Does anyone have any experience with one of these?

https://rubbercityarmory.com/product/titanium-black-ti-complete-bcg-w-adjustable-gas-key-m16-profile/

... never mind.

I've used their adjustable gas key with good results...

Does it completely replace the need for an adjustable gas block?

For me it did, especially on my .308.  It accomplishes the same thing, which is delaying the opening of the bolt until chamber pressure drops, and slowing the bolt down.
It will let a little more gas into the upper than an adjustable gas block but it's hardly noticeable.

It's only $45, and it's not intended as something you constantly tinker with.  You tune it to barely lock back, plus a ~1/4 turn or so for reliability, and then you lock it down and leave it alone.

Welcome to the site btw.

Thank you very much, I'm happy to be here!

So what about using a titanium BCG in general? Any guidance?

No help?

Titanium is always good, but not cheap

http://www.vertexops.com/Boomfab_AR_Titanium_Carrier_p/bf8100.htm


http://www.vsevenweaponsystems.com/products/v-seven-titanium-carrier

And I prefer a lightweight adjustable gas block instead of adjustable BC.  SLR Sentry is nice,  available in titanium too.

Thank you wheel!

I've been running an RCA adjustable gas key on one of my carbines for over a year now... absolutely love it. Here's my review on it. Just recently picked up one of their Nitride BCGs and is super easy to clean and runs great.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/691315_Who_else_is_running_an_adjustable_gas_KEY_.html

What is your goal and purpose for the gun. I would probably only use a titanium carrier in a competition gun but I also don't have any hands on experience with them. They are pricey which is one reason most people just buy conventional carriers

I am leaning towards a light weight shooter/3-Gun focused rifle at this point. I am really interested in getting more involved in the shooting sports.

For what it's worth most of the guns I see being used in 3-Gun have steel lightweight carriers. JP used to be one of the most popular but the market is much bigger now.

There is also a dedicated 3-Gun section that might be worth asking in as well

Guess what I just got in the mail?



Thank you RCA! This thing is pretty laying on my new mouse pad! I will be posting a review of this sexy BCG right here and on my YouTube channel.

Part 1 of my review of the Titanium Black Ti™ Complete M16 BCG W/Adjustable Gas Key

What was included:
Full titanium carrier w/Proprietary H&M Aerospace Black Ti surface treatment.
Machined SAE 9310 MPI Shot Peened Bolt w/BlackNitride+ treatment.
Hardened tool steel Cam Pin, Ejector, Extractor & Extractor Pin w/BlackNitride+ treatment.
Extractor Spring, Spring Rubber Insert & O-ring.
17-4 SS Firing Pin heat treated to: 42-45RC w/BlackNitride+ treatment.
Mil. Std. Design Cotter Style firing pin retaining pin w/BlackNitride+ treatment.
Machined 4140 Adj. Gas Key Pre-Hardened to: 28-32RC w/BlackNitride+ treatment.
3x - 1/8 adj. screws & 3x - 3/16 set screws and hex wrench included.
.135 fl. oz. Sample of RCA recommended LUCAS Xtreme Duty Gun Oil.
Lifetime Warranty

Initial Impressions:
So I decided to go with this particular carrier as it fills the role of the proven M16 profile BCG while reducing weight by more than 30% to a respectable 7.84 oz. without having a swiss cheese looking steel carrier. Also, not having all the fancy machining like other titanium carriers keeps the cost down and puts it within reach of most shooters looking to go low mass.

The outer packaging is well done, simple, and straight forward. Upon removing the outer sleeve I found snuggled between two silhouette cut pieces of foam the BCG fully assembled protected from any would be hostile package handlers. The box also included a few stickers, information/instruction cards as well as a sample of LUCAS™ Xtreme duty gun oil for lubing it up prior to installation.

According to their website the BlackNitride+ treatment on all the parts minus the carrier, is a combination of three (3) processes including a proprietary thermal, polymeric absorption and the BlackNitride thermal chemical diffusion process. The finish itself is immaculate & slick.

The adjustable gas key has nice radius cuts at the front & rear eliminating the sharp corners usually found on other BCGs I have inspected and is attached using premium quality Grade 8 YFS socket head fasteners properly staked from the sides. Next up I will take this thing apart!

-PalmettoRed86

"SUBSCRIBE" and look for my next update on this BCG!

Almost looks too good to use. All the reviews on the gas key and BCG I've read have been great except for one that was so-so. It sounded more like operator error than a problem with the part. I just received and installed two SLT Sentry 7's on my two pistol builds but I couldn't do that with this carbine build so my hopes are high with installing this gas key.

The machining on RCA's stuff is what I find to be really great, please let me know if your gas key looks the same! I found out Noveske uses their BCGs.

Have you considered your buffer system because a standard setup will be problematic with your bcg. I use to run jp silent capture springs but once I went to a light weight 3 gun rifle, the silent capture was replaced by a taccom 3 gunner lightweight buffer and David tubbs flat wire spring.  A super nice buffer setup and designed for a LW bcg and adjustable gas block.

