I'd take caliber choice just as seriously if not more so than the color of the barrel. You're choosing between very different cartridges though either would do the job. I would say it depends on you skill level, comfort with recoil, desire to plink, and pocket book.

Tom

I currently hunt with a Rem 700 BDL 30-06 with no pad and a Marlin 30-30(very minor recoil). Flinching isnt an issue with me, i just cant shoot more than a box at the range because it isnt friendly on the shoulder(dislocated twice in past). Im in favor of the big rounds and enjoy shooting them, but my shoulder will be sore the next day if I shoot more than a box of the larger rounds. The hunting will most likely be at distances between 100-400 yards max because im not comfortable shooting at game at any distance greater than 400 yards(nothing against it, Im just not skilled enough to bewilling to take a chance on a bad shot).i hear 300 win mag is more accurate but 308 isnt as brutal and has similar ballistics so i was just interested in those two rounds. If anybody has pro's or cons for one or the other im more than willing to listen.

Cosmetics aside, if you are shooting a fairly overbore caliber you want a stainless barrel. The throat erosion appears different, through the bore scope, on stainless. It looks kinda like a mud puddle that dried up and left a pattern of flat areas with check cracks in between. A CM (blued) barrel's throatlooks like a gravel road or rough sandpaper under the scope. Both types of steel will exhibit throat erosion over a certain number of rounds, but the stainless will usually hold its accuracy a little longer - like maybe 25% or so. If the rifle in question is a standard caliber like .308 or .223, there doesn't seem to be any meaningful difference in accurate barrel life. And there is quite a bit of evidence out there to suggest that the CM barrel can hold up to poor barrel maintenance a little better than stainless.