PSA BCG, quality or nah?

[Cold/Bore]

And for tool craft fans out there: https://youtu.be/9yE1iNoj-tY
For what it’s worth, but these are sample sizes of one only.

[L-2]

RE: Post_41. That was a very interesting video. I can't see any shop or local gun store (LGS) having that many tools, gauges, & equipment dedicated just to checking a bolt carrier group (BCG).

This guy even had a demagnitizer on-hand after discovering the firing pin was magnetic. I do wish he'd determined if the short firing pin protrusion was due to the firing pin or bolt (I'll go back and read the comments in case it was done after the video). I counted four or five issues he found with that new Toolcraft bcg.

As a user/consumer, we can only hope to buy a good bcg, hoping it'll be completely in spec. I suspect for many/most people, if we'd bought the bcg in the video, it might have worked for thousands of rounds and we may not have experienced any failures or maybe an intermittent failure (like a light primer strike) which would have been quickly ejected, then shooting continued.

Would that bcg even go 10K rounds? He didn't say other than the bcg wasn't perfect, but just ok with some quality failure points. He concluded by saying it's a sample of one and doesn't mean more would be any worse or better. I do wonder what rifle companies, if any, would check each bcg going into its ARs to that extent; or if any bcg supplier 100% checks its product to that extent. I know sampling gets involved in production, but if so, what tolerances do the manufacturers use compared to the guy in the video. Presumably, that bcg in the video got out into the market.

(I liked the cat in the video.)

[JediGuy]

[1168]

To rebuff the common: "PSA has good suppliers but they don't get the same specs as other companies" myth; I decided to measure the gas port on two 'PSA' barrels. Because everyone on the forums thinks PSA has terribly huge gas ports. The 10.5 mike'd out to 0.073 and the 16" mid by FN had a 0.076 gas port. Not the smallest, but they definitely don't deserve the bad rap they get here.
.

I don’t have pin gauges, only drill bits, a tapered needle, and calipers. So take this with a grain of salt. But PSA seems to have moved their gas port sizes into the range that might be called “proper”, depending on how one defines that.

I think a lot of PSA’s bad rep comes from their high volume sales. But I do see real things that turn me off, such as the strange muzzle threads. Most people won’t notice unless they are twisting on a suppressor mount. And the carbine buffers. And out of spec recoil springs. But I digress.

And surely, some of their bad rep comes from garbage home “builds” that have PSA receivers. PSA is local to me, so there are plenty of these around. And I think a lot of guys assembling guns around a PSA receiver are very budget driven. These guns get seen at the range, or sold advertised as “PSA”, and give people a sour taste.

that is not a good post. his arguments basically boil down to, "mine runs fine."

Seems to be a common sentiment.

If you've been paying attention, a lot of folks are saying their PSA's run fine, on this forum and others.

I think that at this point PSA's model - quantity sales - ought to be obvious.

Do they have the QC in place that BCM, Sionics and others have? No, probably not. But what they do have is several times the combined sales of BCM, Sionics and several others. I believe the Nazi's would have called the PSA Freedom line Volkssturmgewehr, Ford would call them Escorts.

Point being, they work fine for most folks.

Don't be this guy: (I think I saw this in a mem on pistol forum and modified it a little)

It's day eleven of the Apocalypse.

You've escaped into the hills with your supplies, and are crouching in some bushes watching with your Nightforce equipped long boi to see if you've been followed. Nobody could spot your ghillie suit from this hide.

All of a sudden, you hear a crack, frome closer than you'd expect. There's a sharp pain in your neck as the TulAmmo FMJ round tears it's way through. You've been hit by Boogaloo Bob, with his UTG decked out PSA.

You feel the wet heat as he looms inches from your face, dropping crumbs on the ground all around you. His voice creaks with moistness. 'Just as good' he whispers, stepping over your body as everything fades to black. He reaches out for your weapon with his Cheeto stained fingers. The last thing you feel - his NCSTAR sling gliding over your face.

PSA is definitely the modern American Volkssturmgewehr. Thanks for the Boogaloo Bob story. Made my day.

I would recommend Sionics or Forward Control Designs.

I know little about PSA BCG’s, mostly because I know little about BCGs. I own one that gets used as a placeholder. It works, doesn’t eat gas rings or tubes. Doesn’t leak. Looks a lot like a Colt one except for the markings and extractor spring.

That said, I’ve got two Sionics BCG’s and two FCD ones. These have seen lots of ammo and a little abuse. They also work well.

[scubagator]

To be honest can’t see there be any problems with a Premium PSA Nickel Boron BCG... IMHO


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[MikhailBarracuda91]

Really the only part I go cheap on (if I have to) is the stripped lower. Everything is too important. I have a background in manufacturing so quality is very important to me. I will gladly give my hard earned money to an American company that has a true commitment to quality, not one that works well "most" of the time.

This is why the Japanese have been making better automobiles than USA for a while now. Quality used to be an American STANDARD, people knew what they were buying. Now the Japanese have caught on and for the most part they have copied that business model.

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[Texas Sob]

thanks for all the info and replies its much appreciated

[26 Inf]

You had to shoot 10,000 rounds before you found out if you got a decent gun or not. With BCM, you don’t have to do that.

Come on, guys post about how many rounds they have through their 'X' rifles all the time.

Are you one of those paid posters that Stickman mentions?

[26 Inf]

Yeah. We used to have higher standards, I guess. I would recommend Sionics or Forward Control Designs.

https://youtu.be/kADQX_xmrSY
His first BCG physical must have been to good to be true so it appears he had to do a second one: https://youtu.be/BUQZWepzy7Y
https://youtu.be/VuZ4TgoR1Zk

Not a valid comment

[26 Inf]

And for tool craft fans out there: https://youtu.be/9yE1iNoj-tY
For what it’s worth, but these are sample sizes of one only.

And the samples used varied dramatically in use from new, to low rounds, to an unknown number of rounds from a filthy Toolcraft.