Stainless barrel glare?
 

I have recently purchased a Browning X bolt stainless stalker. Was wondering if dogs and such can see the glare of the barrell? I have noticed on some pics that a lot of people have camo tape on there barrels and scopes. TIA

The X-Bolt Stainless Stalker (I have one in .338 WM) is "matte" = no glare.....

When I use my stainless rifles for coyote hunting I cover the barrel with "vetwrap" usually in a tan or camo color. It takes two minutes to put on, leave absolutely no sticky residue, costs less than $4 a roll, is reusable and doesn't hold moisture.

I would but the average blued and polished chrome moly barrel glints just as much light as a satin stainless barrel.

None of the (dead) coyotes I've shot ever saw any glare from my stainless barrels.

How's that ?

Nuff said.

Its the ones you didn't shoot (or even know about) that saw the glint.

Hows that?

I know there are some more blind ones out there.................


............and I know that the one's that saw me first have much better vision. LOL


It's all good bud - use what ever you'd like.

I'm a BIG fan of stainless steel rifles and handguns. Other than a few heirlooms, 99% of my safe is stainless steel. If a gun can be had in stainless steel, then I prefer the stainless, but obviously not all models can be had in stainless (AR-15's, Glocks, etc).

I use a Stainless steel Marlin guide gun 1985 or a Stainless Ruger Super Blackhawk .44mag for deer in the brush, a Stainless 700 Sendero for Coyotes Stainless barrel Bushmaster AR-15 for coyotes and P-dogs...

I've never had any issue with glare. If I'm deer hunting from a ground position, then I OCCASIONALLY use a homemade ghillie cover for my rifle (to match my ghillie suit), but usually, I don't even bother. I also do have a few BLUED rifles that are gloss blued, which seem to reflect as much or more than any of my stainless guns. Many blued guns are mirror polished, while most stainless guns are NOT (at least rifles, my Ruger Vaqueros are!).

From an engineering standpoint, barrels and receivers (usually) are round, so any reflected light is TECHNICALLY diffused by the rounded surface. Signal mirrors were concave for a reason, they slightly FOCUS reflected light. But a CONVEX surface like a rifle barrel will diffuse the reflected light. So up close, you MIGHT be able to notice a glare (I never have? Other than the FLAT frames of revolvers), but the further you get away, the less concentrated the glare will be.

Easy test to prove it to yourself. Pull the bolt from your rifle for safety, then go afield on a sunny day, then hold the rifle at different angles to a buddy 50yrds away. Have him look for glare... I'd be very confident that you won't see a glare.

As a rule of thumb for me, if I'm rifle hunting in open area, then I don't worry much about camo on my rifle. Think about how big the profile of a rifle is, compared to how much your body covers it. We've all seen the amatuer pics of guys in ghillie suits with an AR-15, the black handguard or receiver are visible the first thing you see, not the barrel. Personally, I think synthetic stocks or dark finished hardwood stocks are much more visible than any barrel.

As others have mentioned, if you're still worried about it, then there are LOTS of options. I've braided synthetic twine covers for barrels (and whole rifles), used camo tape (least favorite), dyed medical gauze, used cut up and tied strips of old bed sheets (tan sheets for grasslands, white sheets for snow camo), etc etc. I'm working on camocoat airbrushed finishes now (after being inspired by one of our other members on here!)

I really hate camo tape... Leaves too much goo behind if you ever take it off, and if I'm going to leave it on, I'd rather it was a permanent option. But it's a stainless rifle, it's beautiful just the way it is!!!

My earlier point was that its not possible for you to know whether it spooks game or not.

paint it or cover it

I believe Nomercy made some good points. In my experience you get busted when you move, not because of glare or something else. I usually hunt with a black stocked model 700 and don't cover it when there is a foot of snow. Never had a coyote bust me until I move to get on him. Movement is the biggest thing IMHO, but I am also a believer in the idea that if doing something makes you more confident it can only make you better, so go for it. If you are worried about glare, cover it up and roll with that confidence!