Hey Lumpy, its noon time... shall I lock it?

I wonder how many jungles the pictured barrel has seen?

It seems we are missing a little common sense in this discussion. One of the great things about the AR is it's ability to be easily adapted to vary different rolls. To tell someone to "go chrome or go home" is just as silly as telling someone that you can't hit shit with a chrome lined barrel. Both are gross over simplifications. Why compromise the versatility of the AR by limiting yourself to one kind of barrel or another. I shoot HP competition with my AR, and also do a little prairie dog shooting. For me, I'll take the added accuracy of a good quality SS barrel. I have never had any reliability issues with them and I have been known to skip cleaning my rifle a few times after a long day of shooting. However, this does not mean that I think a SS barrel is for everyone. If I were to build a truck gun, something that I could throw in the back of the truck, drag through every kind of shit, use for a jack handle if needed, never clean, and know that it was going to be there and ready when needed, it would have a chrome barrel. If I were to build a rifle to take to war in a jungle, you can bet it would have a chrome lined barrel. Just maybe, before we tell someone what kind of barrel he should get, we should ask him what his intended use is for the rifle. This just might let us give him a much more informed answer and increase his odds of being a happy AR owner or customer. And we do want everyone to be happy don't we? :-)

John

Quoted: Can't everyone play nice??? A improperly maintained chrome bbl will rust as well.. Hell, ever try to keep the chrome on your car rust free?? Chrome is not a absolute in bore protection, it just helps...

It takes a helluva lot more to cause the onset of corrosion in a properly chromed barrel.  Again, rifle barrels are not flash chromed like auto bumpers.

I have witnessed AK's fired with a case of corrosive ammo and put away unknowingly by the owner for over one year (not me).

The gas tube looke like the moon once I got the rust out of it but I only found one pit in the barrel.

If that barrel was unlined chromemoly, it would have been trashed.  As it was, the rifle functioned once cleaned and reassembled.

Chrome lining is idiot insurance if nothing else.

Quoted: Quoted: I have seen a unchromed barrel lightly rust overnight in a single night in southwest Virgina due to summer humidity.  It just takes one neglegent moment, not a month in a jungle. Maintain your weapon. Problem solved.  No chrome lining needed. Clearly from the above picture, chrome lining isnt a total solution or replacement to proper weapon care.

In the above instance, chrome lining would have prevented any rust form having formed in the barrel.  Even the best of us can have a momemntary lapse in judgement.

Whth a chrome lining, it requires a chronic lapse in judgement.  Without chrome, an acute lapes will suffice.

BTW, I was an Armorer at the Troop level and have seen the effects of weather on unchromed M-16A1(chamber only chrome) barrels.  I never witnessed any fully chromed M-16 barred exhibit any environmentally induced defects regardless of the amount of neglect.

My experience is based on a large sample size.  Most people in this thread advocating a chrome lining also have similar experiences.