Blued vs. Stainless against the outdoors
- Thread starter Willie D
- Start date
Everyone should just buy what they like. Blued guns have stood the test of time - take care of them and they will look good for a long time. Stainless guns will also last a long time and need a little less maintenance.
Wood stocks are quite durable - they used them on Garands in WWII and in many other wars. Synthetic stocks are just as rugged and durable, perhaps more.
It all just comes down to personal taste. At some point were are just splitting hairs over nothing.
There really are only a few gun discussions that have merit when it comes to durability. Ex, if you are shooting sporting clays, there really is a difference between a $600 field 12 gauge and a $3,000 12 gauge. If you want extreme accuracy and silk smooth triggers, then you will pay the price for those features.
But, aside from cheaply made handguns and rifles, most quality guns are made to last a long, long, long, long time if properly cared for.
Can you think of any other machine that is likely to be fully functional in 300 years (might need to replace a few springs) than say a well cared for savage 30-06? Some folks pay over $5,000 for a Rolex watch - how many of those do you think will be worth a darn after 300 years?
Wood stocks are quite durable - they used them on Garands in WWII and in many other wars. Synthetic stocks are just as rugged and durable, perhaps more.
It all just comes down to personal taste. At some point were are just splitting hairs over nothing.
There really are only a few gun discussions that have merit when it comes to durability. Ex, if you are shooting sporting clays, there really is a difference between a $600 field 12 gauge and a $3,000 12 gauge. If you want extreme accuracy and silk smooth triggers, then you will pay the price for those features.
But, aside from cheaply made handguns and rifles, most quality guns are made to last a long, long, long, long time if properly cared for.
Can you think of any other machine that is likely to be fully functional in 300 years (might need to replace a few springs) than say a well cared for savage 30-06? Some folks pay over $5,000 for a Rolex watch - how many of those do you think will be worth a darn after 300 years?
It seems to me that on most of my hunting trips I've got either rain running down the cr@k of my @$$ or snow everywhere. Some of the time its up in the mountains with the gear I packed in. It's hard enough to dry yourself and your clothes a bit with the rain coming sideways without turning your rifle like a marshmallow over the fire.
As a southpaw I had to start with used blued guns and moved towards SS and synthetic as funds allowed. A blued gun with wood obviously can work even in the most difficult conditions but I prefer SS and synthetic. I've taken both blued / wood and SS synthetic guns afield for 3 week long trips in AK. There were heavy rains and both survived just fine but I did keep the blue gun in a waterproof more and it was less handy. These were canoe trips not hunting trips.
Lastly I glass bed and free-float my wood stocks and paint the inside of the stock meticulously so all wood is well sealed. In fact my only blued hunting rifle is painted from stem to stern which really helps prevent rust. Honestly I have no use for pretty wood stocks but that's just me. I don't own any hammers with rosewood handles and I own a lot of hammers.
As a southpaw I had to start with used blued guns and moved towards SS and synthetic as funds allowed. A blued gun with wood obviously can work even in the most difficult conditions but I prefer SS and synthetic. I've taken both blued / wood and SS synthetic guns afield for 3 week long trips in AK. There were heavy rains and both survived just fine but I did keep the blue gun in a waterproof more and it was less handy. These were canoe trips not hunting trips.
Lastly I glass bed and free-float my wood stocks and paint the inside of the stock meticulously so all wood is well sealed. In fact my only blued hunting rifle is painted from stem to stern which really helps prevent rust. Honestly I have no use for pretty wood stocks but that's just me. I don't own any hammers with rosewood handles and I own a lot of hammers.
For durability and an almost maintenance free ownership, stainless and composite beat blued and wood hands down.
My stainless Remington 700 is 18 years old, and the most discoloration on it is some marking on the nickel scope from taping camo on it. It's usually shot for zero, used deer hunting, and the stored in it's case uncleaned.
ALL the blued steel guns I have are rusted and need constant protection even stored in the house. They cannot be left in the basement or any room that experiences high summertime humidity, or I will see more speckling the next season no matter what. There is no gun oil that will protect them unused for years of storage. Only a climate controlled dehumidified enclosed safe will do that - which is exactly what an arms room is in the military, or at Cabelas.
Carbon steel rusts, but it's cheap, and as long as consumers keep buying on price, not quality materials, that's exactly what they should expect.
My last purchase was a barrel completely nitrided with matched bolt and bolt carrier, I won't clean it either. It won't rust, just like the knives I've had with that treatment for over ten years of daily carry.
Carbon steel is planned obsolescence and high maintenance.
My stainless Remington 700 is 18 years old, and the most discoloration on it is some marking on the nickel scope from taping camo on it. It's usually shot for zero, used deer hunting, and the stored in it's case uncleaned.
ALL the blued steel guns I have are rusted and need constant protection even stored in the house. They cannot be left in the basement or any room that experiences high summertime humidity, or I will see more speckling the next season no matter what. There is no gun oil that will protect them unused for years of storage. Only a climate controlled dehumidified enclosed safe will do that - which is exactly what an arms room is in the military, or at Cabelas.
Carbon steel rusts, but it's cheap, and as long as consumers keep buying on price, not quality materials, that's exactly what they should expect.
My last purchase was a barrel completely nitrided with matched bolt and bolt carrier, I won't clean it either. It won't rust, just like the knives I've had with that treatment for over ten years of daily carry.
Carbon steel is planned obsolescence and high maintenance.
The above post is absolutely correct. I live in a Camper without air-conditioning from April to November in a humid climate. All summer we have the windows open and the dew comes in at night. I have a Blued 30-06 and a Stainless 10/22 that I keep in it all summer. I have to oil the 30-06 every week, and it still rusts some. The 10/22 will go all summer without rusting. Blued guns in a controlled environment, or oiled constantly is ok, but for a using gun, in a rough environment, I will take stainless any day. As mentioned above, the same holds with knives. My everyday using knife is also stainless.
