![]() One small problem with 9310-steel bolts is that they MUST be heat treated correctly to be stronger than C-138 bolts. Why is C-138 Mil-Spec if there is something better out there? Because that’s what the military chose, and they don’t like change. The exact difference between them is a lot of scientific talk but the easy version is that 9310-steel is about 7% stronger than C-158 when heat treated correctly. The most common is Carpenter 158 or C-158 steel, and the second most popular is 9310 steel. BOLT MATERIALS: CARPENTER 158 Vs 9310-STEELĪnother place different manufacturers try to stand out is what kind of steel they choose for their bolts. While miles slicker and more durable than something like phosphate, TiN still falls a little short of DLC or NP3+ for slickness. While much easier to apply than some other coatings, TiN tends to be a little expensive due to the PVD application and how fancy the BCGs look at the end. Very smooth, very durable, and very easy to clean. Resulting in a bright gold color TiN BCGs look awesome and run great. But if we’re being honest, the biggest selling point is that TiN BCGs just look damn good. Titanium Nitride (TiN)Īnother coating that is applied via PVD, Titanium-Nitride is a very cool coating with some great applications. If you want to go a little green, maybe skip the NP3. ![]() Two downsides, NP3 isn’t cheap, and the production of polytetrafluoroethylene is undisputably pretty bad for the environment. This keeps your BCG super slick no matter what. NP3 is also great on fire control groupsīe it for fishing nets or making your pans non-stick, Teflon has a lot of uses.Īs the NP3 coating wears on a BCG, more and new Teflon is exposed. ![]() If you slept through science class, PTFE is Polytetrafluoroethylene – or more commonly known as Teflon. That self-lubrication comes from the PTFE that is used in the coating. The science behind NP3 is a little complex, but basically, this coating is insanely smooth, strong, corrosion resistant, and self-lubricating. While it isn’t chrome, it looks close enough to pass on a not-perfect clone rifle. Something I like about Nickle Boron is that it comes out as a shiny, dull gray color. It isn’t as slick or as strong as some options, but it’s a really nice middle-of-the-road. Nickel Boron is a great finish and beats many of the competition, hands down. Strong, slick, and more expensive than phosphate. I’m not a material scientist, but I’ll do my best to give you a rundown on the popular options. Some coatings are snake oil and are just there to make things more expensive some actually provide a real benefit. Tens of millions of ARs have collectively shot billions of rounds using phosphate BCGs, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be improved on. One of the biggest innovation points in the BCG world is the coating applied to the outside and inside of the BCG. ![]() This really depends on who makes it and to what exact specs and isn’t really enough weight to matter much either way. Hyper-technically speaking, full-auto/M16 style BCGs are also generally a little heavier and are probably more reliable because of it. Most of them are full-auto/M16 style simply because it’s “Mil-Spec” and has become the standard. For the rest of us 99.9%-ers, it won’t matter what kind of BCG you get. This is something you can ignore unless you’re in the <1% who happened to throw down a crapload of money on a full-auto lower.
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