Out of the dozen or so ARs that I have at any given time, NONE of them are ever chrome lined. I prefer stainless over all of them but have quite a few chrome molly.
Chrome lining adds cost and some durability IF you DON'T clean your gun. I'm not saying it is worse, its not. Its a trade off. You give up a little bit of accuracy to pick up some easy cleaning/lack of cleaning durability. The military uses them because the durability against corrosion if the soldiers can't clean the gun in a timely fashion.
The most accurate barrels and the most durable barrels are stainless. But accuracy depends on lots of things, like how its rifled, etc. Chrome are durable, but once the chrome fails (and eventually it will) the barrel is trash. Basically a chrome lined barrel will last a long time, but if it gets wet it will fail. If it is not cleaned it will resist corrosion better than chrome moly. Chrome moly will be slightly more accurate than chrome lined if all other things are equal.
I'd say pulled button.
I think the barrels that are chrome plated are still made out of chrome-moly steel
I am not positive but I think if the bore is chromed the chamber is too.
And I would say cold hammer forged.I'd say pulled button.
And I would say cold hammer forged.
Many believe pulled button rifling stresses the steel which means as the barrel heats up with use, you will start to see a dispersion in the group... albeit very slight in high end barrels.
Also, nitrite treatment is the new chrome lining. It significantly increases barrel life yet doesn't negatively effect accuracy. The primary goal of using chrome lining in military rifles (at least in the US) wasn't to prevent corrosion or to simplify cleaning. It was strictly meant to improve barrel life. That's why Nitrite treatment is all the rage these days and our next military rifle will likely use this process over chrome lining. The Bushmaster ACR for example uses a nitrited barrel vs. chrome lining.
I would agree with you on the nitrite. But on a gun like discussed by the OP (RRA AR) its not even an available option.And I would say cold hammer forged.
Many believe pulled button rifling stresses the steel which means as the barrel heats up with use, you will start to see a dispersion in the group... albeit very slight in high end barrels.
Also, nitrite treatment is the new chrome lining. It significantly increases barrel life yet doesn't negatively effect accuracy...
True, RRA I don't believe offers it. But high-end AR makers like Daniels Defense and BCM do. You can also swap out your barrel yourself, regardless of the brand of the receiver (of course) as part of an upgrade.I would agree with you on the nitrite. But on a gun like discussed by the OP (RRA AR) its not even an available option.
On the cold hammer forging I've seen a lot of variances. I think you can just as easily get a great one as you can get a marginal one.
Here's a good article that will explain it.How much of difference 10k, 20k, etc...