AR-15 Barrel? chrome or not?

[bustedmp]

I am considering an AR build, and am not sure about the barrel. I understand that a chrome lined barrel will last longer at the cost of a bit of accuracy. My question is, exactly what kind of life can be expected from a non chrome lined barrel? I have been searching the net to try and find an answer to my question, but I am only able to find the chrome barrels last longer and non chroma barrels shoot better. I do know after helping my brother inlaw clean his AR a few times with a chrome lined barrel, I can feel several tight spots on the barrel with a patch and jag.

[jack404]

hold on their MP , thats a misconception

chrome bores can be sub moa shooters too its in the making that counts

yes chrome wears better but most often its done as a final finish over a made bore ( grooves and lands put in with a allowance for the layer of chrome to be deposited and they like to play it on the safe side and work under as over is trouble without work

but some are deliberately over done ,

then reworked to make a precision bore

as you can imagine these cost

but after seeing the extension of life added , the 30-40% extra to get the life of 2-3 barrels is cheap

[GunHugger]

I think there are far too many variables to how long a barrel will last for a answer to your question.

How hot the loads are, rate of fire, quality and material of the barrel, maintenance of the barrel and a few others I might not be thinking about right now all play a part in just how long any barrel will last.

And then what exactly is the point that a barrel is no longer "good"? To some a quarter inch larger group at 100 yards would be bad, for others it might be far more. It depends on the person and what they expect as far as accuracy.

I have seen chrome lined barrels go 30,000+ rounds and still shoot as good as they did when new. Non chrome lined are said to average less but as I said I don't think there is a real answer.

If you are looking for accuracy go non chrome lined, for easy of cleaning and longevity go chrome lined but you will loose some accuracy most of the time.

We discussed barrels in a few threads lately, maybe read them to better understand AR barrels. There is far more to an accurate barrel than it being chrome lined or not.

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=111774

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=112101

[bustedmp]

Thanks for the replies.

[Snakedriver]

I was all prepared to give a long winded answer, but GunHugger nailed it real well.

BTW, I went non-chrome on my new AR so I could get the best accuracy. Unless you are planning on doing sustained mag. dumps for extended periods or trudging through a jungle environment for weeks at a time, chrome probably won't be necessary.

I have 4 rifles that are at or about 100 years old and they still shine mirror bright. All it takes is a little care by cleaning after being fired and a bore should last longer than you will.

[JLA]

id just go with a precision stainless barrel.

[Snakedriver]

Originally Posted by JLA

id just go with a precision stainless barrel.

A solid point for sure.

[bustedmp]

I am now thinking instead of 5.56/223, I may just build a .300 Blackout. I haven't found to many CL barrels for it, but quite a few melonite coated. I am still planning my build yet. The only certain thing I know is, I want a 16" barrel, Carbine length gas system with low pro gas block hidden by an ATI full float 8 sided handgaurd with an FS8 endcap.

I have shot/worked on my friends AR's in 223 enough to know that I want something different than the off the shelf cookie cutter AR. I have in my head what I want my AR to look like, just need to make it a reality.

[JLA]

The blackout is neeet. Gotta love heavy slow quiet bullets

[CampingJosh]

Originally Posted by bustedmp

I am now thinking instead of 5.56/223, I may just build a .300 Blackout. I haven't found to many CL barrels for it, but quite a few melonite coated. I am still planning my build yet. The only certain thing I know is, I want a 16" barrel, Carbine length gas system with low pro gas block hidden by an ATI full float 8 sided handgaurd with an FS8 endcap.

I have shot/worked on my friends AR's in 223 enough to know that I want something different than the off the shelf cookie cutter AR. I have in my head what I want my AR to look like, just need to make it a reality.

In Indiana, the .458 SOCOM is the AR king. Deer legal here (most rifle cartridges are not), and ballistically it's basically the .45-70 in an AR. Sweet cartridge.

I really want to get an AR in 6.5 Grendel. But that's a long, long way off.

[bustedmp]

Part of my wanting the 300 is just in case PA ever allows auto loaders in hunting here. The 300 should be pretty close a 30-30.

[GunHugger]

Originally Posted by bustedmp

Part of my wanting the 300 is just in case PA ever allows auto loaders in hunting here. The 300 should be pretty close a 30-30.

That's not going to happen.

300 Blackout more closely matches the ballistics of the 7.62x39mm.

30-30 ammo can be found in every gun shop and store that sells ammo, not true for the 300 Blackout. I see it in one local gun shop at $28 for a box of 20.

Here's a page of 300 ammo at CTD.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/prod/300_Blackout_Ammo

Actually the 30-30 is a bit better.
300 AAC Blackout, 125 gr.........2,215 ft/s (675 m/s) 1,360 ft·lbf (1,840 J)
30-30,................130 gr.........2,496 ft/s (761 m/s) 1,799 ft·lbf (2,439 J)

I'm not knocking it, I might have to have one someday myself. But I'm not expecting PA to allow semi-auto rifles for hunting anytime soon and I can't afford to buy the ammo to enjoy shooting the AR in that caliber. Hell I can hardly afford 5.56 these days to shoot as much as I would like to.

And truthfully I don't have a desire to hunt deer with a AR anyway. I have killed a deer almost every year since 1968 and have only once fired more than one round of 30.06 to kill them. Coyotes...now that's another story.

