There has been quite a bit of talk about stainless rifles lately.
Mainly about the Remington XCR coating, and it's pros and cons.
My question is have any of you ever had a stainless rifle rust on you?
I have owned stainless rifles from Browning, Winchester, and Remington.
I have hunted Roosevelt elk and blacktailed deer on the Oregon Coast range with all three brands. Not too mention hunts in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, and Eastern Oregon. The only reason I mention this is to assure you I have hunted in REALLY WET weather.
I wish I could say that I always wiped down my rifles when I was back at camp but.... sometimes I forgot or was just too damn tired.

Nevertheless none of my rifles ever showed a hint of rust. Scope rings and bases showed rust. Base and ring screws showed rust. But not the Browning Stainless Stalker, not the Winchester M70 Stainless, and not the Remington M7 or M700. After week long hunts in Oregon rainforests, I dont see how they could rust without major long term negligence.
After the hunts I pull the barreled actions and wiped down everything. There was never any rust on anything that was stainless steel.

So I was curious as too how many of you had rust issues with your stainless rifles.

Thanks, KC

I only have one stainless synthetic rifle a Win M70 Classic in 375 H&H Mag. I took this rifle to Alaska on a very rainy Moose hunt in 2005, constant drenching and yes I started to see some rusting on a couple places. We wiped our guns down every night, rem oiled them and pulled a snake through the bore for good measure with no lasting effects.
I grew up in Oregon on the rainy side and hunted every day I could downpour or not and we treated our guns the same as I did on my Alaska trip with none of us having stainless and our guns were fine, however if not cared for guns can rust quicker than you think in those conditions.
At the end of the season we always pulled them out of the stocks and cleaned and oiled them, just as I do today hunting in Colorado.

a good friend of mine whose also a gunsmith told me that true stainless steel will not attract a magnet,ie milk bulk tanks, stainless steel rifles are a mix of different alloys so yes they will rust, blood orange juice and acids will attack ss rifles also, the above poster made some great points, regards jjmp

KC, my experience mirrors yours. I have been in some real soup with my stainless rigs, and never a bit of rust. Other than maybe takng a towel ocassionally and wiping off the big drops, but sometimes doing nothing at all, I never have had a rifle rust on me. My rigs have all been Sako and one Browning.

Syn Stainless is great for the nasty weather and low maintainence.

I hunted the Big Horn mountains for 31 days. Rain, Snow, cold and Hot. My SS Ruger got minimal care and not a speck of rust anywhere

High nickel content will make them non-magnetic. The high nickel grades are usually used in really tough service...your kitchen sink (usually slightly magnetic due to extream forming), pool equipment, chemical handling equipment, ect. The nickel grades are tough to get to very high strength levels.

I've never had more than very superficial rust on a stainless gun, usually a rag takes it off. Unlike blueing or coatings the new wiped surface is just as rust resistance as the original. I personally see no need for the coatings other than looks.

The two problems I've had with stainless rifles have had extenuating circumstances. One was a 416R alloy (iirc) barrel, ruined by Butch's Bore Shine (and possibly a combination of rain drops and lead fouling causing electrolysis?). And the other was a Remington trigger group that siezed during a backpack hunt - but that's Remington. The Winnies and Rugers I've used have all taken the licking of normal foul weather and minimal maintenance and kept on ticking, although they do show a slight blush now and then after periods of long neglect.

I have a Ruger SS M77 in .223 that I used for a marine trapline gun along the Pacific coast. Every weekend, it was out in salt spray and rain and I'd just hold it under a hot shower and blast it with WD-40 and an air hose afterwards. It's the ugly boat-paddle version but I'm very impressed with the durability of that rifle (and the Leupold 2-7 compact w/ butler creek flip open caps too!) Used a lot of electrical tape over the muzzle.

I really like the fact that no matter how deep you scratch it, it's still stainless.

Hey KC, I do not remember ever seeing ANY rust on my various Stainless firearms, but they get cleaned each night when they go outside.

I've seen some "light spots" of a barely dark impression. Kind of like making a small irregular spot with a Lead Pencil and wiping most of it off, so it is just barely visible. Wouldn't hurt a thing though.

I got some Blood between the Grips and Stock on my Hunting Revolver that I didn't notice. Apparently it was on the palm of my hand and I touched it against the revolver while dragging the Deer out. The Blood will definitely "etch" the Stainless Grip Frame of a Ruger.

I've seen a Stainless M700 Muzzleloader in a Gun Shop that was Rusted and Pitted. Apparently the original Owner thought it never needed cleaning.

I'll ask my buddies, but I don't remember any of them ever mentioning having a "serious" problem with rust on a Stainless firearm.

I've had plenty of experience with constantly rusting Blue firearms rusting though. That is why I can appreciate the Stainless firearms for my use so much.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

I use a stainless M70 on Kodiak island. In and out of boats and near salt water.
Yes they do rust but under only the worst conditions and then it amounts to a little off coloring or light surfice rust.
where you can really make the comparison is on your scope mount screws. They are commonly chrome moly and you'll see they will be very rusty when your stainless parts will only appear blotched.

I've hunted a lot in the rain and on the shores (within 25 yards) of the Chesapeake Bay. I use sheath sparringly on my guns because if I can smell it for 10 yards I figure the deer can smell it for fifty. I went to ss because there were times when my carbon steel rifle had a thin film of rust in the barrel at the end of one long day of use and one night of neglect. The gun was dried carefully but not cleaned. I've used a stainless Browning A-Bolt, and two Win. 70's. I've gotten one lightly etched spot on a M. 70 when I missed a blood splatter for days and some superficial surface discoloration on the under side of the A-Bolt's barrel where it was hidden by the stock. No rust in the barrel. I clean the and protect the bore and spray clean and use protectant on the action. No worries.

While on the topic, I enjoy the virtues of stainless, yet my revolvers show the carbon all over the cylinder, that cleans up.

I do caution, if you use a high ammonia based cleaner i.e. Sweets 7.62, or similar, if left in a stainless barrel very long, it can pit the bore, and badly I understand.

I would never leave it overnight, only for a few minutes in the bore, and get it all out, deactivating or diluting any remaining with light oil, other solvent, even hear wd-40.

Just an FYI, so no one ruins a good barrel.