Guest shjohn43 Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 What's the low down on having a stainless barrel. Do guys buy it for the looks or does it perform any better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleA Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 I suppose that some buy SS for looks, I like stainless mainly for it's abilities to take neglect/moisture/rust better than chrome moly. As far as accuracy goes for the average joe it's a toss up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Yep, my go to deer gun is a stainless Savage 7 mag and my varmint rifle is a stainless Savage 17 HMR. I bought both for the durability of the stainless finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tink Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Theyare horrible for havign high visability in the bush in Africa you can see a stainless rifle bbl at 500 yards no problem in the sun in Africa I made my client camo tape them i the USA befoe they arrived Aloso they rust when wet Tink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born2Hunt Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 My go to gun is a Remington 700 BDL SS DM. Here in the Northeast in the woods you can't tell the difference between a tree branch or my matte finish stainless. The gun does not shoot any better or worse than my blued barrels but it withstands the elements much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m gardner Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 They will withstand corrosion and erosion better than carbon steel. It's harder to machine them though. If you want to shoot an overbore magnum rifle (lots of slow burning powder) the stainless barrel lasts longer. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 You can definitely work a stainless barrel hard and put it away wet, so to speak. You shouldn't, of course. I have heard that factory stainless bores are not as smooth as chrome-moly ones. I do not know if that's gospel or not. I do know that I have a couple stainless rifles that shoot very well. One shoots very, very well. Black and silver rifles are pretty ugly, IMHO. But for a working rifle, I'd be apt to pick stainless most every time if it were an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Country Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 My father is a machinist who has worked with various metals for 40 years. He is convinced that chrome-moly barrels are better in rifles, especially longer barreled magnum rifles (24 inches or longer). The exception in his opinion is muzzleloaders. Blackpowder and/or substitutes are so corrosive that he dismisses non-stainless barrels as trouble in the making...unless you clean them obsessively (like his son...that is me...tends to do). As to accuracy, I seriously doubt that the barrel material makes enough of a difference to matter. My Savage M110 chrome-moly barreled 7mm Remington Magnum is a sub-MOA shooter...my Savage M116 SS barreled .270 Winchester is about a 1.5 MOA shooter...plently good enough for deer out to 300 yards. My tendency is to grab the 7mm for most hunting...unless the weather is suppose to be absolutely terrible (which limits range anyway) in which I take the .270. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Im like the majority above, other than the lack of rusting its a toss up. I like they way they look but mainly would own SS because of the up keep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 I just picked up a Browning A-bolt stainless 30-06 and was wondering about the stainless barrel. I was wondering how durable and accurate the barrel would possibly be compared to my other blued barrrel rifles. - Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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