Hey everyone,

I just was at my Uncle's machine shop, and he was showing me some bolt carriers that a machine shop was having him apply a ceramic coating to.  I pried for more information, like who the machine shop was, what material the carriers were made of, etc, and he didn't give me any info.  Anyway, it sparked my curiosity and now I'm here inquiring, why would a carrier be ceramic coated?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/284996/ar-stoner-enhanced-bolt-carrier-assembly-mil-spec-ar-15-223-remington-ceramic-plated

Found this. Don't know if it would work or is just hype.

Not sure I am buying into that. If it was up to the hype, it would be a big deal, and it would be in high tech bearing etc, and I probably would have seen something like it in material sciences. Snake oil, I say

Ceramic is used in the auto industry to keep heat from radiating...take for instance headers...you coat them inside and out with ceramic, and the radiated heat is much less...But the heat is still inside of the header...so going off that logic wouldn't the bcg retain more heat and radiate less thus keeping the upper cooler overall?

When is the last time a steel BCG has failed someone?  What is there to gain here besides ease of cleaning?

Are you sending the BCG into space?

For real. This obsession over minutia with ARs is insane.



It's a f'in bolt carrier. I'm not even sure the damn things get hot.



 

The hassle, expense and possibility of fucking it up would outweigh any advange that could be imparted.


It is a novelty.

Whats so special about that?

Isn't it just like cerakoting a BCG? MicroSlick

i'm always amazed at the wildly different ways new items are embraced / shunned.
do you ( does anybody/) need a NiB coated anything? no.
titanium firing pins?no.
TI carriers?no.
chrome (external) carriers?no.
do ARs need a additional o ring in the extractor ,(let alone different strengths) to function? no.
anti-rotation pins?no.
different strength action (buffer) springs? no.
do any of these things make you feel better?
if the answer is yes, then go for it, just don't call out someones elses product .
even if its useless, lots and lots of useless AR stuff out there.

and to the original question, ceramic is harder than steel, i would assume its a wear / friction deal, nothing to do with heat.

No nothing like it, ceramic is typically a very hard material, would have to be layered on with thickness and I would expect to chip or flake sooner or later.

Chrome carriers are much easier to clean and they are the original milspec.