Are stainless guns "tougher" than blued guns?

[NH Rugerman]

I would just add that there are various "grades' of stainless steel, for example, 300 series is non-magnetic and what most of us think of when we think of stainless...but many firearms manufacturers are using 400 series stainless which IS magnetic...test yours and see! The difference between the two grades mainly is the quantity of nickel and chromium...316L stainless is great for outdoor use, and has the most chromium and nickel content, 304 has less chrome and nickel but still is non magnetic, just not as resistant to rust outside, 301 stainless has the minimum content of chrome and nickel to still be non-magnetic,but keep in mind that STAIN-LESS steels can and do rust or "stain", just put your stainless steel revolver outside near the ocean for a couple of hours and you will see light rust begin to appear if it is unprotected with a thin coating of oil. The cost of Nickel and Chromium is expensive and why stainless is more expensive than non-stainless steels.

I just showed a relative of mine that a magnet would attach to his expensive stainless steel custom 1911 and he was shocked :shock: to say the least, the grade of stainless does not affect strength...etc but does not guarantee that your firearm is impervious to rust, just more resistant to rust than carbon steel.....hope this helps....just take care of your guns and they will take care of you...

 

[slofyr]

ISo far as stainless versus blued, blued is a pain in the butt to keep nice.

Try Simple Green on either revolver. The stuff is an outstanding firearm cleaner, better than any "gun solvent" I've used. It's available as a commercial product for aviation and automotive applications, but the household stuff used full strength will do the job. If you have an ultrasonic, fill the tank with it and revolvers will clean up like they just rolled off the assembly line.

 

[NH Rugerman]

ISo far as stainless versus blued, blued is a pain in the butt to keep nice.

Try Simple Green on either revolver. The stuff is an outstanding firearm cleaner, better than any "gun solvent" I've used. It's available as a commercial product for aviation and automotive applications, but the household stuff used full strength will do the job. If you have an ultrasonic, fill the tank with it and revolvers will clean up like they just rolled off the assembly line.

Interesting, what do you recommend for an ultrasonic cleaner as I am looking to purchase one and have very little knowledge about them...

 

[slofyr]

Interesting, what do you recommend for an ultrasonic cleaner as I am looking to purchase one and have very little knowledge about them...

Mine is a Branson with 11" tank that I bought about five years back, but I don't see it in their product line now. L&R's are good, but spendy. There are some inexpensive units appearing from China which work quite well, but finding a long tank version is the hard part. Commercial benchtop cleaners crank about 64K cycles per second of sound waves into the solution, so use that as a comparison. Even half of that would clean a handgun, but require more time. I recall seeing some at MidwayUSA. Do a Google, there must be something out there at reasonable cost.

 

[Joe S.]

My dad's nickel s&w 66 has lasted years and still looks new. It has been shot several thousand times I'd say. Being generous.

A friend owns a competition s&w 686 in stainless and has put about 20,000 rounds through it in the last year. Still shoots deadeye accurate.

I think both are fine examples of quality craftsmanship and considering I prob won't shoot 20,000 rounds through all of mine combined for as long as I own them, I should be good to go.

 

[nmgonzo]

I just polished my ss sp101

Stronger ... I don't know but It is shiny and looks good to my eye.

 

[Boge]

ISo far as stainless versus blued, blued is a pain in the butt to keep nice.

Try Simple Green on either revolver. The stuff is an outstanding firearm cleaner, better than any "gun solvent" I've used. It's available as a commercial product for aviation and automotive applications, but the household stuff used full strength will do the job. If you have an ultrasonic, fill the tank with it and revolvers will clean up like they just rolled off the assembly line.

Just don't use it on aluminum:

It has been brought to the attention of the U.S. Army Aviation Missile Command (AMCOM) Depot Maintenance Engineering Team that numerous units are using the commercial product SIMPLE GREEN as an aircraft wash. STOP! This product has been through Department of Defense (DOD) testing and was determined to be highly corrosive on aircraft aluminum and also a catalyst for Hydrogen Embrittlement in high strength aircraft alloys.


Hydrogen Embrittlement brought down Chinook 89-00173 on 10 October 1992, near Fort Richardson, Alaska.

While a highly effective cleaning agent for floors and non-aluminum / non-high strength alloy vehicles this product is not approved for aviation usage. If your unit has been using SIMPLE GREEN on a regular basis, it is recommended that a thorough fresh water wash with the approved cleaners per the appropriate airframe maintenance manuals be accomplished as soon as practicable. This should be followed up with a corrosion inspection / treatment and application of approved Corrosion Prevention Compounds (CPCs).

