if its cleaned and oiled they'll last forever or untill you wear them out...but the ss is a better surface if your not some one who's a clean nut, I just got my brother a ss black diamond. I think ss is a better finish for hunting were you may not clean a gun for a couple days or if you don't check on a gun for months at a time left in the celler that kind of thing...but you maintain a blued gun you'll never have problems...to me its looks too if I think a blued guns looks better I'd get the blued gun and just work alittle harded at maintaining it...my brother's not a gun guy so I was thinking ss would be better for him...are you someone who enjoys cleaning guns? I hate it its a pain...I got pits on a white mountian because I didn't look at the gun from one season to another...it pissed me off ,so I get ss inlines when I buy them.. because I know myself....ed