Awww... that sure sucks about what's going on with Tim Hicks at Cardinal Armory. I sure like my barrel and rifle. I was trying to sell it on this forum, but I think I'll just hang on to it. Mine is a much older barrel and isn't chrome lined.
Tim is a really good guy, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another barrel from him once he gets this mess sorted out.
From the arfcom thread on this, it looks like his 20" barrels don't seem to have the chrome problems that his 16" and 18" barrels are having. At $180 for the 18" barrel, and $225 for the 20" fluted, I think I'd risk not being able to shoot "combat loads" if I was in the market for a barrel and I wanted to keep the cost down.