sorry for what may seem like a silly question but theres a background to this.....

i have owned a colt m4 and 6830 for a long time and never questioned the chrome lined barrel

i recently bought an AR10A4 which is supposed to be a 2012 new, post eagle arms, 16" carbine chrome moly chrome lined.

then i noticed the front of the lower has a white eagle stamp, so i wondered if i got an older EA surplus barrel and lower put together and called an "armalite" which is supposed to be distinctly higher end than an EA.

i looked thru armalites site and they say the EA barrels were not chrome lined, just CM steel.

further, some blogs say the white eagle stamp was what EA put on EA AR10's, but some say the stamp may also be on non EA armalites......for reasons no one can explain or verify......

soooo, after seeing the white eagle and reading about the non chrome lined EA ar's, i wondered if i had a non chrome lined EA barrel and an EA lower with the white eagle.

so i looked at the info at armalite and they say their EA barrels were CM, but the 10A4 is C lined.

i emailed their tech guy and he said they "did use CM non C lined barrels on their ar10's a few times but not recently". i asked for clarification and he just said  if it isnt C lined i could send it back for "repair" Chroming.   he said since its stamped CM-CL it probably is, but theres no way to tell unless i send it back.

so i looked at the barrels, breech, and inside bolt carrier on my colts and they dont look conspicuously shinier or lustrous than my ar10, but they seem to slightly....but i may be seeing what i expect to see.

but what i know for sure is the supposed-to-be chromed parts of the ar10 are absolutely no more lustrous than the steel barrels of all my other bolt actions and revolvers/pistols.

i was expecting the chrome lined barrel to be like a mirror, brilliantly shiny when i shine the bore light thru it, but its not. especially the breech on the ar10 which is huge and easy to look into....and its not shiny like a chrome bumber.  no more than my steels.

was i assuming wrong? can other colt or armalite chromed parts owners tell me if they arent more shiny than steel parts?  are they not supposed to be shiny like a chrome bumper?

this was a long one but i wanted the reader to be clear on why i asked this question.


thanks.

Look at the end the cartridge goes in. It should look silver/chrome Around that end. But not on the locking lugs.

Like speed said just look at the very beginning of your barrel inside of your upper.  If you see a silver circle then you have a chrome lined barrel

 

In reference to your other post, your lower is not an Eagle Arms because of the eagle stamp. That stamp is what Armalite used to signify that particular gun is a factory Armalite build. Further, Eagle Arms receivers are marked "Eagle Arms", not Armalite. Lastly, Eagle Arms did not produce any guns/receivers that take P Mags. The P Mag compatible rifles are 2012 forward.

Now, that doesn't mean someone couldn't have bought a complete Armalite rifle and swapped every other part other than the receiver, but take it for what you will....

Just my opinion, but based on your questions I think you are over thinking things. Is it that crucial to have a chrome lined vs. non chrome lined? If someone told you it was chrome lined, but it really wasn't, how would you know, and vice versa.

Yeah, that's what I was worried about; that someone had swapped an EA barrel for the original CL barrel. But no, being CL is not crucial at all; I'm not hung up on the milspec thing and would not mind the increased accuracy of a CM steel barrel.  My concern of course is that I did not buy what what was "sold" to me.....you know?  Whether the gunbroker seller swapped barrels or unwittingly bought and resold a modified weapon, either way i want to know, so i can contact the seller and ask why the weapon was not what was advertised.
Thanks for you help.

Like speed said just look at the very beginning of your barrel inside of your upper.  If you see a silver circle then you have a chrome lined barrel

Yeah. Looks uniformly matte kinda satiny from the chamber past the lugs. All the same looking metal. Some blogs said the hard chrome used on AR's is not shiny, but some say otherwise. But armalite said the chamber, lugs, all receiver end parts of the barrel should be chromed.

 

Yeah....doesn't seem likely, but the remote question mark bugged me.  After the input from everyone about the white eagle and all the other stuff, I'm pretty comfortable its legit.
I have one other question about the clamp on front gas block, but I think I'll launch a separate topic for that.
Thanks again