stainless or blued

[eroyd]

Besides the obvious corrosion resistance, what are the pro's and cons of stainless barrels over regular steel?

Two "rumors" I've heard:
- On a heavily shot rifle, stainless will wear out faster than a blued steel?
- Stainless is stiffer and will give better accuracy.

[Mikey]

eroyd:  stainless is softer and wears faster.  It will also gall and you need to use lubricants specifically made for stainless.  Mikey.

[John Traveler]

ah, but Mikey is only partly correct!  A generation ago, stainless gun frames/slides/bolts used to have a bad reputation being "soft" for needing special anti-galling lubricants.  That has been fixed with newer alloy developments.

Modern blued rifle barrels are usually 4130 chrome-molybdenum steel alloys, and as such can be "blued" (black oxided).  It's an established technology, since alloy steels became common in the 1920's.  Before that, low-carbon steels and nickel steel alloys were the standard barrel "ordnance steel".

"Stainless steel" contains much higher chromium content, among other trace elements, and as used in gun barrels, is much more resistant to flame-cutting and powder/primer erosion than blued steels.  It is much more durable, and can give close to double the barrel accuracy life of a comparable carbon/moly steel.

Competiive high-power and benchrest shooters prefer them for those reasons.  It's a newer technology, established only in the last couple of generations and perfected by barrel makers.

As for stainless being "stiffer" and more accurate, I've not heard or seen that in metellurgy studies.

Early stainless barrels could not be blued, and gun makers had to copper-plate or paint (yuck!) them to make barrels dark.  Space-age chemical treatments now make it possible to "blue" stainless barrels, but it's an expensive treatment.

[Mikey]

John:  thank you for clarifying that.  Mikey.

[Zachary]

For what it's worth, and that may not be much, all of my rifles are Stainless.

One other advantage of having a stainless barrel (and action for that matter) is that you don't have to worry about the "blueing."  On a "blue" gun, once the blueing starts to go, so too does the resale value (if you care about reselling your rifle).  Even if you don't, you will still, I guess at some point, have to consider re-blueing your rifle (of course depending on how long you have it and how much you abuse it).  You really don't have to worry about blueing with stainless.

Zachary

[GPWEAPON]

I'm a stainless deciple,  best part I've found is never having to clean your bore. had a M1A I put over 15,000 rds. thru and swabed it about 5 times in the five years I owned it. Did have to clean and grease the bolt and op rod on occasion.  Darn thing still shot under 1/2 moa when I sold it to a police sniper, guy couldn't believe it shot so well, compared it to semi's costing over $10,000. I couldn't believe that but he kept saying it over and over.  Just read a thread on bore cleaning and couldn't help but laugh.

[boneguru]

the dangers I have seen with stainless, they do require less maint but do require maint. If it has iron it will rust, when stainless rusts (and it can) it will pit while traditional carbon will sheet easier to redress. please don't be lulled into the false belief that stainless is stain proof, Raymond

[KJV]

All my big game guns are stainless, I have seen blue guns rust in a week of hunting.  The one thing I don't like is that you can be spotted from miles away with the shiny rifle.  It is simple to fix with some cans of spray paint.

[David Parenteau]

Just a postscript to what boneguru mentioned about iron parts rusting.Most stainless guns are not 100% stainless steel.Take your bolt apart and see what the spring is made of.My partner and I both have Rem 700 stainless guns and have had the springs rust and cause some misfiring.It's easy to fix but it does show that stainless guns are not a shoot them and forget them proposition.Like any gun they do require regular maintanence.The nice thing is that the maintenance can usually be done at home between trips and not in your hunting camp :grin:
                 Dave

[Lawdog]

Only one of my rifles has a stainless barrel on it.  You can bet the farm that when it wears out the barrel that will replace it will NOT be stainless.  Lawdog

[Zachary]

Why is that Lawdog?

Zachary

[longwinters]

Hmmm :eek: , I like both types of barrels.  Never had any trouble with either SS or blue.  I choose based on how the rifle will look, as I have never noticed any real weaknesses with either.

long

[Lawdog]

Zachary,

I have had two rifles that were/are stainless.  One was a Ruger M77 that I got rid of for two reasons.

1.  Synthetic stock - sounded like a kids drum when bumped.  This burned me on "plastic stocks".

2.  Stainless barrel - The flash and glare off the barrel was visible for a long ways.  Other members of our hunting party were able to follow my progress across a hill side by the flashes from that rifle.

The other rifle is my M70 Coyote.  I already have had the experience of glare in the scope lens so bad I was unable to see the target.  I forgot the sun shade for my scope and ended up finding a heavy piece of paper to make a sun shade for the scope.  In all my years shooting I have never had this problem with blued barrels.  I like the action and the cartridge.  I'm restocking the rifle so the laminated stock is going.  Basically I have had no good experiences with stainless and can see no advantage to having them.  Lawdog

[Dave in WV]

Lawdog, I've got a Ruger stainless MKII and yes the barrel is too shiney. I cured that with a synthetic sanding pad. Now it looks like a bushed finish. I still have the ugly plastic stock. For all of its ills it is very practical. How can you hurt it since it's sooooo ugly?    My M70 has a bead blasted finish that's fine for me. Will stainless rust? Yes if you neglect it. You only have to wipe the water off after a days hunting to keep it from doing so. Stainless barrels do last longer. That's why bench rest shooters use them. Factory sporter barrels are rougher in stainless and take longer to smooth out. I think they are worth the extra work over time. Dave

[Lawdog]

From the time I was big/old enough to start shooting I was taught by my father and grandfather how to take care of firearms.  A good way for me to be back to throwing rocks was to let either of them find a spot of rust on any weapon I had handled.  Rust has never been a problem from hunting in the far north to the jungles of Viet Nam.  To me anything designed to take a life should be a thing of beauty.  Just the way I am.  Lawdog

[Dave in WV]

Lawdog, good point. I take care of my firearms too. I also hunt in any weather I will find deer. I got to where if the weather would cause damage to my guns I wouldn't take them out. My son has my Rem 760 I hunted with for years. The only "pretty" gun I have is my repro Win. M52 .22. Each to their own. I respect all sportsmen and their choices. I passed on a good deal on a Kimber .308 last Mar. since it was too light and too pretty for me. Dave