You won't find a lighter buffer that it runs faster while minimizing reciprocating mass which translate to perceived recoil. Check them out if you want.  

Buffer
http://www.taccom3g.com/carbine-recoil-system.html


Spring
http://www.davidtubb.com/ar15-bufferspring

Can't help with your Ti bcg input as I never run one but I like to hear about yours.  I was a close to buying a Ti carrier from red X arms but then i got the in stock email from aim surplus regarding there LW bcg.  It's was only 120 bucks but does weigh 1oz more.

The road your on, you should be able to build a low low 4 pound rifle.  My 3 gunner is 4.5-4.6.  Your bcg is already 1oz lighter.  That's a good junk of weight in the light weight world.  Good work.

Sorry to ramble, and I know I probably mentioned stuff twice now with your other thread opened but I'm kinda obsessed with light weight builds and this next snid bit is off your topic....but if you want lightest possible, look into the ace entry stock.

I rember it being the lightest I could find but it is a fixed length stock which is ultimately why I didn't buy it.

Also, I believe v7 weapons makes (or did make) a Ti bird cage muzzle device with a .625 diameter so once it is pinned to a 14.5 barrel, your still able to slide the gas block on and off.

Since your bcg has the adj key, you can save even more weight and money by using just a Ti none adjustable block if you got a muzzle piece with a .625 diameter to match the barrel. Just tossing it out there.

Good info, I am looking into that muzzle device and I've been really thinking hard about the Tac-com/JP SCS choice.

Part 2 of my review of the Titanium Black Ti™ Complete M16 BCG W/Adjustable Gas Key




From My Work Bench:
While everything fits together perfectly with good tolerances, disassembling the Black Ti™ BCG is a breeze due to the lubricity of the BlackNitride+ finish adorning every component.  The finishes are applied by RCA’s sister company  H&M Metal Processing™, established in 1948 they specialize in heat treating and Ferritic Nitrocarburizing, a liquid black nitriding process for the aerospace, auto racing, medical and firearms industries.

The bolt is machined of SAE 9310 Steel, the same material used for transmission gears in F1 racecars. It is a superior alloy in practically every way compared to C-158, in its resistance to structural failure & life expectancy, both of which far exceed the Mil-spec. Despite naysayer’s Mil-spec cries, several full-auto endurance tests prove that properly heat treated SAE 9310 high-grade steel is far superior for the purpose and most high-end rifle manufacturers agree. Alexander Arms® even uses SAE 9310 for their .50 Beowulf® & 6.5 Grendel Hard-Use bolt assemblies.

Further inspection of the bolt under magnification and with a set of quality digital calipers as well as a quality digital mic reveal extremely precise machining with an attention to detail you don’t usually see in other bolts. Using a dental pick I lightly scratched at the finish in various places to see how it held up, which it definitely seemed pretty tuff to me.

Examining the cam pin & firing pin I concluded that they also appeared to be of exceptional quality and carry the same flawless slippery finish.

Moving on to the carrier & gas key. I found as mentioned earlier that the adjustable gas key seems to be well machined with a few extra cuts including radiuses fore and aft eliminating the usual corners that catch your cleaning rag during the post range day wipe down. The big difference between this one and a standard gas key is the threaded hole in the heal. Looking inside you can see the stepped ledge where the adj. screw threads in and the set screw locks it in place. RCA includes three (3) pairs of these screws with the BCG, obviously they know I loose small parts quite frequently.

The carrier itself is magnificent simplicity, lacking any of the crisscross crazy cuts or mouse holes usually associated with lightweight BCs. The machining is superb and laser etched logos are a nice touch without being in your face. Ultimately it just is what it is, and that is an M16 profile carrier made of aerospace grade Ti-6Al-4V (Grade 5) titanium. Ti-6Al-4V has a chemical composition of titanium alloyed with 6% aluminum, 4% vanadium, 0.25% (maximum) iron, and 0.2% (maximum) oxygen. This high-tech titanium alloy is both strong and light, has high resistance to corrosion and low thermal conductivity. Couple that with its amazing proprietary aerospace Black Ti™ surface treatment and you have one nice looking & feeling piece!

Weights:
Carrier -                 163.20 grams
Assembled Bolt -     43.38 grams
Firing Pin -                 7.69 grams
Cam Pin -                  7.41 grams
FP Retaining Pin -       .62 grams
Total Weight -        222.30 grams


-PalmettoRed86

"SUBSCRIBE" and look for my next update on this BCG!

Range Day Next!

Hey everyone if your looking to snag one of these up, head over to www.rubbercityarmory.com and enter IWANTLOWMASS for the coupon code and get $50 OFF any Titanium Carrier or Titanium Complete BCG!

Thanks for the heads up. There is now one less in stock.

Keep us posted on your experience!

