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what is the tightest groups @ 100 yards from chrome lined barrels?

2K views 15 replies 9 participants last post by  j427x 
#1 ·
what is the tightest groups you have seen from chrome lined barrels ?

now all over the internet you hear about how chrome lined barrels arn't as accurate as stainless , and that may be true but just how much less accurate is a chrome lined barrel?

here are a few chrome lined barrels i have see shoot very well . now i don't know if they ALL shoot like this (probably not) but the results from these seem to make that accuracy loss of chrome lining look to be very small indeed. these are just some we played with on the bench.

what is the best you have seen from a chrome lined ar-15?
 
#2 ·
You know I've never really given that a second thought before nor had I noticed much difference, but most chrome lined barrels are on military guns you're not generally using for accuracy shooting anyhow. So I wonder if there is actually a ,,Real difference, in accuracy between a chrome and non chromed ones??

Sounds like a good topic for research. Sounds kinda like comparing stainless to plain steel barrels, which I've never found much difference with,,except break in time,,,and Man, do those stainless barrels take forever to break in, there very hard steel!!! Just like chrome.

I had a DPMS 308 a few years back that took at least 400 rounds to get any consistency with, and that one had the 22" stainless target bull barrel on it. It shot crazy accurate after that though.

I'm still working on getting the 308 Mauser target gun I got from Bellson broke in, very slow to break in too. I've only got 150ish or so through it and it still needs more. I does get better each trip though, but I can only shoot a box or so at a time with this screwed up neck, so break-in is taking forever,, plus it's just plain friggin winter here 6 months out of the year and not really a good time to go target shooting right now,, @ -12 this morning when I got up,,it's way to cold for that chit !!!! IMO !

You gave me some food for thought on this one though j427x, as I've never really compared before. That would be hard to test unless you had a plain steel and chrome lined one from the same manufacturer to compare to each other. With a AR platform, not to big a deal, just change them out, but anything else changing a barrel out to keep all things even,, would take much more time to accomplish with to many other variables coming into play.

It would be worth trying though, especially for you guys that whip out those AR platforms and have the right tools. You could have 100% quality control to keep things honest and even that way, as opposed to using 2 different guns. Which I don't think would give you a honest comparison.

So,,,,,

when ya going to get busy on that one j427x ? :brows::lol::lol:
 
#3 ·
That's a good ? j. I've never tried measuring the grouping with mine. I do know that when I do my part I don't miss. I will go to the range as soon as it warms up a bit and see what the 14.5" Bushy will do.
 
#4 ·
i have seen a couple chrome lined cmv steel barrels do 3/8" @ 100 yards ==to me this is damn good. yea it is a cherry pick with ammo it likes but it kind of goes against the "internet fact" that chrome is inaccurate somehow compared to standard chrome moly.

i have seen some outstanding barrels from colt, armalite, green mountain and sabre that could get way down below an 1" group that were chromed bore--

i got a 20" a1 del ton that is unlined and i got a green mountain 20" a2 on the way that is hard chromed. the del-ton is accurate but not crazy accurate but it can do 1" all day long with a good load --maybe a hair under.

the del-ton is a 1-9" actually 1-8.75" twist the green mounatin is going to be 1-8"

when the weather breaks off and i got the time i'm going to solid bench both of um @ 100 and see what up--lol
 
#5 ·
i have seen a couple chrome lined cmv steel barrels do 3/8" @ 100 yards ==to me this is damn good. yea it is a cherry pick with ammo it likes but it kind of goes against the "internet fact" that chrome is inaccurate somehow compared to standard chrome moly.

i have seen some outstanding barrels from colt, armalite, green mountain and sabre that could get way down below an 1" group that were chromed bore--

i got a 20" a1 del ton that is unlined and i got a green mountain 20" a2 on the way that is hard chromed. the del-ton is accurate but not crazy accurate but it can do 1" all day long with a good load --maybe a hair under.

the del-ton is a 1-9" actually 1-8.75" twist the green mounatin is going to be 1-8"

when the weather breaks off and i got the time i'm going to solid bench both of um @ 100 and see what up--lol
 
#8 ·
for just a regular style shooter?

havent noticed any difference at all.... but im not a sharpshooter... im just a shooter.


all the paper work/specs ive found on the "new" chrome lined barrels say they are 1 MOA at 100M's or better.
 
#9 ·
I had a chromed lined 11.5" with a 5.5" welded on flash hider that I got numerous groups of around 1/2" with handloads, on a rest, with a 4-16x scope just for giggles. The scope was huge on that gun which I usually shot with the regular sites or a 3x carry handle scope on it. The ss bull barreled upper I had would print one ragged hole. The ss bull barreled upper I have now is at best a 1/2"-3/4" under the same conditions. I think that barrels are all individuals so there will be some overlapping between the two.
 
#10 ·
In target or higher end shooter rifles I believe that button rifled non-chromelined barrels are preferred over any hammer forged chromelined type.
The builds I have on USA barrels seem to shoot very well and perhaps better than milspec. But as noted there are too many other variables to really compare one rifle to another just on a barrel type. There is a lot of variances other than that factor,
 
#11 ·
That's why I say a AR platform would be a good one to experiment with. Use the same gun with a different barrel,and you can reduce some of the variables that way and you'll get a more accurate comparison on the actual barrel differences.

It seems that 3/4 or less is about the norm for both my AR platforms with "good ammo" like Lake City, that have non chrome lined barrels and other than chucks @ extreme ranges I generally don't miss either.

Back in the day when I was competing , if I didn't end up with 1 ragged hole, it was time for more work. But sense I don't compete anymore that 3/4 groups work just fine for general hunting and plinking,,plus the old eyes just aren't what they used to be,,so they just may shoot better in different hands, but that's as well as I can shoot now days. But for my purposes, that works just fine.
 
#12 ·
HMMMMM

the best way to get a answer is look at what true competitors do .

bench rest guys spend thousands on barrels every year an if there was a way to improve life an retain accuracy they would . I dont see any bench rest rifles with chrome bores .

to do a comparison you would need have identical profiles. chambers, ammo etc . Im told a properly chrome lined barrle has to be rifled differently so that will factor in. super accurate rifles generally have a short break in periond were things smooth out an after they shoot better . with a chrome lined barrel your going to be stuck with what you got.

I have seen some pretty accurate ATs with chromw barrels . I have seen 1/2" groups but in a the target shooting world that is not very accurate .

Im sure there are kept records in classes were AR,s compete as to what the best is . I just doubt yout going to see a chrome lined barrel win in a class were the gun in the major factor in winning .

I know the browning an winchester WSSM rilfes all have chrome lined barrels .

Trust me If I could have a 22-250 barel chrome lined an keep the throat living longer an keep accuracy for a $100 or so more Id do it in a heart beat .
I have to rebarrel my 22-250 bolt action target gun an Im looking at $400 for a new barrel . :(
 
#13 ·
i have seen a few chrome lined barrels do 3/8ths of an inch @ 100M.

i do think this is exceptional and not the rule.

i have seen a few stainless steel "uber $$$" barrels that could do UNDER 1/4th by quite a bit.


my thinking is if your running factory loaded ammo --a good chrome lined barrel is going to shoot better than the ammo will allow.


we need to take a uber match $$$ barrel and load it up on factory ammo and see what it will do --LOL!
 
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