Blued vs Stainless?

[Walter45Auto]

I like stainless, especially for a carry gun I'm gonna be sweating all over.

[Headknocker]

Headknocker, What'd you do with that front sight band on the Mark II?  Looks copper...  Just a reflection?

Yeah that's just a reflection of all the brass that the gun is laying on..

I don't have many pics of this great plinker but here's one of it with my 10/22 "Stealth" before I changed the grips from the eagle Rosewood to the Rubber Hogues..

"Stealth 10/22" & MKII Target

[badbob38]

I have both, there all 44spls and each one has a place in my safe. I take them all out and give them just what each one of them need.  They all are wheelguns and made by S&W. Two of them are over 40 years old and I got them new and they still look new.

[billt]

I have several Stainless Steel guns, and prefer them to anything else. It took a while for Stainless to "grow" on me. When they first started appearing they had an unfinished look to them. Now I think they really look good. Especially the polished Stainless Ruger is putting on the new Vaquero's. I'm amazed they can sell them for what they do. That kind of polishing has to be done by hand, as there is no real way to automate it.

I don't use Scotchbrite to touch up Stainless. It is a bit rough. If a had a gun that was severely scratched I might give it a go, but I use Flitz Metal Polish. It removes very little material, but really brightens up the whole piece to better than new condition. Simichrome Polish is another good product for this. Here in Arizona rusting is not an issue, but I still prefer Stainless if I have the choice. I have 2 Ruger Stainless Super Redhawks. One is in .44 Magnum, and has the bright brushed Stainless finish. The other is in .454 Casull and has the Ruger dull "Target Grey" finish which I don't particularly care for. To me it just looks dull, and there is no way you can touch it up.

Stainless Steel is "gummy", and lacks the natural lubricity carbon steel has, and because of this you have to keep Stainless Steel very well lubricated or else parts can gall easily. This is especially true of high stress points like bolt lugs on bolt action rifles, and trunnions on over and under shotguns. In spite of this fact I still prefer Stainless Steel to any of the coatings currently being used in the firearms industry, with the only exception being Tenifer used by Glock. It simply has no current equal.  Bill T.

[tombogan03884]

Bill, Try the Gray or white Scotch brite pads, they are much finer than the Brown, Red, or Green .

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