Blue guns- never could stand 'em.

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WebHobbit:

Any gun finish, but in particular blue, can be protected with a coating of good quality car wax (not polish). You don't have to go around with a "oily" gun.
 
I have had blued pistols. I had a blue revolver way back. I have had blue rifles. I have parkerized shotguns and pistols. I live in Oregon, and now I'll only have stainless or teflon/NP3 coated carbon steel firearms, except in a lever gun. Blueing is nice, but it's a hassle for a working gun compared to the ease of caring for a matte or bead blasted stainless one or one with a proprietary finish.

My next pistol is going to be an XD, my latest foray into plastic, but I am getting one with a stainless slide that I am going to have Roguarded. As long as I want to fire lead reloads, my revolvers will be stainless so that I can use any solvent or impregnated cloth I'd like without regard to the finish.

I do know what people mean though about blueing. I had a Royal blue Python pass through my hands once. It was mesmerizing.

Dang, now I am going to have to get a blued GP-100, have it master blued by someone who knows what they are doing, and put a tulipwood smooth monogrip on it for contrast. You people make me spend money my wife doesn't want me to have.

:evil:
 
I am not a fan of nickel - yuch. But having said that I owned a Colt Lawman MKIII for many years with a brushed nickel finish. It was an amazing finish that only got shiney where there was wear. That brushed nickel didn't show scratches nor did it flake - simply incredible. I traded it for a very nice Model 28 with a good matte blue finish. Ironically that Model 28 is now at a local gunshop where a polymer coat is being applied to it - for endurance and resistance to corrosion. I like a blued revolver with nice wood grips, but SS is the future. I gave in and purchased a S&W 686P a few months ago for that very reason. Still own severl blued wheel guns though.:D
 
Love it when 13 month old threads are resurreccted and I gotta go back to see what I had to say on the subject ;)

Opinion has not changed..this time:scrutiny:
 
When I was a younger man I, too, felt that blued guns were unsightly yet I now own two - a Colt Police Positive and a Smith&Wesson Model 36. They're as handsome a pair of revolvers as you'll find anywhere, and I wouldn't part with them for the world.

Now, as far as caring for them goes, I've never had any trouble whatsoever. Put simply, rust is a direct result of neglect rather than a defect in materials. Like all my guns they're thoroughly cleaned after each trip to the range and periodically wiped down with WD-40, more so in the summer. Also, about once every six months I'll run a lightly oiled patch through the barrel and cylinder. (I apply the same care and maintenance to my rifles.)

One final note. On the subject of grips, I recommend Uncle Mike's boot grips because the difference, both aesthetically and practically speaking, is enormous. The grip fills your palm, giving you better command and making the piece far easier - not to mention more comfortable, to shoot. Besides, the black on blue looks very stylish indeed.
 
I like stainless more overall. I don't mind blued guns, but I think only snubs look great blued. Guns with longer barrels, when they are blued, look strange to me.
 
Checkman, your Colt was probably Electroless Nickle. Quite durable. A much tougher finish than regular bright nickle.

Let's only hope that we can keep this resurrected thread as civil now as it was a year ago.
 
I love blued steel and fine wood. It's not a hard or tiring job to give the firearm a quick wipe down to preserve the bluing.
 
Anyone who could aesthetically prefer stainless steel and plastic over blued and wood has the soul of a Philistine. If you want the other for practical reasons (better wear, carry, etc) OK, but thats just a compromise for the situation.
 
Not sure if it's being a Philistine or the fact that we are well into a generation of shooters who consider stainless firearms to be traditional or even "classic":eek:
 
Overall if I had to pick I'd say I prefer blue, but it just depends on my mood. I have revolvers in both blued and stainless finish, wood grips and rubber. For pure practicality you can't beat stainless steel with rubber grips, but wood and blue just have a particular beauty all their own.
 
Stainless might be easier to take care of, but nothing beats the beauty and elegance of a nicely blued gun!



Python02.jpg
 
I prefer blued revolvers. I like autos much better in stainless. The fact that you see fewer blued guns is a cost cutting measure as well as the popularity of stainless steel. A good high gloss blue is much more difficult to obtain that a dull stainless. There's nothing quite as nice as a S&W revolver with a high luster blue finish (the recent manufactured ones have left alot to be desired).
 
Ummm....blue steel and walnut.....My current wheelgun count runs 7 s/s, 6 bluesteel. Anyway.....blue steel and walnut always makes me drool. And HogRider....Beautiful Colt.
 
There's a considerable difference between Pretty and Beautiful.
Of course Beauty IS in the Eyes of the Beerholder. :neener:

The shortage of blued guns does not reflect on their popularity as much as it indicates the indoctrination of the consumers by the manufacturers.
SMith & Wesson has decided that blued steel is not cost effective and that stainless is the way to go. Since they only make stainless the comsumer either buys it or does without. It's the old law of supply and demand. The makers have the supply so they can demand whatever they want. If S&W makes a limited run of blued guns they know they can have each and every one sold before they ever forge the frames.

I realise that Ruger's blueing isn't the best but they can still manage to produce a decent example and still price it less than their identical stainless models.

Since we have become a society of impatient people, stainless tools will continue to be popular with people who are too "busy" to take the extra 5 minutes to properly maintain them. After all thats why they make run flat tires for those people who are too "busy" to stop and change a tire.
 
Since we have become a society of impatient people, stainless tools will continue to be popular with people who are too "busy" to take the extra 5 minutes to properly maintain them. After all thats why they make run flat tires for those people who are too "busy" to stop and change a tire.
Click to expand...

While I agree with you in general about people being to busy, I actually LIKE stainless better!

If the only difference is looks, I would rather have the "look" that can take more abuse, whatever it may be, and not start to rust, or deteriorate in any other way, if I can't get to it right away, for whatever circumstances.

I may not be to busy to take 5 minutes extra, I may just not be able to do it.

Those are some nice stainless guns though.
 
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and no doubt you treasure your collection, but personally I think each one of your handguns would look better in blue steel with finely grained wood stocks.
I do own some SS revolvers, but only because the model was never offered in blue steel. I also own one SS model that was offered in blued steel, but only because I got it at a rediculously low price and for years have offered it as a trade on a blued model.
One of the very first things I do to any revolver I aquire is to rid it of the rubber grips if so equiped. I have quite a collection of rubber grips in a bag collecting dust in the closet.
 
BluesBear,

The shortage of blued guns does not reflect on their popularity as much as it indicates the indoctrination of the consumers by the manufacturers. SMith & Wesson has decided that blued steel is not cost effective and that stainless is the way to go.
Click to expand...

I thought that, too, but I am given to understand that in all instances where blued and stainless variants of the same gun existed, sales of the stainless model trounced the blued gun. This is certainly borne out by my (admittedly limited) experience.

Sadly, there's just more visigoths in this world than us cranky old-fashioned revolver aficionados would like to admit.

Heck, I hear tell that there's some folks that even like... full underlugs. :uhoh:
 
I only have one stainless gun. Do you know why I bought a stainless Kimber Gold Match? Because I didn't like the quality of the blue on the ones I looked at.

I frequently regret that I didn't buy the blue one anyway. Heck, somedays I regret I didn't buy a Royal Blue Python instead. ;)

To each their own I guess. And stainless will rust.

John
 
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