stainless steel rifle
- Thread starter hanleyfan
- Start date
Ruger at one time made some polished SS guns. Today I'm not aware of any SS rifles that do not have a matte finish on them. It is the polished surface that reflects light, not so much the color. A matte finished SS gun is actually far less likely to reflect light than the polished blue guns used for centuries.
The dark gray finish of the SS blends in almost perfectly with the gray in the tree. Since it is matte finished, no reflection.
The tape on the muzzle is to keep snow/dirt out of the bore. Spare tape stored on the barrel in case I have a shot. It is not an attempt to hide the SS.
The dark gray finish of the SS blends in almost perfectly with the gray in the tree. Since it is matte finished, no reflection.
The tape on the muzzle is to keep snow/dirt out of the bore. Spare tape stored on the barrel in case I have a shot. It is not an attempt to hide the SS.
http://rs1298.pbsrc.com/albums/ag42/280WCWV/Mobile Uploads/20150130_134015_zpsec020db0.jpg~320x480
I'm with you 45 Auto, so I recently purchased my first SS
I'm with you 45 Auto, so I recently purchased my first SS
I have 4 stainless rifles and though I used spray-on removable bow paint and camo-tape on one, it didn't seem to make any difference. There are no reflections from any of them.
I've hunted with others who had flat-sided, polished/blued shotguns and Winchester 94s that reflected sunlight like mirrors.
I've hunted with others who had flat-sided, polished/blued shotguns and Winchester 94s that reflected sunlight like mirrors.
johnwilliamson062
Moderator
You can get polished stainless barrels.
As already stated the matte finish rifles are not reflective.
As already stated the matte finish rifles are not reflective.
jdMy wifes Ruger is pretty shiny/polished, none of the several deer she has shot with it ever complained or spooked. More chance of spooking one by moving than the light reflecting off the stainless. It would have to be a one in a million reflection to get it just right anyway. Take a small pocket mirror out sometime and from 100 yards away try to get the reflection just right on something, even with a 3 or 4 inch square surface it takes a little work.
Gunplummer
New member
I was sitting on the steep side of a mountain bowhunting and there were some doe below me. The sun was up and bright. I pulled out a pack of cigarettes and the reflection off the celophane wrapper spooked the deer. I guess it boils down to how "Wild" the deer are. I have had one person tell me he spooked a deer with a stainless barrel. I would never hunt with a shiny stocked gun. Whatever works for you.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
I never had a problem in killing a fair number of deer and coyotes with my Weatherby Mark V, and they don't get much shinier than that. 
The reason we wear hunter orange in the hunt is because the deer only see in grey-scale. So they can see contrast between light and dark separations and movement of large patches of grey.
The stainless steel is about the same grey as some of the shadowed snow banks and fall vegetation. What deer are keen to is sudden movement in their environment and smell (wind in your face and not delivering your scent toward their keen sense of smell). The camouflage tape is a great idea and will help divert a flash of your elongated stainless barrel for sure.
The stainless steel is about the same grey as some of the shadowed snow banks and fall vegetation. What deer are keen to is sudden movement in their environment and smell (wind in your face and not delivering your scent toward their keen sense of smell). The camouflage tape is a great idea and will help divert a flash of your elongated stainless barrel for sure.
Gunplummer
New member
An educated deer can pick out orange if outlined against a dark background. Nobody knows what a deer really sees. I remember all the articles saying deer only see black and white. Now it is admitted they see "Some" colors. I had a pet fox years ago and he was scared of anyone walking toward him in camo clothing. I was in a snowstorm leaning against a tree and wearing full camo orange. A button buck walked right up to me and kept looking at my photoray glasses. He got about 6 feet away and then wandered off. I had a large doe do a double take when she glanced at my photorays and then took off. I suspect what we think animals can see is the way they react to something. This reaction is usually dictated by previous experience. When it comes to a deer's sense of smell, it is highly overrated IMO.
Not true. Deer are color blind, as are many humans including my son-in-law. Many people incorrectly assume that means they only see in shades of gray. They see colors, just different colors than people who are not color blind. To most of us red and black are very different. They look exactly alike to my son-in-law. Most other colors he sees exactly the same. He can tell orange from other colors, but it doesn't jump out as being far different from the greens and browns of the forest the way it does with most humans.
Who knows exactly what deer see, but it is pretty well established that orange does not stand out from other colors to them the way it does to most humans. The color of the metal on a rifle barrel isn't nearly as important as the shine that reflects light.