GunnyUSMC
Member
I worked several years with firearms. Spending many hours in the lad working with firearms examiners. Several of the Examiners are personal friends of mine. Three of them have been on special tours of Colt’s factories within the last six years. These tours were done with BATF. So you can say that I have a little bit of inside information.Quality and solvency are not always related
Do you have documentation that the civilian Colt ARs were of a lower quality than the military Colt ARs? Or were built to a different or lower standard?
The desire for chrome lined barrels was primarily driven by those who carried ARs professionally, trained professionals and serious shooters taking carbine classes. Many of those didn't come from a firearms background per se. For many of them, the AR, M9 and Glock was their introduction to firearms. It was determined the Colt was the AR least likely to give problems during high round count training classes and someone decided to see how Colts differed from other offerings. One of those features was a chrome lined chamber and barrel. When that came to light, it gave impetus to the market without understanding the advantages and disadvantages of lined and unlined and moly steel and stainless steel barrels.
What does the number of hunting rifles with chrome barrels have to do with this discussion? Nothing. While many ARs never see any use more serious than the occasional shot at a coyote, many ARs are still put to serious use and can see several hundred rounds put through them in a weekend than any hunting rifle.
This is where I call BS on the whole CHF business. Not on you, Gunny, I mean the industry as a whole. CHF was developed by the Germans in WWII to churn out a lot of barrels quickly and cheaply. CHF barrels were used in many post war sporting rifles because they're cheaper and faster to produce. So, why are CHF AR barrels more expensive?
I've been told Colt compared their US button rifled barrels to their Canadian CHF barrels for durability and found the CHF barrels were a bit better, but not enough to change from button rifled barrels. In my opinion, CHF barrels are not needed, nor do I see any reason to pay extra for one.
Another tidbit of information on Colt. At times, Stag Arms was a subcontractor for Colt Defense Ind.
The part about CHF barrels is that they are rated for higher rate of fire and will hold up to heavier use. CHF barrels have come a long way since WWII. Most of your major rifle companies use them on their rifles.
What does hunting rifles got to do with chrome line bores? It’s the fact that chrome line bores are not needed on most guns, not even on most ARs. a chrome lined bore has to be cut over sized and they lined. Before Nitride treatment became a standard on AR barrels, there was a big difference in the quality. A standard parkerized barrel on an AR just didn’t work well. That was proven in the early part of the Vietnam war.
What makes nitride treated barrels so good is that the treatment makes the metal surface hard and more wear resistant. The black color is just a byproduct of the treatment that looks nice. And the tend to be more accurate then chrome line bores.
Here’s a pic of the Anderson lower that Colt used at one time.
And here’s one with the Anderson brand. If you do a search, you can also find this lower with the Wilson Combat logo on it.
But we’re getting way off topic from what the OP is asking.
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