chrome moly versus stainless

S

scarecrow

Guest
Hi all..My question to you is.....What are the pros of a heavy varmint barrel
over or under a stainless of the same size? I am planing on making myself
a 6.5x47 for 300 yard bench shooting..It is the farthest we compete here
without driving 2 or 3 hours...Having treatment for cancer now,so am a little
short on cash..Thats the main reason to going with the chrome moly..
All the match's are 20 rounds in 30 minutes so The doubt the barrel is going
to be getting over heated,and thenn there is a cool down period of approx
30 minutes and then the final 20 rounds..Total of 40 for score...So lets
hear your replies...Thank you....I do hope to get this built and be able to use it..
Forgot to mention it is on a savage action..:confused:
 
I think that you will find that there is no difference in performance between CM or SS. Due to the nature of SS it tends to be more erosion resistant an less prone to corrosion when neglected. One of my mentors was fond of saying,stainless does stain but it stains less than chrome moly. Also SS machines a little nicer than CM although I've never seen much difference on my old southbends and high speed steel. This has been my experience,I cant speak for anyone else.
 
Wonder why Frank Green (Bartlein) uses CM on his comp. rifles? I've used them without seeing any difference in accuracy or longevity.
 
the cheaper CM barrel blanks I have looked at in the past such as the blanks shilen sells through midway usa are not hand lapped. Ive talked with shilen about these blanks. However, shilen will lap them for a fee. Barrels are to important to go cheap in my opinion. Maybe for a deer rifle but not for any kind of comp. Buy a good blank and take care of it. Lee
 
skeetlee said:
the cheaper CM barrel blanks I have looked at in the past such as the blanks shilen sells through midway usa are not hand lapped. Ive talked with shilen about these blanks. However, shilen will lap them for a fee. Barrels are to important to go cheap in my opinion. Maybe for a deer rifle but not for any kind of comp. Buy a good blank and take care of it. Lee
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Lee,
Some people like the option to pay less for an unlapped barrel. I imagine the unlapped are purchased mainly for hunting rifles anyway. Why would you think a lapped CM barrel will not shoot or last as well a SS barrel?
 
I bought a 10 twist CM barrel from the famous maker that doesn't lap, to shoot 88 grain Bergers, 6BR. It was a premium grade, but not the other add-ons you can get. I will say it took a couple hundred rounds to get it to not copper foul but it shoots quite well. I didn't put any finish on it, just two coats of Johnson's paste wax and no issues. It's a bench gun, not a hunting gun.
 
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Wayne Shaw said:
I bought a 10 twist CM barrel from the famous maker that doesn't lap, to shoot 88 grain Bergers, 6BR. Is was a premium grade, but not the other add-ons you can get. I will say it took a couple hundred rounds to get it to not copper foul but it shoots quite well. I didn't put any finish on it, just two coats of Johnson's paste wax and no issues. It's a bench gun, not a hunting gun.
Click to expand...

There you go.
 
butch
I never said it wouldn't. Not sure why you would even gesture this??? The fact is, the majority of fellas don't have any idea how to hand lap a barrel. Myself included. An unlapped barrel would, or could be problematic. Im guessing that's why all premium barrels come hand lapped, and that's why they cost a little more????? Just a guess though.
If a fella wants to put 200 rounds on a barrel just to keep it from copper fouling, that's there business. Just another guess, most fellas would rather not.
If you were to build a hunting rifle with one of these blanks, this might not be a big issue, thus the reason I suggested so. I never said CM wouldn't last as long as stainless, not even close!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Personally I like CM over stainless. All my BR actions are CM. Just for the record. Lee
 
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I said it took a couple hundred rounds for it to stop copper fouling, but at no time did it foul to the point it didn't shoot. I clean after each target whether I shoot 6 rounds or 20. The amount of blue on patches slowly diminished. I did have a barrel once that fouled so bad it was beyond belief, and it was from a maker that is listed in every match result you'll ever see. This CM was nothing like that.
 
Come on Lee. I'm not jumping your case, just like Wayne, just making a statement. A CM lapped Shilen retails for $205.
As far as coppering, I think this has been covered many times on the forum.
 
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