Stainless Steel

[Brian in Montana]

I've never owned a rifle with a stainless barrel, and I've never been entirely convinced its worth the extra expense. I do have the new rifle bug, I'm intending to join the 7mm-HT club, so I was wondering if you guys would recommend stainless and why. Convince me.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I like the looks of them. I'll be picking up a Model Seven SS 7-08 pretty soon.

 

[belshawelk]

I think it depends where you hunt. I am in Oregon and hunt the mountain states. Always rain , snow, mud and nasty stuff. My stainless rifles look great , my blued ones show wear. When you hunt in the mountains your always rubbing or bumping trees. I feel the stainless holds up better to scratches than blued. My 2 cents. Cerakote is another great option.

 

[Muleyfanatic]

I like stainless because while it will rust it resists it much better than just steel. I don’t clean my rifles bore around hunting season which may be a couple months unless something drastic happens as I always tape end of barrels. The inside of barrel is just as prone to rust as outside. I do like cerakote also even on stainless just for appearances if nothing else.

 

[Don Fischer]

I like stainless because while it will rust it resists it much better than just steel. I don’t clean my rifles bore around hunting season which may be a couple months unless something drastic happens as I always tape end of barrels. The inside of barrel is just as prone to rust as outside. I do like cerakote also even on stainless just for appearances if nothing else.

Carakote. Is that the stuff Remington put on their stainless barrel's years ago?

 

[mtmuley]

Carakote. Is that the stuff Remington put on their stainless barrel's years ago?

Remington's coating is called Trinyte. It was on the XCR rifles. Some say it is superior to Cerakote, but proprietary to Remington I bet. I like stainless and synthetic. I tend to hunt my rifles, and don't need wood getting scratched or blue getting rusted. mtmuley

 

[Tikka06]

I have both but the stainless rifles tend to go hunting and the blued rifles tend to stay at home. My first stainless gun was a Remington 7 in 7-08 and at 20 years old it is still getting it done and looks pretty good for the mileage. I will however be carrying the old marlin 30-30 this year a few times, for nostalgia's sake.

 

[sneakypete]

I have a Winchester model 70 extreme weather 7mm its very accurate.

 

[nrpate05]

I think stainless is worth it. I like to be able to not worry about wiping my rifle down and making sure everything is dry before putting it away during a hunt. If you're diligent about it keeping it dry a blued rifle you'll most likely be fine. If you get dings in the barrel, however, the rust can start very quickly.

 

[MJE2083]

In my experience the polished stainless seems to be more rust resistant than the brushed matte stainless. I've had 2 rifles with the matte stainless and they both had some small rust spots

 

[MTorWY]

Stainless is also a harder metal than blued steel, so you'll get longer barrel life out of it if that's something you're concerned about.

 

[mikieb]

I prefer stainless... when it gets wet from inclement weather I just don't care.

Remember, when you use regular steel to make a barrel... you can blue it, paint it... Cerakote it... or what ever... and that protects the outside of the gun just fine, but the inside of the chamber, and barrel are just raw, unfinished steel and are exposed to humidity and wet weather.

 

[Boarmaster]

I have a rem 700 xcr2 stainless with the black trynite coating. For me its the best of both the black finish which I really prefer and the durability of stainless. Additionally I have both blued steel , matte steel and non coated stainless. I find the matte regular steel to be the most prone to rust if you dont take care of it or are unable to care for it. I believe if your looking durability and ease of care the stainless is worth the extra money. In the end its still is about the quality of the finish on the product your buying as to how it will hold up.

 

[375H&H]

Stainless is actually not a harder metal than blued carbon steel...BUT nothing can compete with it for corrosion resistance. All my mountain rifles are stainless synthetic as they are basically impervious to the elements (or as close as you can get). Any coating you put on a barrel can be worn through, but with stainless the properties are the same all the way through the metal.

 

[LCH]

I bought a stainless 700 off a fellow Hunttalker here a few months ago. It had been heavily used, lots of scratches and the barrel and bottom metal had a pretty dull finish. 20 minutes with some fine grit sandpaper and Mothers mag-wheel polishing compound and it looks as good as new.

Most of my rifles are blued steel, and work fine for most midwest and western hunting. The stainless comes out in inclement weather, or hopefully when I draw that SE Alaska bear tag I put in for.