 

[ftlupton]

I'm no expert but years ago Browning brought out a stainless BT99 trap gun. Several of them blew up and upon inspection they found flaws in the metal that were never in their blued guns. Like I say I'm no expert but they didn't make ss trap guns very long yet they still make the blued BT99 and their must be a million of them out there.

 

[Onty]

...I just showed a relative of mine that a magnet would attach to his expensive stainless steel custom 1911 and he was shocked :shock: to say the least, the grade of stainless does not affect strength...etc but does not guarantee that your firearm is impervious to rust, just more resistant to rust than carbon steel.....hope this helps....just take care of your guns and they will take care of you...

Well, you relative should be grateful that manufacturer made his custom 1911 from martensitic stainless steel in order to have high strength, and these steels ARE magnetic. Nonmagnetic austenitic steels like 300 series have better corrosion resistance but cannot compare in strength with martensitic stainless steels, and are good choice for cooking pots and frying pans. First stainless semiato guns were made from bit softer steels, and due the metallurgical similarity between slide and frame, galling was serious issue so manufacturers recommended special lubricants in order to deal with this problem. Later, they learned to use slightly different steels for slide and frame and/or different heat treatment to eliminate galling.

This is a good website to find more info about materials, including metals; http://www.matweb.com/

 

[slofyr]

Hydrogen Embrittlement brought down Chinook 89-00173 on 10 October 1992, near Fort Richardson, Alaska.

This Boeing info supersedes that 1992 data. Maybe the Simple Green formula was modified?
http://www.simplegreen.com/pdfs/Tech_EN-US_BoeingD6-17487.pdf


I've used Simple Green quite a bit to degrease anodized aluminum sheet and bare machined parts with no problems. But, I don't have a Chinook so can't say for sure what it does there. Fwiw, aluminum does not like ultrasonic cleaners, even with mild soap solutions.

 

[TiteGroups]

Simple green is a great cleaner but tends to oxidize the hell out of aluminum if left in contact too long, several hours. Does a real number on aluminum castings. Castrol super clean is another. Make sure you wash it all off when your' done. Of coarse aluminum comes in a lot of flavors like most metals and some will be more affected than others.

 

[exavid]

Personally I don't like water based solvents for gun cleaning. Too much chance of hidden corrosion in springs, fasteners or other hidden places. That probably comes from my history of having mostly blued steel rifles, pistols and revolvers. In almost 60 years of shooting I've never worn a firearm out. I prefer blued steel for esthetic reasons, I don't like shiny guns they're just not very discreet. Admittedly a blued steel firearm takes a wee bit more maintenance to keep rust away but it's not all that much work. I've got a Model 19 I've owned for half a century now. I've carried that as a side arm when flying in Alaska, carried it as bear protection when fishing or hunting and just generally worn a bunch of the bluing off it, it's plenty holster worn. It's had a LOT of .44s fired through it in those years both in hunting and target shooting. Never failed once, it's still as accurate as it was new when I paid the princely sum of $150 for it. It has no rust, and not pitting because it was cared for as it should have been. I never did like a gun that looks brand new, kinda like a pair of jeans.

 

[stantheman86]

Eezox is the only thing use, I have a blued S&W K-22 that sits in a leather holster in my garage as my "critter killer" and it's been there for 2 hot summers......I wipe it down with Eezox once every so often and the only spot that rusted was a small spot on the frame where I missed putting Eezox on with the rag. The rest of the gun is still perfect.

A thrashed 10/22 that sits in my garage, a blued model that I use as my "beater", that I don't bother to wipe Eezox on has accumulated a layer of haze rust on it once every summer for the past 5 years.

Eezox definitelty works and it will remove carbon like you would not believe.

For lead and copper I use Hoppe's bench rest. Other than these and Kroil for lubing, there are no other products I have found a use for on my smokeless firearms.

I even use Kroil to protect an old S&W M&P that I shoot blackpowder .38's through and it has never rusted.

 

[slofyr]

Personally I don't like water based solvents for gun cleaning. Too much chance of hidden corrosion in springs, fasteners or other hidden places.....

Never shot blackpowder? After using SG, spray the firearm with Kroil or TriFlow and no worries.

 

[exavid]

Yes I did shoot blackpowder some years back. I had a Colt and Remington replica revolver, flintlock Pennsylvania rifle and a flintlock pistol. Used Hoppes #9 for cleaning and light oil after.

 

[cruzerlou]

My thought on this are this .With modern steels ,both blued and stainless both are tough enough to last a life time .The big benefits of stainless over blued guns in that if you get some slight holster wear or scratches on one you can use 3-M Stocthbtise pads to remove them or even take a highly polished gun and dull it up .Also you can buff a dull gon with Flitz polish and make it shine like a mirror .If you scratch a blued gun you've just got a scratch gun .All you can bo is have it rebuled .
Lou