Why Stainless

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Beautiful Anaconda there! I'd liked the blue Colt Pythons just that the price that I recollect in those days at ~$650-$700 was steep. The S&W 5/686's were easier on the wallet at $375-$450 range. (Early 90's.)
 
Ruger revolvers have some kind of paint like coating. They're not polished at all under it. White vinegar still dissolves it though. Found that out when I used vinegar based leather dye on a holster and lacked patience.
Nobody does real bluing any more. Costs far too much to do the required prep work polishing. All of which is done by hand.
Smith & Wesson used to do a bluing that was like a midnight blue tux. Not black like they are now. Their revolvers I mean. Much more 'blue' than Armybrat's SAA. Know a guy who has a BAR LMG with it on the gun and the mags.
 
I believe there are several advantages to stainless. Extended holster wear does not seem to affect stainless handguns finish. Bluing, on the other hand, will show significant wear after a while. I've owned a Charter arms "Undercover" stainless for 40+ years, it has spent most of it's time sleeping in a leather holster. Actually the first holster wore out and was recently replaced. Gun itself still looks great! Did I mention this gun has been in a saddlebag, a tackle box, tool box, under the seat in the truck, bedroom drawer and carried extensively? I do own a "few" blued handguns, I just be a little more careful how I treat them.
 
If you shoot competition and practice a lot, your gun will be going in and out of the holster many, many times. This can affect the finish on some blued guns but doesn't seem to bother stainless guns much if at all.
 
Sunray said:
Ruger revolvers have some kind of paint like coating. They're not polished at all under it. White vinegar still dissolves it though. Found that out when I used vinegar based leather dye on a holster and lacked patience.
Nobody does real bluing any more. Costs far too much to do the required prep work polishing. All of which is done by hand.
Smith & Wesson used to do a bluing that was like a midnight blue tux. Not black like they are now. Their revolvers I mean. Much more 'blue' than Armybrat's SAA. Know a guy who has a BAR LMG with it on the gun and the mags.
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Yeah, very little of that is true. Rugers are blued, not painted or coated. Some of their guns get a beautiful polish beforehand, some do not. That is the difference. All bluing is "real bluing". The only significant change is the level of polish beforehand and very, very little of it was ever done by hand.
 
Dave T said:
I've owned any number of stainless revolvers & semi autos, and a few nickel revolvers. I still prefer blue, so your statement about spitting on blue is false. You are entitled to your opinion but don't tell others what they are going to think.

Dave
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I still own blue myself, though not many. Over the years my stainless revolvers have come to outnumber the blue. If you like blue that's your choice, myself, I haven't bought a blued rifle or pistol in the last ten years.

Some people don't accept change and I understand that. There are some changes I won't accept either, but one of them is not stainless.
 
I have both blued & stainless handguns..... Love the beauty of a nicely blued gun but for what I call "working guns", as in hunting and general carry then suddenly stainless becomes a lot more beautiful. Bluing shows wear too soon for a gun that gets used even once in a while. Stainless seems to always look good no matter how much use the gun gets. So while bluing is nice I've come to prefer stainless just for the durability. Right now the only non-stainless gun finish that gets high marks for durability from me is that metal finish used on my Gen. 3 Glock 19 and that's not bluing (forgot what it's called) but it's tough.
 
Kleanbore said:
I have been told that the cost of environmental compliance with the bluing process has become the big issue.
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I've been told it has more to do with the hand polishing involved in that deep, oily blue on the old Smiths & Colts. The old timers say the finish would actually vary depending on who was on the buffing wheel that day. The custom guys can reproduce that finish. Bring $$$. Lots & lots of $$$. ;)
 
Stainless tends to resist rust better. Stainless can rust, mind you, but that's what steel wool is for and it's cheaper than a dip in a bluing tank.
 
CraigC said:
Yes, right next door to the Arizona swamp land. :confused:
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Well, unlike some folks here, the laws of physics don't stop at my gun storage areas.
And, since I don't have every single answer to everything, I've found that occasional
firearms maintenance, and rust resistant coatings will just have to do.
 
I know this is a revolver thread, and anyone who knows me on here knows that's where my preferences are, but I had to share this pic. This gun is for sale on gun broker for the low cost of only $5500. :eek:

I actually kind of like it despite not really going for quite that much shine. The shinny grip kind of throws me off.

IMG_5084.PNG
 
Sunray said:
Ruger revolvers have some kind of paint like coating. They're not polished at all under it. White vinegar still dissolves it though.
Click to expand...

What the....? Um... None of this is based in facts. Only the LCR has any kind of non-blue finish.
 
jmar said:
Is there a reason 95% of revolvers these days are stainless polished or matte? What happened to beautiful blued carbon steel paired with wood grips? Stainless plus black rubber grips to me is just very unattractive. I've never had any interest in a raw stainless gun. I'm not opposed to the material stainless as long as it has been coated, in fact there have been numerous revolvers I like and would buy such as the Ruger Super Redhawk, the Ruger Blackhawk Hunter, and the Colt Cobra. But they are all stainless with black grips unfortunately... I hope we see wood grips and blued steel make a comeback. Or at least some alternate factory coatings.



I really like the Ruger Target Gray stainless finish .
View attachment 361162
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I have a stainless Taurus Judge for home defense. I keep my black ruger 9mm and the judge next to my bed and in the middle of the night, stainless is going to be the easiest to see. It can be found easily even when the lights are out.
 
While I appreciate the look of a nice blued steel, stainless is more practical at times.

I'm going to the lake this weekend. I don't pack much, so I have settled on my Ruger GP100. I'll be hanging out in the August heat and on a pontoon boat. Stainless is way easier to maintain.
 
The wonderful royal blue finishes sure are swell, but they're expensive. And, when they start to wear down and get splotchy, they start looking really bad IMHO. Blemishes on a stainless gun are less noticeable, and if desired, the gun can be buffed back to a like-new sheen with a night in front of the TV and a container of Flitz. Not so with a blued gun, the user can buy a thing of cold blue but it oft won't match or look very good, and is not as durable as a good hot blue job.

Basically it's easier to maintain, cheaper to manufacture, and less expensive to refinish. All wins, but I do agree a deep lustrous blue don't get no purdier.
 
Is there a reason 95% of revolvers these days are stainless polished or matte?
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Companies that do not receive subsidies from the Government spending our tax dollars, if successful, generally sell things. They use products sales as a guide in what to produce.

If it is true that 95% of revolvers today are stainless, that is because the market (or what continues to sell) has driven production in that direction.

If a product fails to meet sales expectations it's dropped from production and not all are missed.

Charter-Arms-Pink-Lady-DAO-1.jpg
 
From WC145's thread:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ue-colt-1991a1-compact-clark-meltdown.658405/

index.php

index.php
 
I like stainless because I don't have to worry about finish wear...

Finish wear just bugs me...
 
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