Chrome vs no chrome?

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Tikka223

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I'm sure this has been covered before but I'm looking for a quick answer I guess.

Is a non-chrome lined barrel a big deal? Or is a chrome lined barrel preferable?

Any differences in accuracy? Rust? Barrel life? All assuming cleaning post range trip if firing corrosive ammo.
 
I don't find there's any difference and I have both, chrome lined is probably easier to remove the carbon fouling but non lined isn't hard to clean either. Get one of each and see what you prefer, it's a good excuse to buy a couple sks's.
 
Chrome lined guns are easier to clean but less accurate. The theory is that you can neglect it and it won't rust out the bore. Why the hell would you neglect your rifle outside of actual war conditions? A lot of people are actually obsessed with getting a chrome lined bore and I don't get it, just extra money.
 
bp2626 said:
Chrome lined guns are easier to clean but less accurate. The theory is that you can neglect it and it won't rust out the bore. Why the hell would you neglect your rifle outside of actual war conditions? A lot of people are actually obsessed with getting a chrome lined bore and I don't get it, just extra money.
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I think it all really depends on if you plan to shoot corrosive milsurp ammo or not.

The chrome lined bore gives you peace of mind - I've left my sks for a few days before cleaning, and because its got the chrome lined barrel, the barrel is rust-free an easy to clean. The bolt assembly and gas system is a mess though...

I wouldnt let a new gun worth $600+ sit up like that, but for my sks its nice to know it'll be fine if I neglect it for a few days.
 
The easiest way to sum it up is, the chrome lining gives you some leeway in gun care also making it easier to clean the bore. It does extend the barrel life. It does decrease accuracy but it won't even be slightly noticeable in a semi auto rifle.
 
With chrome, double the lifespan of your barrel. In 7.62x39 probably 30,000 rounds plus with no change in accuracy. No rust. I can't tell the accuracy difference between chrome and no chrome. For me, the extra $150.00 to get a chrome VZ is well worth the extended life of barrel.
 
Dirt McGirt said:
Yo chrome strait up wack. Witout chrome be mo accurate. Chrome belong on da outside not in da barrel wut
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^ LOL! Keep it real dawg.

If you can get only chrome lined bore, especially if shooting corrosive. SKS's here in BC are all around $200 chrome and non-chrome so no reason to not get a chrome lined bore. I got a VZ 58 with a chromed bore which was $50 more, totally worth it.
The reason for that is easier cleaning, no rust, and roughly double the life of a non-chromed barrel. The extra cost is nothing and decrease in accuracy, is this case, is theoretical. In practice the 7.62 shoots the same out of both barrels. To sum it all up---------> get chrome.
 
I've opted for the chrome ... one less thing to worry about. As well, I can't possibly see how I can differentiate between chrome lined and non-chrome lined barrels while shooting cheap surplus with iron sights
 
leverboy said:
Could somebody enlighten me as to why chrome would be less accurate? Are the bullets turning to stare at the shiny awesomeness after they leave the bore?
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Chrome while being blindingly shiny when you shine a light down the bore, is no where near as smooth as a polished steel bore. Chrome lining has to be plated on after barrel manufacture and is super hard, thus takes more to smooth it. Thus it has more of an effect on the bullet than a polished steel barrel.
 
ljones said:
Chrome while being blindingly shiny when you shine a light down the bore, is no where near as smooth as a polished steel bore. Chrome lining has to be plated on after barrel manufacture and is super hard, thus takes more to smooth it. Thus it has more of an effect on the bullet than a polished steel barrel.
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Not quite. The plating process smooths over the edges of the rifling, which is what effects accuracy. Similar to what happens when the rifling starts to wear. But 1/4 moa is not enough to matter in a semi-auto, especially if it increases the barrel life by any decent margin.

if it had to do with how smooth it is, wouldn't you expect a difference in velocity? (which I've never heard talk of....?)
 
interesting... so either way a non chrome barrel would be better for cast bullets it sounds like... I just started playing with 160gr Lee tumble lube gc boolits in my SKS and it is chrome lined...
my steel targets still go CLANG :)
 
I definitely prefer chrome lined, particularly for 7.62x39 where the vast majority of my ammo is corrosive. With my SKS's we can go shoot for a few hours, then go for lunch/supper or whatever...it's not a panic to get home and start sterilizing my rifle, like it is (or used to be) with my Cz858. Even still, after very thorough cleansing, I've had corrosion creep up into my 858 barrel which means I scrub, pour boiling water down the barrel all over again to stop it. My chrome lined SKS's never had a slightest issue with corrosion, in fact I could probably leave them for days without cleaning.
So for me personally, chrome lining is a big, big plus for ease of maintenance and barrel life/durability. Non chrome lined just equals PITA when shooting corrosive, whatever accuracy difference there may be between the two is irrelevant.
 
Suther said:
Not quite. The plating process smooths over the edges of the rifling, which is what effects accuracy. Similar to what happens when the rifling starts to wear. But 1/4 moa is not enough to matter in a semi-auto, especially if it increases the barrel life by any decent margin.

if it had to do with how smooth it is, wouldn't you expect a difference in velocity? (which I've never heard talk of....?)
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Just going by what I had read on other gun sites years ago. It is not that it is necessarily rougher but it is highly dependent on the application process since it magnifies any flaws in the bore along with rounding the rifling. WW2 era plating process is not as accurate as the modern process thus chrome plating now has less effect on accuracy than back when the SKS was made. Whatever the issue that degrades the accuracy, like you said it is not enough to negate the advantage of the longer barrel life at the distances most of us are going to be shooting an SKS. It also makes cleaning easier.
 
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If cleaning the rifle really is that much easier with the chrome then the stuff will be worth it's weight in gold. I've never been huge fan of time consuming cleaning.
 
Are the barrels chrome plated? For some reason I thought it was a chrome insert that was pressed into a steel sleeve before the barrel was machined.

Full disclosure: I am not sure if I read that somewhere, or imagined it. Or maybe it was all a dream ...
 
the11 said:
Are the barrels chrome plated? For some reason I thought it was a chrome insert that was pressed into a steel sleeve before the barrel was machined.

Full disclosure: I am not sure if I read that somewhere, or imagined it. Or maybe it was all a dream ...
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The barrel blank is machined and the bore is made oversize, then the chrome is plated in to the proper bore dimension. Not sure of the details of the whole process, but that is it in a nutshell.
 
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