Blue VS stainless
I have been looking for a blued Super Blackhawk at my local gunshop. (With no luck I might add!) However he recently got in a nice SS Super Blackhawk. His price is quite good for this gun. I have always liked the looks of the blued guns over the SS. Other than the better resistance to corrosion do SS guns offer any other advantages or disadvantages?? The price is so good I'm really tempted.
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I hunted with a blue Redhawk and a stainless Dan Wesson.
There is no advantage other than the SS not rusting when wet.
I just cleaned the blue one as soon as I could if it got wet or some blood on it.0 -
Stainless is superior for marine use. It will also wear better in a holster. Since the finish will not rub off like blue can. As the name implies stainless has obvious advantages except some glare over blue finish. 0 -
Can be seen by man and beast from distance easier then Blued Steel[:(] Ever tried to look at IRON sights in bright sunlight of stainless pistol [:(!] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by perry shooter
Can be seen by man and beast from distance easier then Blued Steel[:(] Ever tried to look at IRON sights in bright sunlight of stainless pistol [:(!]
In my experience, stainless guns usually still have blued or dark-colored sights, but if not you can always darken them with soot or paint if you like.
Other than appearance (which is subjective) the main two drawbacks of stainless steel are increased cost and potentially increased glare in bright light.
Note that some people think a stainless gun is BETTER for a personal defensive gun since the bright color makes the gun look physically larger and therefore more intimidating.
The biggest practical advantage other than corrosion resistance is that stainless steel guns have no finish to rub, flake, or scratch off.0 -
I have a couple of rifles in highly polished blue that reflect like mirrors in the desert sun. Far more so than matt finish stainless. Just sayin. I much prefer stainless hand guns, and mostly still blue/wood for rifles. Plastic not so much for either. Yeah, Old Fart. 0 -
stainless//can be hidden in a creek if you had too[;)] 0 -
stainless is better, although a lot of guns do look better blued
If it doesn't seem too shine to much for you and you like the price than buy it.
looking at pictures of the stainless blackhawks finish seems to vary a lot though0 -
There is nothing more beautiful in firearms, than a nice deep, dark, highly pollished blued gun, that has highly figured, exhibition grade walnut stocks. That does not pertain to the Ruger SBH.
I have several stainless firearms, and several blued. The corrosion resistance of the SS is obvious, but the material cost more, and the cost of manufacturing is also higher. That gets passed on to the customer.
As far as animals being able to see the color of SS, better than blue...that is horse puckey! It is the surface finish that causes a reflection, than the eye(human or animal) sees at the distance. By the time the animal sees it, if they see it, it is too late for them...dinner plans have been made, and they will be the Entre'.
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Beantown,
quote:To be clear here, just about any stainless gun for "field" use is going to have a matte finish that somewhat subdues glare.
In my mind, the biggest issue with glare isn't that its going to give away your position to a distant animal (though I guess that's theoretically possible), but instead that bright sunlight reflecting off the top of the gun barrel is going to affect your ability to aim.
That is only true, possibly 50% of the time, and when it is true, those are mostly higher end rifles. I have a couple Ruger 77MK-II's that have a real fine finish cut, that almost resembles a high polish, that are stainless...they are the early ones with the skeleton stock.
The biggest issue of glare is with the scopes, which would be reflecting directly at the intended target...that is why most sniper's have filters they put over the objective lens. A lot of predator hunters also use filter's, to help reduce the incinence of reflection.
There are more SS bull barrels in long range benchrest, than I would care to talk about. Savage even markets a few rifles that are F-Class ready out of the box...they are all Stainless.
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To be clear here, just about any stainless gun for "field" use is going to have a matte finish that somewhat subdues glare.
In my mind, the biggest issue with glare isn't that its going to give away your position to a distant animal (though I guess that's theoretically possible), but instead that bright sunlight reflecting off the top of the gun barrel is going to affect your ability to aim.
That's why target shooters virtually never use stainless guns.
Also, for what its worth, it is possible to find some guns in blackened stainless steel.
I believe at one point Smith and Wesson did put out a few revolvers like this. Ruger's SR9 pistol has a blackened stainless steel finish, so there "should" be no reason it couldn't apply the same finish to its revolvers. And Robar offers a stainless steel blackening finish, if you're interested.
Edit: Responding to above. Stupid me, I was assuming we were just talking about handguns here! Yeah, most/all the long range match shooters are using stainless barrels.
Glare in the sighting plane is really only an issue if you're using iron sights, and it applies mainly to bullseye pistol shooters (who are the ones who tend to avoid stainless).
In terms of glare, rifle or pistol, if your barrel is pointed at the target, then its pretty difficult for any light to reflect off the gun to the target, except maybe off the muzzle, which has a pretty limited cross-sectional area.
Glare off the gun giving away your position is more of an issue if you're CARRYING the gun rather than pointing it. This partly explains why most military arms are parkerized, blackened, or otherwise dulled.0 -
Had a friend with this problem and he solved it by having the stainless gun "black chromed". Don't know how it's held up over the years, but it sure was pretty. 0 -
My Ruger GP-100 is stainless. It has target sights that are black notch in rear and front sight is a orange blade. I don't have any trouble aiming it. And as long as you don't shoot from the hip I don't see the glar from the top of the gun affecting my aim[^] 0
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