Are chrome lined barrels overrated?

[Good&Fruity]

I hear some people talking about how they wouldn't use an AR-15 that doesn't have a chrome lined barrel in combat, citing reliability concerns.
I wonder where this reasoning comes from, considering Glocks, Sig's, etc. don't have chrome lined barrels and are even more reliable that many assault rifles that HAVE chrome lined barrels.

My AR's run just fine without chrome lined barrels, using the dirtiest steel case ammo you can imagine at that.

 

[tyeo098]

Chrome lining create an almost impenetrable layer ontop of the steel.
Its for resistance to rust and pitting, not cycling reliability...

 

[cyclopsshooter]

the issue is the chamber area rusting but most guys claiming a need for chrome lining are backwoods nut jobs that like playing soldier.. chrome lining decreases accuracy so if you want a corrosion resistant finish just get a stainless barrel.

 

[BK]

I've never heard anything about increased reliability in a firearm if the barrel is chromed. The action is where the reliability/unreliability is going to take place, not the barrel. Here's something I came across recently.

The leade (the unrifled portion of the barrel just forward of the chamber), as well as the first few inches of rifling, is subject to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun and pressures exceeding 50,000 PSI. Under slow fire conditions this area is able to cool a sufficient amount in between strings of fire. Under sustained rapid fire however, there is no time for the heat to dissipate and temperatures soar into the thousands of degrees Fahrenheit. This can quickly cause damage by eating away at the rifling, “burning up the barrel” with the combination of extremely high heat and pressure. Hard chrome-lining the bore protects the leade and rifling with a thin coat of heat and pressure resistant chrome. This greatly extends barrel life in rifles that are fired for prolonged periods in full-auto or rapid fire semiautomatic modes by preventing damage to the leade and rifling.

 

[RaceM]

BK- Eggzackly. Semi-auto fire, unless you're constantly doing mag dumps, won't eat the barrel up. The combo of full-auto fire and the high pressure/small bore round does without the chrome.

 

[Walkalong]

For range use? Yes. For resistance to corrosion? No. For most of us they are not needed, but if you are going to shoot corrosive, or slightly corrosive, ammo, they are a real plus. If you like to shoot lots of ammo between cleanings, they are handy. If you just like something that can be ignored and basically not cared for properly, they are a good thing.

 

[Good&Fruity]

Right, so it's just for making the barrel last longer, not so much for reliability. They could use Tennifer or Melonite like Glock and the XDm series to get even better corrosion resistance than chrome.

 

[Strykervet]

Right, so it's just for making the barrel last longer, not so much for reliability. They could use Tennifer or Melonite like Glock and the XDm series to get even better corrosion resistance than chrome.

I don't know about using those materials. The chrome in the barrels isn't bumper chrome either. Not your regular finish. Chrome lining is good if you want a tough barrel, it hinders accuracy some, but makes them tougher. Ask yourself, how tough do you want it?

If SHTF is what you have in mind, then yes, the chrome might be better. If you fire FA or do mag dumps, then it is good. If you like to do accurate shooting, or if this is for competitions, then no, it isn't.

For accuracy, the round count on the barrel is usually reached before the chrome lining really does any good. Think of it like an insurance policy against wear. But if you plan on retiring that barrel before the policy kicks in, what good is it? So, for accuracy or for anytime you plan on retiring the barrel past what you feel is an appropriate round count, go with stainless or whatever.

Personally, I have a no nonsense M4 that has a chrome lined barrel. I have another with an M4 profile stainless barrel. Since neither have been pushed as far as they'll go (and I have pushed them, just not these) they are identical for all practical purposes. Then I have a Grendel. Satern stainless. Awesome for accuracy. But that barrel, even if it were chrome lined, would be replaced long before the chrome would lend any benefit --but up until that point, the chrome would hinder accuracy.

So chrome is good, no chrome is good, depends on what you are using it for, that is all.

If you want the toughest barrel, I can't think of a better one than that Noveske barrel they make using SAW barrel blanks. Now that is TOUGH! Probably unecessary, but tough. LMT makes a good 1/7 chrome bore that is cheaper and good enough. The chrome is also better in the field. Less likely to get rust in there, especially when you live in the rain for weeks (ask me how I know). Also, if you are gonna go with chrome, you might as well go with hammer forged too. Both are good for durability (which goes hand in hand with reliability and maybe that is where it is coming from). SAW barrels have twice the chrome and are hammer forged --but look at what they are used for.

