barrel life - SS match vs. chrome lined milspec

[500grains]

I am interested in finding out about expected barrel life of a stainless match barrel vs. a chrome lined milspec barrel. Let's assume the ammo is Federal XM193 55 gr. ball. The SS barrel I am thinking about is a White Oak. And for control purposes let's assume the milspec is a Colt. Both 16" midlength 1:7.

Any input would be appreciated.

[Artos]

I would pick my bbl for the application of the AR. For precision lower volume shooting, the ss has the edge.

I prefer Chrome lined in a full blown battle gun that will see thousands of rounds in short order.

Life will depend on shooting styles but it's safe to say the bore of the mil spec colt will last longer than the white oak if used in the same scenario.

[akxx]

Depends on the type of stainless. There are stories circulating (including mentioned by John Noveske himself) that his SS barrels should still see great accuracy to 10,000+ rounds, and then drop off to 'mere' chrome-lined levels of accuracy.

[ALCOAR]

Its more about the heat rather than the actual number of rounds down the SS tube that will degrade the accuracy.

You can overheat the colt barrel whereas I would steer clear with any well made SS barrel.

[hitman1012]

I remember reading an interview with John Noveske where he said some of his stainless barrels have had 15,000 rds fired in them and are still in service. Pretty impressive to say the least for a stainless barrel. I think the interview was in defense review. I am sure someone has a link to it for reference.

[markm]

One of those guys like ADCO or someone did an extreme round count test on a good SS barrel. It was posted on barftard a while back.

The gist of it was that the barrel lasted about as long as you'd expect a Chrome lined barrel would. If I had a link to the specifics, I'd post it, but

[SkiDevil]

I remember reading an interview with John Noveske where he said some of his stainless barrels have had 15,000 rds fired in them and are still in service. Pretty impressive to say the least for a stainless barrel. I think the interview was in defense review. I am sure someone has a link to it for reference.

http://www.defensereview.com/noveske...view-part-one/

[HelloLarry]

Most maker's SS button rifled match barrels (including White Oak's) are worth about 3,000 rounds.

A chrome lined barrel is good for 10,000+, depending upon how it was made.

Very, very few chrome lined barrels will shoot as good as a White Oak stainless.

[MistWolf]

Most maker's SS button rifled match barrels (including White Oak's) are worth about 3,000 rounds.

A chrome lined barrel is good for 10,000+, depending upon how it was made.

Very, very few chrome lined barrels will shoot as good as a White Oak stainless.

After 3000 rounds in the stainless steel barrel, match grade accuracy may deteriorate but will it be worse than a chrome lined barrel with 3,000rounds through it? What type of accuracy is acceptable from a combat carbine with a chrome lined barrel? When do the groups become large enough to require replacement? At 10,000 rounds will the accuracy of a stainless steel match barrel be worse than a chrome barrel with 10,000 rounds?

[Robb Jensen]

In my experience if the two are shot similarly the SS barrel will last roughly half as much sometimes a little more than that vs. the chrome-lined barrel. The SS barrel will have much better accuracy vs. most chrome lined barrels. However some chrome-lined barrels are extremely accurate some as accurate as some SS match grade barrels. The two most accurate chrome-lined barrels I've found are the BCM BFH (hammer forged)chrome-lined and the Noveske N4 chrome-lined barrels.