If $ do not matter-Best BCG

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It maybe unnecessary, but I usually match the BCG to the barrel. I have a couple Wilson combats that are pretty awesome. Just picked up a Daniel Defense barrel and BCG for a pistol build I'm going to start soon. The WC are Nickle Boron, the DD is Chrome, Sigs are DLC and S&Ws are phosphate. I do prefer smoother finishes for cleaning, but phosphate works the same, just a little more scrubbing and lube
 
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I will be a contrarian here. If dollars really do not matter, I would get this:
https://jprifles.com/buy.php?item=JPBC-2 BCG
The JP FMOS for everyone who doesn't want to click the link.
But then again, if dollars really do not matter, I would buy the rest of the upper assembly from JP also.

If dollars do matter somewhat, I would get an EXO coated BCG.
 
JP variable mass bcg and the silent capture spring, and an adjustable gas block. Tune that bad boy up so there is zero recoil
 
swagbrdr said:
Alright gents. I’m not looking to pick a fight here. Apologize for ruffling feathers.

Sure, they don’t cost as much as what I listed...however, I would put that money plus more into what I listed.

I just spent $160 on 8Lbs of CFE Pistol. That’s less than a high end BCG. Wilson Combat’s deluxe BCG is $200.

I’ll answer the OP’s original question again. If money was no consideration, what BCG would you buy? I wouldn’t buy one. My stock units work just fine on the 3 black rifles I own.

If money is no object then get like 3-4 of the top brand’s Best BCGs and see what works best in your rifle.
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Don’t worry, it takes a whole lot to ruffle my feathers. ;) If you check out my post on the forum, you can pretty much tell that I’m laid back, but sometimes very blunt.
I just find it funny that people post in topics that they have little to no interest in. This often happens in a topic like, which Glock do you like best. Someone will come along and let everyone know that he does not like Glocks and the Sig or some other brand is better.
Now back on topic.
For years the inside of the bolt carrier was chromed lined. This gave a very hard and slick surface. Now we have Nitried finished BCGs. With nitried, Chrome lining is not needed. But what is more important is the tolerances.
Companies like BCM do not make their own BCGs, but they do test for tolerances that meet their demands.
I have built guns with run of the mill BCGs and never have had one fail. I built a friend a budget AR from PSA. He put his grandson in an AR class the next week with a Colt AR. The Colt started choking so, he gave his the PSA to use. The PSA made it through both days of the class, just over 1500 rounds, without any trouble. The BCG in the PSA was just a basic PSA BCG.
When going with a higher end BCG, you can pay for quality and a name or just a name without quality.
Toolcraft makes really good BCGs and has been at it for some time. I’ve used them on many builds.
So when it comes to spending more money on a BCG, as long as you stay with a good name brand with a reputation to back it up, you can’t go wrong.
 
I know I'm gonna trigger some funny looks, but I like the BCM BCG's and prefer a parkerized finish. It isn't as sexy as some of the other finishes, but it does a good job of absorbing and retaining lube.

I'm not too worried about ease of cleaning. Honestly, I rarely clean an AR and don't unless I need to if replacing a part or something. The AR I built not too long ago has close to 3K rounds through it and I haven't cleaned it since I built it. I just keep it lubed and it keeps on going.
 
Gojo03 said:
It maybe unnecessary, but I usually match the BCG to the barrel.
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Not only is it unnecessary, but it’s almost wholly illogical. Very, very few companies produce both their own BCGs and barrels, so even when you do try to buy matched brand BCGs and barrels, typically, you’re actually still not.
 
Varminterror said:
Not only is it unnecessary, but it’s almost wholly illogical. Very, very few companies produce both their own BCGs and barrels, so even when you do try to buy matched brand BCGs and barrels, typically, you’re actually still not.
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True. I'm not sure if DD or WC actually make both pieces, but my OCD hopes so!
 
TonyAngel said:
I know I'm gonna trigger some funny looks, but I like the BCM BCG's and prefer a parkerized finish. It isn't as sexy as some of the other finishes, but it does a good job of absorbing and retaining lube.

