Young Manufacturing BCG

[MajorJim]

A humble contribution from a new guy.

I heard a rumor recently that Young Manufacturing was in the process of rolling out a bolt carrier group for the DPMS Style .308 AR. 

I hate rumors, so I contacted Young to see if this was true. 

The response from Young:

WE WILL HAVE DPMS STYLE.308  MATCH CHROME CARRIERS WITH KEY READY TO SHIP MID NEXT WEEK. WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON BOLTS AND OTHER PARTS BUT FOR NOW ALL WE HAVE AVAILABLE ARE THE CARRIER AND KEY. THESE ARE $190.00. YOU CAN ORDER BY PHONE. WE ARE NOT READY TO PUT THESE ON OUR SITE.

Description of their AR15 carriers from their website:

Our signature product, the National Match Bolt Carrier by Young Manufacturing, Inc. This bolt carrier is 1/2 oz heavier and has more surface area at the carrier front. These additions provide improved alignment of the bolt carrier as it moves in the receiver, tighter tolerances, more consistent bolt-lockup, and generally much smoother operation. This bolt carrier causes less wear, improved accuracy, and overall better function. All Y/M carriers are made using these high standards. The extra precision, quality, and post production processes are among the reasons Les Baer Custom and other top custom companies choose Young Manufacturing, Inc bolt carriers.  You should too! (Available in AR-15 and M-16)

In my humble opinion, having lived and breathed with the stock milspec AR and pushed its bounds by substituting better parts, the Young BCG's are the top of the line.  I would expect nothing less from a 308 version.  Don't let the "match" designation fool you - they are plently tough for hard tactical use in real world conditions. Match is a term more descriptive of the tolerances they manufacture to than anything else.

I have waited over the years to build an AR 308 due to the previous lack of options comparable to the AR 15 world.  I recently decided to dive in, and have been slowly getting everything together.  My only disappointment up until now was the lack of a better than decent BCG.  I was intrigued by SI's, but that seems to be a work in progress.  I am sure they will put out a top notch product.  The JP low mass was interesting, but it is not something one associates with "tactical".

For once, it seems like my timing was pretty good.   

My guess is that these Young BCG's have found or will find their way into the top dollar platforms. 

I just ordered one, and am in for a bolt when they have those ready to go.

[imschur]

Yeah they are the OEM source for some 308 brands.

This is awesome news

[MajorJim]

Per Young, Estimate on bolt availability is 3 months. 

[98Z5V]

That price just for carrier and key is actually pretty good.  I'd be interested to see if they stake the carrier key at the bolts - they don't on their AR15 parts. 

[survivalshop]

That is a good price for a 308 bolt carrier & nice to see another manufacturer come out with one .

As far as quality , I have had no problems with the two DPMS 308  BCG's I am using in my rifles.

They are not match , I guess , but they function just fine .

Both of mine have chromed carriers with phosphated bolts .

[Jgun]

I have the Young BCG's on all my AR-15s and they have all worked well. Visually, they look like they are made to higher standards than some of the other AR-15 BCG's I've seen. As survivalshop has also stated, I've had no problems (yet) with either the Armalite BCG or the DPMS BCG in my 7.62 AR's, but if the young had been available when I was shopping for the BCG I'm sure I would have gone with it just because of past experience with their product. That being said, I'm not planning to go right out and replace my DPMS BCG, BUT, on the next one.........

[MajorJim]

Have a Young bolt carrier in my hands....it is amazing!

They do not stake the carrier key, but do have serrations for a forward assist. 

[imschur]

pictures please

[imschur]

is it a carrier or the entire bcg?

[MajorJim]

Just the carrier.  And no digital camera for pics. 

[survivalshop]

Just the carrier.  And no digital camera for pics.

Well, ya just need to barrow one or take it some where ,we need photos for the team here. <thumbsup>

[MajorJim]

Just got my DPMS bolt matched to the new barrel. 

I started assembling the bolt carrier group with the Young carrier - whoa!  Talk about stiff!

I am used to the M-16 and M-4 5.56 BCG's where the bolt will slide to the front of the carrier with a good flick of the wrist.

Are .308 BCG's supposed to be a lot stiffer? 

The Young carrier is hard chromed, DPMS bolt is their stock coating.   

[98Z5V]

It'll need to be shot to seat/break in those gas rings.  They're stiff when the go together initially, but they'll break in well.  Run that thing WET with lube, especially all over those gas rings and bolt tail area for the rings. 

[MajorJim]

Thank 98ZV5!

[98Z5V]

No problem, brother.  <thumbsup>

In theory, these things are somewhere around 40% larger than their little AR brothers, but some of the things with them feel like they're 200% more difficult.  Pain in the ass, sometimes...  ;D  Soaked with lube is alot more important on these things, even more so than the 15s, especially during break-in. 

[MajorJim]

This is interesting.  I asked Young Manufacturing the same question.  Here is their response:

We have found after measuring 30 DPMS bolts that the tail end diameters are not consistant. Some were oversize to the point where they would not even fit into our carrier. If you would like ton send us the bolt and carrier back to us we will fit our carrier to match your bolt at no charge. The only bolts we know that always fit and function are made by JP. We have no date as to when our bolts will be ready.

The DPMS bolt I have is matched to the new barrel.  I know the JP bolts are held to pretty tight tolernaces, but the barrel came with its own matched bolt.  I can send the DPMS bolt and carrier back to Young for fitting, or I can give the JP bolt a shot.  Thoughts? 

[98Z5V]

DPMS bolt matched to your barrel already, and does it fit in your Young carrier?  Run it. 

DPMS bolt matched to your barrel already, and doesn't fit in your Young carrier?  Have them fit it.

JP bolt fits in the Young carrier, but not matched to your Barrel?  Run the gauges in it, and if it clears your barrel extension, then it's good to go. 

They mentioned the 30 x DPMS bolts, but have they measured 30 x Armalite bolts?  What were the findings of that?

Your DPMS bolt fits into the carrier, but it's tight - run it first for a hundred rounds or so and it should loosen up.  That's not out of the ordinary.  If it doesn't loosen up, but still functions, you might want to consider further testing - like checking the fit with the gas rings totally removed.  If it binds like that, with no gas rings - then there's an issue.  It's not even worth stretching the gas rings for removal just to test that before you fire it - it goes into the front of the carrier, and if it goes

"lock-to-lock" then that's full-cycle for it.

You are "Grizzly" on ARFCOM, I take it?  If that's not you, then the dude is stalking you and reading your mind/stealing your brainwaves...  <laughs>

[survivalshop]

You can also chuck the bolt up & sand the tail with 600 grit paper to polish it. (or by hand, like buffing it ) Just the tail below the gas rings.

Some of the fitment issues may be the coating on the bolt.

It will be easier to clean & collect less fouling ,because its has a smooth surface.

[98Z5V]

Some of the fitment issues may be the coating on the bolt.

Yep, exactly.  <thumbsup>  Those things are phosphated, and the coating can vary.  I think that's why they say they tested 30 bolts and came up with different numbers - the phosphate.  It would be more than abnormal if the bolts were machined to different sizes, but I could sure see the coatings being inconsistant. 

And that's the stuff that will break in with use.  Eventually, the front of the bolt under the lugs will smooth out, and so will the ring near the tail.  I'm going to go pull a few for pics, and I'll post them in here.  Different round counts on all.