Nickel Boron vs. Nickel Teflon

[Franko]

I have a couple Nickel Boron trigger groups and just picked up a couple that are Nickel Teflon. Besides the obvious, them being coated in a different material, I was wondering what the differences are and which is is the preferred trigger group.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Davidk]

Best $125 you can spend on a trigger; LaRue MBT.

Far better than any plating on a mil spec trigger http://www.larue.com/larue-tactical-mbt-2s-trigger

 

[rhombus]

What does the coating do in the first place? I've never really messed around with the trigger in my AR, wouldn't any kind of coating be stripped away fairly quickly?

 

[mikelawtown]

What does the coating do in the first place? I've never really messed around with the trigger in my AR, wouldn't any kind of coating be stripped away fairly quickly?

Makes it slick,The Nickel Teflon will self lubricate as it wears, the Boron will last a long time but can wear out (I haven't seen one yet)also both are nice because they offer less friction between moving parts. Have you ever tried the BCM or Spikes or even the PSA Coated ones? they are pretty nice for cheap $$

- - - Updated - - -

Best $125 you can spend on a trigger; LaRue MBT.

Far better than any plating on a mil spec trigger http://www.larue.com/larue-tactical-mbt-2s-trigger

Always one

 

[Franko]

Have you ever tried the BCM or Spikes or even the PSA Coated ones? they are pretty nice for cheap $$

I do have a Spikes Nickel Boron. I really like the feel of it.

 

[MGnoob]

What does the coating do in the first place? I've never really messed around with the trigger in my AR, wouldn't any kind of coating be stripped away fairly quickly?

The hammer contacts the BCG, the coats make a difference. I have no real reason to say one coating is better than the other.. i have a coated bcg and hammers(nickle boron) i like them. And in a piston gunyou need very little lube and its just all around cleaner(and get alot less hot)

The coating seem to hold up well and in 99% of cases will last forever . That said theres nothing wrong with plain jain uncoated parts.

 

[NickW85]

The Nickel Boron:
- Hardness ranges 800-1100 HK100
- Thickness of coating ranges 75-125µm for corrosion resistance which seems thick for machined parts.
- The thinnest that can be applied is 2.5µm which is probably closer to what they coat.

Nickel PTFE:
- Hardness ranges 250-300 HK100 (375-425 if the parts were heat treated prior)
- Thickness of coating ranges 2.5-13µm.

Other than a range in thickness, hardness of the Nickel Boron is a huge difference. The Nickel Boron is very hard and resistant to wear.

Both are coatings though so if you try to polish then the coating will likely come right off since they are only a few microns thick.

If you look at theses as machined parts and the function of metal surfaces slipping across each other.
- PTFE self lubricates and boron is hard.
- The better feel from the Boron is probably form the nice surface finish left behind from coating.
- The PTFE self lubricates preserving the part we hope in case you run dry on lube and provide a nice feel.

At the end of the day, likely the PTFE will have a nicer trigger pull but could wear over time.

 

[TomMontana]

Looked through my Bag of Hammers[SUP]TM[/SUP], and probably stating the obvious, but I can confirm they both discolor after much use and feel much smoother than new ones. No idea if one is better than the other. They do feel slightly better than a basic FCG.

 

[Remsport Mfg]

Nickel-Boron and Nickel-Teflon provide similar improvement over a standard Mil-Spec (Manganese Phosphate) unit. We have used both processes in our manufacturing and I will share what we discovered.

This improvement occurs in many areas which I will outline.

• Most all nickel finished trigger groups are coated on the engagement surface, while Mil-Spec units are left as raw steel. This creates a drastic reduction in the coefficient of friction and leads to improved trigger feel and reduction in required applied force to operate.
• The hardness of most manufacturers coatings are very similar at a range of 60-68RC. We harden our Obsidian coating, which is essentially black nickel Teflon, to 68RC.
• Both of the bright nickel coatings, NiB and NT, are susceptible to discoloration from heat applied. This discoloration does not affect performance. This discoloration is what led us to develop Obsidian, which does not discolor with heat.
• All three variants offer substantial corrosion resistance and finish longevity. Obsidian winning out sea salt spray analysis.

Performance wise, as felt by the shooter, all three finishes will provide similar results. We tested these finishes in Bolt Carrier applications, as well as FCG apps.

Honestly the gap between the three nickel finishes and Mil-Spec (Manganese Phosphate) is so substantial that the minute differences between the three are almost unrecognizable.

Thus far we have found Obsidian to be the longest lasting of the three finishes. NiB can usually be had for less $$ as it is a more commercially available finish, and will provide excellent results as well.

 

[AKMS]

remember, gentlemen, that when you state "self lubricating" in regards to a plated finish, you are referring to the friction coefficient, and not actual "lubrication" of the part. The teflon reduces the friction coefficient a bit when used in a plating process with nickel. It Does Not "lubricate" parts that it touches, it merely is slick to begin with as a property of it's own coating.

If it is indeed "lubricating" other surfaces, your plating sucks and will be gone in a few friction cycles.

I've ran friction tests (pressure / distance) at various speeds with plated stainless steel (usually 316) testing various plating methods. All of these tests were done thousands of times so we could get a "life" profile of each coating. We compared this to sprayed on teflon coatings (PTFE) and some spray on PTFE coatings with micro diamonds. Nickel boron, nickel + micro diamonds + teflon, Ni + PTFE, all kinds of platings were tested in this experiment.

Nickel boron had the highest coefficient of friction. But it was also one of the most durable. Add micro diamonds and the shit was amazing- it was not only hard, but the coefficient of friction went down drastically on metal/metal contact points. I experimented with micro-diamonds as it was given to me for free by a european company that was trying to market their coatings for "sexy applications" that I was working on. The EU is banning Chromium in the next few years, so they're going to be a popular choice in creating durable electrical contact plating which is literally on every lithium ion operated device on the planet. You'll hear more about that I'm sure.

Self Lubrication. LOL. The only thing that does that are monkeys and mankind with their own spit and palms.

 

[Franko]

All good info.
Thanks guys.

 

[oilspill]

I've tried a Spikes battle trigger, ALG ACT, and a BCM PNT. I didn't find any of them to be anything more than a small(tiny) improvement over a decent milspec trigger. If you get a deal on one go for it but I would just save up for a Geissele or whatever trigger is fancy these days.