I'm not too worried about ease of cleaning. Honestly, I rarely clean an AR and don't unless I need to if replacing a part or something. The AR I built not too long ago has close to 3K rounds through it and I haven't cleaned it since I built it. I just keep it lubed and it keeps on going.
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You've been hanging around M4C too much

cougar1717 said:
I will be a contrarian here. If dollars really do not matter, I would get this:
https://jprifles.com/buy.php?item=JPBC-2 BCG
The JP FMOS for everyone who doesn't want to click the link.
But then again, if dollars really do not matter, I would buy the rest of the upper assembly from JP also.

If dollars do matter somewhat, I would get an EXO coated BCG.
Click to expand...

One of the reasons I didn't recommend the JP BCG is because they only offer a semi-auto profile carrier in AR-15 form. If $ is no object, get a full auto carrier. My secondary issue with the JP unit is, for as beautifully as they polish the carrier & as perfect as the nitride coating is (I have a JP AR10 carrier), the gas key is only phosphate coated. A minor nit to pick, but I feel on a high dollar item, that's a little sloppy.

As to EXO vs Nitride/DLC/PVD coating, over time any of your nickel based coatings WILL stain/tarnish. It may or may not affect function. Looks aside, NP3/NiB/EXO has exhibited a propensity for flaking/chipping particularly off the bolt. Most users may never subject their rifles to hard enough use for that to occur, but again, if money is no object, why not go for something better?

The reason I recommended that particular Lantac BCG (and why I chose one myself) is a combination of the coatings on the BCG and the geometry of the carrier itself.

The whole BCG is nitrided THEN treated with Titanium Nitride. I personally don't really go for the "bling" factor of TiN, but it's very functional. TiN is a Particle Vapor Deposition similar to DLC/Ionbond (DLC/Ionbond is slightly harder & slicker) that doesn't add any dimensional changes but still resists corrosion & wear better than Nitride alone or any of the nickel based finishes. Stacking a PVD type finish over Nitride is an excercise in overkill/overbuilt and I freaking love it. Mine also holds lubrication very well.

Now, on to carrier dimensions. I own 2 Young Manufacturing National Match BCGs, a PWS carrier, an Adams Arms/Voodoo Innovations carrier with integral gas key, a Daniel Defense Chrome BCG, and a Davidson Defense NiB coated carrier. The Lantac BCG is advertised as having a tighter lockup in the upper due to the flared/supported rear of the carrier. PWS advertises the same concept as does Young MFG (Young's does it by adding extra surface area to the front of the carrier as opposed to the rear). This supposedly may aid in accuracy. Other factors are obviously as important (if not more so) for accuracy like barrel to receiver fit, barrel quality, barrel nut torque, trigger quality & of course shooter ability (probably my biggest shortcoming...I suspect many of us could say the same if we're being honest).

I did a test the other day (because under state mandated lockdown...until Friday, I have that kind of time) checking the amount of play in the upper receiver with each BCG. The Daniel Defense, Adams Arms, and Davidson Defense bolt carriers all had about the same amount of movement in the upper, the Young Mfg does have ever so slightly less, the PWS noticeably less, and the Lantac, as advertised, has almost none.

How much does that matter? I promise you I'm not a good enough shot to tell the difference, but it does what Lantac says it does. I'll take every advantage I can get.
 
I’m no expert but I bought the Lantac BCG for my ar10 on sale, zero problems. Fit and finish looks very impressive to me. It cleans up with a wipe. The enhanced cam at the top seems to be a quality improvement
I will get one for my ar15 build
 
GunnyUSMC said:
You do know that the carrier rails are the only part of the outside of the carrier that needs oil.
View attachment 920928
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Yes, I'm aware of the proper way to lube an AR bolt carrier, but I have a theory. I feel that anything that keeps lube in the action of an AR is a good thing. As I said, I'm not big on keeping my AR clean, but I do lube it and prefer not to have to stop what I'm doing to do that. I've had weekends where I ran drills with friends and will do over 500 rounds and sometimes up to a 1000 in a day. I'll lube before we start and won't lube again till the next day before we start and I haven't had any problems. It has worked for me for years and I'm not going to muck with my formula in favor of something that will make something that I don't do much anyway, easier.

