I am getting ready to make my first ar-15 purchases.
Do I want a chrome upper or not?  I do not know enough about the pros and cons to decide.  All I am getting is more and more confusedhave
Chromed will last longer, for example if you don't clean as much.  (Stronger like Stainless Steel on a bolt action instead of blued)
Non-chromed will be more accurate.

This may help the decision as well - All this will be used for is target and varmints.

I have been looking at the bushmaster varminter and the rra varmint models.

Thanks for your time!
Sam

Chrome Lined is basically a chrome-moly barrel where the barrel and chamber are internally lined with a thin layer of chrome through an electro-plating process... Chrome lining offers resistance to rust, corrosion, fouling and is easier to clean... Barrel life is also extended (almost double) when chrome lined...

Lining a chrome-moly barrel with chrome also has the possibility of reducing accuracy... Therefore, a chrome lined barrels is often used more as a work/CQB/SHTF barrel, not as a match/target/competition barrel... Although I have seen some truly excellent accuracy from various chrome lined barrels... MOA can easily be obtained from a quality barrel that is properly chrome line...

Chrome-moly barrels have the ability to be highly accurate when broken in properly and are the least expensive of barrel choices... Unlined chrome-moly barrels normally have the shortest life of any material because they experience erosion from bullet friction at a faster rate compared to chrome lined barrels... If used as semi-auto only, this life can still be thousands and thousands of rounds... Plain chrome-moly isnt resistant to corrosion or fouling and is the most difficult to clean... With all of this said, a quality unlined chrome-moly barrel will more than suffice for the average AR15 owner...

Stainless steel is much more corrosion and rust resistant than normal chrome-moly but doesn't compare to chrome lining... They resist fouling and clean up easier than chrome-moly barrels and typically last as long as chrome-moly barrels do... They have the ability to be highly accurate when broken in properly too... You can expect thousands of rounds with proper maintenance and no abuse...

Go chome-lined.

Why aren't pistol barrels chrome lined?

some chambers on pistols are.

you can get the slide and frame hard chrome coat.

Beretta for one comes to mind

Quoted: Chrome Lined is basically a chrome-moly barrel where the barrel and chamber are internally lined with a thin layer of chrome through an electro-plating process... Chrome lining offers resistance to rust, corrosion, fouling and is easier to clean... Barrel life is also extended (almost double) when chrome lined... Lining a chrome-moly barrel with chrome also has the possibility of reducing accuracy... Therefore, a chrome lined barrels is often used more as a work/CQB/SHTF barrel, not as a match/target/competition barrel... Although I have seen some truly excellent accuracy from various chrome lined barrels... MOA can easily be obtained from a quality barrel that is properly chrome line... Chrome-moly barrels have the ability to be highly accurate when broken in properly and are the least expensive of barrel choices... Unlined chrome-moly barrels normally have the shortest life of any material because they experience erosion from bullet friction at a faster rate compared to chrome lined barrels... If used as semi-auto only, this life can still be thousands and thousands of rounds... Plain chrome-moly isnt resistant to corrosion or fouling and is the most difficult to clean... With all of this said, a quality unlined chrome-moly barrel will more than suffice for the average AR15 owner... Stainless steel is much more corrosion and rust resistant than normal chrome-moly but doesn't compare to chrome lining... They resist fouling and clean up easier than chrome-moly barrels and typically last as long as chrome-moly barrels do... They have the ability to be highly accurate when broken in properly too... You can expect thousands of rounds with proper maintenance and no abuse...

what would be proper breakin for S.S.

If you want a tack driver, then you are going to need to also get a .223 or .223 wylde chamber also. 90% of shooters will not be able to tell a difference between CL and CM. If you want cheap accuracy then get a stainless barrel from RRA.

All of the chrome lined barrels I want are b/o'd by 4-6 weeks. I can also save a lot of money by not going chrome. I just want a lightweight CQB AR for shooting Wolf/cheap ammo. Do I absolutely need a chrome lined barrel?

My Glock pistol barrel isn't chromed but the chamber cleans faster and easier than my chromed rifle barrels. Maybe its something different in the Glock's parkerizing and tennifer surface treatment?

