[Bucolic Buffalo]

I was looking at some rifles online. I can get one with a chrome lined barrel(an ADDED $50). What I want to know is it better to get a Chrome lined barrel or save the $50 and not get it chrome lined? In essence, what so special about a chrome lined barrel?

 

[kdub]

More resistant to corrosion (if that's a factor), easier to clean, longer wear.

 

[chevwilliam]

In a Military Firearm, Less cleaning problems, somewhat reduced Throat and Chamber wear from firing, adn the cost is covered by the Taxpayer.

In Humid environments, the Chrome reduces bore corrosion so the firearm will shoot longer between cleanings, Vietnam taughht this lesson Again, with the M16(no suffix).

M14 were chromed bore rifles from inception, but most aftermarket barrels are plain bore, as Civilian semi-auto function does not wear them as fast as military repeated Full-Auto use.

Just my Opinions,
Chev. William

 

[Bucolic Buffalo]

Thanks for the info guys. I was wondering what the advantages were with the Chrome lined barrels.

 

[bsn]

Chrome lined bore tends to be less accurate, if your not firing corrosive ammo or full auto it really isn't needed. Melonite treated barrels have a lot of the advantages of chrome without the dimensional change to the bore.

 

[Hummer]

In AR match rifles guys tend to change barrels at 2000 rounds. The Army rifle team changes every 700 rounds.

A chrome barrel with the wrong propellant is about gone at 4800 rounds. With the right propellant will go 12,000 rounds before military rejection dispersion as attained.

Problem is finding a chrome barrel that the chrome is evenly applied which is hard to do. If you do find a chrome barrel that shoots good and you baby it, it is likely to go 20,000 rounds or better.

 

[2Bits]

My late brother in law had a model 70 Winchester with a chrome lined barrel back in the 60's. It was a very accurate rifle and lasted many years, never leaded up much and very easy to clean he stated.

 

[Hummer]

Very interesting, what model was it and what caliber?

There was a fad back in 40s to get the bolt chromed so leaking primers would not cut into bolt face. I have one and saw another for sale on gun broker a couple weeks back.

Obviously they had the capability to chrome barrels as they made the M14s for a while. I know they chromed shotgun barrels.

Colt hired a Phd Engineer to be their chrome "exspurt " back in 60s and he came to Aberdeen during the testing. Larry Moore was testing the M16 at the time and thought if he could get one of his own target barrels that was shooting good chromed it would last forever in a 22.

The Phd told him in conversations that the best way he knew to ruin a barrel was to chrome it. Larry had him plate a real good 22LR barrel for him and it never shot well again.

If I remember the conversations correctly they said the big problem with chrome plating barrels is to get the wire exactly in the center of the bore because if it is off center the chrome will not adhere evenly and be thicker on one side and thinner on the other. Another thing is the bores in the barrels are not necessarily straight either. The wire could be pulled straight but if the bore is not straight .........................

All the M14s were chromed and they had to be waivered continually because they could not deliver the 5.5" accuracy requirement. The M14 is the worst rifle( from a accuracy standpoint) we ever fielded. The match barrels for M14s were not chromed and they can be made to shoot 1 MOA with good ammo. The Garand was 5", the M16 was 4.5" and the 1903 Springfield was 3".

There was some good chromed M14 barrels but one had to air gage them to figure out which ones would shoot. I have one that air gaged NM spec and when it was put on it shot under a inch at 100 with Fed Match.

At 6th Army they had a M14 with chrome barrel for their Marksmanship unit and it was still shooting match acceptance at 33,600 rounds and they pulled it off.

I have a friend who has a Type 99 Arisaka with long barrel and chromed. I made him some brass from 30.06 match to my great surprise it shot just under a inch at 100. I called him to come up and he shot it and it did the same. He has 5.00 in the rifle and won't sell it! ! !

 

[kdub]

Back in the '70's, had a SKS 20 ga O/U shotgun with chromed barrels. Easy to clean up. Understand the Chinese chrome lined their SKS's and AK-47's. Imagine that was more of a corrosion consideration.

 

[Bucolic Buffalo]

I'm glad I asked about chrome lined barrels. I'm learning a lot about the subject from you guys.

 

[Hummer]

A couple of years ago I went to a funeral and came home with a SKS. Bought it out of a trunk at the cemetary.

It was a chrome lined barrel and on a lark I borescoped it and it was pitted
THAG

There is another option if you want long life:

Superior Barrels: Home of Hard Blue

I have three of these and I don't think you will ever wear one out.

 

[catch 22]

All the early Winchester Model 70's in .264 Win. Mag had chrome lined barrels. I have a Springfield '03 Mark 1 National Match with a chrome lined barrel and shoots quite nice.

 

[Walt45]

It was a chrome lined barrel and on a lark I borescoped it and it was pitted

Perhaps this is just gun shop scuttlebutt, but I've herd from many sources that Hoppe's 9 is not recommended for chrome barrels and if left in the barrel can cause harm. That could be the reason for the pitting. I would double check on that before taking it as gospel, just didn't want anyone to hurt a gun. I would use Montana X-Treme myself since it can be left in the gun without harm. Its darn good stuff. Stinks like like an unkempt litter box, but darn good stuff.

