Blue or Stainless Accuracy ?

[roc1]

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I am looking at another rifle. This time a Remington SPS varmint maybe in 308 or 7-08 but was curious if blue or stainless ? Which would be more accurate or is there any difference. I always notice the tactical rifles are blue steel is that because of accuracy or just for no glare?
Thanks for the help
roc1

 

[jmr40]

I asked my gunsmith about this recently. He also shoots in many compteitions. His answer to me was that the average person would never be able to tell the difference, but that he did not know of a single serious shooter that did not use stainless barrels now.

 

[dakotasin]

this topic can get complex in a hurry. jmr gave you the short answer - i don't know of any benchrest competitors that run blue barrels.

that said, i have 2 guns set up for 1000 yard shooting. the remington is blue, the ruger is stainless. the remington easily outshoots the ruger at any range under any condition. the remington gets w-w cases, ruger gets lapua. remington wears a leupold, ruger wears sightron. remington has a farrell base, ruger has burris rings and bases... etc etc etc. so, is stainless more accurate?

the point i am hoping to make is the shooter has got to shoot well enough to be able to outshoot his factory rifle before even getting hung up on these sorts of details.

my advice is to buy the blue sps in 308, and by the time you shoot it enough to wear out the barrel, you will probably be on the verge of truly being able to tell which would be better...

good luck!

 

[Walkalong]

by the time you shoot it enough to wear out the barrel, you will probably be on the verge of truly being able to tell which would be better...

So true......

 

[earlthegoat2]

I had heard Chrome-Moly barrels were supposed to be superior....

But that is just hearsay at best.

Just adding it to the pot....

 

[Slamfire]

Stainless barrels are easier to clean. The patches come out cleaner sooner.

That's about it.

There is no difference in accuracy between the materials, what matters most is the skill of the barrel maker, not the materials. And since each barrel is different, no one I know has purchased 100 barrels of each type to determine a lot average.

I use chrome moly Douglas barrels, stainless Kriegers, chrome moly Wilson barrels, and stainless Wilson barrels. They all work well.

One advantage to stainless is you don't have to pay $75.00 to have them blued.

 

[sig220mw]

Stainless is tougher and "slipperier". Also more weather proof. Because of being "slipperier" you should get a llittle more velocity. Only problem I've noticed is that scratches on outside surfaces really show up. As someone else said they also clean easier.

 

[Uncle Mike]

When Saturn is in Mars, the steel barrel will be more accurate.....

when Neptune is in Venus, the stainless barrel will be more accurate....

....and when Pluto is in Uranus...you have problems!

with both of them being accurate!...lol hehehehe

I don't think one would notice the difference in accuracy between steel and stainless steel barrels, however some of the boys at the range say different...it's the steel that get the nod for accuracy in their book...?