applied and gases containing significant amounts of sp3 are introduced. This creates carbon and hydrogen atoms that form a dense coating on the parts."

Pumping down a vacuum chamber to even 1 atomsphere is physically impossible so to claim several shows a total lack of knowledge about what they are doing.