Quoted: Why aren't pistol barrels chrome lined?

I have chrome line pistol barrels. Most of the com-block surplus stuff that was built for harsh conditions is chrome-lined. My P64 is.

Unfortunately most commercial pistols aren;t becasue they are expected to be well cared for. Plus if it's a step consumers don't demand, it won't be done. The Military demands it for anti corrosion properties. So do I, when I can get it.

I like the extra toughness chrome lining gives you, as well as longevity.

It's a personal preference, like anything.

Quoted: Quoted: Chrome Lined is basically a chrome-moly barrel where the barrel and chamber are internally lined with a thin layer of chrome through an electro-plating process... Chrome lining offers resistance to rust, corrosion, fouling and is easier to clean... Barrel life is also extended (almost double) when chrome lined... Lining a chrome-moly barrel with chrome also has the possibility of reducing accuracy... Therefore, a chrome lined barrels is often used more as a work/CQB/SHTF barrel, not as a match/target/competition barrel... Although I have seen some truly excellent accuracy from various chrome lined barrels... MOA can easily be obtained from a quality barrel that is properly chrome line... Chrome-moly barrels have the ability to be highly accurate when broken in properly and are the least expensive of barrel choices... Unlined chrome-moly barrels normally have the shortest life of any material because they experience erosion from bullet friction at a faster rate compared to chrome lined barrels... If used as semi-auto only, this life can still be thousands and thousands of rounds... Plain chrome-moly isnt resistant to corrosion or fouling and is the most difficult to clean... With all of this said, a quality unlined chrome-moly barrel will more than suffice for the average AR15 owner... Stainless steel is much more corrosion and rust resistant than normal chrome-moly but doesn't compare to chrome lining... They resist fouling and clean up easier than chrome-moly barrels and typically last as long as chrome-moly barrels do... They have the ability to be highly accurate when broken in properly too... You can expect thousands of rounds with proper maintenance and no abuse... what would be proper breakin for S.S.

Barrels will vary slightly with how many rounds it takes to break-in because of things like slightly different machinability of the steel, or steel chemistry, or the condition of the chambering reamer, etc. . . Stainless steel will break-in faster than the more abrasion resistant chrome moly...

During the manufacturing process and when the barrel is chambered, there will be reamer marks left in the throat that are across the lands... This is usually very distinct with new barrels... What happens is, when the bullet is forced into the throat, copper dust is released into the gas... The copper dust is vaporized in this gas and is carried down the barrel... When the gas cools, the copper comes out of suspension and is deposited in the bore...  This makes it appear as if the source of the fouling is the bore when it is actually for the most part the new throat... If this copper is allowed to stay in the bore, the copper keeps layering and building up and may be difficult to remove later... This fouling also affects accuracy... So when you break-in a barrel, your goal is to get the throat polished (done naturally by the firing process) without allowing copper to build up in the bore... This is the reasoning for the fire one shot and then clean procedure...

The goal is to keep the barrel clean while polishing out the throat...

Remember one thing though, a barrel is broken in when the fouling is reduced to a minimum... You do not want to exceed the  break-in process beyond that point because excess cleaning can do more harm than good...

Cleaning should be done carefully and no more than necessary...

 When I break-in a barrel I'll start out by removing any existing copper fouling from the barrel by using a high quality copper removing solvent like Hoppes No. 9... Next, clean the barrel after every shot for the first 20 rounds... After that, clean every 3 rounds until fouling is reduced and then clean every 5 rounds until fouling is reduced... Finally, clean thoroughly every 10 rounds until fouling is reduced... The barrel should now be broken-in. ETA: This process takes up a good bit of time and is a lot of work but it allows the barrel to smooth out without any accumulation of copper fouling in the pores of the steel...

The way I like to clean the barrel is to  use a wrap around style jag (NOT a slotted jag) to push a tight fitting cotton patch soaked with a quality bore cleaner through the barrel for about 15-20 strokes... Follow this by another wet patch and then a couple dry patch's...