Stainless vs Blued Barrel

W

walleyeman

New member
In am thinking of getting a Remington 700 SPS but am not sure if I should get the stainless or the blued? I do not know much about the stainless versions and am looking for the pros and cons. I want to get it in a .204 Ruger. Hope to use it on coyotes and smaller critters.

Thanks for the info
 
Good choice in gun. Up scale on stainless , less likly to rust, down side its shinny, Blued likly to rust, does not shine. Then you have to look at camo tape yes or no? Oh ya good caliber, its fur freindly just have to watch your load and bullet, i'm having to learn the hard way, trial and error. If you want a show of gun go stainless, if you want a practicle gun go blue.
 
If you have the money for the SS, then buy that, you will always get it back if you sell it. Most of my guns have SS barrel if not a SS action too, as long as you don't put a silver scope on top, it actually break-up real well. A dull SS finish looks grey at a distance
 
Go for the Stainless. You can always wrap it in vet tape that comes off and doesn't leave a sticky residue.

As an old traditionalist, I always preferred the blue, but the maintenance and potential rust factor has swayed me away from them for hunting rifles.
 
Blued shine just as much as stainless. The Rem stainless is sort of a "blasted" finish, it is not shiny, at all. Anyone who has a blued gun, rust, in other than a marine(salt water)environment needs to spend less time on the computer and more time with an oily rag. Winter time Elk hunts here in the northwest I might wipe my rifle off 4 or 5 times a day.
CD
 
To my eyes a blued rifle shines and reflects way more than a bead-blasted stainless rifle. The finish on the SPS looks gray to me and blends into most situations better than blued rifles.

For the weather resisitance, slightly better barrel life, and resale value, I'd go stainless
 
I don't think SS bbls last any longer than Chrome moly (blued bbls). SS is usually more accuate due to ease of machining not corrosion resistance. I feel a good chrome moly bbl will actually last longer than SS if taken care properly. Most factory SS bbls look better(smoother) thru the bore scope than do Chrome moly(lots more machine marks). My opinion is if your going factory bbl go SS but if you go custom I wouldn't be afraid of chrome moly in the hands of a reputable smith. RR
 
Quote:
I don't think SS bbls last any longer than Chrome moly (blued bbls). SS is usually more accuate due to ease of machining not corrosion resistance. I feel a good chrome moly bbl will actually last longer than SS if taken care properly. Most factory SS bbls look better(smoother) thru the bore scope than do Chrome moly(lots more machine marks). My opinion is if your going factory bbl go SS but if you go custom I wouldn't be afraid of chrome moly in the hands of a reputable smith. RR



Right on!!!

Good posting.

Don
 
Welcome to the board WM! I doubt you will ever shoot the barrel out of either one unless you are some serious PD shooter! I like the SS but not gonna matter that much. Let me know when you shoot it out.
 
One thing not mentioned about stainless is it is much more tolerant of salts and other harmful chemicals than blued barrels, I had a house fire several years ago more smoke than any thing else but all my blues rifles had to be replaced, the smoke and steam created an extreamly caustic atmospher that corroded the barrels inside and out I didn't have a real safe then just a securaty cabinet my stainless rifles came through with nothing but a coating of soot that wiped off all the blued rifles were destroyed sinc ethe insurace company would not rebarrel them but would replace them. Problem was some of them had more value to me than the acctual price.
 
I have a 25-06 in stainless and have yotes within 8 feet of the barrel. Me moving is what freaked them out not the color of the barrel. However when I bought the 22-250 this year I learned why I like stainless, it doesnt rust. My 250 got a couple little drops from somewhere and it rusted on the barrel.

Mad as all heck, so now I am looking for a new blueing agent I can do at home.

Mike
 
Mike,

Try 44/40 cold blue. Brownell's, and maybe a few others carry it.
I use a rubbing alcohol to degrease it, and then apply a little on a QTip.

Nice long term blue.

Stainless is nice, and I prefer it for heavy hunting conditions...holds up well, but not always available on various guns.
Carbon/ChMoly steels, such as in blued guns, are more durable as far as barrel life, but with today's stainless steels, it's not as bad as it once was.

A great compromise is a chromoly steel barrel that's been externally coated with Armoloy, or other baked on finish.
Satin nickel plating works well, but a barrel will rust (slightly) through it's pores.

Take care,
Bob
 
A couple years ago I had a mini 14 re-barreled with a Douglas SS varmit barrel. Douglas Barrels INC. also sent along the following statement, some may find it of interest.

Dear Customer:
This is a STAINLESS STEEL rifle barrel, made of type 416 straight chrome stainless steel. It will not blue by ordinary methods, or any other that I know of unless, the barrel is plated with some metal that will blue the ordinary way. This stainless contains aobut 14% chromium, but does not contain any nickel. It might not be completely rust proof under extreme conditions of salt, or strong acids. The use of this steel by me, is primarily for the purpose of extending barrel life, which we believe it will do, and not for its stainless charactieristics.
This barrel also is a HEAT TREATED stainless, running around 28 to 30 Rockwell "C," before it is ULTRARIFLED and then stress relieved after rifling, to around 25 Rc. in hardness. Now here is a matter you must watch with any stainless barrel. A GOOD STAINLESS BARREL CAN BE DAMAGED BY A POOR CLEANING ROD!!!! Stainless steel, while in many instances actually harder by hardness test, DOES NOT HAVE THE SCRATCH RESISTANCE, that a chrome-moly barrel will have of equal hardness. This scratch resistance quality, therefore, that NO STAINLESS BARREL HAS ON AN EQUAL WITH A CHROME-MOLY BARREL, is a matter of utmost importance, if your good stainless barrel is to be kept undamaged. Always inspect your cleaning rods for the presence of burrs, bends, or other damage that might abrade or scratch the inside of your stainless barrel. If you rod is a jointed one, be sure that the joints screw up well, and that there are no burrs at these points. NEVER CLEAN ANY BARREL FROM THE MUZZLE END, if it can be cleaned at all from the breech end.
If you use a wire bristle brush in a stainless barrel, do so with care, so see that the brush fits well on the rod, without bends, or burrs that might scratch the inside of the barrel. REMEMBER, a stainless barrel can actually register harder than a chrome-moly barrel, but be much less SCRATCH RESISTANT.
If you doubt all this, or have never heard of if before, ask your favorite metallurgist about it.
Douglas Barrels, Inc.
 


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