How stainless are these so called "stainless" shotguns?

[Fn-Scar 17 s]

Hello everyone, I would like to ply your knowledge pool on the subject of Winchester shotguns specifically I would like to know which parts on their "Stainless" shotguns are actually stainless steel and which are carbon steel plated in rust inhibiting metals. I am particularly interested in the stainless variants of the Winchester 1200 and Winchester 1300 series pictured below.

 

[oneounceload]

I imagine internals are plated, most likely the barrel and receiver are stainless - that has been done by a variety of folks - mag tube? I don't know

 

[MattShlock]

Ya know, I always thought they were nickeled...

 

[Fn-Scar 17 s]

well they are marked stainless, I am asking this becuase I am considering using it as a base gun for a survival/hunting/home defense shotgun

 

[243winxb]

Stainless will rust. Use Break Free CLP for protection.

 

[dfariswheel]

The 1200 and 1300 receivers are aluminum. These were just anodized with a silver finish.

Winchester did made these shotguns with real stainless steel barrels and magazine tubes, but they found that for some strange reason, the stainless barrels corroded easier then a plated barrel, so they changed the Marine versions to plated parts, no stainless.
Internal parts were carbon steel with a plated rust resistant finish.
After 1989 a Sandstrom 9A phosphate coating was applied to internal parts.

There was at least one Model 1300 that had a stainless barrel with a nickel plated finish.
In short, Winchester decided a plated finish was more rust resistant than stainless steel.

 

[Fn-Scar 17 s]

I know it can rust but if you put Cerakote over it you really have somthing also I like the look

 

[Fn-Scar 17 s]

oh, and thanks Faris Wheel that answers my qestion nicely.

 

[hipoint]

not a winchester, but I have a very neglected mossberg mariner. Picked it up locally so it's been here in our area for a while. It is extremely humid here and even my stainless guns rust. This thing is pristine looking, I don't think it had ever been cleaned or oiled, after I cleaned it up, it's like new. The inside of the barrel has the same coating, but after firing a box of steel shot through it, I can see no abrasion or otherwise marking of the coating. IMO, whatever it is is FAR better than plain ol stainless...

for refernece I have browning, ruger and marlin true stainless guns, they all 3 will rust if I don't take care of them.

 

[hipoint]

also, the mossberg has a matte type finish. I don't know exactly what it is, but it sure is tough.

 

[Virginian]

Nickel is stainless. Not stainless steel, but stainless. Ad doesn't say all stainless steel.

 

[rodregier]

My gut reaction is that the high-tech baked-on coatings are more corrosion-resistant than stainless. The tricky part would be to get the small parts coated too without creating clearance/function issues.

That being the case, you could start with a blued steel unit as the base.

 

[Snarlingiron]

Seriously, what are you planning to do with it? Gonna use it for a boat paddle in salt water? If not, it should be fine with just an occasional wipe down with an oily cloth. If you can't manage that, maybe you should get a club or a baseball bat.

 

[MattShlock]

Ouch!

 

[rbernie]

As a minor thread veer - I had a handful of 870 Marine Magnums with the nickeled finished, and the nickel plating in the barrel bore was absolutely miserable for wad fouling. It would build up wad residue in massive amounts across very few rounds fired, and was a bear to clean afterwards (especially because I was always concerned about solvents lifting the nickel finish and therefore restricted the chemicals that I used).

Ugh.

Do the Mossy or Winnie marine shotguns exhibit the same issue?

 

[drcook]

Stainless and aluminum don't mix well together, there is a catalytic action that occurs.

When working with aluminum radiators, you have to be careful of what fittings are used. The best is aluminum / aluminum, with aluminum / plastic OK also, but not aluminum / stainless or aluminum / brass.

 

[dfariswheel]

Do the Mossy or Winnie marine shotguns exhibit the same issue?

I've never heard any owner of any of the Marine type shotguns complain about unusual bore fouling.