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View Poll Results: Given the choice I prefer
stainless 118 57.84%
blued 86 42.16%
Voters: 204. You may not vote on this poll

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Old May 3, 2013, 06:45 PM   #1
dayman
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Stainless vs. Blued

My own preference - all else being equal - is for SS. I like the rust resistance, the ability to buff out scratches, but mostly I just prefer the way it looks.

This is not to say all - or even most - of my guns are stainless. But, given the choice, I'd generally choose the SS version of a gun.
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Old May 3, 2013, 06:50 PM   #2
Haz251
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Really depends on the style of the gun. Revolvers I like stainless. 1911s blued. Bolt actions blued. Levers stainless.
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Old May 3, 2013, 06:55 PM   #3
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Hard to say I agree it sort of depends on the style of the actual gun. Truthfully very few of my guns are actually blued, but either stainless or some other type of coating.
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Old May 3, 2013, 07:02 PM   #4
Revolver1
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Stainless looks silly! For newbies!
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Old May 3, 2013, 07:08 PM   #5
Bob Wright
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I prefer blued for a couple of reasons. First is that the gun is less conspicuous in ordinary carry.

Second is that the stainless gun always looks brand new. When I was a soldier, nobody wanted fresh OD fatigues, the faded fatigues gave one that "old soldier" look. Same way with a blued gun~it has CHARACTER when it begins to show a little honest wear.

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Old May 3, 2013, 07:15 PM   #6
481
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Stainless all the way for me.

If it is being carried concealed no one is gonna spot 'til it comes out anyway (the cat's out of the bag, afterall) and I like the durability and corrosion resistance of the finish over conventional bluing.
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Old May 3, 2013, 08:17 PM   #7
jmr40
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I buy em to use em. Stainless, or some other type of tough finish such as Glocks Tennifer, parkerized etc.
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Old May 3, 2013, 08:30 PM   #8
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I generally preferre stainless for the newer guns. The quality of most newer blue jobs isn't near the same as the old Colt's, Rugers, etc. On older guns it's not a deal breaker either way but a real deep blue job will catch my eye.
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Old May 3, 2013, 08:35 PM   #9
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Depends on the gun, but if pushed for an answer, I prefer blued.
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Old May 3, 2013, 08:54 PM   #10
Electric Head
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My opinion is pretty much the same as yours dayman, in fact, pretty much exactly! I generally like SS over blued, sometimes blued just works better (aesthetically) on a certain gun, but usually I prefer the SS, and think similarly about the maintainability of it.
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Old May 3, 2013, 09:01 PM   #11
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I prefer bluing. Sometimes I'll see a stainless rifle with a killer piece of walnut that is crazy beautiful, but almost everything I own is made out of blued steel and walnut.
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Old May 3, 2013, 09:36 PM   #12
CSG
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If it isn't that deep lustrous Colt bluing, I don't really care much about the finish but I prefer blue or black even though I've got a couple stainless handguns. However, for a carry gun, definitely not stainless or nickel. I want covert carry as much as possible and save for my Kimber CDP Compact, all my carry guns have always been blue/black in black holsters.
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Old May 3, 2013, 10:29 PM   #13
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For autos, I like blued, or dark finishes

For revolvers, I like a brushed stainless
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Old May 4, 2013, 10:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
Stainless looks silly! For newbies!
I guess I've been a newbie for about forty years now.

I prefer the look of stainless, but I own way more blued (or otherwise black-colored) handguns. The point about black being somewhat more concealable seems valid to me, and there are other pistols that I own that are either not available or at least harder to find in stainless. As a result, about 80% of my pistols are blue.
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Old May 4, 2013, 11:32 AM   #15
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I agree with Bob Wright, the one thing that makes me sad about my SP101 is that it will never attain the beautiful holster-worn look of my Beretta.

When new, I think stainless looks better, but a worn blued finish tells a story. I prefer blued for handguns and stainless for rifles. As for the extra maintenance, well I clean and oil my handguns more often than they need anyway. No chance of rust either way.

So since this is in the handguns forum, I vote blued.

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Old May 4, 2013, 11:40 AM   #16
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If I'd seen a good Smith Model 40 before I found my fine 640 no-dash I'd have bought it. But I didn't, so the 640 has ridden in a holster in my pocket daily for going on thirteen years. Being unobtrusive is not a problem. I once briefly owned a Ruger GP100, and for a short time a Rossi 87, but all my other revolvers have been blue.

Stainless rifles have never appealed to me, either for appearance or visibility in the woods.
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Old May 4, 2013, 11:41 AM   #17
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You missed one -- case hardened. Some guns, no other finish is appropriate, like certain revolvers.

But SS or blued depends on the style and use of the gun. A well used hunting rifle, I prefer SS,(oops, this is the handgun forum) as well as my common shooters. The classics that were originally blued, stay blued.
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Old May 4, 2013, 01:06 PM   #18
Malamute
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Blued. Never really cared for stainless. Nickel even looks better with some wear. I understand the supposed advantages of stainless, just can't enjoy them like a blued gun. A dedicated pocket gun may be worthwhile to have in stainless, or for someone living in a humid environment, but I've not been all that kind to my blued guns through many years of hard use, and they've always worked just fine. So long as a little surface rust now and then doesn't make you have a cow, blued is fine.


Like Bob, I like the honest wear that comes with use on blued guns.
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Old May 4, 2013, 01:43 PM   #19
The Great Mahoo
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Stainless vs. Blued

I prefer stainless on most any gun. Thy being said, I don't hate blues finishes, and buy them now and again.

For my money, though, nothing beats a case-hardened look on a single-action or levergun
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Old May 4, 2013, 02:02 PM   #20
Bob Wright
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I dug this gun out for a range session this morning. Bought in 1987, CCH in 1989, 19,641 fired through it after this morning's work out. Cleaned and oiled after each range session. Protected by my 50/50 mix of Three-In-One oil and automotive motor oil.



And this Ruger .44 Special (bottom gun) has been carried in a leather holster daily for over two years, has around 6,500 rounds fired through it.



Same treatment.

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Old May 4, 2013, 02:45 PM   #21
dayman
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I always look forward to your posts/pictures Mr. Wright. You have a beautiful collection, and know how to compose a good picture.

I didn't really think about where the popular "black paint" finish most semi-autos come clad in lies on the spectrum - which is odd, because that's what most of my guns actually are. Oddly, I don't actually care for the aesthetic of bi-tone guns, so when buying polymer framed pistols I do wind up choosing black paint over stainless. However, I don't think of it as my favorite gun finish. It's just what - to me - looks "right" on my fantastic plastic.

Anyway, a lot of good reasoning both ways. The results are actually a lot closer than I would have expected thus far.
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Old May 4, 2013, 04:14 PM   #22
Hawg
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Blued.
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Old May 4, 2013, 05:00 PM   #23
gsparesa
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I like them all. However, there is something magical about those lustrous blued Colts.
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Old May 4, 2013, 05:45 PM   #24
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Stainless Brushed or blackened on a semi-auto and blued on a revolver.
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Old May 4, 2013, 05:47 PM   #25
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I like them blued, but have nothing against owning them stainless.
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