Which do you prefer? Is stainless really that much better than blued? To get exactly the gun I want I have to either go blued or have stainless custom made - something I can't afford. I can get what I want in blued somewhat reasonably. But it has to last the rest of my lifetime and I would like it to last well into my kids. I worry a lot about blued and powder residue.
What do you think?

Stainless is nice. I have one stainless (the X7) and a whole bunch of blued. Blued guns have been around for a mighty long time and hold up just fine with reasonable care.

Personally, if the prices are close I would probably go with stainless. But I sure wouldn't pay a high premium just to get stainless.

i prefer stainless over blued. Seems to clean up easier and easier to spot any corrosion or rust. The only barrels that ive ever had corrode even after cleaning were blued.

I have one gun in my collestion that is stainless, a Ruger Mark II target pistol...The rest are all blued and I have owned some since the 70s...None have rust, clean and oil properly and you will have no problem...

Blued. It will last as long as you take care of it. I've had my Hawkins for over 20 years and there's not a speck of rust on it, inside or outside. And I worry about light reflection off of stainless when hunting.

I own both and have not seen rust or corrosion on either. If I find find the right gun for the right price, doesn't matter if it is blued or stainless, I am buying it. The biggest advantage to stainless is it is easier to see when it is not clean. That said, it still needs to be cleaned and while might take longer to corrode, it will still corrode. Look close while cleaning, take care of your gun and it does not matter.

The above post have summed it up quite well.

I have blued guns from the 70"s. They looks like new but I clean and oil them after I use them. My SOP is to wipe all surface areas down with an oiled rag as I put it away. I'm careful not to leave fingerprints on the blueing.

Personally, I prefer the look and feel of a blued barrel.

just remember that stainlees is not corrosion proof,i bought a stainlees gun off gun broker that came with a gray looking bore.when cleaning i could not get a clean patch so i put up in the to see and saw specks in the bore.so out came the solvent and a brass brush,the more i scrubed the worse it looked.300 strokes of JB helped a little but the pitting can still be felt when loading.one of these days i'll try to make a slug and lapp the the bore with diamond paste......karl

Good question, but I have another litlle spin to it. When it comes to match shooting or any competition shooting what do they use?

I prefer stainless. I like the looks and feel better. I have hunted with stainless forever and have not had any issues with glare. I think a high gloss blued barrel actually shines a lot more in the woods than a stainless.