WMD Bolt Carrier Group - RFI

[Mark D]

I have a WMD BCG that I purchased at least 10 years ago. I bought it, test fired a few rounds with it, and put it in the safe.

I've recently acquired a new BCM upper that I plan to use for training, and (hopefully never) as a home defense setup.

I'm considering using the WMD BCM in the new upper, but I'm not sure if they're considered good to go.
The WMD has a NiB-X coating, which I don't care about. I'm not a high round count guy, but I'd like to have a BCM that is reliable and durable.

Anyone here have experience with WMD? Should I just buy a BCM BCG and call it good?

[jlp]

Who knows? Put a 1000's rounds through it and then let us know. Anyone can say yes it's fine, trust your life to it. ONLY you can test it and see for yourself. So, if all you are wanting is an elementary pat on the head to say everything is OK. You got it!!! I would certainly trust your life on it!

[EricP]

Who knows? Put a 1000's rounds through it and then let us know. Anyone can say yes it's fine, trust your life to it. ONLY you can test it and see for yourself. So, if all you are wanting is an elementary pat on the head to say everything is OK. You got it!!! I would certainly trust your life on it!

While I get your sentiment, I don't think that was the information Mark D was seeking.

Do you have any experience with the product being asked about?

[jlp]

While I get your sentiment, I don't think that was the information Mark D was seeking.

Do you have any experience with the product being asked about?
I do I have several of them. They are fine. But I have also had a 3k Wilson Combat have to go back, after 8 rounds, and think I got to the heart of the question, that only the OP can truly answer. They are about an hour or so from my house.

[Mark D]

Who knows? Put a 1000's rounds through it and then let us know. Anyone can say yes it's fine, trust your life to it. ONLY you can test it and see for yourself. So, if all you are wanting is an elementary pat on the head to say everything is OK. You got it!!! I would certainly trust your life on it!

Look dude, I'm not seeking a pat on the head. I'm also not looking for confirmation that my individual sample is dependable. Everybody here understands that a piece of gear needs to be tested, regardless of the manufacturer's reputation.

What I'm looking for, is feedback from forum members have used WMD bolt carriers groups. Because this is, after all, a technical hardware sub-forum.

Your second post indicates that you have some experience with them. So why not say that in the beginning? Instead your first post was a pile of condescending snark. Not helpful, and generally speaking, not in line with P-F culture.

Hopefully this thread can refocus on the merits, or lack thereof, of WMD BCGs.

[Mark D]

Double tap. Deleted.

[olstyn]

I'd never heard of WMD guns prior to this thread. The fact that they're offering a complete 16" AR including fancy nickel boron coatings for < $900 and claiming it meets fairly excellent accuracy standards makes me wonder what the catch is. Is this a case of the fast/cheap/reliable (pick any 2) race car adage, or are they actually a worthwhile option?

[jeep45238]

As I've gotten older and I'm more aware of how valuable my time is, I have less and less patience for problems in things that matter. That's a main reason I grabbed a complete BCM carbine - factory finished/support/qc+qa from a quality manufacturer without paying for a bunch of frills.

I'd approach your situation in the same lineup, and grab a factory complete BCM bolt carrier group.

I leave the part swapping/fitting/etc stuff for hobby stuff these days, as that's a totally different context for me than something that damn well better work when I need it to.




At the end of the day, a BCM BCG retails for $189 direct on their website.
Is that dollar amount saved worth the unknown of WMD 'heart and soul' in your BCM?
Or is that dollar amount worth having a system that was essentially designed from the initial testing through final production to play nice together?




Also - a company that puts this on their website as a cutting edge, new product design doesn't give me the warm fuzzies for their understanding of what makes things work and what doesn't.
https://www.wmdguns.com/media/SlingStock-Features-web.pdf

[ewickander]

*sample size of 1* I have 2k (documented) rounds through my Seekins home build with the WMD BCG. For the same price you could probably go with a more well known company, but I have had no issues with the BCG at all, and have noticed no problems with the finish. I don't regret the purchase at all.

