Noveske stainless or chrome-lined barrel?

[FF750]

For a civvie user who will mainly want one as a range and self-defense weapon (in other words no trips to the Middle East) and maybe take a carbine class at some point which would be a better choice in a Noveske N4 - stainless or chrome-lined barrel?

I'm a newb so please correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is the SS barrels will have better accuracy but lower lifespan versus the chrome-lined barrels. BUT I've also read here on another thread that the Noveskes use a harder SS alloy that gives barrel life approaching that of chromed AND as mentioned I'm a recreational shooter who won't be burning up thousands of rounds a year in his AR HOWEVER I probably will never shoot well enough to appreciate the accuracy difference.

In such a situation which would make the most sense as a purchase for a second AR?

[RRMan03]

Well I am in the same boat as you.I just bought a complete Noveske lower and now am trying to decide what I want as an upper.The good thing is you can have more than one upper.I read somewhere that chrome last longer and stainless is better for accuracy but their are a lot of really experienced AR people on here that know for sure. This place is great for info as most share freely and I for one appreciate it.

[JSGlock34]

My two cents - for a general purpose carbine, go with the N4 Light (chrome-lined) Noveske barrels. I own a Noveske Recon (16" stainless), and it is an absolute tack driver. However, the stainless barrel is significantly heavier than its chrome lined counterpart (I think about 6 ozs heavier). That might not sound like much, but over the course of a carbine class, ounces equal pounds - especially on the barrel. Keep in mind that the Noveske SWS rails - if you plan on railed handguards - are beautiful but somewhat heavier than the competition as well.

I think the longer barreled stainless Noveskes are best configured as precision weapons with a magnified optic to derive the most benefit from the superior accuracy of the stainless barrel.

By the way, this is not to say the standard N4 barrels are slouches in the accuracy department either. Many users are reporting that the chrome lined barrels are capable of sub-MOA accuracy.

Either way, you can't go wrong. Noveske builds a great rifle.

[bkb0000]

if the N4Ls were available seperately, i'd never buy another NRW stainless again- they're plenty accurate enough for me and 99% of everyone else.

the stainless barrels are pretty flippin nice, and are capable of well under sub MOA. however- while that sounds cool, are you really going to put the time/money/heart/soul into reaching that accuracy potential? i repent my current SPR build- it's a total waste on me. I barely have time to blow off a few drills on my carbine when i hit the range these days.. i wont have the time/inclination to devote to precision shooting for another year or more. in the mean time, the $2500+ i took out of last year's blaster-budget to build the thing could have gone into ammo when it was still readily available. hell- i didn't even put an optic on it till last month. didn't have the time to take out of my strangled range sessions to devote to benchresting and zeroing.

don't go precision until you've mastered the carbine, and have the time to devote to it. otherwise you'll lament, like me.