Re: Bolt Carrier Group: to chrome or not to chrome....
What a carrier exterior is coated with matters as much as what a civil war cannon exterior was coated with. A carrier exterior touches nothing, except for those four little rails; two beside the gas tube key, and the two below it. Those four rails need to be coated with something lubricating, hopefully grease, or in sub-freezing; oil. Those four small areas are the only areas that endure friction on a properly functioning AR15/10 carrier. If its out of alignment the back of the carrier might wobble and touch the buffer tube about as much as your finger touches your trouser while walking. A feather stroke. You could wipe wet horse shit on a carrier, let it dry, run the AR and the gun would never know unless the shit flaked off down onto the triggery stuff and fouled it up but from some of y'all guns I've seen that what's happening anyway so hell...... I took in a Kimber, Hi-Power and MKIII Saturday and none of them have ever seen one drop of lube. And the HI-power is old as hell.
But I hate phosphate finishes on my carriers, and I remove it because I like mine to be easy to clean and it makes no sense to me to coat a carrier with anything except grease or Cerakote just in case it might need lube. I even grease the buffer spring, for one reason to help delay the breach opening. I mean not with a whole tube of the stuff. Be reasonable. Just a little dab al do ya.
NP3 coating of carriers is as much a gimmick as selling an Eskimo an ice cooler. They're ghetto bling, but that's it. NP3 the barrel exterior too. Its the same thing. An imbecile, bless his heart, might grease tire tread. What the hell is the point of that? If someone wanted to NP3 bolt lugs, now. I'd get that, or even the whole bolt. But no. Not the carrier, excepting the rails.
I got it!! Let's pour motor oil on the roof of our cars. Of course. Why not? They'll be slicker so we'll go faster easier. Right.
