View Full Version : Please Recommend: Nickel Boron BCG
1. Would a Nickel Boron BCG be the best way to go or simplify and buy a Nickel Boron Bolt only? (My current BCG is stock with my Colt LE6920.)
2. Brand?
3. As I know next to nothing about what else to consider about the purchase of a Nickel Boron BCG, is there more to consider?
Thanks!
dramabeats
09-28-14, 13:56
1. Would a Nickel Boron BCG be the best way to go or simplify and buy a Nickel Boron Bolt only? (My current BCG is stock with my Colt LE6920.)
2. Brand?
3. As I know next to nothing about what else to consider about the purchase of a Nickel Boron BCG, is there more to consider?
Thanks!
Whats wrong with your 6920 BCG?
300blkoutpistol
09-28-14, 14:14
I run the hell out of my (black) BCG! Clean it every once in a while! Most likely have 3000 rounds through with it in my AR pistol. The nickel boron BCG I started with which was made by Yankee Hill Machine, in it defense I was used when I got it, but after I put about 800 rounds and started having bolt to carrier issues.... So now I run stock with FN BCG or Colt!
If I had the money I would run a JP Enterprise black crome BCG!
Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk
dramabeats,
Not a thing.
Mostly though, I understand one of the benefits is they're much easier to clean.
I've also read be careful what I buy as there's quite a bit of Chinese NB BCG's out there that're junk.
I've no idea if there's one best or a number of good ones on the market?
The Colt BCG is one of the best out there, I cant imagine a valid reason for replacing it. Use a good lube like FireClean and it'll clean up every bit as easily as a NiB bcg. If you are set on just trying something new get your bolt carrier applied with Cerakote's Micro Slick, I have done this and it works very well.
If you are absolutely stuck on getting a NiB bcg look at the WMD ones, as are IMO the best in the industry.
I would NEVER run a NiB bolt or carrier again. After my Rainier busted off two lugs... conversations revealed that Nib can really cause embrittlement. Colt or BCM is all I'll run.
If you really want a silver finish Robar is the way to go. NP3.
Markm, who did you converse with, and what in the appliction of thr NiB causes the embrittlement?
I don't own a coated bolt but just want to know what I don't know.
dramabeats
09-28-14, 15:40
Markm, who did you converse with, and what in the appliction of thr NiB causes the embrittlement?
I don't own a coated bolt but just want to know what I don't know.
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?152533-Bolt-Failure-today
+1 on FireClean as obviating need for special surface treatments on BCGs.
Too many hours. I even read some of that thread. Time to sleep.
NiB is just a marketing tool IMO. Dosn't hold lube like phosphate, possible weakness in metal after treatment.
turnburglar
09-28-14, 16:42
After thousands of trouble free rounds through my parkerized Bcg, and watching this video: you couldn't pay me to put a NiB Bcg in a gun. Not that anyone wants to pay me to shoot guns. But if they did.....
Do Nickel Boron Plated Firearms Need Lube?: http://youtu.be/Flju7NvWJ3c
Markm if you do not mind I will add on name to that list it it will also serve as mine, Daniel Defense. I have almost 10,000 out of a rifle that has had the DD BCG in it from the gate and I could not be happier with them. I received a email from Aim surplus or something on friday that listed Ares Armor NiB for 79.99 when I went to the website to check them out they were sold out. I dunno I have no issues with the standard BCGs I have been running and I think I will stick to that.
I got the Fail Safe carrier with it's special coating, but used the matched bolt that came with the Lothar-Walther barrel used on my precision AR. When racking the action, boy does it feel smooth!
But I took a standard carrier and did a bit of polishing where it might rub on the upper and it feels nearly as smooth as the Fail Safe carrier for about half the cost. If you want a smooth cycling carrier, look up the thread about where to polish and give that a try before buying one coated with unicorn tears.
Keep in mind that when the carrier cycles when firing, due to the design and generous clearances, it actually floats inside the upper and hardly, if at all, rubs
I had a Spike's NiB BCG. Didn't see any real advantage to it. A Spike's fanboy offered me retail for it
so I sold it to him, ordered a BCM and never looked back. With use, the BCM is nearly as slick as the NiB coated.
So, the guy who put up the OP probably is getting the hint how folks feel about the NiB stuff?
;)
Markm, who did you converse with, and what in the appliction of thr NiB causes the embrittlement?
I don't own a coated bolt but just want to know what I don't know.
Iraqgunz and I were talking about finishes. He got a lesson on the subject from one of the gun finish companies.
I'm sure there are acceptable ways to run NiB, but I just don't have time to mess with nonsense. NiB's porus surface traps carbon so much more than NP3. You end up with a black bolt anyway, might as well just run a Mil Spec bolt.
Had I shown my NiB bolt to anyone here, they wouldn't have known it had a finish on it because it was just a black as a Mil spec bolt.
Cumminspowa
09-29-14, 08:30
I have 5 different nib bolt carrier groups and the most recent one I bought was a WMD with hammer while they were doing $20 off. I think at this point it gets my vote for favorite. But keep in mind I'm not sending nearly as many rounds down range as other guys here.
Iraqgunz and I were talking about finishes. He got a lesson on the subject from one of the gun finish companies.
I'm sure there are acceptable ways to run NiB, but I just don't have time to mess with nonsense. NiB's porus surface traps carbon so much more than NP3. You end up with a black bolt anyway, might as well just run a Mil Spec bolt.
Had I shown my NiB bolt to anyone here, they wouldn't have known it had a finish on it because it was just a black as a Mil spec bolt.
Yeah, most people overlook or forget one obvious difference between Nickel Boron and Nickel Teflon (e.g., NP3). Nickel Teflon coatings are inherently slick, Nickel Boron coatings are not.
