AR-15 owner in need of some advice.

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EvansAx10

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So I just bought a Ruger AR-556. Its been a great rifle and I really don't have any complaints. Yesterday I was off early and went to the range after work. A fellow I was talking to informed me that my AR has a non Chrome lined barrel and that it wont last long. I am finding conflicting answers on Google and at my LGS. Just trying to figure if I should buy a new barrel or let it be. Thank you, and I look forward to being a member of this community.
 
Aren't the Ruger's cold hammer forged and nitrided?

He's probably a chrome-lined only guy. I'm sure your Ruger will outshoot his chrome lined barrel. And guess what AR barrels are cheap and don't require a gunsmith to install just a few minor tools, IF you wear your barrel out (bet you, you won't for a long time), don't worry about it.
 
It’s new and shoots straight?
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

If and when it gets shot out you can think about a new barrel. BCA has some decent barrels for great prices; so you could get a spare... but many posters will tell you that spare parts lead to more and more AR’s...
 
Ruger barrels are nitrided. There seems to be a debate in AR-land about whether chromed or nitrided barrels are superior. I'll say this: I own two Ruger AR-556s and while they're both considered basic rifles, they're both very good guns. Unless you blast through carbine courses consecutively for months the Ruger will probably outlast you.
As to that debate between chrome and nitride bbls? ----:: :neener:
 
I see a lot of internet folks worried about wearing out their guns. All I have to say is- by the time you've worn it out, you will have spent 10x what the gun cost at least. No worries, just shoot and don't worry about it. If you see a drastic loss of accuracy may be start looking at barrels, chances are if you get to that point you'll be too old to care or you'll have other guns. Barrels are cheap enough, if you're concerned just buy one and toss it in the closet.
 
A barrel is a wear item... eventually they all wear out. Deteriorating accuracy is usually a key it might be time to swap barrels, and as others have said... AR barrels are relatively inexpensive, and easy to replace.

Unless you are doing mag dumps, it's going to be a while, yet.
 
How close do you live to the ocean?

Do you live on a boat or take your gun with you if you go onto the ocean?

Salt water can play heck with guns thus part of the reason militarily uses chrome lined barrels. However basic maintenance on the AR-15 is not difficult so it shouldn’t be difficult to keep it free of rust.
 
Chrome was used because that was the best technology available at the time for making the bore stand up for full auto fire and keeping the bore from rusting and pitting in wet climate use. Nitriding aka Tennifer aka Melonite, etc. came along and was made popular by Glock and has since proven its worth. Nitriding hardens the barrel surface without plating problems so it can have better accuracy than a poorly made chromed barrel. It has nearly as long a life unless you like to do mag dumps in which case the chrome is supposed to last a bit longer (depending on the quality of the chrome plating btw), and is more resistant to rust, elements, fouling, etc, than plain chrome moly barrels.

Nitriding has been successful in the market place as it can involve just a slight premium over chrome moly versus a bit more for chromed bores or stainless steel. In essence, don't worry about the barrel, the other posters are right in that you will have to shoot a lot of ammo before you start keyholing rounds.

If it makes you feel better, go to ar15.com and look up the long running Battlefield Las Vegas thread aka Henderson Defense where a commercial gunrange operator reports on basically torture testing of ARs using full auto magdumps by customers (they rent packages for entertainment value where folks can shoot full auto). That thread will tell you most of what you need to know about the AR's reliability. Also believe that they have an AK thread that I have checked in the past.
 
Number one, don't believe everything that "range guy" tells you. A lot of factors lead to barrel wear other than rounds down range, such a heat from mag dumping etc, not cleaning well/enough, and shooting extra hot ammo. Enjoy your rifle, in the future barrels are easy to replace.
 
Beware of self appointed experts critiquing your equipment. They tend to fixate on features and charts rather than function and accuracy. If your gun is working well for you, life is good. Barrels are wear items and if you get serious about accuracy, you will probably upgrade before too long anyway. when you do, you will not want a chrome lined barrel, as they are commonly less accurate than non-plated target barrels.
 
I’ll wager that you’ll be replacing gas rings and extractor springs on the bolt, and probably breaking bolt lugs and replacing that part from use, before you’ll be wearing out the barrel.

Some ammo, like copper-washed steel-jacketed cheapo ammo, can accelerate bore wear when compared to copper-alloy jacketed ammo... but it’ll still last a long time if you’re not blasting 300 rounds as fast as you can every trip.

As was stated in the above posts the three things I mentioned above are faster-wear items like brake pads, tires and windshield wipers on your car. The bore is a bit more like the transmission; it’ll surely wear as its used and will eventually fail, but unless it’s a lemon, or it’s abused, a properly cared for unlined AR bore will be good for a long time.

Stay safe.
 
A moron who didn’t know as much as he thought I was talking to informed me that my AR has a non Chrome lined barrel and that it wont last long.

Fixed it for you.

Chrome lining is largely dead as the popular bore coating. Nitrided barrels are the rage, and even non-coated stainless barrels are generally far more desirable for most folks.

You can expect even a non-coated barrel in 5.56 to run 3500-5,000 rounds before losing accuracy. For function, and < 2moa shooting, you’d likely expect 20,000 rounds, having replaced a number of other small items on the rifle on the way. Just for blasting, you can burn a hole in a gas tube with twice that or more before a barrel really falls apart and starts slipping out of “minute of bad guy” ballpark.
 
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Fort Leonardwood was still using the M16A1 for basic training and AIT units as of 1990 that had ungodly high round counts and the troops still managed to qualify expert all the time. Unless you are using your rifle for high precision target shooting/hunting, I wouldn't worry about the barrel until it starts looking more like a shotgun pattern or starts to keyhole.
 
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It's kinda' like people who rarely go to the range boasting about their Operator Special with parts made from Unobtanium. They would have been just as well served with the cheapest PSA kit, but must have a gun that costs a fortune for bragging rights.

I doubt 1 in 100 users will ever wear out a barrel, even with cheap steel ammo, and that number is probably conservative.
 
I doubt 1 in 100 users will ever wear out a barrel, even with cheap steel ammo, and that number is probably conservative.

No “probably” about it.

An overwhelming majority of AR’s are taken home, blasted hot a few times at the range in the first 6 to 18 months, and then collect dust forever onward. Equally, you have a lot of guys who make a hobby of building AR’s but rarely shoot them - skewing the utilization demography considerably. I’d venture somewhere less than 1 in 100 see any regular annual use at all, and maybe 1 in 100 of those which will burn out a barrel in their lifetime... and likely less than 1 in 100 of THOSE people which DO burn barrels who are surprised when their barrels start slipping. Guys that shoot a lot look at barrels like oil filters on their car...
 
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