bfoosh006
Member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2008
- Messages
- 1,083
You stated that you like the phosphate finish because it absorbs oil. I then posted a pic that shows the carrier rails and pointed out the those were the areas that needed lube. It does no good to cover the rest of the outside of the carrier with oil.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.
You stated that you like the phosphate finish because it absorbs oil. I then posted a pic that shows the carrier rails and pointed out the those were the areas that needed lube. It does no good to cover the rest of the outside of the carrier with oil.
You then mentioned that you don’t clean your AR very much. I then pointed out the it was better to clean your rifle to keep undue wear.
During those post I did point out the advantages of the new coatings on BCGs.
There’s nothing wrong with a phosphate coated BCG. There are some outstanding ones out there. I have a couple of rifles that have FN phosphate BCGs. You will find that phosphate bolt carriers are Chrome lined. There are some that are not, but they are not of high quality.
Please don’t take any of this as personal attacks.
The fact that your rifle has served you well is a testament to the design of the rifle. The AR platform is not as fragile as some think.
My ARs have not been subjected to battlefield conditions like the M16s that I carried in the Corps. But I can tell you that a few range trips without cleaning your rifle would not get you close to living months on end without a roof over you head and your rifle ever by your side.I have a Fail Zero carrier and have found it does nothing a parked carrier doesn't. It's not any smoother and isn't any more reliable. Looks good, even after the coating darkened from crud, but that's it. The Fail Zero is a good carrier and a little easier to wipe down but it's not worth the extra money.
The carrier floats inside the upper and doesn't need much oil on the outside for smooth operation. But I oil it anyway to protect against corrosion.
The only place I've had an AR develop hard fouling build up is the tail of the bolt and inside the muzzle device. I've had heavy fouling cause malfunctions, but a little bit of oil got things going again.
Gunny, have you used coated carriers on dusty battlefields like you described earlier?
I have the Young chrome carrier. Works fine but the interior machining is just OKI'd like to try the Young Mfg chrome bcg with their HMB bolt, but that haven't been in stock for a while.
I picked up all my bcg small parts from JSE surplus.
but companies like BCM inspect each BCG to make sure that it meets their standards.
As a data point (and not intended to be contrary - I agree with all of what you said), the only hard failure that I've had in the BCG was a BCM bolt that literally broke a lug off within the first 100rds. <shrug> Things happen, even with the best of kit.Of all the ARs I have built over the years, I have never had a BCG fail.
Bolt lugs breaking of do happen. We’re you using a BCM upper? I remember seeing a video a few years ago where I guy had bolt lugs break off on to high end Bolts. It ended up being a problem with his barrel extension.As a data point (and not intended to be contrary - I agree with all of what you said), the only hard failure that I've had in the BCG was a BCM bolt that literally broke a lug off within the first 100rds. <shrug> Things happen, even with the best of kit.
Not interested in hearing about a few range trips without cleaning. Saw that for myself first hand. Almost broke a nail, once. However, I am interested if a carrier with a special coating makes a difference in battlefield conditions. Closest I've ever come to a battlefield was installing chaff/flare canisters on an A-10 while wearing a moppie suit during an exercise.My ARs have not been subjected to battlefield conditions like the M16s that I carried in the Corps. But I can tell you that a few range trips without cleaning your rifle would not get you close to living months on end without a roof over you head and your rifle ever by your side.
To be clear, I mean my Fail Zero doesn't feel any smoother cycling in an upper than a phosphate carrier with a few rounds on it. The Fail Zero is a good carrier, but I would rather spend that kind of money on an LMT Enhanced carrier. I have seen first hand the LMT carrier is a functional improvement over a standard carrier. Let me stress I'm talking about the Enhanced carrier. I remain uncertain the LMT Enhanced bolt offers any noticeable improvement.You say that the Fail Zero BCG was not any smoother then a Parked BCG?? This I find hard to believe.
Some people buy the best that they can afford, not because they will need it, but because that is how they are and they just want the best that they can get.
I wanna say that it was a CMMG barrel. I do know that the next bolt has a BUNCH of rounds through it with no issue. It could have been a tolerance stack issue between the extension and bolt. It could have been an internal occlusion in the steel that shot peening and MPI can't catch / fix. Dunno - and that's OK. In the end, I just run them and assume that parts will eventually break. My job is to use parts with less likelihood of breaking, and maintain the weapon so that I further reduce the likelihood of hard stoppable, and then be prepared when things do break.Bolt lugs breaking of do happen. We’re you using a BCM upper? I remember seeing a video a few years ago where I guy had bolt lugs break off on to high end Bolts. It ended up being a problem with his barrel extension.
Tolerance stack issues can be a problem with ARs. We are lucky the with CNC tolerances can be controlled much better then before. We still see it from time to time but not often.I wanna say that it was a CMMG barrel. I do know that the next bolt has a BUNCH of rounds through it with no issue. It could have been a tolerance stack issue between the extension and bolt. It could have been an internal occlusion in the steel that shot peening and MPI can't catch / fix. Dunno - and that's OK. In the end, I just run them and assume that parts will eventually break. My job is to use parts with less likelihood of breaking, and maintain the weapon so that I further reduce the likelihood of hard stoppable, and then be prepared when things do break.
How much did you pay for your Fail Zero?Not interested in hearing about a few range trips without cleaning. Saw that for myself first hand. Almost broke a nail, once. However, I am interested if a carrier with a special coating makes a difference in battlefield conditions. Closest I've ever come to a battlefield was installing chaff/flare canisters on an A-10 while wearing a moppie suit during an exercise.
To be clear, I mean my Fail Zero doesn't feel any smoother cycling in an upper than a phosphate carrier with a few rounds on it. The Fail Zero is a good carrier, but I would rather spend that kind of money on an LMT Enhanced carrier. I have seen first hand the LMT carrier is a functional improvement over a standard carrier. Let me stress I'm talking about the Enhanced carrier. I remain uncertain the LMT Enhanced bolt offers any noticeable improvement.
For just the carrier, I believe I paid $185, ten years ago. Mated it to a 20 inch Lothar-Walther barrel with a matched bolt. Very accurate barrel.How much did you pay for your Fail Zero?
I’ve been picking them up on sale from $100 to $125.
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.