Originally Posted by
ra2bach
to say, "the differnce between CHF and stainless was around .25 improvement" isn't really correct as far as it goes because it doesn't take into account how the rest of the gun was built.
stainless steel barrels are not intrinsically more accurate than CM - match grade barrels were not always made of stainless. it's just that the more accurate (match grade) barrel makers generally use stainless for this application now. and while its true that the barrel is the single most important component to accuracy, a bad build can ruin the accuracy potential of even the best barrel.
one thing it should be mentioned is that it takes a LOT more to get a gun that is already shooting 1" down to 1/2", than it takes to get a gun that is shooting 2" down to 1 1/2".
and the number of rounds fired before you begin to notice a decrease in accuracy is going to be significantly lower in a 1" gun than a 2" gun. it's sort of like a good gun starts good and gets worse quickly, while a bad gun starts bad and stays there...
I'm not certain what some people mean when they quote "service life" of 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 rounds... is this the point where the barrel effectively won't shoot any more? due to extreme inaccuracy, increased headspace, or possibly gas port erosion, I don't know what, etc...?
I suspect any barrel will continue to pass little lead and copper pills down its bore long after anyone's expectation as long as there is no standard of performance.