Blue guns- never could stand 'em.

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Heck, I hear tell that there's some folks that even like... full underlugs. :uhoh:
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I like full underlugs! :D But ONLY on barrels 4" and under. Anything longer than that, and it starts to look strange. Except for that damn nice Colt in the picture above.
 
Well... I'm just the other way around. I have a STRONG dislike of stainless, nickle or chrome revolvers. True, bluing does not hold up great to hard use; however, there's just something about a nicely worn and patinaed revolver, especially the single actions.
 
Nothing warms my heart like a beautiful, richly polished blue job. Sure stainless is great for knock around carry, but, in my view, no stainless finish can touch even the most mediocre blue job S&W has ever put out as far as aesthetic appeal is concerned.

BTW, I like a good, aged nickel finish also.
 
I love blued guns with wood furniture.

But my strong sense of aesthetics combined with the fact that I actually shoot my guns keeps me from buying a lot of blued/wood guns.

Sure a blued gun with wood furniture looks great--WHEN IT'S NEW--or when it's been babied for its entire existence! Unfortunately after some real world use, they tend to look like crap.

I buy stainless and synthetics when they're available.
 
There is nothing more beautiful in the gun world than a deeply blued revolver with walnut stocks, except maybe a slightly worn case hardened frame against royal blue with ivory or stag grips.
But I can't afford that and don't have the time or inclination to baby anything so I settle for SS in most of my guns.

Nickle is cool sometimes and chrome is an abomination, except in .38 super
 
Stainless revolvers do seem to be "colder" in deep cold than blued. I don't know if this is just me or if it's actually happening, but the only stainless revolver I ever took afield in the winter was a Single Six. It got so cold in the holster I couldn't touch it without finger burn.
 
I like both and can't stand the look of some stainless.

The new Anaconda's for example, yuk! Some of Smith's offering have the worst stainless finish I have seen. IMO nothing beats a gorgeous blued gun. However, there are some high polish guns in stainless, not nickle, that look extraordinary, the following is one example............

King Cobra
 
That's a nice polish. I think those grips are some of the ugliest I've ever seen though. I've always hated those...
 
Doesn't matter what they are made of you have to clean 'em right.

Carrying a a blued gun next to your skin/sweat will wear the bluing off of it. I think a 'real' carry piece should be parkerized, nickel or stainless to ease the wear on the finish, but they ALL need proper cleaning and maintenance. Even old pocket guns were commonly nickeled. An old Blue Colt with some honest holster wear is still awfully good looking.

Can't picture a stainless Colt Navy 36... something just wrong about that.

Glossy stainless looks cool, but it's hard to see the front sight sometimes.

Buffalo horn is tough stuff... and makes very good grips on old, and new six guns.
 
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I don't have but one stainess gun...a Ruger Mk 2.

All my Smiths are blue or nickel.

I imagine I'll have a 629 some day, but I prefer the "blues".

The older guns seem to "fit 'n feel" better to me...just an opinion.

Bob
 
I like both types depending on the model of gun, but if I could only have one - a deep blue with wood grips does it for me.
 
I like blued guns. I've seen some 75-100 years old, still with good blueing on them. Probably modern blueing is even better. You really have to be negligent IMO to allow a blued gun to rust to any degree so as to actually pit the metal.
 
I have a "target grey" finish sp-101 that I really love the look of instead of bright stainless or dark blued.

Uh-oh, am I a pariah now?
 
It is hard to beat the beauty of a good blue finish, like the old Colt Royal Blue, or the deep bluing I've seen on some old Smith revolvers or on some Hi Powers.

And don't tell anyone, but all that careful wipedown we do on the bluing isn't really a chore - it is enjoyment and pride. ;)

This Detective Special looks much better in person and with the cherrywood Fitz grips I just put on:
 
Given a choice, I'll pick the blued gun over the stainless, although I think part of this is because they're becoming scarcer. If I find a blued gun i like and have the money, I'll snatch it up. I happen to like the "holster wear" look of old blued wheelguns (and semi autos for that matter).

