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Posted: 10/13/2005 6:11:42 AM EDT
| Would anyone be able to tell me or direct me to info of which barrel material is best. It seems as if I have been reading elsewhere that stainless last the longest and is most accurate but also costs more. Is this true? Yet it seems most ar15 barrels are chrome moly. Why is this? |
Best for what purpose? Competition target shooting, varminting, plinking, SHTF? What. That is like asking, what's the best car or what's the best tire? |
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Best for what purpose? Competition target shooting, varminting, plinking, SHTF? What. That is like asking, what's the best car or what's the best tire? Perhaps if I had asked you what is the best length, twist, company, and material I could understand your confusion. In my first post I allude to longevity and accuracy. I appologize for my lack of clarification. I am not referring to long range shooting, or extreme accuracy, just plinking under 100 yard shooting. I can't see myself shooting past 150 yards. And of course SHTF must be taken into consideration. I guess my biggest question is some places I see Stainless as costing more, yet I don't really see many more people that I am associated with, or read about on here and elsewhere as using stainless. So is stainless really a longer lasting metal, all else being equal? |
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I don't know if stainless will last any longer than chrome moly but it is easier to clean. A chrome moly barrel with chrome lining will last you plenty long enough and work extremely well for your purpose. I think the reason why you don't see alot of stainless barrels is because they are not mil spec and a lot of people here prefer barrels that are. Plus a lot of the AR's don't come with stainless and for most people they would prefer a parked barrel (myself included). The best barrels to get are, in my opinion, ones from Colt or Bushmaster and out of those 2 I would pick Bushy. They are pretty much the only 2 companies that make their barrels with 4150 steel as where most others use 4140 |
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The three common materials are: 4140 Chrome moly 4150 Chrome moly 416 Stainless Based on a lot of reasearch and reading all I can say is that they will probably last about the same, all other things being equal. Some say Stainless lasts longer some say it doesn't last as long as chrome moly. Some say stainless doesn't handle temperature as well as chrome moly. While others say Stainless is more resistant to throat erosion. Stainless polishes better than Chrome moly. So, in theory that could yeild better accuracy. But, chrome moly is supposed to be tougher. In the end I don't think that there is a definitive answer. All three have been used for barrels for quite a long time and have proven track records. As to why most AR barrels are chrome moly? Most likely a good cost-to-performance ratio. |
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If you want retained accuracy get a stainless barrel that is cut rifled, polygonally rifled or has 5R style rifling. Then do not expose it to high round counts over a short period to prevent throat errosion. If heat is a concern then ABS has carbon fiber wrapped barrels that are supposed to halve the throat errosion caused by heat. They also cost 3X as much as a standard barrel. Barrel life can also be extended through the use of platings. This is done in military style barrels with hard chrome but it does not apply evenly and has a minor negative impact on accuracy. However, you cannot hard chrome stainless steel. If you want a plating on stainless the only thing availble commerically also comes from ABS. It is an electroless nickle/silicon carbide lining and has better life extending properties than hard chrome while not reducing the accuracy of the bore its plated to. These coated barrels are just now being produced and all ABS barrels will have this applied in the future. So perhaps you will have a barrel that lasts 3X as long while retaining accuracy but it costs 3X as much. Back to square one unless you dont barel your own uppers and have to pay for it. Chrome Vanadium is another popular barrel steel that is better than the 4140 and 4150. It is a milspec steel along with 4150. I think you want the stainless barrel though. |
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