AR Sponsor
Posted: 1/5/2007 6:11:18 PM EDT
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A local dealer has a couple of Rock River CAR A4s that seem to be pretty nice rifles. They don't, however, have the optional chrome lined barrels. I'd be buying this rifle for something less expensive to shoot than .30-06 (I went through about $200 in ammo getting ready for deer season this year) and it wouldn't be subjected to harsh conditions; it would also be cleaned regularly. I've seen that chrome lining is recommended, but how big a disadvantage is it not to have it? TIA Cassady |
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None of my hunting rifles or shooting rifles have ever had a chrome lining. It doesn't matter to me. I would usually either buy stainless if I wanted a little more corrosion resistance. I like the most accuracy I can get and chrome lining does cut it some. Anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 inch depending on who you listen too. My Rock River SS and my bushie varminter are by far my most accurate rifles. JRandyH PS IF I was in Iraq or shooting fully auto it would be very important to me. |
It's irrelevant unless you will (a) be exposing your rifle to harsh environments (salt spray, high-temp-high-humidity, dragging it thru muddy water, etc) or chronically mistreating it (leaving it out in the rain overnight, etc), or (b) you just hate cleaning barrels & chambers... The military uses it for duty rifles BECAUSE OF THE HARSH ENVIRONMENTS SAID RIFLES WORK IN... They don't use it for precision weapons, of course... There is a theoretical accuracy gain to NOT having chrome, but that is minor at best... Up to you.... The SHTF-is-coming-need-to-be-able-to-fight-the-zombies-with-your-AR folks will soon be here to tell you you're a fool if you don't get it, of course... P.S. If you are going to spend money on a civillian-range-use-only rifle, and want to spend extra for a barrel, go stainless - not chrome-lined... |
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Accuracy: Stainless durability, ease of cleaning: Chrome there is no way to control the thickness of the chrome lining. This makes it inherently less accurate. Well, let's say less likely to be accurate, or less predictable. It IS possible to find an accurate chrome lined barrel, but it is to a large extent luck. A good/very good chrome barrel could be expected to put match grade ammo into 1 1/4-1 1/2 inch. A stainless barrel in the "good-very good" category would approach .6in. It's possible, even likely, to get a chrome lined barrel that has trouble staying inside 1.5inches. This is still quite acceptable for most applications; that's why so many people here are chrome or go home. ETA there is no reason to go with a rack grade chrome/moly barrel that is NOT chrome lined, unless you REALLY need to save 40 bucks. The accuracy will be equally unpredictable, and you will have none of the advantages of chrome. |
| Two of my rifles are not chromed. I don't have any problems with them as they are range only cleaned when I get home rifles. One has about 2000 rounds down the tube and I have been very hard on it, it always ends up smoking badly from back to back mag dumps. Up to you. |
| My AR's are all chrome-lined, and it's all I'll ever get because of the climate in my state, and ease of cleaning, not that cleaning a moly barrel is all that difficult. I don't think it's a big disadvantage if your barrel isn't chrome-lined. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think Garand or M-14 barrels were chromed, and we still made out O.K. Just need to do some preventive maintainaence and cleaning, same as all firearms. |
I prefer chrome, but good grief if the price is truly right go for it! Shoot it hard and you'll still probably never shoot nearly enough rounds to cause noticeable wear before you're ready to modify your new toy anyhow!  (It ain't exactly rocket science to work on the AR platform... a new barrel is easy with just a few of the right tools.) If you buy one, stand by to spend lots o' money on things "you need"; however, you'll never have more fun! B2 |
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Most target barrels are NOT chrome lined (for the reasons mentioned above, chroming consistency). I personally do not spring for the extra, but I clean my guns well and figure I will never be able to afford to put enough rounds through a barrel to equal what the military puts through theirs so chrome lining is superfluous. I spent the extra bucks on ammo. If you REALLY want durability you should chrome the ENTIRE rifle, not just the outside : ) PS, my PTR91 (a G3 HK91 copy) has no chrome lined barrel, but that's beside the point : ) |
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My midlength 16" barrel didn't have the option for chrome lining. Is there anyone that could chrome line it now? I really don't plan to shoot it all that much anyway, but I have been wondering if I could get it chrome lined after reading all of the posts on this site praising the wonders of chrome lining. |
+1 - I wouldn't own a chrome-moly AR barrel that wasn't chrome lined. Wear resistance, weather resistance, easier to clean and much less likely to get stuck cases, especially when dirty. For an average of $50 premium, it's money well spent. I'm sorry but there is no justification in my mind to settle for a non-chrome lined barrel unless its a match grade barrel. |
Chrome lined barrels, as I understand it, have to be bored out a little bigger than standard 5.56, then the chrome lining is added as a film or layer. I think having a barrel chrome lined "aftermarket" would be far more trouble and expense than it is worth. |
I'm curious what data you have to support that conclusion? From my own research, the main benefit of chrome-lining appears to be resisting harsh environments and throat erosion due to high heat from full-auto. From what I've read and my own personal experience, you don't really enjoy that much extra barrel life with a chrome-lined barrel unless you do most of your shooting at less than 100yds. Right now, I might go as high as $50 for chrome lining (assuming it was done by a quality outfit). Beyond that, I think you are better off using the extra money to buy a better quality barrel to begin with. |
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