stainless steel vs blued

Ardent said:
You gotta deal, would love to try it out, PM inbound- and I too hope they don't rust. :)
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If you send me a part of a barrel or similar large stainless gun part I will put it in an actual Q-Fog corrosion testing machine and subject it to ASTM B-117 Corrosion testing.
 
bcsteve said:
Stainless synthetic all the way!! Blue and wood is for fudds!:D
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Happy to be a "Fudd". There must be a reason Blued Steel and quality Walnut has lasted so long. Is it just because it works and looks good? Or is it because you like plastic Guns that have shiny barrels?
 
USP said:
If you send me a part of a barrel or similar large stainless gun part I will put it in an actual Q-Fog corrosion testing machine and subject it to ASTM B-117 Corrosion testing.
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I would like to see that with blued chrome moly wiped down with CorossionX beside it as well.
 
I left the 2 1/2" piece of the end of my 416 barrel out on the garden over the winter. Snow and rain for several monthe. Not a spot on it. I like the looks of Blued steel and wood best but for serious trips stainless.
 
The Kurgan said:
I find that bluing on modern, lower cost, rifles is poor. Having said all that, the bluing on my higher end rifles, and older rifles, is deep and shiny, and I have no concerns about rust.
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Yes, any rifles I have/had that were from the 60's, 70's or 80's have a much nicer deep, gloss bluing, which only seem to rust if you scratch them though to the metal.

Unless you pay more for good bluing, the matte or satin bluing of today's rifles is just a cheap way of doing it, but they tell you its better because its non-reflective.:rolleyes:
One example of this is the Ruger Hawkeye. The new matte bluing is nowhere near as nice as the MkII or the tang models were...Same with the 700 SPS compared to the BDL. You gets what you pay for.
 
USP said:
If you send me a part of a barrel or similar large stainless gun part I will put it in an actual Q-Fog corrosion testing machine and subject it to ASTM B-117 Corrosion testing.
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PM me your address and I'll send you a couple pieces too. thanks
 
The Kurgan said:
I have to admit that I prefer my stainless rifles over my non-stainless rifles. I find that bluing on modern, lower cost, rifles is poor. Having said all that, the bluing on my higher end rifles, and older rifles, is deep and shiny, and I have no concerns about rust. As others have said, you need to give your rifles some care, and a light coat of oil goes without saying. I also like to add that my oiled walnut stocks have never had an issue, neither have my laminate SKS stocks, in wet conditions. The same goes for my well made and well finished wood stocks of my higher end rifles. All my cheap rifles have plastic stocks, and that's probably a good thing!
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I think the rough surface of some matte bluing is more vulnerable to rust than a polished surface because it tends to retain water to a greater extent, rather than it running off or evaporating quickly. There is also more surface area, on which corrosion can be initiated.
 
I've been on a bit of a stainless/synthetic kick lately, they do have their place.

Years ago before I could drive I used my mountain bike to go coyote hunting, one day on the way home it snowed and they salted the road, I had a slip on sock for the gun but the salt water got all through it. Rust sprouted in many spots on my Marlin 336. I disassembled it as best as I could, cleaned + oiled but it was an ongoing fight for years.

Several times a year I go bunny hunting either just after , or during a wet snow. My 870 would have a fit afterward but the Synthethic/camo 500 takes it in stride. Although a screw in choke did give me trouble in removing.

As said before, they all need love but stainless, synthetic needs less.:p
 
chuck nelson said:
I would like to see that with blued chrome moly wiped down with CorossionX beside it as well.
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x2...This could be an interesting test.

I also agree with what others are saying about older manufactured rifles having a much better finish (blued steel). I currently have and have had older Winchesters, Remingtons, and Mauser factory sporters that held up quite well to inclement weather and they didn't have any rust on them when I acquired them either.
 
I hate S/S! I think they are ugly!!!!!!!!!!! I much prefer a beautiful grained wood stock, and nice blued metal. I have owned three gorgeous rifles like that in my time, that would take your breath away! Now I own none of them. However, the only reason is because I hunt with my guns, and don't have the $ anymore to have seperate range guns. My ex wife is responsible for that. Another story! Lol. One of those guns, bashed the $hit out of a few years ago on a rough hunting trip. I actually felt sick looking at it after. That's why I switched to S/S hunting guns, for the most part. Still have a few that aren't! (after all the court bs with my ex, which I recently won! Yay ,lol,) I had to sell a lot of my firearms. Almost 2/3 of them. So I'm down to the low teens now(not happy about it). Sorry getting off topic! S/S are very practical hunting irons, they will take a lot of abuse, not that reg firearms won't, but if you are going to be hard, or neglectfull of your rifles, then s/s is the way to go. That's just my experience, and opinion.

Dae.
 
shortly after I offered to send samples to Ardent, I gathered a handful of bits to send but promptly forgot about them.

The hectic activity died down and I remembered about them, and this is what they looked like.

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I'll send them off tomorrow, and I have a buddy running his caustic blue tank in the next while, and I will send freshly blued and Eezoxed samples, along with some stainless stuff to USP who has offered to run them through an ASTM corrosion test.
 
In my experience, I really proper the stainless finish to the blued finish on the weatherby vanguard. It's the only stainless rifle I own but the finish is far better looking in my opinion. Any durability benefits are a bonus!
 
Blued Here...All The Way

Y'know, back in the day, I was taught that your rifle had to be cleaned, oiled and maintained religiously. No exceptions.

I taught my son that and he "got it" when I bought two Blued Vanguards. I taught him how to clean, but after a shoot or two, he needed more time for other things, and it became a "do it later" project. Well after a month, we opened up the cabinet to go shooting, and he noticed right away that mine was nice and shiny, while his had "marks" where his prints were and a not so clean barrel. He is as fanatic as I am now.

Regarding the stainless, I am not so sure on the "toughness" of the steel. Had a Ruger target and I set it down to rest against a large boulder. Well, neighbour's husky came out to greet us and bumped the rifle. I slid a little way and the tip of the barrel hit a crevasse on the rock, causing a little "smear". Actually looked like someone had a hot knife and shaved into frozen butter. I was astonished, as I had taken a course in metallurgy, destructive and non-destructive testing and did not expect to see that kind of mark. The accuracy was not affected (it was unreliable from the start) and I continued to shoot, but was bothered by that mark. That was my last stainless I ever bought.
 
Lately nice wood and deep bluing have held my attention much longer than stainless. Stainless barrels take longer to wear out, but I've also heard that stainless actions can wear out more quickly. Seems like six of one, half dozen of the other. I just get blued most of the time, wax it and oil it.

I like laminate stocks and fiberglass lay-ups for stocks if beautiful wood is not in the cards. Plastic is flexible and not my cup of tea.
 
Stainless barrels take longer to wear out, but I've also heard that stainless actions can wear out more quickly. Seems like six of one, half dozen of the other. I just get blued most of the time, wax it and oil it.
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How many barrels do you think that you could burn out, before an action wears out?
 
Nice figured Walnut with blued barrel for the range where you can baby it.
Synthetic S/S for hunting and bashing, no more tears over dented walnut.
 
Just a quick comment on Stainless.

Not certian of the cemistry of the gun barrels but common grades of stainless steel generally have better mechanical properites at much lower temperatures, compared to common grades of carbon steel.

Stainless steel can "rust" if it comes into contact with Carbon steel. It is know as carbon contamination ... it doesn't take much contact between the two, or time to promote a rust like color.
 
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