All that finish wears off more than polishing eventually anyway.
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All that finish wears off more than polishing eventually anyway.
Considering that the sides of the key wear far more than what top-layer of the finish I removed, I wouldn't worry. The shiny sides of the key in the photos were still black after polishing, which is probably better described regard the LMT gas key as buffing; the gas keys are already nitrided by LMT and the shiny surface you see was born by several thousands of rounds of wear in an anodized upper. Phosphated gas keys are far more rough and even then, the heat treat of the metal lies UNDER the phosphating.
If you've ever seen the sides of an old Army M16A1 BCG, their carriers have had their finish well worn on their contact surfaces....no phosphating to be seen....and I've never seen a function issue in one of those due to the finish, or lack thereof. We have many hundreds of them in daily use by patrol deputies in my agency via the 1033 program.
I have buffed several LMT gas keys (at least 4 gen 4 carriers and one gen 2 carrier; all appearing to be MIM), all of which have at least a thousand rounds in the various guns they are used in, and no excess wear has been seen. I'm just shy of 5k rounds on the one in the picture and I polished it immediately upon receipt.
Seems like a waste of time and effort to me.
Just shoot it. Who gives a shit if its "butter" smooth. As long as the weapon functions (which any quality gun should) then what is the point?
You are introducing pre wear areas that may change the way the carrier and the upper wear. Keep in mind, the upper is Alum and the carrier is Steel, so which do you think is going to take more wear? The carriers are designed that way for a reason. Don't dick it up for some superfical modification.
Don't forget to add the hello Kity paint job and Rhinestones while your at it.
So just so we understand this..... This is needed so you can use the A5 system , which was touted as being the most reliable system available?
And amazingly, the stock milspec RE and H2 buffers just keep on ticking on any builds I have seen. Solutions looking for problems.
Law of unintended consequences always seems to prevail durring these times.
This post is fukking absurd and embarrassing for this site. Although the H2 and USGI spring are a great combo most of the time if you run a carbine system, they're still not as good as the A5 or Rifle system.
I'm not sure where you are getting that this is needed to run an A5. I've never done this mod, but I understand the point. It's simply skipping the break in of mating surfaces. Nothing more, nothing less.
Smooth mating surfaces are a small factor in separating a quality gun from a mediocre gun. It's not a coincidence that a Colt RE is mirror smooth on the inside where as many aftermarkets are rough and chattery. And that most Colt Carriers have that nice satin finish instead of the LMT grit job.