spikes tactical (or fail zero) nickel boron BCG

this is quite the interesting piece. i picked one up a few weeks ago. i have yet to shoot with it due to school and weather but ill give you my preliminary report.

the thing is SLIPPERY. i mean you hold the thing in your hand and half expect it to fly out. when loaded in the receiver, it glides with zero lubrication. you don't even hear a thing but the buffer spring. they say it never needs to lube and i believe them, although most use a tiny bit anyway just in case. people have said carbon wipes right off with a dry cloth and again i believe it. ive tried rubbing some dirt and various substances on it and seeing what sticks and what wipes right off and so far nothing has stuck.

they come in at $200. if you are looking at a plain old phosphate bcg for $120 and on a budget, this probably isn't worth it. its super cool, easy to use, and probably lasts longer, but its not a must have. however if you are looking at buying a chrome one for $180, its definitely worth the extra $20. as with everything else i review, ill try to update it when school slows down and i have time to shoot. ill get pics soon too.

Rob at Bower's has a hard on for these, and I definitely trust his opinion.

I didn't take into account the quietness...might want to look into one for my 9mm build..

So is the purpose to allow an AR to function longer without cleaning/lubrication or is it simply to make cleaning easier? If one could run an AR reliably without lube, then I see a huge benefit to having a nickel boron BCG. If it's just a cleaning thing, I never found cleaning my normal BCG that hard.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mutt

So is the purpose to allow an AR to function longer without cleaning/lubrication or is it simply to make cleaning easier? If one could run an AR reliably without lube, then I see a huge benefit to having a nickel boron BCG. If it's just a cleaning thing, I never found cleaning my normal BCG that hard.

---

the idea is both. but frankly, longevity is something thats much harder to comment on and will take a long time to know for sure. i mean even a standard bcg can last a long, long time if properly cared for. so maybe in ten years i can comment on the longevity of the nickel boron bcg, but theres really just no way to know. what i do know is its harder, smoother, and is easier to clean. to me that equates to better functionality for a longer period of time, but i can't say from experience.

Cool. I'd be interested to know what you think of it after some hard use.

I looked at a Fail Zero BCG in person. It was really impressive how "smooth" it was. The one I saw was going for $260. While I am probably not interested in one for that price, I would probably buy one for around $200. I guess I will have to do a little internet searching.

the one for $260 may have included a nickel boron hammer or trigger group. some do. aimsurplus is where i got mine and it was free shipping at the time. even though the fail zero and spike's are the same thing made by the same people, i think the price is different between them so look into that.

I ran 500 rounds suppressed with my fail zero bcg w/ hammer and I never heard the bcg even slowing down. Im sold for now but really want to run it through a class