I understand that these newer coatings offer a better natural lubricity, but I feel that, in an AR, lube is not just there to make things slide easier. Lube also provides a medium by which the working of the action works to displace crud. So, I like stuff that absorbs lube. That in conjunction with Slip 2000, which I have also been using for years, works for me.
 
TonyAngel said:
Yes, I'm aware of the proper way to lube an AR bolt carrier, but I have a theory. I feel that anything that keeps lube in the action of an AR is a good thing. As I said, I'm not big on keeping my AR clean, but I do lube it and prefer not to have to stop what I'm doing to do that. I've had weekends where I ran drills with friends and will do over 500 rounds and sometimes up to a 1000 in a day. I'll lube before we start and won't lube again till the next day before we start and I haven't had any problems. It has worked for me for years and I'm not going to muck with my formula in favor of something that will make something that I don't do much anyway, easier.

I understand that these newer coatings offer a better natural lubricity, but I feel that, in an AR, lube is not just there to make things slide easier. Lube also provides a medium by which the working of the action works to displace crud. So, I like stuff that absorbs lube. That in conjunction with Slip 2000, which I have also been using for years, works for me.
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I guess you missed the point of my post. The pic was not to show you who to properly lube the carrier, but to show you the bearing surfaces. The carrier rails are the only parts of the carrier that makes contact with the upper receiver. So it really doesn’t matter how much lube is on the rest of the carrier.
And from your comment on lube displacing crud, it would be safe to say that most all of your time with an AR has been on the range.
The worst thing you can do in an environment where there is fine sand, is to over lube. The sand and dirt collects in the lube to the point it turns to slug. It is also not that good for extreme cold weather. The only environment where extra lube helps is in tropical.
Now when running a gun hard, extra lube is a plus. But running a dirty gun hard is just foolish because, you are just causing extra wear. Kind of like not changing the oil in you vehicle and just adding more oil when it gets low. It only takes a minute or two to take a BCG apart and wipe it off.
The new coatings for BCGs was developed to reduce friction so that the weapon will run longer with less lube.
But then what do I know, I have only used the M16A1 and A2 in many different places around the world in a span of 20 years while in the Corps.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
Now when running a gun hard, extra lube is a plus. But running a dirty gun hard is just foolish because, you are just causing extra wear. Kind of like not changing the oil in you vehicle and just adding more oil when it gets low. It only takes a minute or two to take a BCG apart and wipe it off.
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Yup. We've all seen Larry Vickers' video or the statement therein about running an AR wet- Yes, it will keep it running in the short term, like combat. But as Gunny says, it will cause accelerated wear and tear. This is fine if you can DX the rifle after the mission, or have the Armorer work on it, but those of us not actively serving at the moment (probably) want to keep our AR's working for a long time. Running them wet and then not cleaning and relubing correctly is a blueprint for failure, and you know Murphy likes to rear his ugly head at the most inopportune times. This is why I have been following your posts with "....until it doesn't" , Tony. Shoot it correctly lubed, add a bit during firing if needed, then be sure to clean and correctly lube afterward.

And I'll sign off like Gunny did; what do I know? I only worked on M16A1's and A2's at both the Unit and Maintenance Activity (Division) level.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
So it really doesn’t matter how much lube is on the rest of the carrier.
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The Army kinda sorta disagrees, Gunny. Their testing (Aberdeen, 2007) found that running the whole BCG sloppy-wet helped migrate fine dust from places it ought not be (like bearing surfaces) to places that it it didn't hurt. But it is also very true that the Army expected the gun to be cleaned when back behind the wire.

The original articles have been pulled, but I did find this snippet embedded in another article:
http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2007/07/army_carbine_lubrication_070716/

Heavy lubrication shown to improve M16, M4 effectiveness

By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 16, 2007 17:34:05 EDT

Army weapons officials might have found a way to improve the M16 family's performance in the desert.

Dust chamber tests at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., last year show that M16 rifles and M4 carbines perform dramatically better when the weapon's bolt assembly is heavily lubricated.

During each phase of the two-part system assessment at Army Test and Evaluation Command, testers fired 60,000 rounds through 10 weapon samples of each model.

Treated with light lubrication, new M16A4s and M4s, performed poorly in the extreme dust and sand conditions of the test, according to a January report from ATEC.

But when testers applied a heavy coat of lubrication to the weapons, the test results showed a significant improvement.

