I'm getting lost in the research about Nickel Teflon vs. Cerakote for the upper.  I was planning on getting a spike's tactical upper, with a nickel boron bcg and a very good barrel, I'm not sure what yet, but I don't want to skimp on that.  Anyway, I put an ALG battle trigger in the lower, that is like a basic trigger with nickel boron coating.  That seems so much smoother than my bushmaster.  Anyway, I came across righttobear.com and their nickel teflon upper and I'm wondering if it's worth it.  The problem for me is that I don't want that color and I wanted the rifle to match.  Then I read about cerakote and how that offers lubricity as well.  I just want this thing to feel smooth when I pull back the charging handle.  I'm sure that just the nickel boron bcg will be a nice upgrade anyway, but should I do cerakote on the spike's upper or get the nickel teflon?  Thanks guys for your help.

Greggy:  A lot of this depends on one's personal taste, but I suggest you skip the WMD NiB coated upper.  The place you might want this type of coating (chrome, Nib, etc.) is on the bolt carrier.  Ceracote is best used for changing the external color of your rifle's parts from black or shiny stainless, to some other color that suits your fancy.  Ceracote is also very resistant to scratches etc.

In either case, carrier or upper receiver, these premium finishes are nice to have items, not really necessary for anything.  Personally, I like carriers that are polished smooth and nitrided.  Super smooth finishes make the carrier easier to clean, but that's about it.  Ordinary phosphate coated carriers function just fine provided you polish the contact surfaces with fine sandpapers.  I have to admit, I would like to have an AR rifle that is Coyote Brown (the Army's new standard color for web gear) from head to toe and Ceracote is reportedly the best of the bunch. good luck - CW