On Match 14th 2013, Dead Zombies, Aka, Dlask announced their new website ICE Arms and the manufacture of their new Nickle Boron coated Full Auto profile BCG. In the thick of "Firearmageddon" with little to no BCG's available on the market, this announcement was was like stumbling on an Oasis in the middle of a desert. I payed close attention. When the their ordering system came online on the following 17th, I was one of the first to place my order.
As they started to ship and trickled in to other members before I had received mine, rumors of horror started to circulate, and people started to expect the worst.
Finally, after over a month, I have mine. While others picked it apart looking for flaws, I lubed mine up and shot it.
Without further a due, this is mine as it came out the box, just before I shot it.
The notorious stake job. Indeed it seems weak. I attempted to tighten the bolts after my range session and they did not move, this tells me that they did not loosen at all. I intend to leave the staking as is, and monitor the bolts for any movement.
The Firing Pin retainer pin was very tight and difficult to remove, this does not seem like a bad thing.
A little closer.
The cam pin is smooth and seems well done.
After 100 rounds of perfect operation it looks like this.
Closeup of the bolt.
The next series of pictures are take AFTER I cleaned it. Note the staining of the finish.
This staining would not wipe or brush off. This is as far as I will clean it, and as far as I've needed to clean my other BCG's.
This staining does not occur on my LMT enhanced bolt, not sure what they coat that with.
This staining is indeed ugly. I've never owned an NiB bolt before, and am not sure if this is normal, or if it suggests that the coating is poor. Time will tell if this turns out to be a problem.
In this shot you can notice the poor pin job for the ejector pin. Or is it ?
This pin job does not interfere with function.
In attempt to fix the pin job, this happened. It seem the the pin material is soft and warps with insertion force.
However, it does not seem like it's going to go anywhere, the way it fits in there, you can consider it staked.
It's workable enough for future servicing. I have several thousand rounds on my other BCG and have not felt the need to service the ejector. Tho' ugly, I would expect high mileage out of this pin job. I tried my best but was unable to improve on it much, so if you don't like it I would recommend replacing it with another, harder pin.
In this image you can also get a decent look at the poor machining between the lugs and the staining of the finish.
I was impressed by the extractor. It has a nice deep cut to it that is more present then other examples I've seen. I don't expect any extraction issues. Looking at this, I believe a poorly timed AR would likely rip a chunk out of the rim if it FTE'd, over the usual slipping off the rim. Again, you can note the staining of the finish.
The lugs themselves, from a functional perspective, seem well done. There are some slight flaws, but for the most part, they are squared away where it matters.
Here is another view of the stake job.
Post cleaning, despite the staining, it still looks nice in the areas you will actually see while looking at the rifle.
The bearing surfaces on the carrier seem smooth and well done all around.
Situations like this are an example of the now complained about ugly. As you can see, the outside of the carrier where it matters is well done, but hidden inside are gobs of ugly where the machining seems to be done in a hurry.
To look at it with a quick glance, it seems fine really. Again, seen here, the lugs are well done, but in between is ugly.
Also another good example of the finish staining.
Here you can see some subtle imperfections in the lugs. Again, it doesn't seem to effect the function as the end surfaces of the lugs that mate with the barrel extension lugs are squared away just fine.
The Notorious Gas Key.
Reports are starting to come in about a tight fit with the gas key mating to the gas tube. I shall attempt to shed some light onto this situation.
For the record, the gas key does seem to be internally NiB coated, perhaps making for the tight fit.
I test fitted this with 3 uppers.
Bare in mind, I put a drop of oil in my gas key.
"Upper B", has an older gas tube that has seen a good thousand rounds at least. The gas key mated smoothly with this upper without any binding.
"Upper C" has the oldest gas tube that has seen many thousands of rounds as I am at least the 3rd owner of it.
Again, the gas key mated smoothly with no binding what so ever.
"Upper A" has the newest gas tube, and voila, it was tight. Very tight. You cannot pull the bolt off the tube with your hands. However, with the upper installed onto the lower, I was able to rack the bolt with little problem. It was very tight and took effort but never the less, I could rack it.
That being said, I am confident that the gas power cycling of the action will have enough force to rack the bolt back.
Further more, in testing with dummy rounds, dropping the bolt from open had enough force to correctly mount a round into battery.
I believe that with some live fire break in, the tight gas key fit will soon cease to be a problem, as demonstrated by the correct fit with older well worked in gas tubes.
The only wild card that I cannot test, is the fit with a BRAND NEW gas tube. Members buying the BCG for new builds have reported the gas tube getting jammed onto the gas key. To these members, I say, calm down, it just means, "Some fitting required".
I would recommend getting some fine grit sand paper, I would use 1200, and lapping the new gas tube around until you achieve a tight but manageable fit with the gas key. Get it fitted so that it's tight, but will still rack with the use of the charging handle, and so that the force of the bolt dropping can properly/fully lock the bolt into battery. Once to this point, take a bit more off for good measure so that the AR will be sure to cycle in use.
You will still want a tight fit, polishing down the gas tube to a smooth or loose fit may result in a poor seal. You want some tightness so that as you shoot it, the parts will wear together to make for an ideal match fit, and good seal.
