10.5” CHF barrel or 11.5” Non-CHF barrel.

[AndyLate]

It just doesn’t seem to do anything. You get some corrosion resistance but longevity doesn’t seem to be a benefit.

That is simply not true compared to raw steel barrels. Don't take my word for it, ask a barrel maker.

A chrome lined barrel will (probably) outlast a nitride one, but that does not mean nitride is worthless.

Andy

[Red*Lion]

I am going with the 12.5” BA barrel for now since I found one locally.
At some point in the future I’ll upgrade to a 12.5” CHF barrel.

That should be a solid choice.

[202]

That should be a solid choice.

I think so too. Thanks.

[okie]

That is simply not true compared to raw steel barrels. Don't take my word for it, ask a barrel maker.

A chrome lined barrel will (probably) outlast a nitride one, but that does not mean nitride is worthless.

Andy

It's okay for corrosion resistance, although the one barrel I had rust issues with was nitride, so go figure. It was in the extension, which I don't know if that was nitrided or not. As far as increasing lifespan, I've not heard good things. The opinion amongst the experts seems to be that it hurts more than helps.

[ThatPunkGirl]

11.5” all day then. You said its a truck gun that’ll get shot a lot less than your other gun. I might get crucified for saying this, but a good nitride barrel might work out well. 11.3” and 12.3” BA Hanson barrels have worked very well for me.

What is the barrel life on these?

[1168]

It's okay for corrosion resistance, although the one barrel I had rust issues with was nitride, so go figure. It was in the extension, which I don't know if that was nitrided or not.

Most nitride barrels don’t have nitride extensions. I dunno why that might be, but it would be rather easy to know if it was, right?

As far as increasing lifespan, I've not heard good things. The opinion amongst the experts seems to be that it hurts more than helps.

If you are hearing from experts that nitride hurts barrel life, I’d like to know who they are so I can learn from them directly.

What is the barrel life on these?

Criterion claims 15,000-20,000, and they are a very trustworthy source. I just asked the ammo nerd in my shooting group how much he has loaded for me in 2020, and we guesstimate that my primary 11.3” Hanson barrel probably did about 10,000-12,000 since I’ve owned it, and I bought it used on the EE here. Some of that was full auto, and almost all of it was full power 5.56 on par with M855. Suppressed. It is still going, although it’s moved to backup status, and will spend much of the rest of its life unsuppressed. I’ll chrono it again soon.

The real answer is it depends on barrel steel, barrel contour, and rate of fire, but it will cost many thousands of dollars in ammo to find out. About $3,600 in pre-Rona pricing before we MIGHT see a difference. For most shooters, a high-quality nitride barrel will last a very long time.

I’m not seeing a flurry of posts in here about “I wore out my nitride barrel in X number of rounds, and here’s a pic!” I wonder why that might be?

[okie]

Most nitride barrels don’t have nitride extensions. I dunno why that might be, but it would be rather easy to know if it was, right?

If you are hearing from experts that nitride hurts barrel life, I’d like to know who they are so I can learn from them directly.





Criterion claims 15,000-20,000, and they are a very trustworthy source. I just asked the ammo nerd in my shooting group how much he has loaded for me in 2020, and we guesstimate that my primary 11.3” Hanson barrel probably did about 10,000-12,000 since I’ve owned it, and I bought it used on the EE here. Some of that was full auto, and almost all of it was full power 5.56 on par with M855. Suppressed. It is still going, although it’s moved to backup status, and will spend much of the rest of its life unsuppressed. I’ll chrono it again soon.

The real answer is it depends on barrel steel, barrel contour, and rate of fire, but it will cost many thousands of dollars in ammo to find out. About $3,600 in pre-Rona pricing before we MIGHT see a difference. For most shooters, a high-quality nitride barrel will last a very long time.

I’m not seeing a flurry of posts in here about “I wore out my nitride barrel in X number of rounds, and here’s a pic!” I wonder why that might be?

There was a report on nitride vs. chrome released a while back, or rather the gist of it got leaked if I remember correctly. But I also used to talk to a guy pretty regularly who shot competition and did R&D for barrel makers, and he said the nitride didn't increase barrel life.

One thing you'll notice is that nitride is only used on pistol barrels, and its primary function there is corrosion protection. Namely Glock. On rifles, you'll only find it for the commercial market. Any rifle sold to military outfits uses chrome.

Not arguing your point that a nitride barrel will outlast most people. But so will CMV. I think it's just a superfluous expense that doesn't really add any tangible value. My point regarding the rust in the extension is that if you neglect a gun to the point that a barrel might rust, you're going to have rust in other places. I also have a particular hatred for nitride because it's so hard to machine. It makes pinning gas blocks and whatnot extremely difficult.

[1168]

If nitride is so hard to machine, how does that harder surface not affect barrel life vs plain steel? I never said it is equivalent to chrome in military full auto weapons.

It occurs to me that I’ve never shot out a plain untreated 4150 CMV barrel, so its certainly possible that I’m wrong.

For dimpling or pinning gas blocks, just take a Dremel wheel to the surface that you anticipate drilling. This additional step takes less than a minute, including chucking up the wheel.

[Steve Shannon]

Here’s a good explanation of the differences from a barrel manufacturing company (Faxon) that does both chrome lining and nitriding.
https://faxonfirearms.com/blog/frequ...-chrome-lined/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[okie]

If nitride is so hard to machine, how does that harder surface not affect barrel life vs plain steel? I never said it is equivalent to chrome in military full auto weapons.

It occurs to me that I’ve never shot out a plain untreated 4150 CMV barrel, so its certainly possible that I’m wrong.

For dimpling or pinning gas blocks, just take a Dremel wheel to the surface that you anticipate drilling. This additional step takes less than a minute, including chucking up the wheel.

It's how it affects the steel under the surface hardening.

Yes, the dremel trick works for pinning, not so well for threading operations. It's not that big of a deal, but it can limit your options if you want to have work done down the road. If nitride were all it were cracked up to be, of course that would be a trade worth making. But as it stands, I would say it's a fair assessment that nitride causes problems without really solving any. I would just pay the extra 50 bucks for a Colt or even a Criterion barrel. Or save 50 bucks and go CMV. Depending on what gas system you have, the gas port erosion is likely to get you before your groups open up enough to notice, unless it's a precision build with fancy ammo.

There's also the matter of the chamber, though. Chrome has a certain lubricity to it, and though I can't prove it, I would go out on a limb and assume that chrome lined chambers are probably less prone to stuck cases than alternatives.