I see a lot of matte finished rifles, flat black finishes, flat black stocks, etc. Just how important is this compared to the traditional high polish blue or fancy wood stock??

Just curious --- I wonder if this is a fad or if it is real?

RobertD

If you are a seeker of an ole muley buck, then its important.

If you are the seeker of a "Grand Slam", then its important.

If you are the seeker of a "book antelope", then its important.

If you are the seeker of "ole wiley", then its important.

I think you get my drift................

MtnHtr

No its not just a fad. High polish rifles cost el cheepo manufactures more money, they (manufactures) were not apeasing to the demand of customers. Secondly hi polished firearms have been scaring game for years... now that matt firearms are more and more prevalent, everyone is invisiable (not). Please, your own eyes trained on game will spook them greater than your rifles barrel, I AM NOT KIDDING. And movement.

Drab neutral outdoor colors are less likely to be noticed by game animals in the field. Animals see movement, have very good eyes, and rely on their eyes for protection against any preditor. It just makes sense when in the field, to vanish and not be seen by the prey animal. It is much easier to move a drag colored firearm and not be seen by the prey animal. Those shinny finished barreled action, scopes, and stocks look spectacular but are not practical in hunting applications. They reflect sunlight and stick out like sore thumb, just asking to be seen at any distance even in sparse to heavy cover.

use to get caught moving with a 700 remington bdl all the time. pretty rifle but caught the eye of these southern heavy pressured whitetails everytime. switched to a simple walnut low luster 270 adl and didn't have as much problem. theres no substitute for good movements but high gloss adds atention to those movements. matte rifles for my hunting.

I used to think that game being scared out of the country by high gloss rifles was pretty hokey. However I had never hunted with anyone who had this type of finish on there rifle. This fall I guided a couple of guys that did and let me tell you, from a distance they stuck out like a sore thumb.

Light reflecting off an object is quite the beakon and sure isn't natural. A few weeks ago I was watching a Bull Elk feed about a mile away through my spotting scope just as the sun was rising. As soon as the sun appeared on the horizon that bull picked up his head and looked right at me. I'm sure he saw the sun catch the lens of my spotting scope.

If you have ever observed duck hunters, the two things that you will notice is the glint off thier gunbarrels and thier pale faces. This has application to all hunting where the game can see well. Dark and dull are the way to go

Thanks for all the posts.

One reason I asked the question is that along with matte finishes, I see bright silver stainless steel barrels on top of flat black stocks. What is up with that? Clearly, that has to be way more visible than bluing!

I am not sure one can compare ducks to whitetails. Ducks see color, deer don't. Just for kicks last duck season, I sat out in the open below the top of the levee in plain sight for some incoming mallards. I was in full camo, only my face and gun, which was sitting in my lap, was visible. Four incoming ducks spotted me, about a 100 yards out. They did an instant right and swung a 180 degree arc around me just out of shotgun range. I had to laugh though, as their turn put them right over some other hunters and they dropped two of them. At the end of the arc, the remaining two swung back onto their original course.

Clearly, when duck hunting, a hidden gun is a good plan. I am not sure one can just apply that lesson to deer.

As I see it, and I am a much better duck hunter than a big game hunter, deer see B&W in shades of gray. They are very keen on movement and clearly can spot reflecting light from a lens. When you are moving, I believe that they will spot your movement long before they will spot a non moving rifle. But, when you or the rifle is not moving, just how visible is that rifle? Assuming of course, it isn't reflecting light off the lens.

After giving this some serious thought, as I do dearly love that fine walnut and high polish blue, is simply to tape the gun with something. Camo tape, black cloth bicycle handlebar tape, etc. If it is really that important, then do it right and really make it invisible. The new turkey guns are a good examples. I think the actual truth is somewhere between sunlight glinting off the lens and being totally invisible.

I am just trying to determine if giving up that spiffy walnut and blue is worth it.

RobertD

Walnut doesn't need to have a mirror finish.

