AR-15: BCM vs NiB Coated BCG

[Blu Falcon]

Which trigger are you going to be going with

I've been eyeballing a Geissele single stage, but I'm open to any and all recommendations.

As for the BCG, right now I'm leaning toward the BCM with a healthy diet of Froglube.

 

[sailskidrive]

Yeah, I was always under the impression that only a few companies actually *manufactured* BCGs. I thought most are just re-branded CMT/Stags, Colts, or LMTs.

I'm baffled why so many people are hung up on BCM BCGs. I own one and there doesn't appear to be a any discernible difference between it and my Spikes carrier. Both use the same steel and both are MPI.

My personal preference is any mil spec NiB coated BCG.

 

[booker]

Either way your gonna have to keep it lubed
The NiB should extend how many rounds it takes before things become sluggish, thats all. I have no experiance with the NiB BCGs so I may be (and probly am ) wrong. But as long as its a quality BCG, you should be fine. With that said, id lean towards the BCM.

Fail Zero recommends you run their BCG dry. Dry, as is, dry. No lube.

Let me tell you, I've put 500 rounds through my AR without a drop of lube in one session at the NRA Range. That's 500 rounds in about 45 minutes. Let me further tell you that I've put over 1500 rounds straight (across multiple shooting sessions) through my AR without a drop of lube as well. I did wipe off the BCG with a terry towel around 600 and 1200 rounds.

To make it even worse, at least 4/5ths of the rounds fired in the above were steel-case Wolf .223. I haven't had a single failure. I was extremely skeptical until I saw the performance myself, and it blew me away.

Every 2000-2500 rounds I've done a detail strip and as a final step, use a microfiber towel with some light oil as a final wipe-down of the BCG components and hammer, but that light surface coat is all the lubrication it gets.

And I will also say that the inside of the upper receiver and the charging handle are no worse for wear. Yes there are wear marks, but once the contact areas became slightly burnished the metal-to-metal wear became smooth operation.

 

[atblis]

If you have extra money to blow, get an LMT enhanced bolt. That's far more interesting than a regular NiB coated bolt.

 

[04RWon]

I have both. I was in the same boat as the op last year when starting my 3rd rifle. I decided to go all out with that rifle. I used the spikes nib trigger and bcg. Cycling the rifle, it feels smoother. It is easier to wipe off, but i wouldnt say its a world of difference to clean. Im anal about how clean my firearms are. Id say just feeling its texture vs a standard bcg it would make sense that it should last longer before needing more lube.

I built it with the same idea, in a SHTF situation id choose this rifle over the other 2 if i have to be out for a while.

 

[Blu Falcon]

I guess an NiB treated BCM would be the ideal solution. Or I suppose I could just get the Spike's NiB and call it a day. Great discussion, all. Thanks.

 

[04RWon]

I guess an NiB treated BCM would be the ideal solution. Or I suppose I could just get the Spike's NiB and call it a day. Great discussion, all. Thanks.

Everything you just said is spot on

 

[sailskidrive]

I took this picture a while ago and I've shared this a few times in the past, but it seems appropriate to do so again.

Anyone considering a Fail Zero BCG should take a look at the picture below.

One of these NiB BCGs is made by Fail Zero, the other is a "RGuns" house bolt. Can you tell the difference?

 

[Kingjamez]

I took this picture a while ago and I've shared this a few times in the past, but it seems appropriate to do so again.

Anyone considering a Fail Zero BCG should take a look at the picture below.

One of these NiB BCGs is made by Fail Zero, the other is a "RGuns" house bolt. Can you tell the difference?

Another example of many "brands" of BCG's but few manufacturers. 1B1B6 is the ToolCraft cage code for their military contract for M16 bolts. I knew Toolcraft makes (made?) Rguns's BCGS, and looks like FailZero's too. Interesting to see the wide gap in price between the two.

There also aren't many folks that are doing the actual NiB treatment right now, so it's likely the two bolts above are identical both in manufacturer, and NiB coater.

BTW: The latest NiB BCG from Rgun's is running very well in my 300BLK build, the extractor isn't NiB but does have a powerful spring.

-Jim

 

[sailskidrive]

BTW: The latest NiB BCG from Rgun's is running very well in my 300BLK build, the extractor isn't NiB but does have a powerful spring.

Interesting, the extractor on mine is NiB coated. Unfortunately I don't have picture of the other side of the BCG.

Another example of many "brands" of BCG's but few manufacturers.

Fulton Armory uses the same supplier as Colt; I have a feeling good number of the bolts and carriers on the market are made by CMT.

 

[EMS_92]

Fail Zero recommends you run their BCG dry. Dry, as is, dry. No lube.

