[Traps]

The terms to describe the ability for a barrel to give off heat is heat transfer coefficient and is not a property of the material but a function of all meaningful variables like speed of the fluid around the barrel, temperature of surroundings, surface finish, etc. Its a real bear to describe and usually is one of those properties that has to be found using laboratory conditions. To say one is more than the other is pretty tough to say.

A bull barrel is stiffer. The stiffness of a bar is dependent on the radius to the power of four. A 1 inch barrel is 3.62 times stiffer than a 0.725 inch barrel. Bull barrels as a result have a lower amplitude when the bullet is travelling down the barrel and they tend to be shorter as well, these two things create fewer nodal points which all end up resulting in less barrel vibration. Where the bull barrel shines is it allows greater precision. Take two barrels side by side one a bull, the other a sporter and with the same ammo and standard deviation and you'll find the bull barrel to be more forgiving. At least in theory.

Nickel's purpose in steel is to increase tensile strength and provides uniformity which is desired to handle higher pressures and prevent fatigue failure. Chromium increases hardness which is desired in creating hard rifling.