Stainless Vs Blued
- Thread starter Pack_Wolf
- Start date
Winny Fan
New member
As others have stated, modern stainless steel variants are easier to machine than chrome moly steel.
I bought my first stainless steel handgun (S&W Model 60 38 Special) in 1969 as an early college graduation present to myself to shoot jack rabbits with. The stainless steel S&W Model 60 had been in production since 1965 at that time.
The link is not a live link but if you copy and paste it into your browser, it will show the history of the Model 60
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson_Model_60
I bought my first stainless steel handgun (S&W Model 60 38 Special) in 1969 as an early college graduation present to myself to shoot jack rabbits with. The stainless steel S&W Model 60 had been in production since 1965 at that time.
The link is not a live link but if you copy and paste it into your browser, it will show the history of the Model 60
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson_Model_60
coyote6974
New member
While I will always love the look of nicely polished blued steel in a quality walnut stock, for a hunting rifle, I'll take stainless / synthetic. Anyone who's done much hunting knows there's always going to be that unexpected rain shower, or snow squall that will have water running between the barrel of your rifle and the stock. Makes me nervous with a blued steel rifle, while its no big deal when the steel is stainless, and the stock synthetic.
I had a day a few years ago, in deep winter when the iced over creek I was attempting to cross didn't hold up so well. I went chest deep in the water under the ice before I hit bottom. I slammed my stainless synthetic Remington 700 on the ice and used it to spread my weight as I pushed off the bottom as hard as I could to get myself back up on the ice. As I came out of the water the water came out of the hole and completely engulfed my rifle. Once I managed to crawl off the ice to dry land, I opened the bolt, dropped the floorplate, shook the water out of the rifle, then reloaded and did a stand on the way back to the truck. When I got to the house I took the barreled action out of the stock and let them dry over the baseboard heater in my family room. When things like this happen, stainless / synthetic is a great thing.
Did I tell you about the time I got caught in a thunderstorm that dropped 3 inches of rain while turkey hunting with a blued steel Remington 870? I never did get all the little rusted parts out of the action of that shotgun.
I had a day a few years ago, in deep winter when the iced over creek I was attempting to cross didn't hold up so well. I went chest deep in the water under the ice before I hit bottom. I slammed my stainless synthetic Remington 700 on the ice and used it to spread my weight as I pushed off the bottom as hard as I could to get myself back up on the ice. As I came out of the water the water came out of the hole and completely engulfed my rifle. Once I managed to crawl off the ice to dry land, I opened the bolt, dropped the floorplate, shook the water out of the rifle, then reloaded and did a stand on the way back to the truck. When I got to the house I took the barreled action out of the stock and let them dry over the baseboard heater in my family room. When things like this happen, stainless / synthetic is a great thing.
Did I tell you about the time I got caught in a thunderstorm that dropped 3 inches of rain while turkey hunting with a blued steel Remington 870? I never did get all the little rusted parts out of the action of that shotgun.
Stainless it is,..and I do remember that early stainless had it's problems.
Thanks for the fun thread.
Coyote6974, once I bought a beautiful, blue, 1886 that had a perfect finger print on the barrel. It took away from the finish but I wanted a shooter so I bought it. The chemical etching was blood rust from blood drying on the print. No doubt that this happened a lot in the early days.
Thanks ,
Pack
Thanks for the fun thread.
Coyote6974, once I bought a beautiful, blue, 1886 that had a perfect finger print on the barrel. It took away from the finish but I wanted a shooter so I bought it. The chemical etching was blood rust from blood drying on the print. No doubt that this happened a lot in the early days.
Thanks ,
Pack
Varminterror
New member
Considering the Mark IV pistol...
I'll gladly pay $100 extra for a pistol I know I will use extensively including carry extensively in a holster. The Ruger is NOT expensive enough to really be prohibitive for entry into either model, and knowing how much I shoot Mark I, II, Mark III, and my new Mark IV pistols, I know I'll put wear on a blued gun, a lot of wear, which won't be apparent in a stainless gun.
I'll gladly pay $100 extra for a pistol I know I will use extensively including carry extensively in a holster. The Ruger is NOT expensive enough to really be prohibitive for entry into either model, and knowing how much I shoot Mark I, II, Mark III, and my new Mark IV pistols, I know I'll put wear on a blued gun, a lot of wear, which won't be apparent in a stainless gun.