Dependable BCG. Which one?

[Red*Lion]

Since mine is a spare and I haven't shot it yet, how does the DLC clean up? I'm talking about the notorious bolt tail area where it cakes up. I assume it still requires a little elbow grease, correct?

I have yet to find a finish/coating that doesn't require a little effort on the boat tail.....easiest after all these years is the Cryptic Coatings Mystic Black finish (expensive as hell though). A USGI green plastic "toothbrush" will get the carbon off the boat tail, but it doesn't just "wipe off" with a cloth.

It cleans up real easy.

[okie]

Primary Arms has new FN America (I assume a subsidiary of FN Herstal) BCG's in stock for the bargain price of $257.

Other than the PA offering, perusing several pages of a Google search didn't yield any other ones in stock.

Oh I didn't even realize they had commercial ones. The ones I was talking about were military "surplus." I don't think the commercial ones would be anything special since they can't make them to TDP unless it's for military contract sales.

[okie]

That is how I store mine, oil really good and I will put them in a ziploc. I do check on them about every 6 weeks or so.

Man if you oiled them and put them in plastic, you don't have to do that. I mean they could get flooded with salt water and be fine. I've pulled surplus stuff out of the original packing grease that human eyes had not seen for many decades, and not once have I ever seen even a hint of rust on anything that was properly stored. If you're getting spare parts, you could probably even just leave them in the original packaging and be fine, because they do that with the intent that they might sit on a shelf for years and years in some distributor warehouse.

[ABNAK]

Oh I didn't even realize they had commercial ones. The ones I was talking about were military "surplus." I don't think the commercial ones would be anything special since they can't make them to TDP unless it's for military contract sales.

Yeah I didn't either until I saw the ad (maybe like Colt's Defense vs Colt's Manufacturing?). And for the bargain price of $257 no less! Yeah, I don't think so.

[Spooky1]

Man if you oiled them and put them in plastic, you don't have to do that. I mean they could get flooded with salt water and be fine. I've pulled surplus stuff out of the original packing grease that human eyes had not seen for many decades, and not once have I ever seen even a hint of rust on anything that was properly stored. If you're getting spare parts, you could probably even just leave them in the original packaging and be fine, because they do that with the intent that they might sit on a shelf for years and years in some distributor warehouse.

I check them outta habbit more than anything else. I also went back and edited that so I don't seem like I am doing it for anything else other than I that.

[1168]

I know very little about NiB vs NP3, except for the basics, and that the internet hates NiB. So, I don’t often mess with NiB. However, if you’d like to see a NiB product that has gotten used, I posted some pics of a Sionics NiB trigger on the last page of this thread: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...%20two%20stage

I also own a FailZero bolt that got shot a good bit a few years back. Otherwise, I usually go for Colt, LMT, Sionics, FCD, BCM, because I’ve had good luck with them so far. I’m sure there are other good ones. I’ve used the NP3 versions of the Sionics and FCD, and am happy with that. I like the increased corrosion resistance because I’m lazy. I’d like to try BRT’s hard chrome one soon. Whatever the LMT superbolt is coated with (chrome, I think) is badass. Like, 30 seconds with hot water and a toothbrush coming clean badass. Obviously phosphate works just fine.

I’d steer clear of a “Toolcraft” BCG that contains a “milspec” nitrided bolt. I’ve learned that the term “milspec” roughly translates to “we made this out of the cheapest garbage we could find, and didn’t bother measuring it. Since the public thinks thats what the military uses, we’ll make it black, and call it that”. Regardless of what “milspec” means, I’ve never encountered a M4 or M16 with a nitrided bolt. I’m not saying that I think nitride is bad, just that “milspec” would be misleading, even if the above isn’t true. It might be great for bolts; I dunno.

At least up until 2020, metallurgy or some other measure of quality seems to have improved since the early 2000s. There’s just not that many bolts breaking anymore, in my anecdotal experience. Most BCG failures I’ve seen lately are just garbage quality. Like loose screws, or bad dimensions. Like Clint said, bolt tails matter, and in more than one way. I’ve had to shuffle FPs in a couple to find one that would pass protrusion. Some also seem to have more blowby than others, but work fine. Bad screws keep being a thing for some reason.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about ejectors and extractors. For some reason some companies (even expensive ones) insist on shit springs. You’ll never notice with your perfectly gassed 16” middy, but you might see some lame shit if you put that in your suppressed SBR. Read user “Mistwolf”s posts and check your extractor springs. If the extractor springs are suspect, go ahead and swap the ejector spring, too. Might as well order a couple good spare springs right now. The ones that Mistwolf or Iraqgunz recommend.

[Gatorgrizz27]

Being new to AR’s several years ago, I bought into the hype of PSA Premium = Toolcraft and were GTG. I have ~ 1,500 rounds through one of them with no issues, but after learning a bit more and this past year I bought two Sionics BCG’s for my “serious use” rifles, along with upgrading every pin, detent, etc, to the best available.

School of the American Rifle on YouTube will point out the differences in quality, and as has been said, a couple high quality parts, assembled with a bunch of junk small parts by someone who doesn’t know or care isn’t the same final product.

I do agree that many go overboard worrying about “Murphy”, etc, and the idea that a mid-level rifle that has fired 1,000 rounds during range/training use without a problem is suddenly going to choke during firing 6 rounds in a home defense scenario because it isn’t “Tier 1” is paranoid, but as I said, this past year has put things in perspective.

I’ve recently approached it from the standpoint of “what you have now, is what you will have, what your kids will have, and what your grandkids will have”, in regard to quality, quantity, and spare parts. Hopefully I’m wrong.

[ViniVidivici]

Man if you oiled them and put them in plastic, you don't have to do that. I mean they could get flooded with salt water and be fine. I've pulled surplus stuff out of the original packing grease that human eyes had not seen for many decades, and not once have I ever seen even a hint of rust on anything that was properly stored. If you're getting spare parts, you could probably even just leave them in the original packaging and be fine, because they do that with the intent that they might sit on a shelf for years and years in some distributor warehouse.

Indeed, just got another batch of spare parts from UnbrandedAR, they're all sealed in plastic, and very obviously coated. No need to do anything but label and toss in the box.

I love those guys. Great source.

[CPM]

Yeah, I guess that is what’s frustrating. Tons of opinions with little to no actual failures. Honestly, if they work I don’t really care about the measurements and don’t know why I should, except when considering the possibility of failure in the future…

[1168]

Yeah, I guess that is what’s frustrating. Tons of opinions with little to no actual failures. Honestly, if they work I don’t really care about the measurements and don’t know why I should, except when considering the possibility of failure in the future…

Depends on what you call failures. I’m saying I don’t see a lot of broken bolts, but I do see stoppages and malfunctions.