In Conclusion.
I know what you are thinking, "But it's not suppose to be like this, the machining is suppose to be such and such a way, and it should not need fitting, it should be like this, it should fit like this . . . blah blah blah."
Yes, I agree, it's not suppose to be like this. That machining can use more polish, and I've never heard any reports in my research that gas tubes need fitting.
But, how about a little perspective; You got a Canadian Made BCG, for a Chinese price, in days of No BCG's at all.
Based on what I've seen on pricing of similar products, you'd expect to pay at least $100 more for this same BCG with more polish and a better fit. Heck, I payed more for just a premium name brand bolt in the past then I did for this whole carrier, and even it had a couple of flaws, and after several thousand rounds of wear, if it works, it's not going to matter any more.
And that's the key term here, so far, my Dlask NiB BCG WORKS.
I only shot 100 rounds today, but I did not suffer a single failure. Yes, it's Ugly, yes the gas key will need fitting, but so far, mine works.
Considering what you end up with, as flawed as it is, I believe it's price accordingly. I myself don't at all feel ripped off.
You need to ask yourself, do I want to start a session of phone/email tag with Dlask ? I warn you, they are busy people and have a reputation of being hard to get hold of. Are you willing to wait till this crap down south blows over and maybe this time next year you can finally choose what BCG you like, and hopefully get it for a reasonable price, let alone at this price point ? Or are you willing to pay an exorbitant premium on the EE to a scalper or for a used unit ?
Or, do you want to shoot your rifle ? If your answer is the latter, then my advice, grab a punch and some sandpaper and get to it, then go shoot your rifle, that's what it's all about after all. If you can't handle these minor fixes, well, maybe you shouldn't be building AR's, and certainly, never get into 1911's.
At this point, I believe the Dlask NiB, tho' somewhat low tier in it's construction, was rushed to market to fill the demand. Most likely due to the fact that Dlask themselves could not find any BCG's to get their rifles out the door and was starting to effect business.
I also believe that it is a decent high value BCG, priced accordingly. Arm chair elitists are going to be very disappointing and will certainly vomit forth torrents of hate. n00b AR builders are going to be thrown quite the curve ball, and will learn in a hurry if they are cut out for the wonderful world of custom part fitting. Meanwhile, to those of us experienced AR Enthusiasts, who have been doing it a while, and are in it to shoot, can enjoy a breath of fresh air, as we can finally complete our new builds and get them to the range.
As far as the quality of materials, how well they will wear, and if the stock stake job will hold out, only time will tell.
Update: 120426 Some good news.
I necked sized a few of the once fired cases that I tested the BCG with so that they would fit in my headspace gauge.
This shows me that the headspace on the bolt is perfect.
As they started to ship and trickled in to other members before I had received mine, rumors of horror started to circulate, and people started to expect the worst.
Finally, after over a month, I have mine. While others picked it apart looking for flaws, I lubed mine up and shot it.
Without further a due, this is mine as it came out the box, just before I shot it.
The notorious stake job. Indeed it seems weak. I attempted to tighten the bolts after my range session and they did not move, this tells me that they did not loosen at all. I intend to leave the staking as is, and monitor the bolts for any movement.
The Firing Pin retainer pin was very tight and difficult to remove, this does not seem like a bad thing.
A little closer.
The cam pin is smooth and seems well done.
After 100 rounds of perfect operation it looks like this.
Closeup of the bolt.
The next series of pictures are take AFTER I cleaned it. Note the staining of the finish.
This staining would not wipe or brush off. This is as far as I will clean it, and as far as I've needed to clean my other BCG's.
This staining does not occur on my LMT enhanced bolt, not sure what they coat that with.
This staining is indeed ugly. I've never owned an NiB bolt before, and am not sure if this is normal, or if it suggests that the coating is poor. Time will tell if this turns out to be a problem.
In this shot you can notice the poor pin job for the ejector pin. Or is it ?
This pin job does not interfere with function.
In attempt to fix the pin job, this happened. It seem the the pin material is soft and warps with insertion force.
However, it does not seem like it's going to go anywhere, the way it fits in there, you can consider it staked.
It's workable enough for future servicing. I have several thousand rounds on my other BCG and have not felt the need to service the ejector. Tho' ugly, I would expect high mileage out of this pin job. I tried my best but was unable to improve on it much, so if you don't like it I would recommend replacing it with another, harder pin.
In this image you can also get a decent look at the poor machining between the lugs and the staining of the finish.
I was impressed by the extractor. It has a nice deep cut to it that is more present then other examples I've seen. I don't expect any extraction issues. Looking at this, I believe a poorly timed AR would likely rip a chunk out of the rim if it FTE'd, over the usual slipping off the rim. Again, you can note the staining of the finish.
The lugs themselves, from a functional perspective, seem well done. There are some slight flaws, but for the most part, they are squared away where it matters.
Here is another view of the stake job.
Post cleaning, despite the staining, it still looks nice in the areas you will actually see while looking at the rifle.
The bearing surfaces on the carrier seem smooth and well done all around.
