FailZero BCG... Anyone seen this?

It is an electroless Nickel Boron coating as stated above.

Does this eliminate the need for lube? No, you just get the lubricity in the coating itself, which is kinda' cool. Once the surface is burnished, it tends to "polymerize" somewhat, causing it to glide smoothly over other surfaces. If the other surfaces are themselves not similarly coated, there will still be some friction. This is the reason for the "extreme duty kit."

If you run your AR in the desert, laying on your belly alot, have an aversion or allergy to wet lubes, or throw your rifle in the dirt, I would consider buying this. If, however, you use your AR's like most of the rest of us, the YNM still reduces the need for lubrication quite a bit, using the same principle, and I believe they enhance the accuracy of my guns. I also love the way they look, and they clean up with a wipe from a rag or paper towel....and I shoot suppressed all the time. They save you the cost of ....oh, some ammo?

So, here's the long and short of it:

Does this reduce the most problematic inherent weaknesses of the AR-15? No, these are 1) the tiny, fragile lugs on the bolt. This does little to address that. AR Performance's ITS bolt does much more to address that issue. 2) Another inherent weakness is the thin and weak extractor. This does nothing to address that. The ITS and LMT enhanced bolts do. 3) a third weakness is the wide variety of gas system lengths not being standardized for all barrel lengths, and gas port sizes which are chosena lot like a black majoic or voodoo ritual.

Nifty? yes. A "new"probelm - free AR-15 after purchse? not so much.

Only my personal opinion and YMMV

This is just my opinion and you know that old saying.
The ARs bolt and carrier has hot gases and carbon injected into them which dries out the oil and turns into a sludge first then a hard carbon layer which can slow or even stop cycling. Keep them wet and that will prolong the seizure, a thicker oil will not dry as fast as a lightweight oil like wd40.
The piston system can prevent a stoppage by that cause but will do nothing to stop a sand or dirt related failure.
Coating a normal machined carrier may not help as much as choosing the metal with the correct properties that will allow a super smooth finish and is capable of being hardened to 70C.
Coating a carrier with small imperfections will not fill those imperfections and will allow grit to hang up or stick, the carrier will roll over the grit and force it into the surface of the receiver, causing more pits and wear. Mil spec hard-coat anodizing can be 60-70C Rockwell where NP3 is only 48-51C.

We have discussed this at length while designing parts and we believe it is best to use the correct material to provide a superior finish first, choose the correct surface heat treatment to make the parts as hard as possible while keeping the core tough, not brittle. Then IF there is a coating that is harder AND slicker that will have less imperfections that the parent metal it would be worth doing as long as there is a comparable treatment to the alum receiver.

Their kit idea may work if they are close in hardness, some Ion coatings are close to 100C.
There are a lot of gimmicks out there, it's best to check them out thoroughly.

BTW- we have a finish in mind that I have seen on carbide, I just need to check out the whole process and determine if there is a REAL benefit.

Nice post HTR and H.

I'm all for people doing R&D to improve things. But when someone says you don't need liquid lubricant for a mechanical device designed to use lubricant, I get a little suspicious. That's where the M16 got it's first black eye in Viet Nam. It needs no lube, and never needs cleaning. Right, that worked well for a day or two then the M16's became plastic clubs.

For this FailSafe system with its slick coatings to have a chance, you would probably need an upper receiver with a similar interior coating like what POF uses.

Keep in mind POF is a "piston" and you're not getting near as much carbon and heat in the upper as a regular DI setup with the "FailSafe" carrier and bolt. I would venture a guess that it would still run better with some lubricant. I wouldn't even run a POF dry.

Spend the money on a good bolt and extractor setup. That's where the stresses are in an AR. For most cases, the standard AR bolt carrier from someone like CMT is all that is needed.

Also, with SOG, they usually have good inventory at gun shows. Keep in mind their prices may not be the best though, so shop around.

tantrik77 said:

Uggghhh... I'm gunna have a hard time with the whole non-chrome-shiny-pretty-appearance thing, but is it just as good as a Young NM? It doesn't have the extra weight or surface area... He uses standard Young carriers...

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Denny builds for reliability and performance. His checklist on that BCG is spot on for a very good BCG. I would buy a custom BCG from Denny's over an out of box Young NM. Plus if you have to have the extra weight, Denny's is using the heavier M16 BC which has more metal on the bottom side of the BC. However, the standard AR BC works very, very well for those of us with semi-autos.

For the BC you want the properly heat treated metal, not the soft DPMS stuff. Most manufacturers do this correctly. For the most part the carrier is just along for the ride, and the Young NM isn't going to show you a noticeable performance gain if any. Chrome may be easier to clean, but I've never thought cleaning the bolts and carriers from my standard finished carriers and bolts to be that big of a deal. If you use a good lube like CLP, or Militec, cleanup is much easier. If you want the chrome, then the regular Young chrome bolt carrier would work.

Some here swear by the YNM carriers. Personally, I do not see the performance gain. I'd put the money into the barrel and bolt and go with a reputable brand of BC and make sure it's properly staked.

Denny's makes good gear. Call Denny with any questions. He carries the Young line anyways and can probably get you whatever you decide on.

Besides if it's too shiny, the VC will spot your hide in the jungle.