Stainless barrel; yay or nay?

[Disciple]

^^^ as above. (Forget to refresh.)

[prepare]

4150 CMV is the ordinance steel that best handles heat and thermal erosion at the throat and gas port.

416 stainless can be more accurate and is usually used for precision rifles but has 1/2 the service life of 4150 CMV. Also when stainless barrels begin to show signs of reaching the end of its service life the accuracy opens up significantly more than 4150.

Per SOLGW Armorer course via T&E

[GH41]

Right. It’s not more accurate because it’s stainless, it’s because it’s not chrome lined.

Why would you say that? There are plenty of shitty SS barrels out there. Being SS has nothing to do with being a good barrel as bp7178 eluded to. There are some good chromed barrels but I wouldn't consider them precision grade.

[grizzman]

It might be easier to make a stainless barrel more precisely, but that certainly doesn't mean that all stainless barrels are of good quality. The inverse is also true about chrome lined 4150. Criterion, as well as a few other manufacturers have the process down pretty well, but not at the level of a truly match grade tube.

Buy whatever you want, it's unlikely you'll wear it out unless you abuse it. Having said that, I wouldn't consider a stainless barrel for a pistol or SBR, since I'm not going to use those in a precision role.

[17K]

Why would you say that? There are plenty of shitty SS barrels out there. Being SS has nothing to do with being a good barrel as bp7178 eluded to. There are some good chromed barrels but I wouldn't consider them precision grade.

Well generally, stainless AR barrels are marketed towards accuracy.

MOST AR barrels are junk regardless of construction.

[GH41]

Well generally, stainless AR barrels are marketed towards accuracy.

MOST AR barrels are junk regardless of construction.

"Marketed" being the key word here!

[indianalex01]

Well generally, stainless AR barrels are marketed towards accuracy.

MOST AR barrels are junk regardless of construction.

A good Chrome lined barrel is plenty accurate. DD, Colt, FN are just a few. I have a Wilson SS barrel that shoots lights out. All things being equal and quality vs quality then a SS will probably be more accurate but a CL barrel for sustained fire. 2 different applications

[Pappabear]

Just another thought, I have an FN SPR 308 barrel that shoots sub moa and at times a bug hole gun. Gotta be good for 10,000 PLUS rounds, maybe 20,000 of slow fire 308 who knows. I never figured out why more military units did not use more CL barrels they way they shoot barrels out.

I just love love love my FN SPR. Its a beast.

PB

[indianalex01]

Just another thought, I have an FN SPR 308 barrel that shoots sub moa and at times a bug hole gun. Gotta be good for 10,000 PLUS rounds, maybe 20,000 of slow fire 308 who knows. I never figured out why more military units did not use more CL barrels they way they shoot barrels out.

I just love love love my FN SPR. Its a beast.

PB

I have 2 FN SPR’s and understand what you are saying. Mine are solid. The M24 SWS (Remy 700)sniper rifle is a little better maintenance wise over Win Mod 70 gun. Simpler. Chromelined can be very accurate if done right FN does know how to. The SPR was didn’t sell as well as FN would’ve liked.

[Vegas]

I have a BCM SS barrel with about 2300 on it. First 1200 rounds was scoped off a bench with no much in the way of rapid fire. For the last 1100 rounds, it's worn a red dot and been tortured with all manner of drills. Many days of repetitive bill drills, trying to go quicker. Recently I have been thinking of scrubbing all the copper out to see if it can still shoot in the .5-.7 MOA range it used to shoot at.