A few months ago I bought a S&W 44 mag. I was thinking the same as you are now. After a little homework, I found that the blued guns actually cost more than the stainless. Reason being, there are a lot more steps to making them. When a stainless gun is prepared and ready for market a blued gun still has a lot more processes to complete it's finish. Therefore a blued gun's value is higher if the buyer know's his stuff. I'm very happy with my decision to buy a blued 44! Good luck.