Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles is chrome a good coating for the bolt and barrel on an AR?

1) Find someone with a Manson crowning tool to re-crown your barrel

2) Keep us posted on the Melonite, I think that, or something like it, is the future.

3) Can't argue with the 3rd paragraph.

I think you have me mistaken for someone else! I don't think they are as accurate as their stainless barrels but give them a call they are pretty confident in the accuracy of their chromed barrels.

The chrome lined barrel Noveske replaced was judged to be defective, I guess every company makes a lemon now and then. They replaced it at no charge and wanted to be sure the new one was perfect. I will stick to my inaccurate chrome lined barrels, they work for me.

I never said you can't have an accurate chrome lined barrel, what I've said from the start is you stand a better chance of getting a more accurate barrel if you get one without chrome lining.

Jimmy, I haven't mistaken you for anyone else. You replied to my post about about barrels without chrome lining being more accurate with the story about your RECCE barrel that now shoots 3/4" after it was replaced. I thought maybe you were trying to make a point.

Terry

It's not a crown issue. It shot great for the first 5000rnds and the accuracy has slowly deterierated. It has just short of 6000 rounds through it now and I'm waiting on a replacement.

Terry

Unless you re-crown, and look at the pattern, you can't be sure it doesn't need to be re-crowned unless it is so bad you can see it with a loupe. Any barrel with 5K rds on it NEEDS re-crowning, trust me.

I was always told that it wasn't the chrome lining itself that degraded accuracy but merely how it was applied and to what it was applied to.

I also remember something a guy said about the ban era, it was the first time AR's had a plain muzzle and the first time they paid attention to the crown.

Now I've been following a saga on another site on the FN chrome lined precision guns. http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=95853 his wouldn't shoot and neither would 2 or 3 Remington's he had. But in the end FN said it was faulty chrome and are replacing it with a new gun. That's a pretty good accuracy guarantee even if it is a chrome lined 1/2" barrel.

I think if you start with a good barrel and chrome line it well, it'll be just as good as any SS barrel and last almost 3 times as long. It's just harder to get a good barrel chromed right, I guess.

On this, we agree. As for the FN's, I only have knowledge of one, it was a tack-driver. BTW, the cheaper Patrol versions were not chromed, IIRC.

Dear lord what have we done???? grin

This was the A3G in the link I posted, $2600 ain't what I'd call cheap.

The FN Patrol Rifles with the hideous Houge stock were selling for under a grand, to compete with the Rem 700 "tactical" versions.

Well there's another thing we agree on.

Basically, unless you want a combat rifle, stainless steel is fine and is in most cases significantly more accurate. If round count/durability is a concern, dont worry about it. A new barrel is $300. The cost to burn it out will run you $4,000+ so money is clearly not an issue when a shooter has the funds to wear out a barrel.

chrome - great on the bolt, easier to clean and moves with less friction than nitrided. Barrel, no if you want maximum accuracy, yes if you will fire full-auto or get barrel very hot.

opinions are like...well we all know what they are like. I would have a stainless gun if I wanted one, I won't have a bare steel barrel cause I might need it to work one day and that's the day it won't work. I am not 100 % sure about nitriding but it may work. I am getting more convinced of it every day!

"I took away that 1960's nitriding technology extended the machine gun schedule of fire lifetime of a 5.56 barrel made of unlined 4150 steel from widely varying 2-12k rounds up to 27-30k"

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=83495&highlight=chrome

all I can say is having gone through a lot of AR tubes, I"ve never had a non chromed one NOT shoot, IE Not be accurate enough and not function, or be rusted up.

I have not had to recrown any, and have driven them to over 12K rounds and maintained around 1 to 1.5 moa.

I have seen factory Colt tubes shoot under moa with chrome lining. Those were rare though.

I have never had any other chrome lined shoot really great.

But typically, unless you spend the bucks to do it right, chrome lining is done cheaper than it should be and degrades typcial accuracy. Of course more than a few cheapy tubes don't have the perfect crown on them, coated or not.

Looks like you guys scared off the op

If you're just looking for an ar to plink with and are happy with a moderately accurate rifle, then I'd consider a chrome lined bore, as it will last longer.

If you're looking more for a varmint rifle or want to wring out the accuracy an AR is capable of, go with a match grade ss barrel.

There is no wrong answer, it just comes down to what you are after. I'd venture to say a decent AR with a chrome lined barrel will shoot as well or better than the casual shooter is capable of shooting. But if you load your own ammo and aren't happy with guns that are good enough, you likely won't be satisfied with a chrome lined barrel.

Sometimes we are all guilty of being blinded. Forest for the trees thing.

My hitch is if it ain't accurate I dont' want the thing. You are so right too that most folks cant' shoot as well as a mediocre AR anyway....

And probably truth be really told the poor accuracy is generally related to folks not having good ammo. bulk FMJ type that most buy and look for, IE cheaper is better, won't even do good in the best upper.

They both have their place. Personally, I strive for better than average when it comes to accuracy. I don't always achieve it but I try. The accuracy potential of the AR-15 is one thing that draws me to this platform. I've never owned a chrome lined barrel that could come close to the accuracy of the majority of stainless barrels I've used or the chromoly non chromed. That said, we're all drawn to these rifles for different reasons. I know some will never strive for tiny groups at the range and you'll probably never find me in a carbine class.

Terry

Terry I am very interested on your report regards how the nitrided barrel shoots, that may indeed be the right compromise.

I'm the same way, which is why I sold my first AR that had a chrome lined tube. It was not terrible inacurate, and I'm sure many many people would be completely happy with the level of accuracy it was capable of.

But when I look up and down the line at the range and see both what people are shooting, and the groups they shoot, I realize different people are after different things. I think most of us here fall under the enthusiast accuracy nut +P rating, and fail to relate to the average guy.

Reminds me of going to the range with my kids a couple weekends back. I hadn't shot a handgun in a long time, and I really wasn't having much fun as I was shooting so poorly. Yet they were having a great time, and so long as I kept filling the mags for the 22/45, they'd make empties.

Terry Cross has opined that a one-minute rifle, in the hands of an MOA shooter who can dope the wind, will win any tactical LR rifle match in the country. If that is so, then a 16in 1.5moa carbine will kill out to the cartridge's max effective range (350yd, IMO). A chrome lined bore will take the heat of multiple El Prez drills a lot better than any other material. Not what you want on the 600yd line at Camp Perry but they both have their place.