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Thread: Nickel Boron Bolt Carrier Battle: R Guns vs. Spike's

  1. #1
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    Exclamation Nickel Boron Bolt Carrier Battle: R Guns vs. Spike's

    After buying an Ion Bonded Super duty bolt from Denny, I decided I wanted to mate it with a nickel boron bolt carrier for what I consider the best of both worlds. However, Spike's doesn't sell the carrier separately, and I wasn't too keen on spending over $150 for just a carrier from Fail Zero. Enter R guns. They sell just the carriers, or just the bolts, and at only $70. I wasn't too familiar with the company, so I asked them to tell me about their carriers. Well, I was told that they make their carriers in house, make them to mil spec, and stake them the proper way. They have WMD (the guys that split off from Fail Zero) coat them with the nickel boron. I wasn't too happy about that smiley face design that they stamp on their carriers, however, and I inquired about the availability of a carrier without it. I was told that all of the carriers are stamped that way now, and that was the way it was going to be.

    I wasn't too happy about that, but I figured for $70, the price of a normal carrier, I couldn't really go wrong.

    Well, when it finally came I was very pleasantly surprised. A couple of things caught my eye. One was that the staking was VERY deep and looked like the staking on my old colt carrier. The staking was deeper then Spike's gas key staking very well done. Also, the gas key screws were nickel boron coated as well, where as Spike's uses regular parkerized screws. Not a huge difference, but it does match better and I thought that was a nice little touch. The smiley face was was barely visible. It was stamped so lightly, that the top portion didn't even indent into the metal. The rest of the stamp was very lightly indented into the carrier and only noticeable upon close up inspection. It doesn't even show up in the photos. That was truly a nice surprise!

    How does the carrier and coating stack up to Spikes?

    The first thing I noticed was how slick and smooth R Gun's NiB coating was. This is the second NiB BCG I have owned from Spikes. The previous one got sold with the upper I bought it with. This newer NiB BCG from Spikes had a shinier, more polished finish than the old one I had from them. However, the R Guns finish is even slightly shinier and more polished than that. Running my fingers over each companies respective BCG, I could feel that both were very slick to the touch. The R Guns carrier was just as slick, if not slightly slicker than Spike's. Like I said, the fact that it was a bit more polished may have been the reason for that, which you can notice in the pictures.

    The Staking on the R Gun's carrier was much deeper and better than the Spikes. I hate to reiterate this topic, but I was slightly disappointed with the staking on my current Spikes BCG. It doesn't nearly seem deep enough. Wasn't nearly as deep as my last carrier from them. Not sure why the staking is the way it is, if it is slipped QC, or if someone else staked these carriers for them, etc. All I can say is that I was more than impressed with the staking of the R Guns carrier. Very deep and very secure looking.

    One thing that surprised me about R Gun's carrier is that it has a lot fewer forward assist notches than a standard AR carrier. You can see that in the comparison pictures between the two of them. I don't think this would really effect performance much, but it is interesting to note.

    Test Fire: R Guns NiB carrier test fired great. It was very smooth operating, and didn't collect much grime at all. What little it did pick up was easy to wipe off.

    Final Thoughts

    All in all I am more than impressed with the quality of this carrier, especially at the price point. I would whole heartily recommend this carrier and I personally think it gives up nothing to Fail Zero's / Spike's in fit and finish or performance. The staking of this carrier may even pull it ahead!


    The two Contenders: Front R Guns, Back Spikes





    From the Back: Front R Guns, Rear Spikes



    Top View: Note the Staking - Botton R Guns, Top Spikes




  2. #2
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    have you read this ?
    Robert Silvers has a great post on this
    https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=91507

  3. #3
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    You are contemplating two substandard carriers with a snake oil finish. You typed over 700 words about this.

    You are concerned about things that aren't important. Go order a Colt carrier and be done with it.
    Last edited by scottryan; 11-13-11 at 12:11.
    "Not every thing on Earth requires an aftermarket upgrade." demigod/markm

  4. #4
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    Neither of the carriers are substandard. The nickle boron finish is nice but not necessary. My personal feeling is that if the OP has the money to spend for it there's no problem since it doesn't compromise the reliability of his AR.

    As for the staking....both are adequate based on the pics so the RGuns holds no advantage there by having deeper staking. deeper. Given a choice between those two I'd take the Spikes since its had the proper testing.

    Thanks for the write up. Tell us more about your AR's when you get a chance.

  5. #5
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    I have a spikes NiB bcg and I'm sure it's far superior to anything by "rguns" and yes properly tested. Anyone who says spikes is substandard obviously does not have experience with the product and is totally bias, spikes has never failed me.

  6. #6
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    to be honest i just ran a 2 day rifle class this week and the Spikes NiB BCG STILL REQUIRES lube. i find that the coating just makes it easier to clean, but consider this keep your gun wet with a high quality lube my personal lube of choice is FrogLube or Slip2000, clean your rifle as required (you can determine that). the BCG/bolt dont have many critical surfaces that build up carbon to the point of failure of the gun because most of it just scraped and having a good lube helps in the process.

    i like my spikes NiB BCG/bolt BUT i still treat it like any other standard piece of equipment which requires cleaning and PM's

  7. #7
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    I wouldn't use either of those suppliers. I agree on just ordering a OEM Colt BCG.
    "You people have too much time on your hands." - scottryan

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
    I wouldn't use either of those suppliers. I agree on just ordering a OEM Colt BCG.
    This^^^

    Get a Colt or LMT BCG, then if you want shoot a $100 load on a shiny finish it's on you. At least you will know what you are working with.
    Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1

    Owner of MI-TAC, LLC .

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  9. #9
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    I've only been lurking on this site for a few weeks, and the elitists pushing their "battle proven" and "far superior" brands are already giving me a headache.

    I've not had a single problem with an of my Spikes components... Idk if the NiB bcg is worth the extra money, since my standard bcg has been 100%, but its a neat concept I guess. A buddy of mine swears by his, but I'm fine with a properly maintained standard finish bcg. Only reason I could see myself buying it would be ease of cleanup and appearance, to be honest

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by sxshep View Post
    I've only been lurking on this site for a few weeks, and the elitists pushing their "battle proven" and "far superior" brands are already giving me a headache.
    This may not be the right place for you then. Some of the elitists here shoot thousands of rounds a month with their silly "battle proven" parts... some of which are backed by 40 years of R&D.

    Also, when you state things like "my buddy swears by his", who is he? What makes your buddy a subject matter expert on bolt carrier groups? We deal in facts here as opposed to "Jim-bob at the range likes his XYZ".
    Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1

    Owner of MI-TAC, LLC .

    @MichiganTactical

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