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If I were a pro hunter or guide, carrying my rifle every day in all manner of climatic conditions, you had better bet that action and barrel would be stainless. Of course, this severely limits one's choices in production DG/safari rifles. Then again, if I were a pro, it would be much easier to justify the cost of a custom rifle in whatever configuration I desired.
But I'm not a pro. I don't carry my rifles every day, and I can afford to spend the time babying them when I'm not shooting. Since my aesthetics tend toward wood stocks and blued actions/barrels, that's what I generally go for - but I also have a goto rifle in stainless/synthetic.
But I'm not a pro. I don't carry my rifles every day, and I can afford to spend the time babying them when I'm not shooting. Since my aesthetics tend toward wood stocks and blued actions/barrels, that's what I generally go for - but I also have a goto rifle in stainless/synthetic.
warbirdlover
New member
Most blued rifles are not made from carbon steel (as in 1040), they're made with chrome/moly alloy steel (as in 4140). (The 10XX designates "plain" carbon steel - no alloys. The 41XX designates the "chrome/moly" alloys. The two last numbers designate the amount of carbon in each ie: XX40 = .40% carbon. Huge strength difference between 1040 and 4140. .22's and small caliber might be made from 1040 but not centerfire rifles that I know of.
The 4140 will rust slower then the 1040 but still fast as it only has .9-1.1% chromium. 400 series stainless steel has 16.0-18.0% chromium. There are stainless steel grades with even more chromium but those are not as strong and aren't used for rifles.
The 4140 will rust slower then the 1040 but still fast as it only has .9-1.1% chromium. 400 series stainless steel has 16.0-18.0% chromium. There are stainless steel grades with even more chromium but those are not as strong and aren't used for rifles.
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For tough conditions get a stainless rifle or one of the Remington XCR's with the Trynite finish. I think blued guns with pretty wood are nice to look at, but when I hit the woods I could care less about pretty guns or what one looks like as long as it will with stand the elements and goes bang when I pull the trigger. Yes I take care of my guns, but on my 2 and 3 week hunting trip excursions I don't want to worry about wiping down guns everyday or rust. I hunt when it is raining and snowing so a durable gun is the ticket for me.
warbirdlover
New member
The trinitrided stainless rifles (T/C and Remington make versions that I know of) will set a new standard for rust protection. You'll have to work HARD at making these rifles rust!!
http://www.remington.com/sitecore/content/Remington/pages/trinyte.aspx
http://www.tcarms.com/firearms/icon_weather_shield.php
http://www.remington.com/sitecore/content/Remington/pages/trinyte.aspx
http://www.tcarms.com/firearms/icon_weather_shield.php
Interesting question, I would say it will all depend on what you will be doing with the rifle. If shooting comp in all weather conditions then use a stainless steel rifle. If hunting it would depend on how you hunt, from a blind or ranges over 200 yards then stainless steel, from a tree stand or stalking then a blued rifle that would less likely give your position away to any game that you would hunt. 80% of my rifles are blued steel and only a few are stainless and they are all silicon treated every 4 months or so.
Get what you like the most.
Jim
Get what you like the most.
Jim
If the rifle is to be shot a lot at the range, but hunted rarely in bad conditions rarely, get a chrome-moly receiver, because they withstand wear better than stainless.
My Stainless receiver is battered where the bolt opens against the stop after only a few years, but I also have a 1983 vintage, Rem 700 chrome-moly receiver that shows NO wear at that point. I was told by an armorer that's why there are few stainless receivers on range rifles, though there are many with stainless barrels.
I just had a stainless barrel installed on my blued action. Looks cool in the wood-stocked, pillar-bedded rifle.
JP
My Stainless receiver is battered where the bolt opens against the stop after only a few years, but I also have a 1983 vintage, Rem 700 chrome-moly receiver that shows NO wear at that point. I was told by an armorer that's why there are few stainless receivers on range rifles, though there are many with stainless barrels.
I just had a stainless barrel installed on my blued action. Looks cool in the wood-stocked, pillar-bedded rifle.
JP
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
For a hunter, I haven't found any accuracy difference between stainless and blued. Sub-MOA is easy with either. For aesthetics I prefer blued/walnut. So what? If I were hunting regularly in an area with a damp or wet climate I'd likely go with stainless.
I've hunted in bad weather, although not all that often--but God invented WD40 to deal with that.
Shiny barrel? If that's a real problem, hey, Dollar General sells cans of spray paint, real cheap.
I've hunted in bad weather, although not all that often--but God invented WD40 to deal with that.
Shiny barrel? If that's a real problem, hey, Dollar General sells cans of spray paint, real cheap.
I agree 100%, Art. Some see a rifle as just a tool, and in that context a stainless rifle in a platic stock makes perfect sense.
I see rfiles as works of art and a connection to my father and grandfather who tought me how to shoot. I still hunt with their old Remingtons and Winchesters. To me a rifle is blued steel and walnut. I like carrying my old-fashioned rifles into the field and to the range. I don't mind at all the extra care it takes. I see them as more than just a tool to get a job done.
I see rfiles as works of art and a connection to my father and grandfather who tought me how to shoot. I still hunt with their old Remingtons and Winchesters. To me a rifle is blued steel and walnut. I like carrying my old-fashioned rifles into the field and to the range. I don't mind at all the extra care it takes. I see them as more than just a tool to get a job done.
warbirdlover
New member
There was a good point made. Stainless steel "dings" easier then chrome/moly. Wears better but dings (dents) easier. Now the trinitrided ones won't ding any worse then chrome/moly. Probably alot less. It's a HARD case.