Community Reviewer

September 7, 2024

review, Gear

Young Manufacturing Chrome BCG

Community Reviewer

September 7, 2024

review, Gear

Young Manufacturing

Lightweight Chrome BCG Review

Written by: Buddy Murphy

This is a review of the Semi-Auto/Full Auto M16 Complete Bolt Carrier Group (BCG), manufactured by Young Manufacturing Inc. This bolt carrier group is manufactured using MIL-SPEC quality steel and milled on their in-house CNC machines, ensuring precision and reliability in every component. The particular carrier in this review is their SLC (Super Lightweight Carrier), which they no longer have on their site, but can still be found for sale on 3rd party sites. All attributes from this carrier extend to their M-16 BCGs - except weight.

Each bolt carrier undergoes a meticulous process of getting heat-treated, hard-chromed, and the bolt throat is then chrome-lined for enhanced durability and performance. They remove all sharp edges and rough finishes. Ensuring smooth operation and preventing any unnecessary wear and tear on your firearm.

What does hard-chrome do for you? Well, it adds durability to the BGC and it makes the surface very hard so carbon has more of a problem sticking to it. Here are some before and after pictures. With half of a dry paper towel and about 10 minutes, this BGC went from this…

…to this.

That carbon has been building up since Forgotten Weapon’s “Moons Out Goons Out” in March of 2024. It has done several other competitions and practices since – all suppressed in a direct impingement rifle. I have run Nitrided BCGs and they will get sticky (and NiB to a lesser extent) after getting a sufficient amount of carbon, this BCG did not get sticky. I have become a Piston AR snob because of direct impingement BCGs becoming inoperable without constant care, when shooting suppressed. But with this BCG, I am starting to question my own snobbery.

Now, let me draw your attention to the innovative HMB Bolt by HM Defense, that is included in this carrier group. The HMB Bolt represents a significant advancement in bolt design by eliminating the traditional pass-through cam pin hole. Replacing it with a cam pin socket and radiused cam pin. This patented design addresses the inherent weak point in Mil-Spec bolts. It increases the amount of metal—and thus strength—at the cam pin location. The result? No more broken bolts, at least at the cam pin.

Moreover, the HMB Bolt reduces contact between the cam pin and firing pin, allowing for smoother operation of the firing pin, bolt lugs, and aft gas rings. The cam pin socket also retains lubrication, ensuring extended operational performance.

You may have noticed in the photos that the gas key is not staked, that is intentional. Here is a link as to why they don’t stake their gas keys from the Young Manufacturing President: Read it here. The long and short of it is if you do it well enough, they don’t need staking. The gas key is supported by a recoil lug, a feature designed to enhance overall reliability and function.

Firearms Insider Reviews - Key Points

Claim to Fame:

Very durable, easy to clean BCG, that still runs smooth even when filthy.

Target Market:

Suppressor host rifles, people who don’t clean their rifles, heavy use operators

Features, Benefits, and Specifications of this product:

Mil-Spec
Hard-chromed
Advanced design bolt
Full-auto rated
Operates smooth when dirty
Easy, in-field cleaning

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

M16 BCGs are also available in Black Nitride, with or without the HMB bolt

What others are saying?:

Nothing found as of publishing

Link to other reviews:

Nothing found as of publishing

Price point:

MSRP = $299.95 for M16

Retail = Same

I need it now! Availability:

Young Manufacturing or KE Arms

Our Rating:

Pros:

Hard-chromed, including the bolt throat
Advanced bolt design
Recoil lug supported gas key
No sharp edges

Cons:

Price
Some people will require staking the gas key

Score: 9.00 Amazing

Chad Wallace

September 30, 2018

Review

Guntec 9mm Bolt Carrier Group

Chad Wallace

September 30, 2018

Review

I was in the process of putting together a pistol caliber carbine or PCC for short. So of course I needed a bolt. I contacted GunTec USA since they had recently come out with a 9mm bolt. They were kind enough to send one out for review, along with a 9mm compensator for the same build. I have reviewed other GunTec products in the past with good results.

This review will probably be on the shorter side, after all it is a bolt carrier group (BCG). The GunTec 9mm BCG has a very nice QPQ Nitride finish. This makes cleaning a little easier than a standard run of the mill Mil-Spec BCG, plus it looks nice. Another function of the Nitride finish is it’s smoothness, if that’s a word. When I installed the GunTec BCG, it cycled very smoothly. This could also be due to the fact that the exterior machining on the bolt is top notch.

The GunTec bolt has pretty much all the features one would need for this type of BCG. It has a roll pinned in weight to add mass. This makes it possible to run a standard weight buffer in your recoil system. The bolt is heavy at almost 15 ounces, but this is needed for the straight blowback style action used in most 9mm PCC’s. I did run into a small problem that was probably my OCD. Where the gas key block is located, right behind it on the bolt, was a little raised area. When I cycled the upper by hand, you could feel it drag against the buffer tube, but only right at full extension of the charging handle. It however did not cause any wear or problems during use. I smoothed them out so I felt better. Other than my OCD, the bolt has ran flawlessly using the Stern Defense mag block and all different types of glock magazines. The gas key bolts are staked in. They could be a little more, but since it is really only there to manually cycle the firearm, I didn’t pay much attention to them. The BCG also uses an external extractor. A big plus if you actually shoot enough to wear it out.

You can see here where I polished off the small lip.

Same lip on bottom of bolt. Neither top or bottom lip actually affected function.

I am not sure how many round that I have out through the BCG. But it has not failed me so far. I would estimate around 700-800 round through it at the time of this review. I have ran it with three different AR15 triggers. A mil-spec, a KE arms, and a Velocity. All worked well. The Velocity was on the light side of the trigger pull weight, so I took it out and am currently running the KE arms trigger with good luck.

If you are in the market to assemble a pistol caliber carbine, take a look at GunTec. PCC’s are an economical way to practice. This 9mm BCG will do both styles of receivers. It has given me no problems and is made right here in the U.S.A. Go take a look at GunTec USA, they probably have everything needed for a PCC.