I was looking at possibly putting in an order for a Fail Zero nickel boron BCG but my question is would I have to do any headspacing procedures prior to firing it in my AR15? I read a few things online where people have said the bigger manufacturers of BCG already have the proper headspacing but just want to make sure. I have a noveske afghan that I would use it with and just use the noveske BCG as a back up. Anyone with any experience with a Fail Zero or any nickel boron BCGs let me know how they compare to mil spec BCGs and your pros and cons. Thanks
Dang after reading that experience with the BRO BCG makes me a little weary to get a nickel boron coated BCG. Maybe I should go with a BCM BCG?
Good idea! (I have two... and a Daniel Defense...) As far as your question about headspacing, it's rarely needed even if you buy the parts separate and put together your AR. The factory does the same thing, they slap a BCG in an upper and test fire. If you pay extra for a tuned/fitted AR they probably slap in a few BCGs until they find one that gives the best tolerance. It's very unusual to find poor headspace when using new parts.
I have a Daniel Defense also and love it. The Chrome lining really helps, my dad has a non chromed Bushmaster that isnt nearly as easy to clean
DD now makes a plated BCG but you have to be careful, some don't have the M16 style carrier like our phosphated, chrome lined versions.
That's what kept me from buying one, I dont know that a F/A carrier is any 'better' , but more metal should mean stronger right?
Well the extra metal at the tail doesn't really strengthen the carrier where it matters but an extra 1/2 ounce does add to the reciprocating mass and smooths out the action. So it's not imperative to have FA as long as the SA carrier properly shields the firing pin - but when buying new, why not get FA. The 1/2 oz can be made up going from an H buffer to the Spikes buffer or better yet, to H2 which weighs about 0.9 oz more than H. (Of course depending on the barrel configuration.)
Awesome and thanks for the knowledge. Now if I can just get the order in fast enough after I get the "in-stock" email from BCM! Missed the last two, one being today :/
BTW, I should say that if you want, you probably can find a local shop that would check your headspace for $10 or so. Shouldn't be much. I've never bothered myself, I inspect my brass and look for problems. If the brass is good I figure the headspace is good. Being this casual is something you wouldn't do with just about any other firearm build.
I'm not entirely certain which buffer I have, whatever PSA sells in their carbine kits, but my spent casings are deflected off of my brass deflector, which I'm told despite the name, is incorrect. So would I use a heavier/lighter buffer to remedy this?
Heavier, probably. In general a 16" midlength would benefit from an upgrade to the H buffer. And a 16" carbine length gas tends to do well with an H2 or maybe even H3. The H, H2 and H3 buffers are stamped correspondingly. If you have an unmarked carbine buffer it's almost certainly a standard weight. There's overlap of course, my 16" midlengths do quite well with H2 buffers, even with lower powered ammo. Instead of buying every buffer you can just buy an H3 if you already have a standard weight. The H3 has 3 tungsten weights and the standard, 3 steel. Or think of it as: 3T+0S= H3 and 0T+3S= standard. By removing the roll pin that holds on the plastic bumper on the buffer you can mix'n'match weights: 2T+1S= H2 which would leave 1T+2S= H for the second buffer. Only problem the buffer is marked incorrectly but performs properly at its new weight.
My opinion on that bcg is crap is crap whether chrome, phosphate, teflon, nickel-moron, etc.. Like a drill sergeant once told me, you can try and polish doo doo (he said ****), but in the end, it will still be doo doo.
I have read a few posts on this and other forums from guys with Fail Zero, and none have complained, other than the price.
Yeah I haven't really seen many complaints on the FZ. I really just want a BCM but they are so hard to come by right now then I saw that Surplus Ammo has the FZ in stock so I was thinking of going with that but might just wait for the BCM because I'm still not sure
What kind of ammo should one run and avoid (if any) with a 14.5 mid with a milspec buffer spring and H-buffer? I've read that weaker loads work better with the standard carbine buffer in others opinions. I'm trying to decide whether I should get the spikes buffer kit or BCM
No experience with the 14.5" midlength and really not a fan, carbine length would handle a wider range of ammo. I'd go out and shoot it with various configs and find out.
I'd get a standard weight carbine length buffer for sure and why not the H3 so you can make all four weights and test. I doubt you'll want more than H for light loads, maybe even standard.