[jlp]

Look dude, I'm not seeking a pat on the head. I'm also not looking for confirmation that my individual sample is dependable. Everybody here understands that a piece of gear needs to be tested, regardless of the manufacturer's reputation.

What I'm looking for, is feedback from forum members have used WMD bolt carriers groups. Because this is, after all, a technical hardware sub-forum.

Your second post indicates that you have some experience with them. So why not say that in the beginning? Instead your first post was a pile of condescending snark. Not helpful, and generally speaking, not in line with P-F culture.

Hopefully this thread can refocus on the merits, or lack thereof, of WMD BCGs.

My apologies, I had a pretty bad toothache yesterday and took out on the question. Yes, they are good to go, they are located about an hour or so from me and I have one in my, go to, AR.

[Rex G]

I have a WMD BCG that I purchased at least 10 years ago. I bought it, test fired a few rounds with it, and put it in the safe.

I've recently acquired a new BCM upper that I plan to use for training, and (hopefully never) as a home defense setup.

I'm considering using the WMD BCM in the new upper, but I'm not sure if they're considered good to go.
The WMD has a NiB-X coating, which I don't care about. I'm not a high round count guy, but I'd like to have a BCM that is reliable and durable.

Anyone here have experience with WMD? Should I just buy a BCM BCG and call it good?

Sooner or later, in your scenario, I would want to be keeping an entire spare BCG, so, would probably be ordering a BCM BCG sooner or later, anyway. No particular, hurry, but better to get it before some significant event prompts the whole free world to suddenly try to complete their AR15 uppers.

I used to just keep a whole spare bolt assembly, and still do, largely as a hedge against dropping parts in the dark, in some strange place, but, after learning/understanding more about potential failure points, decided to start keeping an entire spare BCG. At the moment, I am actually behind, in my goal, as I recently added two uppers, to be able to complete my lowers, and could only add one BCM BCG, as Primary Arms was only allowing one BCM BCG, per household. No worries, I will catch-up soon. (I am on Primary Arms’ e-mail list for LMT Enhanced BCGs to return to stock.)

I have no experience with WMD products.

Enjoy your new BCM upper! :)

[OlongJohnson]

From what I can work out, there are two companies that produce the chemicals for NiB plating. Each of them has designated a single applicator as its go-to for firearms business. One of those applicators is FailZero. The other is WMD. If you have an NiB coated part, it's more than likely gone through one or the other of these companies, no matter what label was on the package it came in.

WMD's bread and butter is coating services. They have previously had a custom-like business, as with Robar doing NP3 application for individuals, but the "retail" coating activities have been suspended since the end of last year. I assume this is because they are at capacity keeping up with the demand for production-size lots, so it would be stupid for them to deal with penny-ante b.s. like my three pistol action parts.

I have no idea how good the parts they sell under their own label are underneath the coatings.

I've read some discussion of NiB coated bolts cracking sooner than non-coated bolts, although in theory, NiB is electroless and hydrogen embrittlement shouldn't be the issue it is with electroplating.

[Mark D]

I appreciate the input, folks. Food for thought.


My apologies, I had a pretty bad toothache yesterday and took out on the question. Yes, they are good to go, they are located about an hour or so from me and I have one in my, go to, AR.

Thanks, and apology accepted. Hope the tooth feels better asap.

[olstyn]

From what I can work out, there are two companies that produce the chemicals for NiB plating. Each of them has designated a single applicator as its go-to for firearms business. One of those applicators is FailZero. The other is WMD. If you have an NiB coated part, it's more than likely gone through one or the other of these companies, no matter what label was on the package it came in.

That would seem to indicate that they're at least a reputable company.


I have no idea how good the parts they sell under their own label are underneath the coatings.

