Blue vs. Stainless

[lagrangian]

Newbie here...

I was wondering what the pros and cons are of a stainless finish gun vs. a blue finish gun? I imagine that in some way stainless is better, since models that differ only in stainless vs. blue seem to have stainless be more expesive.

 

[JonJ]

Where I work, some of the older guys loved the stainless because to clean it "you just gotta put it in the dishwasher". No lie...

Stainless doesn't wear like a blued finish, they look nice because they're shiny, stainless won't rust.

 

[USMA-82]

The blued finish is really delicate compared to stainless. Repeated holstering for example, will quickly create wear marks on the finish. And once the wear marks are there, all you can do is tolerate it - unless you want to try a cold blue "touch up", which usually looks like crap, or have the entire gun re-blued, which is relatively expensive. Either way, you detract from the "collector value" of the gun by not leaving it in its original condition.

Stainless, on the other hand, can take a beating and still look great with a little buffing and polishing. Because it's tougher, you can use products like lead-removal cloth (also great for carbon build-up) on stainless, that would ruin a blued gun.

Of course, this is all considering the matter from a cold, purely unemotional point of view. There's just something beautiful about the blued gun that makes it more desirable than the same gun in stainless.
Maybe it's the historical appreciation for the older, blue gun. Do you choose the brand new Cobra Mustang, or the Shelby Cobra of the 60's?

Fortunately, like everything else - variety is the spice of life. Be sure to own a number of examples of each, and stay happy!

 

[M1911]

stainless won't rust.

Actually, it is called "stain-less", not "stain-proof." That is, stainless can rust. You have to really neglect it for that to happen, but it can. That extra rust resistance is the big advantage over a blued gun.

Note that there are many dark finishes. Traditional blued finishes are relatively poor at rust resistance. The Tenifer treatment that Glock uses has excellent rust resistance. Most of the other dark finishes are somewhere between those two extremes.

 

[KMaurer]

As a general rule, stainless is also slightly heavier than carbon steel. For example, looking at standard Caspian 1911 frames, the carbon one weighs 11.9 oz, compared to 12.2 for the stainless, with the more expensive titanium only 7.3 oz.

Ken

 

[Executive]

Anyone who owns a boat will back up M1911's statement that stainless will, in fact, rust if neglected. Do a little research on SS and you will see varying alloys, hardnesses, and finishes. Bottom line, however, is that SS is easier to care for and tends to last longer in firearms. That said, as stated above, your can't beat the classic look of a finely blued gun. Everyday carry or weekly range shooter: get SS
Collection piece or investment: go blue.

Good luck.

Chris

 

[mark056]

Jon,

This old guy has cleaned stainless guns in his dishwasher. It works and I really think any concerns about lead poisoning or anything of that nature is greatly exaggerated. Back in the 70's some gunwriters even advocated it as an expedient method for cleaning. Remember that hot water and soap are considered legitimate cleaning media for black powder firearms.

Stainless will rust, I have seen rust on stainless steel, however it is less likely to rust, but one still has to take care of a stainless firearm. Extra care has to be taken with a blued firearm especially if one: lives in a humid climate, carrys the weapon close to one's body, or has extremely acidic perspiration.

Stainless will scratch easier in my experience. Certain special operations done by military and police, preclude the use of brightly finished firearms, especially when operating in a nighttime enviornment.

I have blue, stainless, and nickle plated firearms in my battery. I like 'em all. I have a special fondess for what is now becoming obsolete: nickle plating. Nickle is not as durable as stainless and will peel. I was probably a pimp (or a lady of easy virtue :? ) in a past life . A friend of mine has a Baby Browning .25 ACP that is nickel plated with faux mother of pearl grips, damn I love that gun ! The trigger is gold plated too.

Mark

 

[Moderator]

Stainless will rust, I have seen rust on stainless steel, however it is less likely to rust,

Just wanted to add that yes stainless can corrode, but certain types or grades of stainless are far more likely to corrode then others. Also in some cases people think that when they see rust on stainless it is the stainless that rusting, but in reality it is other foreign object(s) on the stainless that is corroding.

 

[C-pher]

I like Powder and dura coats....

But yes, some guns just look good blued. And some are hot in stainless.

I'm not going to beat to death what everyone has said above.

But I never thought of cleaning my guns in the dishwasher. Makes sense though...I wonder what my wife will say.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

When I was working as an armored car guard, I started out with a blued Ruger Security Six. I wore it, exposed in a police style rig, ten to twelve hours a day, and climbed in and out of the truck all day in all kinds of weather.

Eventually, in an effort to ease my maintenance chores, I bought a stainless steel version of the same gun.

After about a year of the above kind of abuse, I found traces of rust in the hammer groove on the frame where rainwater had pooled.

It IS possible to make a stainless alloy that just will not rust, but such an alloy won't machine worth a damn. When you change the alloy to make it usably machinable, you have an alloy that is highly rust resistant, but not rust proof.

Rust resistance is tested by placing sample materials in a test chamber where it is sprayed with a standard saline water mist.

Ordinary polished chrome moly gun steel placed in the test chamber shows ruat after only half an hour.

When BLUED, it shows rust after an hour.

Parkerized, it shows rust after two hours.

Stainless steel gun alloy shows rust after 60 hours.

Electroless nickel and hard chrome finishes are in that ballpark. I forget which is which, but one went 50 hours and one went 70.

Robars' NP3 went 300 hours.

NP3 on a stainless steel gun should be damn near indestructable, at least from a rust point of view.

Regards
John

PS: BTW, Ayoob has speculated that, while military commandos and police SWAT officers may need dark guns, the AVERAGE citizen carrying for self defense would be better served by the high visibility of a bright gun. YMMV, of course.

 

[Weerd Beard]

I think stainless steel is DAMN pritty on top of all of that.
Shiney, but not BLING BLING CHROME shiney.

I like that!

Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard