Blued vs Stainless ...

[DAJA]

As an up and coming barrel maker I can tell you there most certainly is a difference in the metallurgy of the two barrel steels........stainless steel barrel blanks are made from 416 ss stress relieved and annealed, the CrM blanks I use are 4150 and are stress relieved and annealed. These are also the 2 types that Ron Smith uses.
The SS blanks are no more difficult to machine than the CrM blanks but one must use the correct cutting oil for each. There are some oils that do double duty quite well but I prefer the specific oils per type of steel.
416 SS RESISTS corrosion much better than Crm steels do, but will stain.....I have never seen a SS barrel pit though. The biggest problem with not maintaining SS rifles is that not all parts of a barreled action are stainless. Rem 700 bolts for example, are 4340 and will rust. This is done as SS on SS will gall very quickly without some lubrication, rendering the rifle useless, but of course no one here would ever run their locking lugs dry.............other parts like extractors, firing pins, and springs are usually not SS so one must still maintain them somewhat.
Most 416 SS barrels will still hold a magnet as the primary material is still steel and the other materials which create the stainless properties are a minor part in the make up of the barrel steel. All my barrels that I use are now SS and I wonder why anyone would use anything else unless building a custom rifle and want a super deep and lustrous blue job for appearance sake. If one doesn't like the white appearance one can always Teflon or cerracote it any color he chooses.

I have used SS Rem 700s in some of the most inhospitable climates in the world, like the Congo, and my barreled actions show no signs of discoloration but I daily had to WD40 (no wait, they took my WD40 away at the airport, along with my duct tape. Terrorist devices you know, I used some gun oil left in camp by a previous hunter.) to protect my bolt and scope mounts. The heat and humidity will really raise hell with CrM steel parts.

The benchrest crowd have also determined that 416 SS resists throat erosion slightly better than CrM steels do so barrel life is extended somewhat.

And this is what rain looks like in the Congo, and its 28 degrees..............I was told this is about 4"/hr, the heaviest rainfall I have ever seen !!! This was pretty much the scenario every mid afternoon.

Of course there is a difference in metallurgy. I was referring to the maintenance to the end user. One takes a bit more regular oiling than the other.

 

[Garaldtao]

As a former Tool and Die man, I could attest that there are several grades of stainless steel with the one being used for barrels only slightly better than the blued steel. That grade of stainless steel does corrode. If you want a grade of ss that does not corrode, the hardness would make it impossible to put in rifling.

I am surprized that no one has touched on the trade off of stainless barrels over blued. You do get a bit more resistance to corrosion but the trade off is that stainless steel heats up much faster which means less accuracy the more rounds you put through the barrel. Therefore ss is great for hunters who normally only use 1 or perhaps a 2nd follow up shot for an animal or if you are a distance shooter who fire fewer rounds at greater intervals. My son use to compete in Biathlon and you will not see a ss rifle on the circuit. My daughter, a former 3 gun champ also know that for rapid shooting, no one uses ss. I fool around with trap and skeet and I don't think I have ever seen a ss shotgun at the range. Not knocking ss, as mentioned above, they do have their place.

 

[The Kurgan]

Just as an aside, my gunsmith colleague feels that the stainless used in gun barrels does not resist throat erosion any better, and in his experience, quite the contrary. Again, an noted above, it heats up faster. He did mention that he much prefers working on stainless. I have rifles in both finishes, and I much prefer a properly rust-blued barrel and minimal maintenance that goes along with it.