Out of the 60,000 rounds fired in each phase, the M4 stoppage-rate dropped from 9,836 with light lubrication to 678 with heavy lubrication.

The M16A4 stoppage-rate dropped from 2,124 with light lubrication to 507 with heavy lubrication, results show.

For years, Army weapons officials have preached to soldiers to virtues of applying a light coat of lubrication during weapons maintenance.

But the test results reinforce a recent change in weapons maintenance guidance Army units are practicing in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Col. Carl Lipsit, project manager for Soldier Weapons.
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entropy said:
Yup. We've all seen Larry Vickers' video or the statement therein about running an AR wet- Yes, it will keep it running in the short term, like combat.
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Correct - it's intended to help mitigate environmental conditions while in use. It's not intended to replace cleaning.
 
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Well, actually a lot of my time is spent on a range but the range I go to and the places where I shoot aren't covered with concrete and nice grass. It's a lot of mud, dust, water and I often have to shake the sand/dirt out of my ARD.

I fully understand the dangers of over lubrication. I've commented many times on this forum about them. Of course, you guys have much more experience than I do, so what do I know. I'll be sure to let you guys know when one of my ARs quits running on me.
 
TonyAngel said:
Well, actually a lot of my time is spent on a range but the range I go to and the places where I shoot aren't covered with concrete and nice grass. It's a lot of mud, dust, water and I often have to shake the sand/dirt out of my ARD.

I fully understand the dangers of over lubrication. I've commented many times on this forum about them. Of course, you guys have much more experience than I do, so what do I know. I'll be sure to let you guys know when one of my ARs quits running on me.
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Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to be rude. I have spent time in three different deserts. The worst was a high plains desert where the soil was a mix of fine sand and dirt. In just one day everyone of my men and their equipment were covered in a light color sand. The stuff got into everything. If you had too much oil on your weapon, in a short time it was caked up with crud. The key to keep weapons running was to wipe them down and use very little oil. And adding a few drops of oil every few hundred rounds.
But like I said before, the environment in which you are will have a lot to do with the amount of lube you use.
Keeping a weapon clean will also help it function better and longer.
The coatings like Nitride and Nickel Boron help. When you pay more for a BCG, you are paying for several things, Higher tolerance levels, and testing to make sure you get the best quality.
 
rbernie said:
The Army kinda sorta disagrees, Gunny. Their testing (Aberdeen, 2007) found that running the whole BCG sloppy-wet helped migrate fine dust from places it ought not be (like bearing surfaces) to places that it it didn't hurt. But it is also very true that the Army expected the gun to be cleaned when back behind the wire.

The original articles have been pulled, but I did find this snippet embedded in another article:


Correct - it's intended to help mitigate environmental conditions while in use. It's not intended to replace cleaning.
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Wasn’t that the same Army that tested the new handguns and picked the Sig as the best. Then they started having trouble with triggers breaking and FMJ ammo not feeding?
When the Army really wants to test something they let Marine Grunts play with it. We could break just about anything.:rofl:
 
entropy said:
And I'll sign off like Gunny did; what do I know? I only worked on M16A1's and A2's at both the Unit and Maintenance Activity (Division) level.
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Is wear accelerated when the gun is just dirty with powder residue? Or is it only accelerated when abrasive foreign particles are introduced?
 
Both. Obviously, the larger the particles are, the more wear the quicker, but fine sand, as Gunny said, will do it too. Powder residue+overlubrication+ the gun cooling down after use= brick hard carbon that will if left on eventually cause malfunctions. Add FOD (Foreign Object Debris) in and it's like lubing a weapon with sandpaper.
 
Well, the upper receiver and BCG on this build I'm running now have over 20K rounds on them and I can count on my hands the number of times it's been cleaned. Maybe I'm not getting dirty enough when I do my drills or play around. I don't know what to tell you.

All I said was that I like the phosphate finish because it absorbs oil. I don't know how that led to the dangers of running wet and all of that other stuff. No, I haven't done any duty in a desert, but my ARs typically see mud, dust, sand, etc. I just haven't experienced anything that says that I need to change my cleaning regimen. I didn't say that I never clean. All I said was that I don't like to and don't do it regularly.
 
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