All other factors equal, stainless steel barrels in rifles have durability usually about 30% higher than blue steel ones. That is one of the reasons why almost all benchrest rifles have stainless steel barrels. Chromium and nickel in large percentage are making steel more resistant to erosion from powder gasses. In revolvers, this transfers to less erosion in barrel forcing cone, usually the most pronounced wear on revolvers, especially if heavy loads are the norm. Even excellent FA revolvers, using some of the best stainless steels on the market, are not completely immune from this problem, so they use to offer “forcing cone insert†that was replaceable in case of excessive wear. Those revolvers could be easily identified with small set screw located on the frame in barrel area, just in front of cylinder. Regards, Onty.
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