How important is it.?

Most FAL barrels are chrome lined which means it means zilch.

I have 3 dsa's, none of which have a chromed lined barrel. And yes, I did break each of them in.. :)

The SA rifles do not have chrome lined barrels but those are the top of the line option, those barrels I would break in as well, for sure. I have 2 DSA's with DSA chrome barrels and after thousands of rounds, both still very accurate. I did run a brush through the first one at 2 round intervals for the first ten rounds and comparing it now to my AR with a chrome barrel and my other DSA that I didn't break in, I see no difference in accuracy.

DSA stg-58a's come standard without chromed lined barrels. So basically both the kit guns and the more expensive new ones (sa58) are not chromed lined. Though, you can special order chromed lined barrels on stg-58's. I suppose that's what you did.

Just shoot the hell out of it.  Although accurate, it's never going to be a true precision target rifle.

Quoted: DSA stg-58a's come standard without chromed lined barrels. So basically both the kit guns and the more expensive new ones (sa58) are not chromed lined. Though, you can special order chromed lined barrels on stg-58's. I suppose that's what you did.

Actually, I built mine but used all DSA parts including the chrome lined military replacement barrels. I did not know the kit guns came without chrome barrels, interesting. Do you notice a difference with the non-chrome barrel?

Quoted: Just shoot the hell out of it.  Although accurate, it's never going to be a true precision target rifle.

Well said. You know what is weird? The FAL has become an extension of my mind and body and I have adapted to make them hit at AR or M1A level accuracy. I have been shooting all my life but not FALS. This has taken a lot of getting to know the rifle. Best results with .308 Winchester. Allright back to my yoga with FAL excercises.

I don't have a fal with a chromed barrel, so.. I can't give you an opinion. But I'd assume, chromed lined would be more durable, less worries about cleaning and maintenance, and slightly less accuracy.

I have a pre '89 ban Springfield Armory SAR-48 Para, which is basically an Imbel built for Springfield, and a DSA StG-58A.

The Springfield has a chrome lined barrel, the DSA has a chrome chamber, but not a chromed barrel.

The DSA is more accurate, which I am assuming comes from the cold hammer forged Steyr barrel in it vs. the Brazillian hard chromed one on the SAR-48.

Both shoot very well though!

I did do a break in on the StG-58A, but it probably didn't do much good since they were already "broken in" in Austrian military service (although VERY lightly and gently by the looks of it, it was a new barrel).

I would assume the Steyr barrels are more accurate. I kind of went back and forth between hammer forged and new. New US compliant barrel won. Still damn accurate for what it is and the best rifles in the safe.

hmmm, I am pretty sure that my barrel is chrome lined.... it's a Badger barrel on the SA58...that I'm sure of...and although I can't find it now, I recall the break-in instructions to be roughly as follows: For the first 10 rounds, stop and scrub barrel after each round, for next ten rounds, stop and scrub after every 2 rounds....

Quoted: hmmm, I am pretty sure that my barrel is chrome lined.... it's a Badger barrel on the SA58...that I'm sure of...and although I can't find it now, I recall the break-in instructions to be roughly as follows: For the first 10 rounds, stop and scrub barrel after each round, for next ten rounds, stop and scrub after every 2 rounds....

.......for 10 more rounds. Yup, I broke mine in the same way. It actually is a fairly accurate weapon. (STG-58)
AB

Badger barrels are chrome moly, meaning the kind of steel they use, NOT chrome lined.

Very nice, accurate barrels and you should break them in, but they are not chrome lined.

aha... well...you'd think I'd have researched this point a little more before I dropped a pile of money on my rifle...perhaps someone could enlighten me as to the differences between a chrome moly barrel such as the badger barrel on my FAL and a chrome lined barrel?

Just like an AR15 barrel....chrome lined means that they electrochemically plate/bond chrome to the inside of the barrel.  This lengthens the service life of the barrel and makes it easier to clean.  It *may* detract from accuracy because you are introducing variances on the bore that the bullet passes over.

Chrome moly is a type of steel, very good steel, that barrels are made out of.  They are not lined/plated with chrome, just bare steel.

Generally, chrome molly barrels are going to be more accurate than chrome lined barrels because there is nothing between the bullet and the rifling.

Also, Badger barrels are chambered for .308 Win., not 7.62 NATO.  Just like some AR barrels are .223 Rem and not 5.56mm NATO.  The NATO chambered barrels usually have a more generous chamber which allows them to feed and cycle military surplus ammo much better than a tighter chambered .308 Winchester barrel.

Hope that helps.

aha, knew that there was a major difference between the chrome lined barrels and the stainless steel barrels but didn't realize that chrome moly was different that chrome lined....that brings me to another question. Why would one want stainless steel over chrome moly? or vice versa? b/c stainless is more durable? b/c chrome moly is less expensive? b/c one is less accurate than the other? Riddle me that! :)

Stainless barrels are generally regarded as longer lasting than chrome moly barrles, and shoot just about, if not better, than chrom molly barrles.  

You'll see alot of match guns with stainless barrles for those reasons.