Yeah, I imagine that their BCGs don't start out as BCM/Colt, given that the prices are lower than BCM/Colt *after* the NiB coatings. On the other hand, Geissele BCGs are only $140, so it seems like it's not *purely* a "you get what you pay for" scenario with BCGs. *shrug*

[rcbusmc24]

I've seen a bunch of them in various rifles that have come through my buddies shop here in Jacksonville NC. Some of those rifles are higher round count, some are instagram queens.... I have personally never seen a issue with the WMD BCG's, but have noted that most of the time one has been specced it is for appearances sake vice any capability upgrade. Personally I question why I would pay for that when there are BCM BCG's hanging behind the counter right next to the BCM lowers and BCM uppers in my buddies shop (he is one the very few shops direct with BCM). All of my personal rifles contain BCM BCG's or Colt BCG's unless it is a factory rifle other than a BCM..... LMT MRP, KAC SR-15....

[Darth_Uno]

From what I can work out, there are two companies that produce the chemicals for NiB plating. Each of them has designated a single applicator as its go-to for firearms business. One of those applicators is FailZero. The other is WMD.

For whatever it's worth, I have two FailZero NiB BCG's that have worked fine so far. One has about 2000 rounds, the other maybe half that. I see no signs of imminent failure. Can't say that's really a selling point - I have plenty more without NiB that seem to be just fine also.

On the other hand, I have a WMD NiB upper that is significantly looser (rattles) when installed on a lower than any other upper I own. I just stuck it on what seemed to be the best fitting lower (Spikes, as it happens) and have had no problems.

[Mark D]

Sooner or later, in your scenario, I would want to be keeping an entire spare BCG, so, would probably be ordering a BCM BCG sooner or later, anyway. No particular, hurry, but better to get it before some significant event prompts the whole free world to suddenly try to complete their AR15 uppers.

I used to just keep a whole spare bolt assembly, and still do, largely as a hedge against dropping parts in the dark, in some strange place, but, after learning/understanding more about potential failure points, decided to start keeping an entire spare BCG. At the moment, I am actually behind, in my goal, as I recently added two uppers, to be able to complete my lowers, and could only add one BCM BCG, as Primary Arms was only allowing one BCM BCG, per household. No worries, I will catch-up soon. (I am on Primary Arms’ e-mail list for LMT Enhanced BCGs to return to stock.)


Enjoy your new BCM upper! :)

Agree that a spare is a good idea. And Lord knows, 2020 seems to qualify as a "significant event that prompts the whole free world to suddenly try to complete their AR15 uppers."

I note that BCM has BCGs in stock for $189. https://bravocompanyusa.com/bcm-bolt-carrier-group-mpi-auto/

[jeep45238]

While not a WMD (it's a FailZero), there's a lot of tech info in here, and some covers the NiB coating if memory serves me correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrJl3LThLFw

[Mark D]

While not a WMD (it's a FailZero), there's a lot of tech info in here, and some covers the NiB coating if memory serves me correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrJl3LThLFw

Really interesting video. It sent me down the rabbit hole of watching a series of his BCG videos. And yes, there's some discussion about coatings, and whether they might cause brittleness. Turns out there's more to BCGs than I realized.

[jeep45238]

Really interesting video. It sent me down the rabbit hole of watching a series of his BCG videos. And yes, there's some discussion about coatings, and whether they might cause brittleness. Turns out there's more to BCGs than I realized.

Honestly, his videos and insight as to why things mattered was what made it an easy decision to sell off two PSA pistols and get one BCM carbine.


My experience with NiB setups in AR's is limited to a 5.45x39 that was only fed corrosive ammo. The extractor finally broke in half after about 15k rounds - I never cleaned it, just oiled it. Towards the end I had to do interesting things to get it to unlock, but it ran when the magazines worked. It's also what made me stick with calibers designed or vetted for that platform.

[Mark D]

Update: I picked up a BCM bolt carrier group. Standard finish, nothing fancy. The WMD will function as a spare.

[jlp]

Update: I picked up a BCM bolt carrier group. Standard finish, nothing fancy. The WMD will function as a spare.

Our roles are reversed, I have a BCM in the safe as a backup to my WMD.