Jim-Bob Outfitter's BCG

All- Heads up, avoid Jim-Bob Outfitter's BCGs like the PLAGUE! Because of the AR buying frenzy, my son wasn't able to find a BCG for less than $300. Frigging ridiculous! So anyway, he bought one. I checked headspace to the barrel assembly (a Palmetto) and it passed no-go gauging. Well, today my son ran exactly 27 rounds through his AR and the bolt failed to return to battery. So, I looked at it and the bolt SHEARED TWO LUGS!!! They were the two adjacent to the extractor recess. This was a BRAND-NEW bolt.

In my lengthy career as a small arms repairman, I've seen M16 bolts shear one lug, but never two!!! And almost always they were on training rifles that had very high round counts. Unfortunately, he bought the BCG from a guy on AR15.com, so there is no receipt for it and no way to prove it came from Jim-Bob Outfitters (BCG is unmarked), other than what the guy on AR15.com said. So, he's SOL on a bolt. Upon further inspection, I also found that the extractor is MIM (found two circles from the mold on the under side of it), it had a white extractor buffer in the spring (the buffer was upside down in the spring, too). The carrier key screws had a half-assed attempt at staking at best, so I had to stake the screws on the carrier as well.

Anyway, a tough lesson in buying only quality parts. What a POS bolt. He now has an FN bolt off of Gunbroker on the way to replace it, which I have faith in...

Insane, sounds like they didn't even heat treat the parts.

I've always heard good things about joe bobs. I think you got lied to about where that part came from. It is probably chicom crap

I'm pretty sure that it is the Joe-Bob's Cera-Coated group. I've looked at several pics of the finish on the BCG online and this, coupled with what the seller told me makes me pretty certain.

But, with that said: I shouldn't have thrown them under the bus. I did it when I was pissed, because my son has been sending me money for the last couple months for me to build this rifle for him, and when he comes home on his mid-tour from Kuwait the bolt failed in the first magazine. So, I wasn't happy! But, again, I have no receipt to prove it was the Joe-Bob BCG, so I'm going to stop complaining about it. It's not like I can return it, and the carrier itself looks good now that I properly staked the key screws. And my son doesn't want to risk trying to return the BCG and run the risk of not getting a replacement right away due to every place being sold out.

He has a FN bolt coming, so his rifle will be back up and running soon.

Here is a pic of it, BTW...

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Good to know. Thanks for the heads up.