If you want accuracy, hard to beat Satern and Lijla and the likes. I prefer Satern myself (he can do twist rates to .001" --you can custom design the barrel to the load you will use). None of these will be chrome lined.

All that said, you can still expect 2MOA or better from a decent chrome lined M4. This is good enough for any service rifle and good enough for most SDM applications as well. The Noveske I hear is good for 1MOA. Unless you can get a guarantee of better than that, I'd probably go with them if I wanted a no nonsense rifle. LMT if you want to save a few bucks and don't "need" the SAW barrel.

 

[Good&Fruity]

You can google it, tennifer is 80% more rust resistant than chrome.

 

[we are not amused]

Based upon what I have read about the use of Chrome lined barrels in combat weapons, their use and desirability comes from their use in high moisture climates.

They greatly reduce the need for constant cleaning in high humidity regions. They were , as I understand first used in the South Pacific during WWII.

The early M-16's used in Viet Nam did not have chrome lined barrels, and the use of "dirty" powder which attracted moisture caused jams.

Allegedly, gun could rust enough over night to make them useless.

Switching to cleaner burning powder and chrome lining the barrels and the chamber, with a increased emphasis on cleaning, made the M-16 a reliable weapon. Incredibly, it seems the early M-16 were sent out without cleaning kits, and were supposedly not to need cleaning.

As best as I can tell, a chrome lined barrel is simply for corrosion resistance in high moisture areas, and in combat weapons at least should also include the chamber.

 

[GCBurner]

If you mostly shoot semi-auto at a range occasionally, and clean your gun semi-regularly, then chrome lined or not chrome lined doesn't make much difference.

 

[-v-]

One other big plus of chrome lining is it makes cleaning the barrel or firearm much easier.

 

[Walkalong]

tennifer is 80% more rust resistant than chrome.

Will it hold up like a chrome lined barrel?

 

[Ditchtiger]

I thought the main reason for chrome linings was to reduce friction/heat on full auto firing.

 

[Panzercat]

the issue is the chamber area rusting but most guys claiming a need for chrome lining are backwoods nut jobs that like playing soldier.. chrome lining decreases accuracy so if you want a corrosion resistant finish just get a stainless barrel.

Myth. Chrome linings are only as good as the manufacturing process of the barrel, not inherently detrimental to accuracy 'just because'.

 

[mortablunt]

No, they're actually pretty much a necessity, unless you don't mind changing guns all the time. The first M16's didn't have the chrome, and they had horrible mechanical issues. Some AK's lack chrome and it's the same story. This is compounded if the ammunition fired has a corrosive primer.

 

[gearhead]

You can google it, tennifer is 80% more rust resistant than chrome.

Citation, please?

I've seen the salt spray testing and neither Tenifer nor Melonite resist corrosion as well as hard chrome in that sort of controlled testing.

 

[Mr.Blue]

Deleted

 

[Jim Watson]

No.
Chrome moly means the steel is alloyed with chromium and molybdenium.
Chrome lined means the bore is plated with metallic chromium.

Chromium is rust resistant under most ambient conditions.
There isn't much corrosive primed .223/5.56, none that I would use.

Chromium is erosion resistant and while a chrome lined barrel would not be a target shooter's first choice, it will last longer in ordinary military or plinking applications.

I have read recently that nitrided barrel bores are becoming an alternative with good service life and none of the hexavalent chromium that gets the EPA upset.

 

[natman]

Myth. Chrome linings are only as good as the manufacturing process of the barrel, not inherently detrimental to accuracy 'just because'.

+1. There may be individual models where the chrome lined barrels happen to be less accurate than the plain steel versions, but there are rifles with chrome barrels that are exceptionally accurate. I have a JC Higgins Model 50, a 30-06 with a Mauser action that is amazingly accurate "despite" its chrome barrel.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I hear some people talking about how they wouldn't use an AR-15 that doesn't have a chrome lined barrel in combat, citing reliability concerns.

It is the M16 that is used in combat, not the AR-15. I suspect the closest they get to combat is their game console. But, there may be something to it. Didn't the M16 require a chromed chamber and bore to function properly under combat conditions?

 

[jerkface11]

Didn't the M16 require a chromed chamber and bore to function properly under combat conditions?

The chrome chamber would help extraction. A chromed bore just makes it easier to clean and protects the bore from the steel cleaning rod the military insists on.