Sold off a few not-so-practical guns to finance a fairly lightweight top-end/SHTF/training/self-defense AR-15. I am not cutting corners on this build.
I’m not exactly “building” it from the ground up, but I am buying parts as they become available and putting it together. So far I have a BCM 16" Lightweight BFH middy topped with an Aimpoint Micro H-1 in a larue LT751 absolute mount, backed by a Troy flip-up BUIS and A2 front sight. I put a set of MOE handguards on it for the time being, but I’m really thinking about a larue 12" ff rail eventually with a Troy front flip-up BUIS. I have an LMT defender lower w/ 2 stage trigger on the way. Now all I need is a bolt/carrier group (and of course a good sling).
I really want a DD/BCM/LMT/Colt BCG but so does everyone else. I can’t find a good BCG in stock. Anyone know of any DD/BCM/LMT/Colt BCG in stock somewhere? I’m thinking about just picking up a larue BCG until one of the aforementioned comes back in stock and keeping the LT as a back-up.
Anyways, here are a couple of pictures so far. I welcome any criticism or ideas as this is my first top-teir 5.56 AR and I don’t want to miss anything important. And I’m not brand new to AR’s. I’ve been shooting a RRA 16" middy HBAR for about 2.5 yrs (before I found this site) and a Colt 9mm AR since I was about 8. Only recently have I started taking it seriously. Thanks for the wealth of info I’ve learned here!
Just be patient and keep checking sights such as bravocompanyusa, grtactical, rainier arms, etc…
Also, their are several LMT BCG on gunbroker currently including a couple of M16 BCG.
You have a top notch upper so far and their is no need to put an inferior BCG into such a fine rifle. If you can’t find a BCM, LMT, DD, etc. just wait, they will be for sale again soon.
g&rtactical has gcm carriers, BUT he’s only selling them with uppers that are in stock. aka i ended up buying an upper from him as opposed to anyone else because he did have the carriers along with the upper. glad i got one, everywhere and i mean basically everywhere is out of stock.
Quantico Tactical has LMT bolts for 66.00. Grant has some bolt carriers for 44.00 (IIRC). Then you should be able to get a firing pin, bolt cam and retaining pain and you are GTG.
God help me I just bought another mid-length upper from Bravo.
Since they were out of complete BCG’s I picked up one of their M-16 bolt carriers on sale for $69.00. The bolt and firing pin you can find elsewhere if you are in a big hurry. Bravo still has the carrier with key listed as in stock if you are interested.
I just ordered a BCM carrier and firing pin. A Colt bolt, cam pin and retaining pin are inbound from different sources. All told, I should be out $119. Before I went this route today, I noticed that LMT full auto BCGs are in stock at a few places around the web.
I hadn’t known about the Noveske BCG for $150 as noted above. There was a link I stumbled across here while researching BCGs recently to buy complete BCGs directly from Colt. I could have sworn they were quite reasonable (~$175 IIRC?). Of course, I can’t find the link now. :mad:
Thanks for the input guys. I really want the best BCG. I was really wanting BCM’s Ionbond BCG with the BCM logo but it looks like that’s not going to happen anytime soon… The whole coating thing sounds pretty impressive to me; but then again, so does the “Filthy 14” BCM story about how the BCM 16" middy with a standard MP coated bolt has gone almost 32,000 rounds without cleaning and it’s still running strong.
Do any of you know if Denny’s “thunderbolt” is G2G? What about Noveske’s BCG? Are they on par with BCM/DD/LMT?
Like I said, I’m not cutting corners on this build but I am a college student so I’d like to just buy once if possible. Thanks again for your help! I’m really excited to finally be “in the know” on AR stuff (thanks to this site!) and finally have the opportunity to build a top-notch rifle.
I think you are overthinking it. In my eyes, bolts are expendable wear and tear items. As long as they are proper steel, treated and manufactured correctly, they should work fine, and hopefully you get the chance to shoot enough to replace them a couple times.
BTW, am pretty sure Filthy 14 is waaaay over 32,000 rounds by now, and he’s been through a bolt or two in getting there.
You’re totally correct; I overthink EVERYTHING!! And yes I hope I eventually have the fundage and time to shoot enough to go through a few bolts. But right now, that’s not the case. I shoot when I can which is not nearly often enough. I do a lot of dry drills while I’m here in my college town with no range though. I think I am going to order either the Thunderbolt or the Noveske and just keep my eye on the BCM. Because as it sits now, I have a high dollar, beautiful, high tech metal club w/o a BCG.
And yes, I think I read something where they replaced a few parts on Filthy 14. Very impressive nonetheless!
Thanks for all the help guys! Stay safe.
P.S. Picking up my lower half this weekend! More pics to follow!
I have to agree with 120mm and Slvr on this. I have one of Denny’s older hand-assembled BCGs and it has performed flawlessly. Although Spike’s is dumped on by some on this site, it is not for the materials quality of their BCGs.
Although, generally, I would prefer to have a DD/BCM/Colt BCG, but would not lose a second of sleep because I did not have one in my primary gun. If I really wanted one and had to wait, I would happily get a Spike’s or Denny’s.
Your situation is exactly like mine several years ago. I had a brand new Noveske upper and, as it is today, you couldn’t find a BCG to save your life. I heard about Dennys and they had just put some hand-built BCGs in stock. Bought one, and it has performed perfectly (my single failure to feed was ammo-related when one of those plastic-cased cartridges – remember those? – came apart on feeding).
I waited until I got a deal on a DD BCG, and the Dennys now does its great job in a Frankengun. I would not make a habit out of swapping BCGs, and I am lucky enough to have a military field gauge to check headspace, but it was better than watching an expensive upper go to waste for months while I puttered around looking for the perfect part.
I promised my work partner I’d help her build an AR carbine when I next went on leave… Of course, everybody was out of everything, so I ordered a 16" BFH from BCM, and went ahead and ordered a BCG from PSA for $119. It appears to spec out, so will assemble and put about 1000 rounds through it in a couple weeks.
