I agree with Standing Wolf and Old Fuff - Posts 9 and 11 respectfully.
The metallurgy of the Blued guns, especially the Older ones with more attention to finishing and metal preparation before bluing - this being the secret to a nice blue job by the way - were actually more resistant to rust problems.
Bluing is controlled rust. With the quality of HSC finished out by meticulous prepping by hand tools, obtaining such a high polish before being blued, then blued, the result was not only good looks- one also had a finish that held up to the elements remarkably well. Simply because of the metallury, finished out proper, and bluing took / takes / becomes better the better high polish of metal prepping. With common sense of inspect and maintain as one should do anyway- especially a carry piece, no big deal to re- apply Carnuba Car Wax, RIG to protect. Even just plain machine oil, will protect simply because of all the aforementioned.
Then we have the blued metal ( HSC) metallurgy to do all sorts of things in regard to heat,strength, elasticity, and all sorts of big words that mean " Blue does it better than Stainless by very nature of metallurgy".
Stainless is just that "stains" + "less". Resistant to - not guarnteed to NOT Rust. Pores are larger I understand, and other big words that mean stainless is perceived to be less maintanance. Granted take a blued gun and it costs more to refinish. Stainless is less monies to refinsh - heck take it out back and sandblast it, or use an eraser to remove black marks off cylinders, or even a Scothbrite pad. It will rust. Folks "think" they do not have to inspect and maintain - then one day look under under the stocks to find rust...bad rust.
Then we have the folks that have shot high round counts with a blue gun - gun is still tight and in tolerance. Same folks have the same gun in a stainless version - CRSam is just person whom shared he had a rattle trap gun of stainless metal in short order and the older blued versions with higher round counts were still tight and fine.
We today have other factors that come into play - one real biggie is manufacturers cutting corners to meet a price point and make bigger profits.
Careful what you ask for - you might just get it.
Folks wanted cheaper gas at the pumps - so now everyone pumps their own gas. The 'filling station" where the folks pumped gas are almost history. Standing in really nice dress clothes , en- route to a wedding, funeral, business meeting or job interview, nobody to pump your gas - hardly anymore. Do you want walk in and smell like gas?
Folks wanted " everyday low prices" . Will the Druggist run a persciption by your house if you are unable to drive due to illness, surgery? The Mom & Pop Druggist did...before he closed up.
Blued guns from Blackpowder, to Mil-surps, to you name it have survived harsh conditions well. I do not believe anyone is finding collectibles of these in stainless. I don't recall folks fussing about how to remove Cosmoline from any either. I do read folks making comment on how great the finish is on a blued one they cleaned up though.
We have many camps and positions on firearms. Blue and Stainless is just one. There is a reason many folks prefer the OLDER blued guns. Why they go to gun shows such as Tulsa and pay the same price for a used older blue gun than a newer one in blue, or steel. Even without the matter of gun locks, collecting, that deep blue finish or mag capacity - folks want the QUALITY and craftsmanship that went into the metallurgy later blued that is proven to work, last and give piece of mind on reliablity and function.
