I'm assuming barrel linings are electroless.
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I'm assuming barrel linings are electroless.
FZ touts their NiB because they are only one of 3 shops in the world that can do "level 5" NiB coating - all others are the inferior level 3 or lower. There's lots of info all over the place on this. What they do isn't readily available for customer owned parts anywhere at the moment. Do some research.
I've got Spikes NiB BCGs in every 556 AR I own. Less friction, easier to clean - that was worth the cost *to me*. The things slide in my uppers like there's a coating of butter in there - pretty crazy. The upper wears less as a result - that's a fact I've verified on various new builds. I still use some lube, but it's nice knowing if I didn't, the rifle would still function.
But as always, with many, this may be an unjustified luxury for some folks who will resort to calling them "fads."
Just remember, in a hot, dirty, metal on metal movement situation, like the upper rec, less friction is a good thing for many reasons.
Brahmzy: thanks. An extra $30 seems well spent for a higher rated finish, depending on the criteria.
What's the metallurgy of their carriers and bolts, if anyone knows?
Though really, I've never had a problem with any military or commercial carrier, and if a bolt eventually breaks, I'll have a spare on hand.
I'm always amazed at people who'll hang a grand of rails and gadgets on the outside but don't want to "Waste money" on internals without which the weapon is a very pretty ornament.
http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090151525[0008]There are three types of alkaline electroless nickel boron coatings. The Type-1 is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,447 to Bellis filed Jul. 4, 1972, which is incorporated by reference. Metal elements such as thallium and lead are used to stabilize the electroless plating. These metal elements form a poly alloy with the nickel boron coating. A typical Type-1 electroless coating has about 1-3% thallium, 2-4% boron and 97-92% nickel by weight.
[0009]The Type-2 is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,406 to McComas which is incorporated by reference. A typical Type-2 electroless coating has 1-6% boron, 99-94% nickel,
[0010]The Type-3 is taught in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/903,687 filed Aug. 2, 2004 entitled Electroless Coating with Nanometer Particles to Ed McComas. A typical Type-3 electroless coating has Nickel Boron plus nanometer DLC particles. 1-6% boron, 99-94% nickel plus co-deposition of solid DSLC particles.
I have about 1200 rds through my spike's Exo BCG. It is, indeed, coated by FailZero. I verified this by calling Fail Zero and they stated that they coat Spike's NiB BCG with their EXO coating. I spoke with Felipe Jose at FZ, FTR (in case this turns into a shitstorm and bs starts flying).
I'm VERY happy with mine. I am running an 8.3oz custom buffer (carbine stock) and Tubbs CS flatwire spring with mine. It's the smoothest shooting setup to date on my BCM 14.5" middy. The cleanup is easy and the added lubricity inside the upper cannot be a bad thing. I'll buy another...and it was worth every penny to upgrade it. I like that, after shooting 1100 rds without cleaning (only lube added), the BCG doesn't slow down despite copious amounts of fouling building up.
I'm not gonna get into a this-vs-that debate in the 'coating wars'. Taking a quality Mil Spec BCG and having it coated with a treatment that greatly reduces friction seems like a win-win for me.
The coating is so slick, all lube (I use Slip 2k EWL) drips right off after about a week of storage. I mean bone dry. With lube, the BCG glides inside the upper like greased marbles on a buttered glass floor.
Last edited by BufordTJustice; 01-20-11 at 10:29.
Is the buffer for competition or something else?
I'm also trying to find a way to plate breech face and extension, like the original I had. Ridiculously easy to clean, and immune to most corrosion.
The buffer is for my duty carbine. It was custom fabricated by Slash at Heavy Buffers dot net.
I'm sure you could find somebody to coat a quality Barrel extension. It seems that an Ionbond barrel extension would play nice with a FZ BCG. Even HC would be an improvement. However, I don't really see the BE as a huge contributor to smoothness. My BCM has a normal mil spec BE and it works great for me (and for me most).
The only reason to plate the extension is ease of cleaning, but they were VERY easy to clean. Spray with solvent, wipe with a bronze brush. Done.
And I HAVE seen badly abused weapons stored wet rust shut with park to park finishes.
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