How Tough is Chrome Lining?
I have read that chrome lining is extremely tough and that is why bores and chambers are chrome lined. It is supposed to significantly increase barrel life.
On the other hand, you hear warnings to not be overly aggressive with cleaning rods as you can damage the chrome lining on a chamber and/or bore.
I just wonder, when common sense kicks in, how can a steel cleaning rod cause damage to the chrome lining when steel cased ammo continually rubs the chamber, and metal clad bullets are going down the barrel at great velocity.
Also, if chrome lining on a chamber is damaged (scratched), what would be the effect?
Also, if chrome lining on bore is damaged (scratched), what would be the effect?
Comments on these these questions I have would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: before you respond to this thread, please read post #8 below for clarification of the theme.
How Tough is Chrome Lining?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Straight Shooter
Those steel, issue cleaning rods are, in my mind..an emergency/field remedy. They flex, and over time from extended use can & do cause wear on a barrel. Good one piece rods that are coated are the answer,.
At least for the M1 Garand rifle this is a myth that persists, but has been tested and found to be a false rumor.
The hypothesis that "steel cleaning rods cause barrel wear" was tested by the Garand Collectors Association building a test machine that rubbed a steel cleaning rod down the muzzle end of a M1 Garand barrel. Purposely allowing it to rub up against the sides. The results are that there is no noticeable wear on the muzzle even after thousands and thousands of cleaning cycles.
Firing ammo though the barrel does cause the muzzle to erode (show an increase in muzzle wear measurement). Not the cleaning rod.
(On a Garand they use "muzzle wear" and "throat erosion" gauges to measure barrel life. USGI Garand barrels are not chrome lined).
Ref:
GCA Journal, Volume 21,Issue 3 Summer 2007
GCA journal again in Fall 2010
How Tough is Chrome Lining?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ndmiller
NOT AN EXPERT, but I thought I read chrome lining was instituted to provide better longevity with automatic fired in military firearms.
Maybe for US military arms that is true: we were late to the idea of chrome plating, started with the M14.
But worldwide: the earliest use of chrome barrels was the Japanese Arisaka rifle: it had chrome lined bore and breechface, and that was all back in the bolt-action days.