Yugo SKS "chrome barrels"..mystery solved!

[mpzreb17]

Ouch. My bad then.

[gun barbar]

Actually guys some info is incorrect...i just got my 1988 yugo back from the gunsmith today...had the gl removed and barrel threaded to accept a yhm muzzle brake...the gunsmith pointed out to me having a chrome lined barrel is a good thing on these guns..i was surprised at his finding...he pointed out the chrome starting at the crown and half way to the blueing...my yugo is in the first 1000 run of the 9200 made in 1988...tritium sights still work also...i wonder if this run of yugos were a small batch of the last ones made this way?

[cvasqu03]

Actually guys some info is incorrect...i just got my 1988 yugo back from the gunsmith today...had the gl removed and barrel threaded to accept a yhm muzzle brake...the gunsmith pointed out to me having a chrome lined barrel is a good thing on these guns..i was surprised at his finding...he pointed out the chrome starting at the crown and half way to the blueing...my yugo is in the first 1000 run of the 9200 made in 1988...tritium sights still work also...i wonder if this run of yugos were a small batch of the last ones made this way?

Your gunsmith is WRONG!

That is all.

[cvasqu03]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add;

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

[gun barbar]

What was it he showed me then? im curious...

[cvasqu03]

What was it he showed me then? im curious...

Once again, pics.

[reverendg]

Sounds like the crown was done after the barrel was blued, and the "shiny" unblued steel looks a lot like chrome.

[Crackerjack86]

Even though they aren't chrome, Its been my experience that Yugo weapons like my M92 PAP and my various M59/66's have a better quality barrel than the Norinco's Ive seen that are chrome lined. That may be because they were shot alot though.

[PAPovka]

to my knowledge Zastava started chrome lining barrels only in the 80's probably with obtained technology from M84 Škorpion or M84 General-Purpose Machine Gun (licenses for both were purchased in conjunction with M84 Main Battle Tank)

M70, M72, M76, M77, M91 and M92 did not have chrome lined barrels (even today)

while Zastavas 5.56 Series (M80, M85, M95, M21...) and M84 as well as CZ 99 Series have chrome lined barrels

Also Zastava used high polish method in their non chrome lined barrels to give them a level corrosion resistance (method of polishing inside of the barrel preventing corrosion from forming) high polish is as good as chrome lining but it is also more expensive and time consuming

[tanunion]

Good information ivebeen wondering about that thanks.

[MEDIC-0372]

  You guys just need to change the Subject: to: OKAY, READ MY LIPS. YUGO SKS's DON'T HAVE CHROME-LINED BARRELS! NADA! ZERO! NEIN! NO! NYET! NEVER HAVE!  NONE OF THEM!  SAVVY?

  Ya' think maybe then they would catch on? Naahhh....

firstchoiceak47

How do I know if my Yugo is chrome lined or not...

[rakerr1]

IMHO: having worked as an Army armorer, and spent time at the Army Marksmanship Team for training, chrome lined barrels are LESS accurate. The Army Marksmanship Team builds their own individual M16's and other competition rifles and do not use chrome lined barrels. They bore, rifle, and contour the barrels to their specs from raw alloy-steel billets, NO CHROME! So why would you want a chrome lined barrel if you are taking care and properly cleaning your rifle after shooting? I find the 'CORROSIVE" argument a non-issue, keep it clean and you should have no problem with your Yugo. Chrome belongs on '59 Cadillac's . . . 

[AKBLUE]

Also Zastava used high polish method in their non chrome lined barrels to give them a level corrosion resistance (method of polishing inside of the barrel preventing corrosion from forming) high polish is as good as chrome lining but it is also more expensive and time consuming

The visual evidence would seem to prove this to be untrue. Many/most all of the so called Sino-Banian rifles have shiny bores and show little or no corrosion.  Yugo SKS barrels by comparison are often pitted, corroded or show dark bores.
Chrome plating is a much better corrosion protection vs a polished or non-chromelined barrel.

Virtually all current day general issue infantry weapons are chromelined bores.  Resistance to wear caused by full auto fire as another reason for this as well as corrosion resistance.

[Tricolor]

Also Zastava used high polish method in their non chrome lined barrels to give them a level corrosion resistance (method of polishing inside of the barrel preventing corrosion from forming) high polish is as good as chrome lining but it is also more expensive and time consuming

The visual evidence would seem to prove this to be untrue. Many/most all of the so called Sino-Banian rifles have shiny bores and show little or no corrosion.  Yugo SKS barrels by comparison are often pitted, corroded or show dark bores.
Chrome plating is a much better corrosion protection vs a polished or non-chromelined barrel.

Virtually all current day general issue infantry weapons are chromelined bores.  Resistance to wear caused by full auto fire as another reason for this as well as corrosion resistance.

And for 99% of shooters out there, the difference in accuracy between a CL and non-CL barrel is so minuscule that it's almost never noticed. Afterall, these are battle rifles we're talking about, not a pampered safe-queen with a 20-pound target barrel that gets 3 shots a year.

[PAPovka]

Also Zastava used high polish method in their non chrome lined barrels to give them a level corrosion resistance (method of polishing inside of the barrel preventing corrosion from forming) high polish is as good as chrome lining but it is also more expensive and time consuming

The visual evidence would seem to prove this to be untrue. Many/most all of the so called Sino-Banian rifles have shiny bores and show little or no corrosion.  Yugo SKS barrels by comparison are often pitted, corroded or show dark bores.
Chrome plating is a much better corrosion protection vs a polished or non-chromelined barrel.

Virtually all current day general issue infantry weapons are chromelined bores.  Resistance to wear caused by full auto fire as another reason for this as well as corrosion resistance.

ok maybe it is not as good as chrome lining but it gives barrels a level of corrosion resistance, also I was not saying chrome lining is bad on the contrary

As for the Sino-Banian rifles (Chinese SKS used in Albania?) I'm not sure how much they were used and abused. have they been used in Kosovo (SKSs were used but were they imported into the U.S.A.). Could their service be compared to PAPs service?

something interesting happened to UČKs Kalashnikov's in Kosovo
UČK mostly used Chinese/Albania Kalashnikov's (M70s were also common) which were chrome lined and as you say many of them had shiny bores (even if the rest of the rifle looked awful) but for some reason some had bores full of chrome "bubbles" supposedly cracks occurred in the chrome lining allowing corrosion to formed under the chrome layer which caused it to bubble. I'm not sure what caused the chrome lining to crack (my best theory is too much automatic fire causing the barrel to overheat) but barrels were absolutely unusable (no practical accuracy even at very close distances)


so not only non chrome lined barrels have problems with corrosion

personally think the biggest plus for chrome lining is faster cleaning and maintenance and this is probably the only difference a soldier might notice while using the rifle