Situations like this are an example of the now complained about ugly. As you can see, the outside of the carrier where it matters is well done, but hidden inside are gobs of ugly where the machining seems to be done in a hurry.
To look at it with a quick glance, it seems fine really. Again, seen here, the lugs are well done, but in between is ugly.
Also another good example of the finish staining.
Here you can see some subtle imperfections in the lugs. Again, it doesn't seem to effect the function as the end surfaces of the lugs that mate with the barrel extension lugs are squared away just fine.
The Notorious Gas Key.
Reports are starting to come in about a tight fit with the gas key mating to the gas tube. I shall attempt to shed some light onto this situation.
For the record, the gas key does seem to be internally NiB coated, perhaps making for the tight fit.
I test fitted this with 3 uppers.
Bare in mind, I put a drop of oil in my gas key.
"Upper B", has an older gas tube that has seen a good thousand rounds at least. The gas key mated smoothly with this upper without any binding.
"Upper C" has the oldest gas tube that has seen many thousands of rounds as I am at least the 3rd owner of it.
Again, the gas key mated smoothly with no binding what so ever.
"Upper A" has the newest gas tube, and voila, it was tight. Very tight. You cannot pull the bolt off the tube with your hands. However, with the upper installed onto the lower, I was able to rack the bolt with little problem. It was very tight and took effort but never the less, I could rack it.
That being said, I am confident that the gas power cycling of the action will have enough force to rack the bolt back.
Further more, in testing with dummy rounds, dropping the bolt from open had enough force to correctly mount a round into battery.
I believe that with some live fire break in, the tight gas key fit will soon cease to be a problem, as demonstrated by the correct fit with older well worked in gas tubes.
The only wild card that I cannot test, is the fit with a BRAND NEW gas tube. Members buying the BCG for new builds have reported the gas tube getting jammed onto the gas key. To these members, I say, calm down, it just means, "Some fitting required".
I would recommend getting some fine grit sand paper, I would use 1200, and lapping the new gas tube around until you achieve a tight but manageable fit with the gas key. Get it fitted so that it's tight, but will still rack with the use of the charging handle, and so that the force of the bolt dropping can properly/fully lock the bolt into battery. Once to this point, take a bit more off for good measure so that the AR will be sure to cycle in use.
You will still want a tight fit, polishing down the gas tube to a smooth or loose fit may result in a poor seal. You want some tightness so that as you shoot it, the parts will wear together to make for an ideal match fit, and good seal.
In Conclusion.
I know what you are thinking, "But it's not suppose to be like this, the machining is suppose to be such and such a way, and it should not need fitting, it should be like this, it should fit like this . . . blah blah blah."
Yes, I agree, it's not suppose to be like this. That machining can use more polish, and I've never heard any reports in my research that gas tubes need fitting.
But, how about a little perspective; You got a Canadian Made BCG, for a Chinese price, in days of No BCG's at all.
Based on what I've seen on pricing of similar products, you'd expect to pay at least $100 more for this same BCG with more polish and a better fit. Heck, I payed more for just a premium name brand bolt in the past then I did for this whole carrier, and even it had a couple of flaws, and after several thousand rounds of wear, if it works, it's not going to matter any more.
And that's the key term here, so far, my Dlask NiB BCG WORKS.
I only shot 100 rounds today, but I did not suffer a single failure. Yes, it's Ugly, yes the gas key will need fitting, but so far, mine works.
Considering what you end up with, as flawed as it is, I believe it's price accordingly. I myself don't at all feel ripped off.
You need to ask yourself, do I want to start a session of phone/email tag with Dlask ? I warn you, they are busy people and have a reputation of being hard to get hold of. Are you willing to wait till this crap down south blows over and maybe this time next year you can finally choose what BCG you like, and hopefully get it for a reasonable price, let alone at this price point ? Or are you willing to pay an exorbitant premium on the EE to a scalper or for a used unit ?
Or, do you want to shoot your rifle ? If your answer is the latter, then my advice, grab a punch and some sandpaper and get to it, then go shoot your rifle, that's what it's all about after all. If you can't handle these minor fixes, well, maybe you shouldn't be building AR's, and certainly, never get into 1911's.
At this point, I believe the Dlask NiB, tho' somewhat low tier in it's construction, was rushed to market to fill the demand. Most likely due to the fact that Dlask themselves could not find any BCG's to get their rifles out the door and was starting to effect business.
I also believe that it is a decent high value BCG, priced accordingly. Arm chair elitists are going to be very disappointing and will certainly vomit forth torrents of hate. n00b AR builders are going to be thrown quite the curve ball, and will learn in a hurry if they are cut out for the wonderful world of custom part fitting. Meanwhile, to those of us experienced AR Enthusiasts, who have been doing it a while, and are in it to shoot, can enjoy a breath of fresh air, as we can finally complete our new builds and get them to the range.
As far as the quality of materials, how well they will wear, and if the stock stake job will hold out, only time will tell.
Update: 120426 Some good news.
I necked sized a few of the once fired cases that I tested the BCG with so that they would fit in my headspace gauge.
This shows me that the headspace on the bolt is perfect.
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