DAN YOUNG OF YOUNG MFG HAS LONG MADE THE BEST BOLT CARRIERS IN THE INDUSTRY. THAT'S BECAUSE HE DOES IT THE RIGHT WAY, THE HARD WAY. ALL FINAL TOLERANCES ARE ACHIEVED AFTER HEAT TREATING, NOT BEFORE. DAN YOUNG PATENTED HIS SEMI-AUTO "NATIONAL MATCH" DESIGN. HERE'S A PICTURE OF ONE I'VE HAD FOR SOME TIME:



IT'S PRACTICALLY WORN OUT, AS YOU CAN SEE. (JUST KIDDING.) YES, THAT'S AN LMT ENHANCED BOLT. YES, IT WORKS JUST FINE, THANK YOU.

LES BAER CUSTOM BOUGHT THE RIGHTS TO THIS DESIGN. YOUNG MFG STILL MAKES THEM, BUT THEY NOW CARRY THE "LBC" LOGO:



AS YOU CAN SEE BELOW, BOTH CARRY THE SAME PATENT NUMBER:



HERE'S DAN YOUNG'S NEWEST DESIGN:



HERE'S HOW DAN YOUNG FEELS THAT HE HAS, IN THEORY, IMPROVED ON HIS PREVIOUS DESIGN:



THE ORIGINAL PATENTED DESIGN IS ON THE LEFT. THE NEWER STYLE IS ON THE RIGHT. BOTH ARE LARGER IN DIAMETER THAN A STANDARD CARRIER. NOTE THE LARGER FLAT BEARING SURFACE AND SMALLER RADIUS ON THE CORNERS OF THE NEW DESIGN ON THE RIGHT. THIS PROVIDES IN THEORY AN EVEN TIGHTER, STRAIGHTER LOCK-UP.

M.S.T.N. STARTED OUT OFFERING THE YOUNG MFG N/M BOLT CARRIER IN OUR CUSTOM PRECISION UPPERS. WHEN LES BAER BOUGHT THE DESIGN, WE SWITCHED. WE NOW USE THE NEW YOUNG MFG N/M DESIGN IN OUR CUSTOM PRECISION UPPERS, AS WELL.

NEXT - STAND BY FOR THE USUAL SUSPECTS TO CHARGE THAT A STANDARD, RUN-OF-THE-MILL CARRIER IS JUST FINE, THAT THEIR COUSIN SHOT A 5-SHOT ONE INCH GROUP AT 300 YARDS WITH AN UPPER USING A BOLT CARRIER GROUP UNCLE HARRY HAD IN HIS M-16 IN VIETNAM, ETC.

THE RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT MAY NOT BE THERE FOR EVERYONE, I FREELY ADMIT. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO BUILD THE BEST PRECISION UPPERS WE CAN, USING ALL OF THE BEST COMPONENTS AVAILABLE.

HERE IS A PIC OF THE COMPETITION CARRIER PAUL HAD DAN YOUNG MAKE FOR US:



AS YOU CAN SEE, IT IS OF CONVENTIONAL DESIGN, BUT CUT AWAY TO REDUCE WEIGHT. AS WITH ALL OF YOUNG MFG BOLT CARRIERS, IT IS HEAT TREATED FIRST AND THEN RECEIVES ITS FINAL MACHINING. AS YOU CAN SEE, IT IS ALSO HARD CHROMED. IT THE COMPETITION CARRIER TIPS THE SCALE AT A SVELDT 8.2 OZ.

WHY A LIGHTWEIGHT CARRIER? IN COMPETITION SHOOTING, A SMOOTH RUNNING, FAST CYCLING GUN IS WHAT YOU WANT. MINIMIZING RECIPROCATING MASS MINIMIZES APPARENT RECOIL. THE RIGHT BALANCE FOR RELIABILITY IS ACHIEVED VIA CAREFUL TUNING OF THE ADJUSTABLE GAS PORT, BUFFER WEIGHT, RECOIL SPRING WEIGHT AND LENGTH, AND OBVIOUSLY BUFFER WEIGHT.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

FOR ... ?

IF YOU MEAN THE NEW CARRIER FROM YOUNG MFG, $125 STRIPPED. $140 WITH GAS KEY INSTALLED.

WE USE RED LOCK-TITE ON THE KEYS AND CAP SCREWS, TORQUE THE CAP SCREWS PROPERLY, AND STAKE THE CAP SCREWS IN PLACE.

WE ALSO HAVE THE EXCLUSIVE ON THE LIGHTWEIGHT COMPETITION VERSION OF THE NEW YOUNG MFG CARRIER. WILL GET A PIC OF IT UP SOON.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

EXCELLENT OBSERVATION, AND ONE I MYSELF HAD NEVER MADE.

I JUST WEIGHED:

LMT F/A BCG

YOUNG MFG SEMI N/M BCG

LBC N/M SEMI BCG

ALL THREE WEIGH IN AT 11.6 OZ.

THE NEW DESIGN YOUNG MFG N/M CARRIER WEIGHS IN AT 0.2 OZ LESS.


WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

SARYAN - WHICHEVER ONE YOU PREFER, THE LBC OR THE NEW YOUNG MFG STYLE. NO, YOU CAN'T HAVE MY OLD, ORIGINAL YOUNG MFG N/M UNIT !!!

STICKMAN - HARD CHROME.

DUFFY - I HAVE A HARD CHROMED SMITH ENTERPRISES STANDARD FULL AUTO CARRIER THAT HAS BEEN SERVING WELL SINCE '98 !!! IT'S BEEN THROUGH ITS SHARE OF USE IN THAT TIME. CURRENTLY, IT IS ENJOYING SEMI-RETIREMENT IN MY RANGE BOX AS A "HOT SPARE", WITH NEW BOLT INSTALLED. "SILVER SEA FOAM" GRANITE.