Just to update, I received my BC within a few days after I ordered it.  I did not buy the group, but only the carrier.  I have not had a chance to test it, but after looking it over I regret not buying the complete group.  The machining is really nice and I am looking forward to giving it a run in my MK18.  I will update you once I get it out for a run but that might be a few weeks from now. Thanks again for the nice review.

I am looking forward to hearing your experience with it. Try and post some pix too, if you get a chance!

Great review,  very thorough.

Hopefully it shoots well. I personally am a proponent the guts on an AR being as heavy as possible but maybe that will be a non factor with the adjustable key.

Thank you very much! I really like the way that its designed to be an improvement not some sort of complete redesign of the M16 BCG.

So I dropped a hint before Christmas to Rubber City about wanting an adjustable gas key that is compatible with the roller style cam pins we tend to use. Well, I was kindly notified a couple weeks ago that "ALL" RCA gas keys moving forward will include that small radius cut at no added cost to us!

Help me show support for a company that listens to the consumer by liking their FB page and ordering your next BCG from them directly. Ask for Jeff and tell them PalmettoRed86 sent you!

I've been using RCA carriers w/ adj gas key in both of my 6.8 rifles for about a year.  Both are matched with Taccom 1 oz buffers and Taccom special reduced strength carbine springs.  One of the carriers is steel, the other is slightly lighter and made of titanium.  The machine work is superb, both work as expected and the adjustable gas key works like a charm.  relatively easy to adjust and the settings stay put.  

I have to admit, my SLR adjustable gas block on another rifle is easier to adjust, especially if you plan to shoot more than one load in the same upper assy.  Nevertheless, once the RCA adj gas key is set where you want it for a particular load, it stays put.  If you already have a carrier you like but want adjustable gas, swapping the gas key out for one of RCA's adjustable units is very inexpensive and a quick job.  Highly recommended gear plus the company's customer service is top notch. - CW

So how is this running for you?

I only had a chance to test it out a week ago.  Unfortunately it was also my nieces first trip to the range, so I did not have a lot of time to tinker with it.  I set it up and adjusted it but when I put the set screw in it turned down too much and basically I was short stroking it after that.  I did not have time to mess with it anymore, but here is my initial impression.  Its a beautiful piece of hardware and the machining is top notch.  When I was adjusting the gas screw and found the right setting it was great and worked really nice.  My criticism would be that I am not a fan of the screw/set screw setup.  I like more precision and the screw setup is not precise unless I am doing it wrong.  As for doing it wrong, I found the directions to be rather vague.  I know this is not complicated but the directions did not identify the different sized screws as to which one was the set screw and which one was the locking screw which I was left to guess at.  I assume I guessed correctly, but since one had grey threadlock and one had red it would not be hard for them to point out the order.  I will probably add locktite to my threads before the next tuning attempt in an effort to reduce the movement of the set screw from the tightening of the locking screw.  I will update when I have it working correctly.

Here is my procedure for setup, hope it helps!

Adjusting your new gas key for rifle/ammunition combos

1.Place one (1) of the two (2) provided longer set screws into the adjustment port at the rear of the gas key. Turn the set screw all the way in (using the provided hex wrench), closing off the port completely being careful not to over-torque it.
2.Back out the set screw one half (1/2) turn. Install the complete Bolt Carrier Group(BCG) back into the rifle and return to safe firing condition.
3.Load one cartridge into the magazine, insert into rifle and fire. If the bolt locks open on empty, skip to step 6.
4.If the bolt does not lock open on empty, remove the BCG from a cleared rifle, back the set screw out one quarter (1/4) turn, reinstall BCG, return to a safe firing condition, load another single cartridge and fire.
5.Repeat step 4 until the bolt locks open.
6.Continue loading a single cartridge and firing until the bolt locks open on empty consistently. Small adjustments (+/- 1/8 Turn) may be necessary.
7.Once the bolt locks open on empty consistently, back the set screw out one quarter (1/4) turn more.
8.Place one (1) of the two (2) provided shorter locking screws on top of the set screw and tighten securely. Again, be careful not to over-torque the screw.
9.Function test your rifle.

*A small dab of Blue Loctite may be used on the locking screw if desired.

*If for any reason you change ammunition or a component of your rifle, your rifle may not cycle reliably until the gas key is adjusted to that particular ammunition or component. You should test your weapon system again with any ammunition you intend to use. As with any adjustable gas system, it cannot be guaranteed reliable when components or ammunition are changed without first testing and making adjustments as necessary.

*A new rifle or BCG component will have more friction and may require a break-in period during which your adjustable gas key should be run wide open.

Nice write-up PalmettoRed86

My experience was similar as linked in my post above. However, I believe RCA is still shipping the adjustable keys with (3) 1/8" Allen set screws, I've never seen a longer one than the others, so I don't know if it's an immediate recent change (?). That gives you one extra set screw when complete. I ended up with an adjustment of 1.5 turns from closed to reliably lock back all my loads.

They ship with two different length screws now. Short one for locking!

Interesting. Thanks for the feedback!