Browning t-bolt rifle - blued barrel

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superlative

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considering a Browning T-bolt with a "matte blued" barrel. Everything I've read about bluing is a pain in the butt to me. My question is: is Browning's "blueing" somehow different from other rifles? Is it maybe a ceramic paint or nitriding and they just call it "bluing"? I've never heard of a "matte blue" finish, so I'm hopeful it's not "real bluing" which is not very rust resistant.

Thanks.
 
almost every manufacturer of rifles produces a "matte blue" finished rifle that is available. it simply means how shiny the appearance is. Matte stainless as well. Bluing is just fine for rust protection if you take 5 min to take care of your guns. But to each their own.
 
StevieK said:
almost every manufacturer of rifles produces a "matte blue" finished rifle that is available. it simply means how shiny the appearance is. Matte stainless as well. Bluing is just fine for rust protection if you take 5 min to take care of your guns. But to each their own.
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everything is relative I suppose. Since there is a readily available alternative (Stainless), then the question is: what's the point of a blued barrel? There will be some parts of the gun that will be hard to get to without taking off the stock - I really can't be bothered going through the trouble. If I went through a rain storm, or brought the rifle near the ocean or salt water, the thought of rust will be niggling away at the back of my brain. Rubbing the obvious parts with some gun oil is easy, no problem, but there are just some areas that won't be easily accessible.
 
Stainless rifles will rust as well. You still have to take care of them they are not like a stainless steel sink. Its not hard to give a gun a while with a rage with some oil on it. Even better get some wax and don't worry about it.
Also just because a gun is blued doesn't mean that as soon as its damp outside its covered in layers of rust. Ive used my blued guns in the rain and snow storms. Takes 25 seconds to while em down.
 
Being from the west coast, Id go with stainless. Yes it does corrode but it is much more resilient than blued steel. To me its a difference of cleaning and drying the gun in camp or doing it when I get home a day or two later. Then again if its a beater then screw it clean it when you got time stainless or not.
 
c.t.smith said:
Being from the west coast, Id go with stainless. Yes it does corrode but it is much more resilient than blued steel. To me its a difference of cleaning and drying the gun in camp or doing it when I get home a day or two later. Then again if its a beater then screw it clean it when you got time stainless or not.
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This is exactly the sentiment I've read expressed everywhere. It's also the same reason why I won't shoot corrosive ammo - I don't want to be forced to clean immediately.
 
superlative said:
everything is relative I suppose. Since there is a readily available alternative (Stainless), then the question is: what's the point of a blued barrel? There will be some parts of the gun that will be hard to get to without taking off the stock - I really can't be bothered going through the trouble. If I went through a rain storm, or brought the rifle near the ocean or salt water, the thought of rust will be niggling away at the back of my brain. Rubbing the obvious parts with some gun oil is easy, no problem, but there are just some areas that won't be easily accessible.
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I think the biggest difference is looks. If you like the look of stainless then that is great. If you like the look of blued then go for it. Some people will make the argument that blued is more concealed for hunting purposes. Also from what I have heard, don't assume those small inner working of the trigger mechanism and such are stainless just because the rest of the gun is. Usually it's all the same on either gun, meaning that the difference is just in the obvious places that are easy to keep clean :) Personally I like real wood for my stocks, and because of this I find the look of blued just goes better. I've got nothing wrong with stainless, but don't assume that it's impervious and blued is a rust magnet. If I lived near salt water then maybe my opinion would vary...
 
Very true about the internals. If they are not majority stainless you may have well just bought a blued gun. I make sure all my internals are stainless or have a heavy coat of oil. Once home I strip the gun of all oil and redo it.
 
If anyone has place a wet gun in a gun case and forgot to deal with it, and pulled it out later one can find some rust spotting... If it's not taken care of in short time it can get a whole lot worse. So the best bet is keep the gun in good condition and it will last a long time.
 
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