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If I lived where you do Deltahunter, I would probably be asking the same thing. Blue guns are for the most part made of Chrommoly steel which is an ideal metal for gun barrels. Bottom line it is stronger and easier to machine. However, it does rust much quicker than the 400 series stainless steel used. 400 series stainles is used to make it easier for the metal detectors to work. 400 series stainless has a small amount of ferrous metal and is magnetic. It is tough to machine, and new bores need a good and gentle break in period. Out here in PHx, Az, I ask why buy a stainless gun.
Almost right.
SS barrel steel is a "free machining" SS. It is made "free machining" by additives (mostly sulphur IIRC) that destroy most of it's anti-corrosion properties. It does machine very easily about the same as chrome-moly, maybe easier? The barrel makers I talk to say that the biggest advantage of the SS is that the blanks are more uniform and so can be more uniformly rifled. It has nothing to do with metal detectors which can easily detect non-magnetic metals.
Jack