SS barrel or Blued for the Northwest

[col_temp]

Hi all,

Looking at a new hunting rifle. I have read a lot of opinions about SS vs Blued but thought I would get more.

Is it worth the ~$120 more for a SS barrel in the same rifle versus one without?
I live in the Seattle Area Washington and we do get a fair amount of moisture up here! Also, the humidity is generally higher (but not as bad as the gulf coast!)

Given this is it worth spending the extra for the SS given that everything else is the same?
{NOTE: Rifle in question here is a new Savage 270 Trophy Hunter. Either the 111 (blued) or the 116 (SS).}
Thanks for the suggestions and opinions a head of time!

 

[kimbernut]

Either

Choose what you like. Don't buy the stainless thinking it will be impervious to the weather. It will "stain less" but on all of my stainless rifles( Win., Ruger, and Rem.) I have seen light rust the next morning if for some reason I did not do a general wipedown after a light misty rain or heavy fog. Nothing serious but then no more than my blued rifles either. I would not pay that much extra for stainless personally and I like stainless rifles.

A good coat or two of Johnson Paste Wax or some of the newer super waxes will work wonders on both the wood and blued or stainless metals.

 

[jmr40]

It would be to me. All of my go to rifles are SS with McMillan stocks. But if I had to choose I'd take the synthetic stock with blue if I couldn't afford both SS and a "quality" synthetic stock.

The blue will show surface rust and scratches much easier than SS, but if anything accumulates enough to cause a failure of the rifle it is neglect. Given even reasonable care a blue gun will still function just fine, although blemished cosmetically.

In harsh conditions a wood stock can go from perfect condition to useless in a matter of seconds with no advance warning.

The $120 savings could to towards a better stock. Just a thought.

 

[oldpapps]

Depends....

Gona hang it on the wall and show it to your buds? Blue is purty.

Gona go out in the fog and rain, hunt from day light till dark, mite wipe down the rifle, mite not? Stainless is purty too.

Seriously, it does depend upon how you anticipate using the weapon. And how much care you plan on give the weapon. Stainless will rust too, just not as easy as blued steel. Take reasonable care of either and you will be doing fine.

What ever you pick, remember the beauty and art that has been lovingly given by artisans to design and produce 'your' rifle.

 

[col_temp]

Thanks,
I plan to take care of all the guns I own. I usually clean the handgun after a trip to the range the same day or night. Occasionally the next day.
So i do think saving the $120 for some ammo would be good. Worry about the stock later after I actually work on using the rifle correctly and accurately first!

 

[lefteyedom]

I bead-blasted my SS 116 to dull the shine, then later painted the barrel flat black. Best of both worlds for me.