What's the deal with BCG availability?

[UnSafe]

Buying an AR in parts, allows "thrifty" and patient guys to buy components when they're on sale and offer free shipping. I'm still assembling decent quality M4 style rifles for about $625. And, don't forget the tax imposed on a complete firearm- Not sure if it's FET or what, but recall 11% as the percentage.

I realize that there's much more to machining a carrier, parts and bolt than chucking a piece of barstock in a CNC lathe then mill, but with the shortage going this long, I'm surprised that the manufacturers haven't upped production.

 

[KOPBET]

Ok, I'm confused, because I can tell you guys aren't talking about Birth Control Glasses. What are BCG's?

Beer Correction Goggles. :-)

 

[yukonjack]

Thanks! It just seemed like it would be easier to buy a whole rifle.

 

[AKguy1985]

Yeah, It was hard to get a BCG back in september or october. I wanted a BCM for my A2 build but had to end up settling for an AR-Stoner brand instead.

 

[mr ed]

Not every "manufacturer" makes parts. Alot of them are no more than assemblers. Theres probably no more than 6-10 bcg manufacturers for the whole industry.
Machining is the easy part. my guess would be the holdup is more in the heat-treating/testing/finishing areas.
The bcg is the heart of the gun and you can't just turn one on a lathe slap it in a gun and go.

Kind of like an article on another thread that told about Magpul.
They don't "manufacture" anything! they buy the pieces from other people and all they do is assemble and ship.

 

[bettingpython]

Why don't you guys just buy the whole rifle? I never understood the whole "parts" gun thingy? Seems like something we'd do here in Alaska to keep our old Subaru's running.

Because you get exactly what you want when you build from scratch and Instead of dumping 2.5K or 3K in a prebuilt you can usually get by with about 2/3 of the price in a personal build.

 

[fluxed]

Raw materials is also an issue. No 8620 in bulk pricing to be had easily. Barrel makers for machine guns and of course many semi rifles are having difficulty getting the right steel as well.

 

[Gideon]

Also, some of us would like to have a spare or two just in case.

 

[uncle money bags]

Why don't you guys just buy the whole rifle? I never understood the whole "parts" gun thingy? Seems like something we'd do here in Alaska to keep our old Subaru's running.

because 2 is 1 and 1 is none.

 

[03on22s]

Also, what's the recomended bolt replacement 5k rounds M/LE and 10k rounds civillian? I'd just like to have a couple extra laying around.