[bustedmp]

A guy can dreamcan't he? I have looked at the prices of the ammo. Remington UMC is $9.99 a box around me. Either caliber I go with, I am going to be reloading them after I get a few hundred empties. I am not dead set on the 300 yet, but really leaning that direction. I am however not finding many CL barrels for the 300.

[bluesea112]

Have you checked out the 300 OSSM? It was created by Olympic Arms and stands for .300 Olympic Super Short Magnum. The 300 OSSM upper fits onto a standard AR15 lower, and the ballistic performance is better than a 30-06!!! I am considering buying one for myself. I love the 30-06, so the thought of having it in an AR platform makes me giddy.

[GunHugger]

Originally Posted by bustedmp

A guy can dreamcan't he? I have looked at the prices of the ammo. Remington UMC is $9.99 a box around me. Either caliber I go with, I am going to be reloading them after I get a few hundred empties. I am not dead set on the 300 yet, but really leaning that direction. I am however not finding many CL barrels for the 300.

True, we can dream but I think that's about as far as we will go with semi-auto rifles here.

I found a few CL barrels/uppers for you to check out. But you didn't say what you were building...did you? A 16"...20" ??? These are 16's. Now is a very bad time to build or buy a compete AR, buying frenzy in full effect.

I like LMT so here's theirs first.
http://www.lmtstore.com/16-chrome-lined-1-7-twist.html

Model 1
http://www.model1sales.com/index.cfm...ategory_id=657

PSA complete upper, PSA is good to go.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index...ned-upper.html

[GunHugger]

Originally Posted by bluesea112

Have you checked out the 300 OSSM? It was created by Olympic Arms and stands for .300 Olympic Super Short Magnum. The 300 OSSM upper fits onto a standard AR15 lower, and the ballistic performance is better than a 30-06!!! I am considering buying one for myself. I love the 30-06, so the thought of having it in an AR platform makes me giddy.

You might want to read up on that caliber some...

http://www.shootersforum.com/black-r...ssm-truth.html

[bustedmp]

so the 300 ossm is a necked up 25 wssm? I had my run with the wsm's and a wssm. To picky for me as far as handloading goes. I have plenty of time to figure out the caliber I am going to use, but I would like it to be something that uses standard AR mags, and basic off the shelf AR parts as far as the BGC is concerned. The reason I like the 300 aac is it uses everything a standard 5.56 AR does with exception to the barrel.

As far as the PSA's, my buddies AR is a PSA, and it is a dream to shoot. I had considered buying a completed 300 upper, but I do not like the furniture most have on them. Actually most of the AR's I have been looking at dressed the way I want mine to look are not really in my price range right now. That is why I decided building one would be better for me. I can pick up the parts here and there, build it how I want it right from the start, and have what I want without buying a rifle and then changing over a bunch of parts. I originally was going to buy a S&W M&P 15 sport, but after I priced up the stuff I wanted to change on it, I decided to just build one.

[bluesea112]

Originally Posted by GunHugger

You might want to read up on that caliber some...

http://www.shootersforum.com/black-r...ssm-truth.html

I checked out their thread, but I don't think their opinions are valid for most people's purposes. Those guys call the 300 ossm junk because it will not shoot single holes at 100 yards. If a rifle that will not shoot single holes is junk, then my Browning A-Bolt is junk, and my dad's Seiko is junk. Obviously those are two world class rifles, so the opinions of bench rest shooters really don't hold water with me.

[GunHugger]

Originally Posted by bluesea112

I checked out their thread, but I don't think their opinions are valid for most people's purposes. Those guys call the 300 ossm junk because it will not shoot single holes at 100 yards. If a rifle that will not shoot single holes is junk, then my Browning A-Bolt is junk, and my dad's Seiko is junk. Obviously those are two world class rifles, so the opinions of bench rest shooters really don't hold water with me.

So based on one comment you can disregard the whole thread?

Do a Google search, there's a lot to read about it. I linked to that ONE since it covered it well and agreed with most of the others.

I don't want to deal with a caliber that odd ( one small step up from a Wildcat) and special magazines too. To me it's just not worth the bother and expense. It might be for others.

Be sure to give us a full report after you buy one.

[bustedmp]

I tried the wsm's, and a 25 wssm when they came out, and I ended up selling the rifles and went back to my M1917 30-06. The wsm's where way to picky on the load for me. My 300wsm was by far the worst. It took me a whole summer to develop a load that would shoot as good as my 06, but it was that 1 load and only that 1. a few tenths of a grain either way of what it liked and it was all over the paper. 150flat ase bullet over 78.6grs of Magpro with CCI mag primers. Anything other than those components and the paper looked like it was shot with grape shot from a cannon. My 06 will shoot whatever I feed it. It is an old gun, and if not for the owner before my dad cutting the rear sight off to install a scope and cutting the stock to a sporter style, it would be an awesome piece for a collector. All the parts are eddystone, still have the original barrel marked 8-18. I am willing to give the 300 blackout a try though. From what I have read the 300 cases can be formed from 223 case cut and formed pretty easily using a standard sizing die. The main reason for me wanting the 300blk is that aside from my 30-30, all of my other guns use standard .308 bullets. I have plenty of 125 and 150 bullets in .308. for the ballistics that the blk has even my stock of 30-30 bullets would be ok, if they will feed correctly.

[GunHugger]

That makes good sense to me MP.

The 458 Socom has been calling out to me...