doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Chromed Bores

I can confirm first hand that a hardchromed steel is indeed "plated" in the traditional sense of electro plating processes.

I can also confirm first hand that hardchromed steel can indeed rust, given the right conditions and neglect. And that is not much different than the original base metal.

Hardchrome is not intended as a corrosion protection process as its thickness is measured in extremely small numbers and the plating is itself porous or "micro-cracked". Does it lend some additional protection? Sure. Just not much. To rely on hardchrome for corrosion resistance is misplaced trust.

Thanks for relating from your experience, Chuck. Maybe I have misplaced my trust in chrome lined bores, and Orlen and Miller and I are wrong about the process. But, as I said before, I've never known of a chrome lined shotgun barrel to suffer any corrosion. Admittdly, my experience is indeed narrow and small, relatively speaking.

SRH

Stan,
I've never had any bore pit from rust and I don't run a bore swab sometimes for several seasons. But I also don't hunt the salt marshes.

I beleive those really badly pitted bores in vintage guns I've seen were a result of corrosive primers and/or black powder. I also beleive a gun with hardchrome bores, subjected to those conditions that badly pitted guns of the past, would also suffer similarly.

Miller....that is disturbing news. I carried an original carbon steel Randall knife into Vietnam in 1966....I had to keep grease on it as it would rust overnight...second Randall (after the first fell 2,000' into the jungle from a McGuire rig) was a Randall Soligen steel stainless blade..(not chrome but...but)...it's never rusted and has been carried for 50 years.



But I gave son a nickel plated Remington 870 Marine Magnum for bear protection, precisely because it'll be used in a mid-latitude rain-forest salt-water environment in southern Alaska pan-handle. I thought it'd be invulnerable. I'd better tell him to take a can of 3n1 oil with him.

You can buy drill bits with a form of hard plating on them. The coating is tough, but, it isn�t terribly resistant to rust. As Chuck has already alluded to, when you see rust, it is likely the base metal rusting through the plating.

Best,
Ted

Chrome plated bores, this does extend the life of the gun dramatically. Actions are great survivors but barrels do seem to run out of usable life very quickly if neglected compared to actions. Do Brit gun makers want this or do they want to re barrel a gun in the future??

Chuck, In trying to get a better understanding of what this chroming process is, a question came up. If chrome bore lining is the same as chrome plating of car bumpers why does it not begin to flake off when forcing cones are lengthened, or chokes are reamed? I had the chokes on my old Perazzi opened around 15 years ago. There has never been any sign of fllaking or peeling, and it's been used a lot. Disturbing the plating on a bumper in such a way would quickly lead to rust and flaking.

SRH

Anyone ever saw a pitted 101 barrel ?

Not sure why Winchester chromed 101 bores back in the early 1960s...did they have a crystal ball and see steel and even harder shot coming ?

Hasn't it been determined that the shot cup only does so much protecting and upon ignition alot of the shot jumps out ahead of the shotcup.

Interesting question. Can't say I've ever seen an Ithaca SKB with pitted bores. On the other hand, can't recall ever having seen a Webley & Scott 700 with pitted bores either . . . and thousands of those were made before plastic wads appeared. Would be interesting to read comments from gunsmiths, who've likely looked down a lot more bores than most of us, on the subject.

Do chrome plated/lined chambers/barrels require a different cleaning and care routine?