Stainless vs Blued barrel.
09-19-2009 | 05:51 PM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,050
Likes: 0
From: North Louisiana
Maybe if you leave your stainless gun in the rain for a few weeks it will rust. Stainless won't rust near as easy as blued. I had a friend drop a few .270 bullets one day. I found them a couple of weeks later after at least three days of rain. There wasn't a bit of rust on them. Why, because they had a stainless steel casing. That's why some people buy stainless steel barrels, they don't rust near as easy.
09-19-2009 | 06:13 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,050
Likes: 0
From: North Louisiana
I know stainless can rust, but just not as easy. I think most hunters take care of their guns, afterall, we have a lot invested in them. You may be right about the nickel case. I'll have to check on that.
09-19-2009 | 06:22 PM
#15
Boone & Crockett
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,679
Likes: 0
Unless you are hunting in the NW up into Canada and Alaska there is no need what so ever for the extreme protection of the XCR. For a good many years our fathers, grand fathers, great grand fathers, etc... didn't have stainless steel guns and they did just fine. From the deserts to the Alaska coast they did just fine with walnut and blued steel.
Having said that... stainless is more rust resistant. It isn't rust proof. Stainless will rust if neglected, just not as quickly as chrome moly steel. However, the XCR has an additional coating on top of the stainless steel that makes the rifle virtually rust proof.
Assuming equal quality barrels to begin with a CM barrel is much easier to make accurate than a stainless steel barrel due to it being a softer steel and easier to work with. But the stainless barrel will be more resistant to wear than the CM barrel.
Those cases are nickle plated brass. Not stainless steel.
Having said that... stainless is more rust resistant. It isn't rust proof. Stainless will rust if neglected, just not as quickly as chrome moly steel. However, the XCR has an additional coating on top of the stainless steel that makes the rifle virtually rust proof.
My question is: are blued barrells more acurate than stainless barrells
I had a friend drop a few .270 bullets one day. I found them a couple of weeks later after at least three days of rain. There wasn't a bit of rust on them. Why, because they had a stainless steel casing.
09-20-2009 | 06:42 PM
#17
Spike
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 97
Likes: 0
From: Menlo, Ga.
Stainless will rust and is much harder to get off than blued. It will leave pit marks also if it rust! I hunt with a stainless-synthetic and love it even though it does glare to much, BUT, my next gun I'm going back to blued & wood.
09-20-2009 | 07:04 PM
#18
Fork Horn
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 218
Likes: 0
From: Muscatine Iowa
As far as how long they will last... the stainless will FAR outlast the blued barrel. My cousin bought a Knight muzzeloader with a blued barrel 7 years ago. I bought the same one with a stainless barrel. His barrel lasted him 2 years. Mines still going strong with a minimum of pitting. Very little.
09-21-2009 | 06:31 AM
#19
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,305
Likes: 0
From: Adirondacks
I have one of each.The SS has that dull brushed finish so I doubt it will spook critters any more than a blued barrel.As far as accuracy goes I doubt it makes any difference.For a ML I would go with SS for the extra resistance to rust but I'd get it cleaned ASAP just the same.