The biggest problem I have with stainless is the manufacturers have gotten lazy. I mean, how hard is it to get an even bead blast or "brushed" finish? Maybe part of the attraction of the blued guns is that people actually put some effort into a decent polish job before blueing.
 
Effectively cleaning the front of a blued cylinder(Without removing the bluing?)?

I like both blued and stainless revolvers! However, I have never fired any of my blued revolvers, out of fear of damaging the bluing(Especially, on the front of the cylinder!)whenever attempting to clean off the firing residue! Since I'm a "Newbie" as a "Shooter" with no experiece with gun cleaning(After firing)I would really like to have someone experienced(At cleaning blued revolvers)explain how to clean off the front of the cylinder, without removing the bluing? And(If this is possible?)then, please specify, what cleaning products you recommend, to accomplish this feat? I do have a pretty "Blued"(1973 vintage)S&W M10-6 that I would love to shoot-but, I don't want to mess-up that pretty factory bluing?
 
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Cleaning off the front of a blued cylinder?

Marshall:

When using Hoppes #9, what do you use to scrub the front of a blued cylinder, to apply this solvent(To avoid removing the bluing?)a patch-or? Thanks!
 
However, I have never fired any of my blued revolvers, out of fear of damaging the bluing
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This simultaneously explains why I will never own a blued revolver, and why there are blued revolvers in very good condition on the market.
 
You know, you can have them reblued if you wear the finish off. Blued guns have been sold in vast numbers for well over 100 years and there're plenty of nice ones around. Stainless guns OTOH are a fairly recent innovation as guns go.

Stainlesss...ho hum...and it isn't a finish and it will rust.

I was reading an article the other day that quoted a very well-known custom gun maker on what it takes to put a high blue finish on a gun like you'd find on a 1913 Colt revolver. He said it's all in the quality of the polish and you're talking $800 worth of labor at $20 an hour just for the hand polishing. No wonder the makers are pushing flashy stainless models on the public.

Just call me old fashioned. My idea of a decent finish is the Carbonia blue wire-brush finish on the Colt WWI repro. It's done in a gas furnace the way steel was finished in the old days. Otherwise, give me hardchrome. :)

John
 
Nobody refinishes guns for free--I've HEARD that a really good bluing job might cost as much as $800. ;) And a refinished gun that is put to use will soon have worn finish again.

Sure, stainless isn't completely rust proof--but it is a LOT more rust proof than any blued finish I have encountered. I have had exactly one stainless gun rust--I fixed it for free in a few seconds with some steel wool and now it looks good as new...

If I bought guns to show them off or to put in cases, I'd have a lot more blued guns. I buy mine to shoot, carry and otherwise be used. Ain't gonna buy no guns where half the cost is an expensive and fragile finish...
 
Slick,
just use an old toothbrush to clean with Hoppes, or if there is a coating of lead then use a brass brush with the Hoppes. The brush isn't hard enough to harm the bluing.
 
Hey John, Mr. Bowen's quote in the article was $800 for just the polishing...the bluing was extra. :) But there's nothing like a properly finished gun.

I think about bluing the way I think about tires and wiper blades - maintenance items. The Carbonia finish from www.ronsgunshop.com is only $175 plus any required cleaning, polishing, disassembly, etc.

John...who owns a Kimber Stainless Gold Match & a Colt WWI repro & a hardchromed P-32.
 
Safely cleaning off a blued cylinder?

Majic:

I was also, wondering about how the Break-Free bore cleaner might work, to clean off the front of a "Blued" cylinder(Without damaging the bluing)? I don't mean the Break-Free CLP-but rather, the stronger Break-Free bore cleaner(Since it says on the bottle, that it is milder than most gun solvents-yet, is similar to their normal, Break-Free CLP(But, is stronger, in the "C"(In the "CLP")? What do you think-and, how do you feel this would compare with the Hoppes #9? Thanks!
 
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