I am getting ready to order an AR upper and am trying to decide on what kind of barrel to get. I have heard that chrome lined barrels would have a longer life, be more reliable, and easier to clean, but would not be as accurate as a chrome-moly barrel. Does anyone have a chrome-lined barrel? If so, what kind of accuracy can one expect? This gun will be for plinking only. What barrel should I get? Thanks

I can't speak for your particular rifle, but did manufacture slightly larger and up gun barrels for the military for 25 years.
Under sustained high rates of fire, and/or with "hotter" ammunition, a chrome lined barrel would last longer. Then of course it depends on how well the company that 'chromes' them does that job too. Depending on methods used, chrome "adhesion" and "deposition" can be an issue. It may be that you have heard they are less accurate from poor chrome jobs?
There was no difference in accuracy in "new" condition between any of the barrel types (chromed/non-chrome types) we manufactured. It all depended on "how" they were used (protocols) and that effect on barrel wear/life; thus accuracy down the road. Barrels of the same manufacture would stay accurate anywhere from only a 1000+ rounds, to over 20,000+ depending on ammunition and firing protocols used.
Not sure if this helps, but since you say it is only for plinking, perhaps cost should be your defining criteria.
Take care.

Unit5A, thanks for the reply. BTW, the upper is a Rock River. They use Wilson barrels. Do you know anything about the chrome lining process Wilson uses?

I have had all three and did not find that the chrome lined one was any eaiser to clean. It did function a bit better with slightly out of spec ammo than the chrome molly but not that much. I myself like the SS barrel I have now. Most important is get a 5.56 chamber not a .223 chamber.

Chrome-lined is the way to go with "mil-spec" ARs if you are not going after extreme accuracy. If you are looking at a DCM match rifle, go with Krieger SS barrels.

Woohoo! 500 posts!

Chrome lined is for heat and corrosion protection. Chrome moly (most) is for economy and stainless is for corrosion resistance. Match barrels in chrome moly and stainless are for accuracy. Match chrome lined barrels are pipe dreams.

I just picked up a Rock River midlength A4 upper with chrome lined barrel from Adco firearms. Couldn't resist the price. They had the chrome lined upgrade cheaper than any other place wanted for the standard chrome-moly barrel. $460 inluding shipping. I hope I didn't mess up going the chrome lined route. I am not after extreme accuracy, as this will be my primary SHTF rifle. Would like 1.5-2" groups at 100 though.

1.5"-2" will be no problem with the RRA chrome lined barrel.

The differences is more like fractions of an inch not inches.

The biggest advantage of the chrome lined bores is that they hold up better in sustained full auto fire. Most users will never gain from this advantage and the military has only a 2 min of angle acuracy standard. I have read more articles on the net that stated that chrome lining was not a feature they felt that was necessary. I chose a SS barrel and ran Tubbs Final Finish through the rifle first. It shoots 1" groups and is easy to clean,not as easy as my Kreiger but better than any other factory barrell.