Quoted:
I thought the chamber was chrome lined on the better chrome lined barrels.
Not True?
View Quote
Actually, you have it backwards.
Originally just the chamber area was hard chromed to aid extraction. Later the whole bore was chromed for corrosion resistance. Ease of cleaning is a nice feature, but ARs desperately need the slipperier chrome chamber to extract reliably.
Quoted:
why? The breech isn't chrome lined, and most people don't use CL bolt carriers, so why is it that you are telling me that a chrome lined barrel is important to the mechanics of a spent shell being properly ejected and a fresh round being slammed into battery.
View Quote
This is why I keep telling you to read "The Black Rifle." You are totally wrong - the chamber is chromed, and needs to be. We can't help you unless you do your homework. And regardless of what you saw on TV, the biggest problem with the first M16s was that McNamara didn't think chroming chambers was cost effective and nixed the idea. Yes, the surplus Winchester ball powder that was substituted for the specified DuPont IMR stick powder was another McNamara cost-cut did create more calcium deposits. But it was chroming the chambers that really made the M16 reliable.
So once again - do your homework, read the book, and don't believe everything you see on TV. [:D]
The reason I recommend against newbies building "match" ARs is yes, you could probably do it and it will probably work. But with a tight chamber and no chrome, it's going to be finicky and tempermental - if it works at all, that is. There's a reason that barrels are chromed and military chambers are cut loose - it aids with functioning under less than perfect conditions and with a wide variety of ammo. Yes, you might give up a few M.O.A. when shooting from the bench, but it will definitely go "bang" everytime you pull the trigger, which is what you want in a combat rifle. And these guns are made for combat.
My current personal favorite rifle is an pre-ban M4gery I built on a Olympic lower receiver with a 14.5" Colt M4 barrel and Colt bolt, with the rest of the parts picked up at gun shows made by who-knows. This gun has never malfunctioned even once, gobbles up any ammo I shove into it, and at my last shooting session could reliable hit an 18-inch gong at 600 yards 7-10 times shooting surplus Canadian C77 ammo off-hand, standing, using iron sights. That's my idea of a rifle. And no, I didn't torque the barrel. [:P]
OTOH, if you don't mind having an AR that won't function every time, is sensitive to ammo, cleaning, and the environment, and you don't mind spending more time tinkering with it than shooting it, then by all means try and build a tack-driver as your first project. Good luck.
[edited to ficks speling misteaks.]