The same firearm. Rifle or handgun.
Equal in all other respects.
Everything being the same with the only difference being Stainless steel or Blued or black oxide Carbon steel or any other surface finish on Carbon steel.
Would you personally choose Stainless or the "other" and why? - if you want to...give a reason.
I'd go with stainless, but would not be against applying a proper finish or treatment to it for guns to be used where a reflection or shine would be suboptimal. I love the fact that you can do custom work on a stainless gun and you don't need to have it re-blued, and I can definitely see the benefit to having a duracoat type finish over stainless vs. carbon steel.
Before my retirement I spent 30 years as a machinist/mechanic in the food manufacturing business. Everything is stainless in this business. Tightening fittings to stop leaks, galling was always a problem. We seldom used nuts and bolts after once being used because of this problem.
With this being said, I get teased all the time because I like a little "bling" in my firearms. I choose stainless. The only weapon I have that is plain is my Glock.
It actually doesn't make much difference to me. All of mine are 'dark' with the exception of my stainless slide on the P220R. If I was choosing between two side by side of the same model pistol, and no difference in price-----------I'd go for the 'non-shiny' one. Having stainless to me wouldn't lessen my care and maintenance of it anyway. As with anything else, stainless has it's pros and cons-the weight of either depends on one's priorities.
It depends what type of firearm you are buying.I have a ruger security -six that's 25 years old that looks like new and a marlin 60 that's around 10 years old same thing. I think it hides nicks ,dings better.There are better experts on this board than me I am sure they will chime in as this is my opinion as I would not want stainless finish on all my firearms as it's a change of pace for me.
depends on gun style for me. I like my shotgun black, but the stainless would be cool. Handguns have been black in auto and stainless in revolver, but then I broke my own rules when I got my taurus 7 shot revolver black and my xd 45 auto in bi-tone. Not really worried about stainless flashing being it's ccw, home defense duty and range.
It really would depend on the use. I have stainless pistols but no stainless rifles.
It also depends on the enviroment that it is to be carried. Stainless means just that it 'stains less', it is still subject to rust just not as quick. To me it really makes no differance as long as it gets the job done. I am not a sniper or countersniper so I don't worry that much about reflection. I will say that a Stainless gun looks bigger the a black one of the same size, it is a perception thing, Just as a blackone looks more evil.
All of my guns are either black or blued except for 2. One is satin nickel, the other is a dual tone. Since it is running 18 black/blue to 2 other. I guess I would have to say black/blue. However I did see a PT1911 in stainless at the last gun show.....she was PURDY!!!! I kept picturing her with custom grips on her. :rofl::rofl: Good thing for me my wife didn't see the lust in my eyes!! :buttkick:
Certainly and as mentioned previously in this tread and by me before...if a person intends to do any modifications on a firearm at home then Stainless is the way to go.
It is such a PITA (and expensive) to send a firearm out for reblue or plating ~ whereas you can refinish and restore Stainless right at home.
I think the original galling problems with Stainless were due to the gun makers using the same formulation of Stainless for the frame and the slide and they were of the same hardness.
When they started either using two different types of Stainless - one type for the frame & the other for the slide or making them two different hardness levels then the galling ceased to become a problem.
I choose stainless for carry - despite the weight. For me it is very much a protection against corrosion due to sweating to excess .... even so I have to watch the small steel elements like slide release, grip screws, trigger etc - they can still rust.
Beyond this aspect I have no major preference and as ever drool over my Smith revo's blue finishes ... that is where aesthetics do have some means to give pleasure.
Does seem tho that with my hand cannons, like SRH's and BFR etc ... there is some perceived enjoyment in a frame that is made out of one big chunk of stainless :smilez:
Depends on what I'm using it for. Stainless has never done much for me. I mean I like the way it looks but it isn't a deciding factor. I take care of my guns. With that said I have a Ruger GP100 3" STAINLESS on right now.
I prefer flat black. When I lived in Florida I preferred SS to avoid the rust issue in high humidity. Colorado, on the other hand, doesn't know what humidity is (though the word can be found in some dictionaries....). I also think a black pistol under a jacket is less likely to be spotted in a glimmer of light than a stainless pistol - IMHO.
Even though my favorite color is black, I prefer stainless in handguns. I have stainless, blued, nickeled, parkerized, and nitron, but I prefer the stainless in the handguns. In long guns I prefer the darker finish.
Like P95Carry and a few others have said, I always buy stainless because of the corrosion factor. Since I'm carrying while riding my Harley, there is never a guarantee about the weather or if I can get my rain suit on fast enough. That, and the Texas summer heat does tend to make me sweat.... especially with that extra bit of Twin Cam generated heat between my legs.
Leather car seats in the summer can also cause an excess body moisture problem on my back and around my holstered weapon of choice.
I vote stainless for several reasons.
It's hotter than hades here in the summer, and I always carry IWB. Sweat factor.
I keep all my stainless pistols bead blasted to a subdued hue, if I scrape it, it goes back into the blasting box for a few minutes and comes out looking brand new.
Guys say they don't want a shiny gun to show. Mine aren't shiny, but the first thing I want the bad guy to see is a dark hole almost 1/2" diameter, surrounded by some serious looking steel, pointed in his direction.
BAC...I think some folks confuse blasted stainless steel with blued steel as reflective. I've made way more guys with a shiny blue finish as opposed to a subdued stainless steel.
My only experience with stainless anything has been of the very visible variety, but if it's muted I could agree. I would still prefer a darker color though, because in carrying concealed it will still hide better (due to work my attire is generally dark; yes, it's harsh in summers).
-B
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