Stainless vs. Blued

Given the choice I prefer

  • stainless

    Votes: 118 57.8%

  • blued

    Votes: 86 42.2%
  • Total voters
    204
  • Poll closed .
I always look forward to your posts/pictures Mr. Wright. You have a beautiful collection, and know how to compose a good picture.

I didn't really think about where the popular "black paint" finish most semi-autos come clad in lies on the spectrum - which is odd, because that's what most of my guns actually are. Oddly, I don't actually care for the aesthetic of bi-tone guns, so when buying polymer framed pistols I do wind up choosing black paint over stainless. However, I don't think of it as my favorite gun finish. It's just what - to me - looks "right" on my fantastic plastic.

Anyway, a lot of good reasoning both ways. The results are actually a lot closer than I would have expected thus far.
 
For me it is a toss-up. I like the rust resistance of SS and the appearance of polished blue, especially on "safe queens" but also on fired handguns, e.g., those shown by Mr. Single Action (Bob Wright). Blue is beautiful if it is cared for and signs of wear are not flaws - they are signs of appreciation of your blue handgun.
 
Yeah....I carry my guns.

My blued guns tend to look well-used after six months or less of carry.
I really hate turning a good-looking gun into something that looks abused in such a short period of time.

Yes, I can get it re-finished...and then do it again six months later.

Sounds really stupid, doesn't it?

If you drive a $30,000 car, do you throw rocks at it every night, so you can re-paint it every six months?

My blued guns generally sit in the safe. Or, as in the case of my current EDC, an S&W 1911PD, it will be getting re-finished soon...after about six months of carry.

And that really ticks me off...so it will probably go into the safe. Which is a crying shame, because it is a great carry gun. Maybe I can get it hard chromed.
 
I have to say I fall into the "depends on the gun" school of thought. I own both and would not hesitate to buy either type. I especially like the looks of a deep blued SA a la some of Mr. Wright's great collection. Stainless really works for a field gun for me, though.
 
Some classic guns like the Colt snake revolvers and GI-pattern 1911s look proper in blued steel.

For nearly everything else, stainless is easy-maintenance and looks sharp. What's not to love?

I think the idea of your gun being spotted because it's stainless is a silly one. If you're properly concealing that doesn't matter, and if you're open carrying it doesn't matter either. We're not spies in Cold War Moscow.
 
I prefer color cased, then blued, then stainless for looks.

Now if I was in salty, coastal or rainy climes I'd go with stainless every time.

Stainless all look the same but one stands out; the premier grade Freedom Arms has a bright warm satin sheen noticeable on the barrel that took some special work.

And then there is nickel which is pretty but flakes after many decades. I have a couple of Colt SAA in nickel that have mammoth ivory and they look better than if they were blued/cc. I also have 2 Colts that are electroless nickel, a Python and a Diamondback and I love them because they are both gorgeous and novel.
 
I don't mind stainless, I own a few such guns. But I prefer blue by far.

I've never had any issue with rust, and I carry daily in the warm, muggy southeastern US. In fact, I've done yard work all day and sweated all over guns like my S&W Model 19 and Ruger Police Service Six and neither ever showed the slightest hint of rusting or pitting. Granted, I wiped them down good at the end of the day.

On the other hand, some folks experience rust if they hold a blued gun out the window of their desert home.

I keep a light coating of oil/silicone on mine. Perhaps that is what makes the difference.
 
In the early days, I bought everything in blue. As a result, I ended up with quite a number of blued handguns...mostly revolvers. As my tastes and shooting habits evolved, though, I found myself gravitating to stainless guns for their ease of use and maintenance.

I'm one who enjoys keeping my guns in like new condition, no matter how old or how much use they might have seen. I've found that this is much harder to do with blued guns, without occasional refinishing.

Recently, I've been selling off my blued revolvers and keeping the stainless ones. With rare exception, such as a Desert Eagle 1911G, I buy only stainless guns these days. I've even had a few blued or parkerized guns refinished in hard chrome. In cases where I have only one blued gun of a certain type, I'll either sell it or buy an alternate stainless model, and retire the blued gun.

I recently sold a Colt Python and a Trooper MKIII, both in blue, which left me with a blued Ruger Security Six and a S&W 686 as my only .357's. I won't sell the Ruger for sentimental reasons, so I found and bought an older stainless GP100 in great shape to give me another .357 to shoot.

I still love and appreciate the beauty of a blued handgun, but I like looking at them now better than I like shooting them.
 
Blued 90% of the time. Some people act as if hard use was invented when stainless firearms were. My blued guns get used and used hard. As has been the case for centuries before stainless steel. If your blued guns look like they need refinishing after six months, I'd have to wonder what you're doing wrong.
 
Orionengr said:
My blued guns tend to look well-used after six months or less of carry.
I really hate turning a good-looking gun into something that looks abused in such a short period of time.
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And:

If you drive a $30,000 car, do you throw rocks at it every night, so you can re-paint it every six months?
Click to expand...

What in the World are you carrying them in that beats them up so badly? I have a Bob Mernickle leather holster that I've carried my Ruger in for two years and it only shows a little character wear. And my Smith Model 19 has been carried for about ten years in a leather Don Hume holster and looks very good.

No, I don't throw rocks at my car (not a $30,000 one, by the way) but I do take care of it. Same with my guns.

Bob Wright
 
Stainless looks silly! For newbies!
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Maybe your talken "nickel plated"- which is ridiculously shiny.
My stainless is more of a dust coat.

Stainless is much easier maintenance-wise and on most occasions more weather/ corrosion and oil resistant. My first purchases were blued. My most recent stainless semiauto I've picked up is much easier to clean in comparison to the others which were blued.
 
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I've got a couple of stainless guns, but I got them in spite of the fact they were stainless, not because of it. Give me a blued gun any day of the week.

I know stainless is more rust resistant but I've never had a rust problem with a gun and all I do is wipe them off with an oily rag once in a while.
 
Depends on the gun for me. Blued, SS, cerakote, anodized. I own them all. For me its more of the workmanship in the machining. If a gun is black or coated I tend to question the workmanship more than with a SS or Blued that I can see tool marks and polishing marks. As long as they arent plastic theyre all good.
 
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