I hunt with matte finish rifles, and personally, I think dull, non-reflective finishes are highly important, or at least I'd like to think so. Interviews with live animals would likely help resolve the question conclusively, but I've had trouble coming up with live testimony from same......

While I like non-reflective guns, I know guys who have literally hunted the world (on their own and guided) with shiny Weatherby Mark V, Colt Sauer, and Remington 700 rifles, and judging by the results they've achieved, you'd never know that shiny gun finishes spook game.

One of these guys has a Mark V that he bought in the mid-1970s, and he's used it to shoot more game in more places than most folks can comprehend. In case you think he's just some pampered playboy on a series of cushy safaris, he's not. This fellow hunts on his own for mule deer and elk almost every year right here in Oregon, and his rifle looks like it's been through at least one world war, and he takes good care of his equipment.

I suspect the superiority of the matte rifle finish is more important in the mind's eye than it is on the actual playing field....

AD

RobertD:
I find the replys to your question interesting. I've posted comments regarding matte finishes before & have had people come back at me telling me I'm full of baloney. I think it could be quite important to have a matte finish on a firearm. A brief story:
A friend of mine & his stepbrother were guiding sheep hunters up in the Brooks Range. They each had a client & perhaps a packer with them. The 2 partys departed base camp in separate directions. After awhile, my friend sat down on the side of a mountain and began glassing. He then observed a flash of light from the general direction his stepbrother had taken. Further observation revealed that the flashing was sunlight reflecting off the rifle of the client in the other group. Now, I ask, if my friend could easily see this, don't you think a sheep with better eyesight could too?
My only stainless steel rifle is a Ruger .338 Mag. It's the only stainless rifle I've ever owned and I'm impressed with the advantages of the steel. However, my plan is to get Teflon coated sometime, perhaps this year, just for the reasons cited above. This is just my opinion & probably not worth much. Bear in Fairbanks

Having a Dull finish whether on a stock or rifle will remove one thing that can ruin a hunt. Is it a must. No. As has been previously mentioned our bright faces and shine off the binos and scopes are just as much a problem. Guess it all depends on how much you want to pay attention to detail. For me I hunt with Pre 64 model 70's and have no plans to dull them up. If I am hunting in close cover I do wear gloves and facemask even during rifle season.

As an old duck hunter I tend to notice these things. Shiny guns, faces and hands really catch your attention IF they are moving. My guns are dull because they are old (I am not going to put a camo paint job on my M21) but I believe the most important factor is no movement! My archery hunting son got me into facemasks and gloves and now I wear them hunting almost everything. I keep my gun low, horizontal, and hidden as best as I can and I don't wave it around. To my eyes a vertical gun barrel really sticks out no matter what the color.
C.G.B.

The flat finishes are just affectations. Unless it coated with a special finish for weatherproofing, then it is useful. Most of this crap comes from the public liking the so-called Police or Tactical model Remarchester. If you look at the normal price of a particular rifle and compare the same model with Tactical all over it, it will cost $100 or more over the regular price.

I prefer the looks of a nice matte finish on the metal anyway. I do up most of my own wood stocks with a low-shine finish. I just love the look and feel of a nice piece of claro or english walnut...

I suppose a shiny barrel or stock could give you away, but I suspect that it would be a rather unlikely. An awful lot of game has been put down with rifles sporting shiny stocks and barrels...

OK, so how did they get away with it 100 yrs ago... I realize the stock finishes weren't what they became later, but the barrels were still shiney blue were they not?

My personal opinion, for what it is worth, is, (drum roll)
Stealth in the woods, fields or blind for that matter is all important! This year I walked up on about ten elk, within 35', with a stainless, polished rifle, blue jeans, fanny pack, orange sweat jacket, orange hat, all of the stuff that ya gotta have... I got busted by a cow facing me, she died.

I bow hunt, so I know all about camo. Rifle is different, here in CO. anyways. You have to go orange. Still stealth is all important! Creep, don't run! Use a 1970 Weatherby, Ultra Gloss & all! Then again if ya don't have to don't...

Pat