Durability of Ruger's blued finish?

[TFin04]

I have never owned a 'blued' handgun before. Plenty of my long guns are, but for the most part I've had stainless or alloy revolvers, and my semi auto pistols have been treated with tennifer or something similar.

I have found a killer deal on a 4" GP100 locally, but it's blued. This gun is going to be my workhorse revolver. It will see a lot of range time (I reload 38spl), will be a nightstand gun, will be a car gun, and a field gun.

Handling and shooting it a lot, as well as being exposed to the elements seems like a perfect fit for a stainless gun. However, the price of this blued one just may be worth it.

What do you guys think? I take care of my guns but I'd prefer to not have to wipe this one down with oil all the time.

Thanks!

 

[Blue Brick]

I have a blue Ruger and I oil it once a week unless it gets wet then I will oil it more. I have no rust and I fell in the lake with it. Keep a can of WD40 handy. All Rugers are very easy to disassemble and clean. By the way get a holster with a flap.

 

[azredhawk44]

I own 3 blued handguns: A Charles Daly 1911, a Ruger Redhawk 5.5", and a Taurus 94.

I've worn the bluing completely off the 1911 while carrying it on hundreds of miles of hikes and plinking trips. I finally had it parkoted by a local company that did great work.

The Redhawk has been exposed to some dismal weather and conditions ranging from my sweaty, dirty, grubby hands to rain and sleet, to wood-bleaching AZ heat. The bluing is wearing in a few places: The end of the barrel on the left and right sides where the gun bottoms out in its holster, the intersection of the cylinder crane and the frame where it rubs the holster again, the face of the cylinder where I clean as much as possible but I worry about damaging the blued finish (it is "greying" now), and the backstrap.

The Taurus 94 9-shot .22 revolver is also "greying" on the cylinder face. The rest of the finish is in great condition though. I attribute the difference in overall finish to the considerably greater exposure to the elements that the redhawk has endured than the taurus, as well as the fact that the redhawk has an old fashioned leather cartridge loop holster and belt whereas the taurus has a simple nylon holster.

I don't oil my gun exteriors. I wipe them down when I'm done with them with a rag that has a hint of oil on it, but I want my guns to be usable. I worry about a gun being too slick if I oil its exterior; especially the backstrap (the worst culprit for fading bluing, IMO).

Bluing wears out, IMO. It sure is pretty, but every 10-15 years you've gotta have your gun re-blued if you really want it to stay pretty. Ruger will re-blue your gun... I think it costs around $150 though.

Frankly, I like the look of a gun that "used to be" blued. Looks like it's done some work.

 

[jwr_747]

I've got a Ruger Blackhawk built in 1977,lots of miles on it,still blue every where it's suppose to be. jwr

 

[Colt46]

A modicum of common sense and care

and it will last your lifetime. If you abuse it or neglect it, it will rust faster than you could imagine.
Kinda makes you wonder how any gun survived that was made before the stainless era?

 

[Jim March]

The Ruger bluing process isn't bad.

It's their fake-case-colors that suck wind but that was never inflicted on the DA guns. And on the recent John Wayne commemorative SA they didn't dare abuse that gun with the fake-case.

 

[Moonclip]

Ruger blue doesn't look very nice but it holds up almost as good as say on a S&W I'd say. If you store it in the hard plastic box though and move it in there too much though I've noticed significant blue wear caused by just that,

And yes the Ruger fake case colors wear easily. A friedn told me his wore off just from application of gun scrubber! Mine are down to white in some spots.

 

[GRIZ22]

I take care of my guns but I'd prefer to not have to wipe this one down with oil all the time

This is what you need to do to keep the bluing nice on any gun. If you don't want to do this get a stainless. Use quality holsters to minimize holster wear. Blued is not the finish you want if it's maximum durability you're after.

Bluing on Rugers is as good as any others.