Let me tell you, I've put 500 rounds through my AR without a drop of lube in one session at the NRA Range. That's 500 rounds in about 45 minutes. Let me further tell you that I've put over 1500 rounds straight (across multiple shooting sessions) through my AR without a drop of lube as well. I did wipe off the BCG with a terry towel around 600 and 1200 rounds.

To make it even worse, at least 4/5ths of the rounds fired in the above were steel-case Wolf .223. I haven't had a single failure. I was extremely skeptical until I saw the performance myself, and it blew me away.

Every 2000-2500 rounds I've done a detail strip and as a final step, use a microfiber towel with some light oil as a final wipe-down of the BCG components and hammer, but that light surface coat is all the lubrication it gets.

And I will also say that the inside of the upper receiver and the charging handle are no worse for wear. Yes there are wear marks, but once the contact areas became slightly burnished the metal-to-metal wear became smooth operation.

Thanks for the valuable insight
Sounds like a nice upgrade if you can afford it.

 

[booker]

Rog.

<<BREAK>>

There are different ways to doing NiB coating/treatment. Just because it looks the same doesn't mean it is the same, nor that it will perform the same after 15,000 rounds. If you shoot 100 rounds at the range every couple months, then it really doesn't matter.

UCT does the treatment for Fail Zero, and has been in the business for 20+ years. You can read all about their technology on their website. They in fact have two NiB application options to choose from, depending on the use requirements. Bottom line, not all NiB is the same.

http://www.uctcoatings.com/capabilities/coatings/

It is very difficult or impossible to find the same level of detail on other NiB BCG retailers' websites.

 

[GBMaryland]

Does anyone know if there is a company that uses Nitrate Salt Bath for heat treating and coating of a BCG?

I had this done by a German company for a Lilja barrel, so now all of the external surfaces (and the rifling) are an RC65-70.

I've got to figure the barrel will now last the crazy number of rounds... but the bolt itself is now rubbing against a surface that potentially harder than it.

(The bolt is a matte finish hard chrome... so they should be similar.)

GB

 

[Kingjamez]

Does anyone know if there is a company that uses Nitrate Salt Bath for heat treating and coating of a BCG?

I had this done by a German company for a Lilja barrel, so now all of the external surfaces (and the rifling) are an RC65-70.

I've got to figure the barrel will now last the crazy number of rounds... but the bolt itself is now rubbing against a surface that potentially harder than it.

(The bolt is a matte finish hard chrome... so they should be similar.)

GB

www.wmdguns.com will do that, but if your going to Salt Bath Nitrocarburize then why not just NiB it?

-Jim

 

[GBMaryland]

Why NiB over SBN?

(And, to be technically accurate, the company that did the coating doesn't use the Salt Bath to acheive the Nitrocarburization effect... it's some proprietary method. ...but is really cool to have a black barrel and black rifling that don't require more than a patch through the bore to get clean.)

I can tell you the having the barrel done only cost me $30.00 because a buddy of mine is a manufacturer, and he sent the barrel over with a huge lot of components. I was pleasently suprised.

 

[Kingjamez]

NiB hardness exceeds Rockwell 70 and is naturally lubricious.

Edit thanks to HT4: You can think of NiB as just having visited : http://girls.gunaxin.com/esti-ginzburg-israeli-model/123614
-Jim

 

[HT4]

NiB hardness exceeds Rockwell 70 and is naturally lubricious.

-Jim

My mind is too immature to deal with posts like this.

 

[BradMacc82]

My mind is too immature to deal with posts like this.

I see I'm not alone in that respect then, back to biting my tongue then.

 

[Blu Falcon]

Very few companies make their own BCG in-house (Hint, Spike's, BCM, WMD, and RRA don't make their own). As long as a company is not getting the "seconds" (which none of those would be) then they should be good to go. They're all being bought from a handful of BCG makers most likely. The biggest thing, IMO, you should look for, is individually MPI testing. Most of the quality bolts have this. That tells you at least that BCG shouldn't have any premature stress cracks. Spike's, WMD, and BCM should all be individually MPI tested. RRA I BELIEVE are just batch tested, FWIW. Any company or manufacturer can have a bad product slip through, but a quick MPI test should weed most if not all of them out.

Joe Bob, I've placed a couple of orders for parts from you recently and I'm very pleased with your service and fast shipping. I need a new BCG sooner rather than later, so I will be placing an order for the WMD BCG this week.

 

[JoeBobOutfitters.com]

Joe Bob, I've placed a couple of orders for parts from you recently and I'm very pleased with your service and fast shipping. I need a new BCG sooner rather than later, so I will be placing an order for the WMD BCG this week.

Just FYI, at this time we're getting low (A hair over a dozen) so I'd suggest ordering sooner than later to ensure availability.