The Nickel Boron coatings which are slick are generally due to smooth polishing, not really the coating. Nickel Boron parts also sometimes get sticky when they are run without lube (or it dries out). That doesn't really happen with Nickel Teflon.
Honestly, I think the popularity of Nickel Boron coatings on gun parts is the result of very strong and widespread marketing efforts, not a good product. Eventually, people will figure it out.
On gun parts, I am a fan of Nickel Teflon coatings, but not Nickel Boron coatings.
Joe Mamma
KingsideRook
09-29-14, 09:06
I've come to the same tough conclusion as many here- that the money I spent on Nickel Boron BCGs was effectively wasted. Joe Mamma is exactly correct - NiB is not inherently slick. My high-dollar WMD Guns and Fail Zero NiB bolt carrier groups worked fine when clean and new, and then became, in a surprising fashion, very "high-friction", locking up and sticking when hot and dirty at about the 500rd round mark. They felt much less slick than when new, and when racked, were less smooth than even a phosphate finished BCG that has taken a polish on the high points from use. I was not impressed.
My experience with BCGs finished in Nickel-Teflon, Birdsong Black-T, and Cerakote Microslick, all finishes that have actual lubricity as opposed to just a high Rockwell hardness number, has been much more positive. The more I use these BCGs in my rifles, the smoother they become. That said, in the absence of these types of finishes, I'd rather just have a quality Phosphate BCG if I had to choose between that and Nickel Boron again.
I have about a thousand rounds each through a couple of RCA Melonite finished BCGs, and they have been 100% so far, but that's a metal treatment, not a finish and I'm fully aware that a bad Nitride job is every bit as damaging to gun parts as a bad heat treat. They are not giving me any of the trouble my NiB parts did, and time will tell. I noticed the "New Noveske" sells RCA BCGs marked with the Noveske logo, which is confidence inspiring, but again, time will tell.
eljimbo142
09-29-14, 09:58
i have a fail zero bolt carrier w a jp enhanced bolt. no issues after 2000 rounds. it needs lube every 150-200 rounds. the nickel boron doesn't hold lube as well. with lubes such as fireclean available, that are slicker than cat snot, and clean up nicely there is no need for nickel boron coating. a standard bcg will hold more lube. fireclean. the only coating you need
If you are looking for fancy, why not send a BCM or Colt BCG to Robar for NP3 coating? I have a Sionics BCG that is NP3 coated and it is slick as shit and runs like a champ. Plus the bolt is proper milspec C158.
Thanks all for the input.
No NiB BCG for me.
I too have noticed that NiB seems to gum up after a high round count and my NiB carrier has been denoted to being a backup.
If you want a slick easy to clean bolt carrier, young's manufacturing hard chrome carriers seem to be good. Most I've ever taken the it up to without cleaning was 500 rounds or so. It just required some paper towels and new lube to clean. I probably could have ran it another 500 without it gumming up. The only issue people seem to dislike them for is their lack of gas key staking, but if you buy them from rainier arms, that won't be an issue. People have mentioned that hard chrome can flake, but I've never actually seen a report of a Young's carrier flaking.
That being said, if you have a colt carrier, I wouldn't bother replacing it. I certainly won't be replacing mine in my 6920.
RVTMaverick
09-29-14, 20:22
i have a fail zero bolt carrier w a jp enhanced bolt. no issues after 2000 rounds. it needs lube every 150-200 rounds. the nickel boron doesn't hold lube as well. with lubes such as fireclean available, that are slicker than cat snot, and clean up nicely there is no need for nickel boron coating. a standard bcg will hold more lube. fireclean. the only coating you need
Okay, I am pretty new to PDWs but I have to say ALL the replies here have surprised the hell out of me, as to peps not liking the "Fail Zero Bolt"
Man, this thing is so friggin' Smooth & Slick straight out of the box and I have not had any bad issues with my FZB whatsoever!....
For eljimbo and everyone else.
It Never needs Oil:
Once I've started shooting I have Never added Oil and thus far No Issues with approx. 2200 rounds through it, carbon wipes off with Simple Green easy peasy, cleaning is a breeze and it is Still just as SLICK as the day I got it, So Far I am 100% Completely Happy with mine!
Peace Jeff
Only NiBx BCG I would recommend is from WMD Guns who also happens to be a sponsor here on M4C.net
I have two of them that have served me well. One has over 10k rounds thru it without a hiccup. The other one has just over 5k rounds with no issue. I always swap out the NiBx extractor for a factory Colt phosphate extractor since having NiB on the extractor makes no sense.
wetidlerjr
09-29-14, 23:54
...fireclean. the only coating you need
Damn! And all this time I thought it was FrogLube.
Regalkismet
09-30-14, 04:53
I would NEVER run a NiB bolt or carrier again. After my Rainier busted off two lugs... conversations revealed that Nib can really cause embrittlement. Colt or BCM is all I'll run.
If you really want a silver finish Robar is the way to go. NP3.
NP3 is definitely the way to go.
NP3 is definitely the way to go.
Third on this. I've had one done in NP3 by Robar and that's the way to go if phosphate doesn't float your boat.
Regalkismet
09-30-14, 05:32
Or the SRC Relia-bolt and Balanced Bolt carrier come NP3 finished.... I just bought 2 of them.... I hope I like them as much as my JP carriers which obviously are not coated but still great...
Waste of money for me. Mine was a Youngs MFG. Stained right out of the box and won't come off. Waste of money.
Regalkismet
09-30-14, 12:57
Waste of money for me. Mine was a Youngs MFG. Stained right out of the box and won't come off. Waste of money.
Huh? Young manufacturing only makes chrome carriers and phosphate carriers last i checked.....
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