Blue or stainless barrels

Stainless pros: Easier to machine, so your gunsmith will like it and it is less destructive to reamers. Less prone to corrosion, esthetics either way. All the uppity-up swave and de-boner F-Class guys like stainless, and their mountain top gurus claim better accuracy. (Buhllschitt)

Cons: Unable to blue or parkerize. Must leave alone or paint. Not as safe in extreme cold weather; some companies will only produce SS barrels in larger diameters due to controversy over their suitability for extreme cold weatehr use and their safety with hge cartridges in smaller diameters (um, aren't the breech diamters the same? Hmmm.)

Chromoly Pros: Cheaper, safer in extremely cold temps, available in lighter contours. Can be blued or parkerized.

Cons: Rust, machinability.

Myths: CM barrels are less accurate or foul more.
 
Also, chrome-moly having 40 to 50 points of carbon may harden in the throat area from use. This can cause damage to your chamber reamer if you try to set such a barrel back. On the other hand, chrome-moly takes more abuse from peening or abrasion, and this is a big advantage where field use is rough. It also tends to be stronger in cold-weather environments, such as might be encountered while hunting in Alaska, where the temperature is often below zero.
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http://www.obermeyerbarrels.com/steel.html
 
Stainless Pros: Extra LCV (look cool value), More EIF (extra intimidating factor), now yer #### won't fall off, available right now from obtunded (hard to import barrels from US of A when Obama bin Laden's government won't trust Kanadians)
 
SS barrels take a round or two to warm up too before you really tighten up the groups.

May be another myth mind you. I find my chrome moly 7mmRM takes 2 shots before it starts to group well.

I contradicted myself in the same post, awesome :rockOn:
 
Because the stainless used in rifle barrels machines so nicely, it MIGHT be easier to produce a fine bore, depending on the process used. Ease of machining is likely a factor in the popularity of stainless with manufacturers. Stainless costs more, but is easy to finish, if a natural finish is acceptable.
Don't confuse the stainless used in rifle barrels with the stainles used in cutlery. Rifle barrel stainless can corrode. Might be a bit more erosion resistant than Cr-Mo.
As mentionned, stainless barrel steel may become more brittle in extreme cold than Cr-Mo. Lived over 30 years North of 60, saw a number of burst barrels, can't say that I ever saw a damaged stainless barrel where the temperature was the probable cause. Did see a Parker Hale Cr-Mo barrel which shattered when fired with snow in the muzzle in extreme cold, though. P-H barrels were the only ones that I saw produce fragments when they failed, other tended to bulge or split.
 
We were out hunting Elk last night having this same discussion. How cold would it have to be for a stainless barrel to shatter? I thought most companies were making thier "All Weather" rifles with stainless barrels and synthetic stocks?
 
A stainless rifle barrel being less safe in cold weather ?

Is there is any documentation concerning a stainless rifle barrel barrel blowing up due to a temperature range we encounter hunting and the normal range of pressure cartridges are loaded to ? Or is this theoretical ?
 
Obtunded said:
Stainless pros: Easier to machine, so your gunsmith will like it and it is less destructive to reamers. Less prone to corrosion, esthetics either way. All the uppity-up swave and de-boner F-Class guys like stainless, and their mountain top gurus claim better accuracy. (Buhllschitt)

Cons: Unable to blue or parkerize. Must leave alone or paint. Not as safe in extreme cold weather; some companies will only produce SS barrels in larger diameters due to controversy over their suitability for extreme cold weatehr use and their safety with hge cartridges in smaller diameters (um, aren't the breech diamters the same? Hmmm.)

Chromoly Pros: Cheaper, safer in extremely cold temps, available in lighter contours. Can be blued or parkerized.

Cons: Rust, machinability.

Myths: CM barrels are less accurate or foul more.
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Obtunded,
I thought when stainless came into vogue for gun makers that it was more difficult to machine as a result of galling when machined with tool steel cutters. I suspect the choice of appropriate stainless has changed over 40 or 50 years, has that accounted for the change? I was also of the opinion that the throat of a stainless barrel would outlast the throat of a CM barrel when used under similar conditions, is this true or false? I have had both stainless and CM barrels that have been very accurate. My .375 has a Smith fluted stainless barrel (I doubt if I'll ever buy another fluted barrel) that has seen use in extreme cold, yet I don't discount the fact that a CM barrel in extreme cold might do better if dropped on a rock.
 
I'm not positive but worth checking this, I saw a write up on Adams lake barrell web site that went into detail on how barrells were made.

I believe that there was a mention there regarding the different types and what the pros and cons were, I think the stainless was the better choice there.

M.
 
Obtunded said:
Cons: Unable to blue or parkerize.Must leave alone or paint.
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Not quite true. Stainless can NOT be parkerized, but it certainly CAN be chemically blackened in a process almost identical to hot blueing of CM
We have been doing this for years.



[/QUOTE]
Not as safe in extreme cold weather; some companies will only produce SS barrels in larger diameters due to controversy over their suitability for extreme cold weatehr use and their safety with hge cartridges in smaller diameters (um, aren't the breech diamters the same? Hmmm.)

Chromoly Pros: Cheaper, safer in extremely cold temps, available in lighter contours. Can be blued or parkerized.

Cons: Rust, machinability.

Myths: CM barrels are less accurate or foul more.[/QUOTE]

I have yet to find any credible documentation supporting the cold weather debate.
A select few barrel makers are playing that harp, but more are not. Who really knows???
I know that stainless barrels have never given me any problems at temperatures of -45F where I have used them in these temperatures. Anyone who is shooting in temperatures below that deserves to be frozen and have their rifles shoud disintegrate:eek:
 
I suspect that the extreme cold concern originates with the properties of different alloys of steels, as described by the manufacturers.
Some steels are more brittle than others, perhaps extreme cold can/could be a factor.
 
While the 416 SS typically used in rifle barrels does lose ductility at low temperatures to a greater extent than 4140 chromoly, I'm not convinced that it is enough to be a problem. Most most rifle makers offer stainless barrels and yet only a couple barrel makers caution against their use in cold weather. I would think that Remington, Savage, Winchester, etc. would all be fairly conscious to the lawsuit potential if there were a significant likelihood of SS sporter weight barrels failing at low temperatures.

As far as galling being a problem with SS guns, parts like frames and receivers are made from different grades from the free-machining 416 SS typically used in barrels. I believe that the galling problem has been solved through selection of better alloys and heat treatment.
 
There is indeed a metallurgical basis for the caution, and there are many anecdotes out there. The most credible being attributed to Boots Obermeyer who has very biased opinions on the unsuitablity of SS in cold temps. John Krieger and Boots Obermeyer are close friends.

I hunt with a stainless barrel myself. If I come back minus a few body parts, i will give you a first hand account, but until then do whatever spackles your crack.
 
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