ALTAV - GLADLY.

WES

Quoted: Thanks for the info and pics Wes. Looks like there's some "flat" parts on the sides of the carrier there. Any idea why?

YOU ARE CORRECT. DISTINCTIVE APPEARANCE, MAYBE?

I KNOW OF NO OTHER REASON. I LIKE IT, THOUGH.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

EXCELLENT QUESTION.

THE BETTER YOU CONTROL MATERIAL, TOLERANCES, AND FINISH, THE BETTER YOU CONTROL THE END RESULTS. IF A DESIGN IMPROVEMENT HAPPENS TO WORK ITS WAY INTO THE EQUATION, ALL THE BETTER.

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO MEASURE THE DIFFERENCE IN ACCURACY WHEN SHOOTING WOLF AMMO OR BRAND-X RELOADS OUT OF AN UPPER YOU BOUGHT USED OFF A TABLE AT A GUN SHOW? PROBABLY NOT. RELIABILITY? POSSIBLY. BUT, YES, IT WILL BE EASIER TO CLEAN.

THE PERFORMANCE OF PRECISION UPPERS I BREAK DOWN AS FOLLOWS:

40% BARREL, I.E., THE BARREL BLANK

40% BARRELMAKER, I.E., THE GUY WHO CONTOURS, CROWNS, AND CHAMBERS

10% BUILDER

10% OTHER COMPONENTS USED

THE BOLT CARRIER FALLS INTO THIS LAST RATHER ARBITRARY 10%. WILL YOU BE ABLE TO SCIENTIFICALLY MEASURE THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES WITH ONE UPPER? OF COURSE NOT. HOWEVER, WOULD THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF USING THE BEST GEAR WE CAN GET, E.G., BEST QUALITY BOLT CARRIERS, FITTED BOLTS, CRANE O-RING MOD, PRI GAS BUSTER, STAG OR LMT UPPERS, LARUE FORENDS, ETC., MAKE A MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE? I FEEL THE ANSWER IS YES.

THAT'S WHY OUR GOAL IS TO USE THE BEST COMPONENTS AVAILABLE IN OUR PRECISION UPPERS. I SIMPLY DO NOT CARE WHAT THEY COST. SOME OF THESE PARTS COST QUITE A BIT MORE THAN GENERIC EQUIVALENTS.

FOR EXAMPLE, A PRECISION REFLEX GAS BUSTER CHARGING HANDLE LIKE WE USE COSTS ABOUT FOUR TIMES AS MUCH AS A STANDARD ONE. IS IT GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY? PROBABLY NOT. IS IT GOING TO HELP KEEP GAS OUT OF YOUR PEEPERS? MOST DEFINITELY. WILL THAT BE WORTH THE PRICE DIFFERENCE?

IT'S YOUR MONEY. SPEND IT AS YOU SEE FIT.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

HERE IS A PIC OF THE COMPETITION CARRIER PAUL HAD DAN YOUNG MAKE FOR US:



AS YOU CAN SEE, IT IS OF CONVENTIONAL DESIGN, BUT CUT AWAY TO REDUCE WEIGHT. AS WITH ALL OF YOUNG MFG BOLT CARRIERS, IT IS HEAT TREATED FIRST AND THEN RECEIVES ITS FINAL MACHINING. AS YOU CAN SEE, IT IS ALSO HARD CHROMED. IT THE COMPETITION CARRIER TIPS THE SCALE AT A SVELDT 8.2 OZ.

WHY A LIGHTWEIGHT CARRIER? IN COMPETITION SHOOTING, A SMOOTH RUNNING, FAST CYCLING GUN IS WHAT YOU WANT. MINIMIZING RECIPROCATING MASS MINIMIZES APPARENT RECOIL. THE RIGHT BALANCE FOR RELIABILITY IS ACHIEVED VIA CAREFUL TUNING OF THE ADJUSTABLE GAS PORT, BUFFER WEIGHT, RECOIL SPRING WEIGHT AND LENGTH, AND OBVIOUSLY BUFFER WEIGHT.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

VERY, VERY NICE RIG, INDEED.

WES GRANT
MSTN.BIZ

Quoted: That custom piece looks nice, but how much does the price increase compared to the regular Young National Match carriers?

QUITE A BIT MORE, ACTUALLY, BECAUSE YOU ONLY GET THEM IN COMPLETE M.S.T.N. COMPETITION UPPERS. WE OWN THEM ALL AND DO NOT SELL SEPARATELY.

WES GRANT
MSTN.BIZ

YOUNG MFG MAKES BOLT CARRIER TO ORDER, IN APPROPRIATELY LARGE NUMBERS. WE'VE HAD LOTS OF HIS STANDARD FORMAT SEMI AND FULL AUTO BOLT CARRIERS OVER THE YEARS, BOTH PHOSPHATED AND HARD CHROMED.

IN STANDARD FORMAT, WE ONLY HAVE PHOSPHATED SEMI AT THIS TIME.

NICE STUFF Y/M MAKES, NO DOUBT.

WES GRANT
M.S.T.N.

hmm, bet that cutaway comp carrier might work to help some of these guys with barrels with little bore past the gas port. only ones I've seen like that before were on OAI's Simunition carriers.

they're not SS, they're hard chromed.  JP is JP Enterprises

ETA, I meant the carriers pictured aren't SS, and thought he was asking "what is a JP?"

the original "Dissipator" design from COLT back in the '60s used a similar carrier. They might have been on to something, it was also used in the belt fed version.