 

[JigMaster]

I have a JC Higgins mod 50 in 06. Made in the early 50's, Mauser action and High Standard chrome barrel. I bought it used in 72, my first hunting rifle. By the looks of it, well used. Paid 50 bucks for it. It was a good straight shooter then and after the use and abuse I put it through as a kid and all the rounds that have been put through it to this day it is still a good straight shooter.

I was told when I bought it that the chrome barrel was something special. Good line to impress a kid and get his money I suppose, but it always did the job for me and never a failure in all these years. The bore is still bright and shiny as the day I bought it.

 

[John Wallace]

We have seen above a pretty good appreciation of chromed bores. They give good barrel life in terms of both corrosion and gas , especially if the rifle will be used in wet or humid conditions, or firing will be rapid or full auto. It is not surprising that Winchester used it for the bore-eating .264 Magnum while other Model 70s remained unchromed.

Hunting or military accuracy can be quite good, but is most unlikely to be better than that. I don't believe anybody ever heard of a benchrester using a chromed bore, slthough they have enthusiastically embraced stainless steel. The main reason for this is the difficulty of depositing chromium evenly along the bore and from one side to the next. A rifle's bore ought to either be entirely constant or tighten up on the bullet, and a chromed bore may do the reverse.

A problem nobody has mentioned is that the chamber, or at least its throat, needs to be chromed too. Otherwise the throat will be eroded faster there than the chromed lands and grooves, resulting in an irregular cavity with flakes of chromium breaking away. I suppose there is some chance of this happening even with the chromed chamber, and the rifle therefore retaining its accuracy for a long time, then having it suddenly collapse. Armies tend to use just one chambering per calibre, so chroming the chamber is no big deal for them. But it is unsuitable for producing chromed barrel blanks which will be chambered with a reamer afterwards.

I think chromed bores gained some specialist appeal in the days when stainless barrel steels weren't as good as they are today. The choice, if you have it, is extremely good preservation of fairly good accuracy with chrome, or fairly good preservation of extremely good accuracy with stainless.

 

[fatboy]

I have pulled SKS's and AK's out of caches in the Delta of VN, wood water soaked and soft, exposed metal rusted, but bores pristine. Looked like **** but they still worked. Personally, I would not pay for a chromed bore, bore snakes are a lot cheaper!
FWIW, YMMV.
bob

 

[saguaro Kid]

In a AR-15 self defense rifle I'd want a chrome lined barrel, chamber and bolt were the gas rings go. Heck that's the way the military wants them too. Some people use Tub's final finish to smooth out the bore.

I guess it depends on what ya want to do with it.

 

[will52100]

All the M14s were chromed and they had to be waivered continually because they could not deliver the 5.5" accuracy requirement. The M14 is the worst rifle( from a accuracy standpoint) we ever fielded.

I don't know about that, but I've got two m14's, one I helped build, both have chrome lined barrels and chambers. Both with shoot 1 MOA. I have two M1 garands, and one will shoot 1.5 moa, the other 3 moa but is getting better, it's got a new barrel on it. The garand that shoots 1.5 is an H&R that has original barrel and stock and is not bedded. Neither of my m14's are bedded. The garand that is 3 moa was a cmp special and the stock had to be bedded because it was too sloppy a fit. The M14's I've got were built with 7.62 firearms forged receivers and mostly GI parts and GI stocks were fitted and tweaked for draw pressure and no rubbing. Oh, and that's with hand loads, not ball ammo.

The biggest issue with chrome lined barrels is that if there are any imperfections in the barrel the chrome locks it in. In a non chrome lined barrel you can lap the barrel by shooting or by finishing the barrel with something like Tub's system. I've heard that Bushmaster laps there barrels with an abrasive loaded lead slug before chrome plating, not sure if they still do. That should make for a good chrome barrel. I have heard about the issue of varying chrome thickness, it could be an issue but I haven't ran into it.

One thing I have not seen mentioned about chrome lined barrels is that there was an issue with the M16 before they chromed it. That was leaving a round in the chamber and in the jungle condensation would make the round stick when fired and the bolt would tear the rim off leaving the round still in the chamber making for an expensive club till the case could be dug out.

In a precision bolt gun I want non chromed. In a semi auto I want chromed if at all possible. Simple reason is that as good as some semi's are, they can not compete with a well tuned bolt for accuracy, too many parts slamming around that don't always move exactly the same every time. With a good chromed barrel and a well tuned semi auto I doubt you will see much difference between it and a non chromed barrel, too many other things to have issues with first. Not to mention you'd probably never notice unless your using high quality glass and shooting from a solid bench rest. My scoped m14 has put 20 rounds into 6" at a known 600 yard target, my iron sighted one would most likely do it as well, the limiting factor there is my eyes are not 19 years old anymore.

 

[muldoon9]

chrome

in the defense of Chrome I think that if a shooter is not scoring 95 percent or better you will not know the difference between chrome and not Chrome
Michael (who has a high master card)

 

[grantbbee]

Chrome lined bore tends to be less accurate