Barrel question

[Slater]

An online site lists an HBAR as having a "chrome lined, match grade" barrel. Aren't those two terms mutually exclusive?

[Stickman]

An online site lists an HBAR as having a "chrome lined, match grade" barrel. Aren't those two terms mutually exclusive?

Not at all, why should it be? There is no actual definition for "match grade", so it can be anything. There are chrome lined barrels shooting MOA, but the truth is that most people aren't capable of shooting to the mechanical ability of their weapon, nor do most people try or care (figuring out what ammo shoots best or handloading to perfection).

[titsonritz]

I'd be more concerned about whether or not it is properly chambered to 5.56 NATO, HPT/MP Inspected, is 11595E CMV 4150 Steel Barrel Steel and has a proper feed ramp w/ a 1:7 twist than some bullshit generic terms like "match grade"

[Slater]

Never owned any match-type rifles so I'm not too up on the topic. The barrels on Springfield's "National Match" M1A's, for instance, wouldn't be all that different from their standard M1A barrels?

[MegademiC]

Iirc there is a definition for m1a, not for ar15s.

Marketing terms. And if you get a great barrel and great cl, it can be extremely accurate.

[SomeOtherGuy]

As mentioned, "match grade" is not defined and has no real meaning.

FN, Daniel Defense and Colt, among others, are quite capable of making chrome lined barrels very precisely and with the potential for very good accuracy.

A lot of the repeated advice about chrome causing accuracy issues is decades out of date. Unless you are doing very high precision shooting like competitive benchrest or the top end of F-class or PRS, the basic quality of manufacture for a barrel is more important than the way it was rifled or any metal treatment. (At the limits of precision, unlined barrels with single-point-cut rifling are the norm.)

[lysander]

An online site lists an HBAR as having a "chrome lined, match grade" barrel. Aren't those two terms mutually exclusive?

The effects of chrome plating on accuracy are wildly exaggerated on-line....

I have an L42A1 with a chrome plated barrel that will out-shoot most people that use it. That is one really accurate rifle.

[lysander]

Double post

[556BlackRifle]

My two most accurate rifles (besides my 20' varmint) are both 16" CL with 5.56 chambers. Noveske CHF and ER Shaw. Both are 1.5 MOA or better and I have several sub MOA groups on both. One day at the range, I shot a 1/4" block of staples that I had left on top of my target. One shot at 100 yards. So yes, CL barrels can be accurate enough to be match grade - even if they're not officially called match grade.

[MegademiC]

I'd like to know what kind of variation in plating thickness one could expect down the length of a barrel. 0.001, 0.0005, 0.000005"?

Now you got me thinking. I'm having a barrel cut. Time for destructive testing?...