Fixing to purchase a PA10 but I keep seeing Nitride and Stainless barrels. What’s the advantages of either one? 9/10 this will be a bench or hunting gun but if I wanna throw a good amount of lead down range one day I wanna know which will hold up better on accuracy. And of course in a SHTF scenario which one would hold up better to heavy use.
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416 Stainless(not really stainless, but approaching it, restaurant stainless is in the 5 or 600"s) is simply the best for making accurate barrels, watch any PRS, F-Class or even King of 2 Miles, everyone has stainless barrels. It just machines the best. The Nitride process draws nitrogen into the steel(doesn’t coat it) forming a very thin and very hard layer. Nitride extends barrel life quite a bit. Stainless barrels are Nitrided too, but they lose their prettiness. All that being said, very few people ever shoot enough to wear out any barrel.
Here’s an excellent video on DC Machine and barrel making in general. PALMETTO STATE ARMORY PSA BARREL PRODUCTION & RETAIL STORE PART2 - YouTube
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So your saying the advertised PSA PA10 Stainless barrels are Nitride coated too?
Nope, I’m saying that Stainless is commonly Nitrided also. DC Machine doesn’t offer it on their stainless barrels but others do.
Nitrogen turns the steel black, so it’s easy to tell if a stainless barrel is nitrided.
The nitrogen goes into the steel, it doesn’t coat it. It doesn’t change the dimensions of the barrel like chrome does.
Yeah I know it changed the color of it is why I was confused. It sounded like you were saying PSAs stainless barrels were nitride too. What’s my accuracy difference you would think I’d see in the Nitride and Stainless?
Identical accuracy, nitride just hardens a very thin layer of the barrel steel, nitrogen is drawn into the steel at a molecular level, it doesn’t change the dimensions of the barrel at all. DC Machine does nitride most of their chromoly barrels, I have several and they’re excellent. Another nice thing about nitride is that it treats the outside of the barrel as well.
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Just to clarify all this. A nitrided barrel will be black, and a stainless barrel will be a nice shiny mirror stainless. It would take someone with above average skill to notice a difference between the two as far as accuracy.
This is a Faxon stainless barrel that has been nitrided. Yes it was shiny silver before it was nitrided but it’s still stainless even though it is now black.
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Sorry if I don’t explain things very well, barrel making is a fairly complicated subject.