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Posted: 11/10/2005 3:11:52 PM EDT
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Just for the heck of it... If Chrome Lined Barrels offer durability, but lacks (Sub-MOA) accuracy AND Stainless Steel offers (Sub-MOA) accuracy but lack durability, Does that put the Chrome Moly barrel somewhere in between? |
Sorry... but your "just for kicks" line had the trappings of being just a troll posting... Chrome-Moly is the ferous steel that all barrels (except stainless) are made from, some are chrome lined, some are not. Here is a few other facts: How they perform depends more on who drilled the blank more than about anything... Chrome-Moly is usually 4140 or 4150, the later has more carbon and wears better... How a barrel is shot means more than how many rounds are put through it, rapid or full-auto fire will kill a barrel fast... Most guys will screw a barrel up by improper cleaning before shooting it out... Hard chrome plating extends the life somewhat, but it is intended to prevent corrosion... Hard Chrome lined barrels *can* be very accurate, but are not match grade barrels, the shop that plates them determines the end result -- there are not that many shops that are really good at plating barrel bores for maximum accuracy... There are better platings than hard chrome... Stainless steel will resist corrosion about as well as chrome lined barrels... Stainless also wears very well -- there is a reason that stainless was picked by the military for the SPR... That reason is not cost... chrome plating per barrel costs less than a sandwhich at subway... 1:8 twist will shoot anything that you can fit in an AR magazine... Some say that there is no such thing as over stabilization -- technically that is sound, but it is possible to overspin a bullet and that results in a stability factor that is higher than needed (1.5+), this exacerbates any potential out of balance problems that bullet may have and reduces accuracy... Bullets can be spun so fast that they reach "plastic state instability"... they spin apart... A twist rate faster than what is needed results in lower muzzle velocity and promotes throat errosion... Polygonal rifling has not proven to be more accurate or last longer than conventional rifling... Twist rate has nothing to do with the weight of the bullet... Nearly ANY good barrel is mechanically more accurate than the person that owns it... 100 yards is farther than a lot of people think  Edited to add: Not like it matters, but my personal choices are stainless for my rifle and silicone carbide nickel plated chromoly for my shorty... |
Okay.... if you google the two and compare "salt spray exposure" corrosion resistance, you have a point. However, in the case of gun barrels, if you shoot lots-and-lots of ammo out of lots-and-lots of barrels and record the results: Stainless wears and resists corrosion about as well as chrome lined. I would be interested in your experience with BNEN palting? I have a NiB plated barrel and it seems to perform far better than what you would expect... but I have not messed with BNEN. I will be picking up another SiCN barrel when I get back from this trip though -- This is a sacrifice barrel, the one I have on my gun now I am trying to keep around for a while. |
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Maybe a bit off topic but I've owned two 14.5" chromelined bushmaster barrels and three 20" chromelined Colt barrels and all would shoot sub MOA with the correct handloads so I don't feel that going chrome means that you are lossing much in the way of accuracy. My current service comp rifle has a Colt Hbar chromelined barrel with Vortex flash hidder and DCM type free float tube. It puts five shot groups of my 69gr SMK load into 0.7" at 100y and five shoots groups of my 77gr SMK load into 0.5" at 100y. Just my $0.02 ;) |
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Gunzilla - No troll here, just a lurker. I thought I was beating a dead horse with this topic. Thank you for your reponse. Very informative. I have never heard of silicone carbide nickel plated before. HeadDamage - Not off topic at all . It adds more insight. I'm just curious as to all the information regarding Chrome Lined and SS Barrels. I have (2) RRA rifles. An A2 and M4gery. Both are [Wilson] Chrome Moly @ 1:9 twist. I was thinking of building an inexpensive "All Purpose" 16" upper to swap out my M4gery barrel. My Choices were: -BM Dissy CL Barrel Assembly - 5.56 NATO -RRA CL Mid-Length - .223 Wylde -RRA SS Mid-Length - .223 Wylde? OR I could just keep the Chrome Moly barrel that's on my M4. |
That would be cool to see a slow motion video of that. FWIW, I use my A2 (.223 Wylde) for CMP competition and my M4 (5.56 NATO) is my "beater" rifle. Eventually I'm looking to get into 3 gun competition with the M4. Will Chrome Moly 4140 take that kind of abuse, or will I need to upgrade to a CL or SS barrel with a Wylde Chamber? |
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