For some reason there is a small community of “gun guys” that seem to have a problem with their gun maintaining both high functionality AND looking beautiful. If you are one of those guys, then this isn’t for you!
Some of the purists on gun forums might even go out of their way to tell you that shiny BCG’s don’t give you any advantage, perhaps in terms of shooting, it does the same function as other BCG’s, but most of these gun purists overlook the end user’s overall experience. This is where TiN coated BCG’s really shine! (No pun intended.)
Disclosure: We received this Gold TiN coated BCG from F-1 Firearms.Â
7. It looks Cool
This is the 7th reason, because looks is only the tip of the iceberg with all the benefits you get from having a nicely polished, TiN coated BCG!
I’ve had many people ask me about my Gold BCG at the range, and yes, it’s quite attractive.
6. It’s a LOT Easier to Clean
Gun cleaning, every responsible gun owner’s favorite chore. BCG’s can get really nasty inside, and back when I had my old BCG, cleaning all the parts was a chore.
I am not even exaggerating when I say that most of the crud just wipes right off this thing. I mean that is the benefit of having a highly polished BCG, it’s a lot easier to clean.
And not all TiN coated BCG’s are highly polished. Sailent Arms makes their version, however it seems to have a matte finish. I’m not a fan of matte finished BCG’s both for their looks and also that they tend to have more friction to hold on to gunk and particles.
However, the actual “Bolt” itself does collect a lot of gun near the Gas Rings, which like any BCG, is a pain to clean completely. But at least the TiN coated, and mirror finished BCG is easy to clean overall. One of my favorite parts to clean too!
5. It’s Easier to Tell When It’s Actually Clean
Have you ever cleaned a black gun and asked youself, “Is it really clean?” And then you wiped a paper towel along it only to find back carbon gunk on the towel?
Sometimes it feels like gun cleaning can go endlessly, and this is mostly true, but at least with TiN coated parts, you can actually see when it’s clean so you don’t waste effort cleaning something that’s already clean!
4. It Helps the BCG Hold up Against Wear
TiN is one of the hardest substances you can apply to your BCG. Many high end drill bits and CNC parts come TiN coated (mostly for function, not looks).
It is important to understand that Titanium Nitride is a “coating” and unlike other treated metal surfaces which might be infused with the metal itself. So far, I have not experienced any wearing or flaking off of my TiN coating on my F-1 Firearms Gold BCG, I will say that I have had lower end TiN coated barrels (which were matte finished) that had the TiN coating scraping off after only a few uses!
Even on my high end drill bits I haven’t seen any “flaking” off of the TiN coating (That doesn’t mean I haven’t had drill bits snap!) so those who vehemently argue that an infused metal treatment is better than TiN coating is probably blowing smoke to promote their own product or defend their own purchasing decisions.
TiN has been described as being three times harder than hard Chrome!
3. The Gun Should Cycle Better
I have heard from several professional shooters (where TiN is often used) that TiN coating helps prevent large buildups of gunk while the gun is in use.
I would imagine such a finely polished surface, whether TiN or even Chrome would perform this way as the surface is extremely smooth, even to the microscopic level as the TiN coating literally binds to the molecules of the surface.
You might have noticed that some (usually lower cost) BCG’s have the extractor un-coated. You can usually tell these are lower quality BCG’s as they are usually much cheaper, matte finished and have several parts that are not coated.
Some sales people have tried to tell me that this is because the extractor needs more friction to function properly. While this claim does have some merit, other guns which I own, such as my 1911 and Walther do not feature a “textured” extractor and work just fine. It’s also the inside of the extractor that matters, not the whole extractor. So while I do support clean extractors, I personally like to see more parts coated than less!
The F-1 Firearms TiN BCG is fully coated (except for a few parts, including the firing pin) and I have not had any problems relating to extraction! So I find these claims to be mostly excuses rather than “benefits.”
How noticeable is the difference? Well, to be honest I haven’t shot my guns side by side long enough to find out; I’m pretty good with cleaning my guns not to let this happen, but those who have a lot more expertise than me can vouch that TiN has more benefits than a regular BCG and whether you really notice the benefits or not may not be as important is whether or not you actually HAVE the benefits.
2. Better Follow Up Shots
In theory, smoother cycling should mean less recoil and more accurate follow up shots.
Again, how noticeable is this if the control BCG is also properly lubricated, probably not much different to be honest. But I would say that this is more of a delayed benefit, and that if two guns were firing side by side without being cleaned, the TiN BCG should (in theory) begin to cycle better and handle better than the non-coated control BCG.
My first AR came with a regular matte finished BCG. Cleaning sure was a chore. Though I never shot it to the point that it wasn’t functional, I am sure on some level the gunk buildup had an impact on the performance. (Moving parts, more gunk = not good!) So a cleaner, smoother surface in theory should always work better than a matte BCG or even a coated BCG that doesn’t have the mirror polish!
But I would also note that someone who actually owns a shiny, gold looking BCG is far more likely to clean it and keep it shiny than someone who owns a plain black BCG and doesn’t really see a difference whether they clean it or not. A lot of those “gun guys” pride themselves in owning guns that “don’t need to be cleaned.”
Don’t buy into the false propaganda that just because your gun might not need cleaning to perform its primary function, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t clean it regularly! This is part of being a responsible gun owner.
So the psychological benefit and cleaning habit of the owner is also part of owning TiN BCG’s and reason to why it may function and perform better than a regular one!
1. You Will Get More Likes in Your Instagram Photos!
No seriously, this is a scientific absolute truth! TiN coated guns and BCG’s get way more attention on social media than normal, BORING AR-15 pictures.
The truth is, it’s great marketing. Honestly, whether you’re a gun purist or not, the majority of gun people will gravitate towards “cool” looking things. And make no mistake, you can incorporate your colored BCG into the design of your gun, you will get the attention of your friends and the ladies!
I had had a lot of fun building themed builds and custom AR-15 sets and I have to say, adding the BCG really makes your gun stand out. It is certainly a con that the TiN BCG’s usually cost a lot more than your typical BCG, but it also means not a lot of people have them. Take advantage of it while you can, LIKES are worth something to most people aren’t they?
Conclusion
Is a TiN BCG really any better than normal BCGs? For cleaning heck yeah! What about normal use? It might be hard to feel the difference at first, so I do believe the longer use cycle of a TiN BCG has its advantages over normal BCGs.
A common claim I hear is that a “properly lubed BCG is just as good as any BCG that’s been coated.” Again, I hear this mostly from gun purists who love to brag about their favorite brands that don’t need modifications to work properly. Sure, all gun parts should be “properly lubricated” but by the logic, a properly lubricated TiN coated BCG should function even better than a normal BCG that is “properly lubricated”, not to mention it doesn’t need to be lubricated as often as a regular BCG would.
So that’s my take on the debate. Love it or hate it, there are some real benefits to having a TiN coated BCG, besides the fact that it just plain looks awesome!
Show some support to F-1 Firearms, check out their TiN BCG here!
