3 days of rain. I started are early doe season in the rain put my wet stainless rifle away in the case left it in the truck over night pulled it out the next morning looked great. Day 2 rained some more again put the rifle away wet leaving it in the case. Day 3 pulled rifle out looked great shot a deer early morning in the rain, rifle wet put in the case pulled it out in the after noon. Gave it a good cleaning no signs of rust or any other damage.
Having hunted over 40 years with blued rifles after the first night I would have been battleing rust.
When it comes down to hard hunting and rotten weather I'll take a stainless Sty stock rifle over Blued and wood any day.
Posts: 19835 | Location: wis | Registered: 21 April 2001
I do wipe the excess water off of my rifles as even most stainless rifles will rust under certain conditions.That being said,I still hunt only with stainless actions and synthetic stocks.
Posts: 3104 | Location: alberta,canada | Registered: 28 January 2002
People that deride S&S just don't spend a lot of time outdoors - in all kinds of weather.
I had to carry B&W for many years because that is all that we had available. The first opportunity I had to buy S&S, I did and it has been an absolutely outstanding rifle. Based on it's performance, I've added quite a few S&S firearms to join it.
B&W can be made quite "pretty", but I've yet to find a way to "pretty" Game to death.
Posts: 9920 | Location: Carolinas, USA | Registered: 22 April 2001
I'm sorry, I care far more for my rifle, shotguns and handguns than to ever put one away without taking care of it first. Put one away wet, my Grandpa would climb out of his grave and belt me good for being so lazy. And I spend a lot of time hunting in all kinds of weather. Give me blue and walnut everytime. Lawdog
Posts: 1254 | Location: Northern California | Registered: 22 December 2002
After spending night after night in a tent No heat wet weather ect one learns to like SS rifles more and more. It is one thing to come home to nice warm house or cabin where the chores waiting you are easier done. Then coming back to a cold wet tent where the last thing I want to worry about is my rifle rusting. A SS rifle makes it life just a bit easier.
My grandpa and pa brought me up the same way my pa is closing in on 90 real fast. He thinks Stainless syt is the way to go. He wishies that is beloved sav 99 would have been made out of SS.
Some times it is the little things that can make life more enjoy able.
Posts: 19835 | Location: wis | Registered: 21 April 2001
It doesn't matter how much you like your guns when you hunt in condidtions like this: 6 days of snow, sleet and rain in northern BC up in the mountains...
Your gun is going to get soaked, and stay soaked for mostof the trip. Unless you plan on bringing it into your sleeping bag at night!
Stainless & Synthetic require less immediate maintenence than their blued counterparts.
I'm sure that some died in the wool blue/wood guys will chime in here and tell us that if you properly prepare and maintain your rifle, it will be fine. I'm sure they are correct, but I doubt anyone can convince me that S/S are a bad idea in poor weather
It always seems that the guys that like S/S have no problem with others using blue/wood, but the traditionalists always sneer at the S/S rifles...
I htink S/S rifles are better looking than blue/wood, too....
Posts: 3082 | Location: Pemberton BC Canada | Registered: 08 March 2001
Quote: Lawdog wrote: "Give me blue and walnut everytime."
Lawdog you sound like one of those gentleman, afternoon quail hunters with his Browning Superpose. I'm an Americal grunt from the QueSon valley south of DaNang. Our Search&Destroy missions were 30days out in the weeds with a 3-day stand-down between patrols. We were constantly cleaning on our weapons. But you had better be ready to lay in the mud with your weapon/s and all your gear for hours or days. And there is no place for any corrosion. I don't care if it's stainless, electroless nickeled, parkerized, or polymer coated it had better work in the mud and the wet... Don't forget, the monsoon in Nam lasts more than 4 months and it's raining every/all day.
my Steyr came parkerized and I still had it polymer coated on top of that. The stock is made out of cycolac plastic (the same stuff that WesternElectric used to make phones out of)
There is no question that stainless rifles offer some �breathing room� when it comes to foul weather rifle care. I have owned, currently own, and have hunted, in some darn foul weather, with rifles built from stainless steel. Like Stubblejumper, if they get wet, they are wiped down and dried. They are also given a light coat of rust prevent or sheath, and then the bore and chamber are addressed (usually, a bit of electricians tape over the muzzle keeps both bone dry). This regimen is the same given to blued rifles before, during, and after the stainless ones came along and rust has never been a problem with either. I enjoy taking care of my firearms, and do it at home or on a 10 day tent bound hunt, it doesn't matter.
The rifle of mine that sees the most snow, water, and condensation is a left handed short action Remington 700 22-250. Coyotes move in cold weather after a snow and coyotes are what this rifle is used for. All of the metal work on the rifle is blued chrome-moly and there is no rust and the bore is dime bright.
Also remember an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.......
Chuck
Posts: 2659 | Location: Southwestern Alberta | Registered: 08 March 2003
Amen to that! Stainless/synthetic is the ultimate in durable when it comes to prolonged miserably wet conditions.
I dearly love blue and wood, don't get me wrong, but the peace of mind of having my stainless/synthetic in hand is nice. With my blue/wood rifles I always find myself cringing a bit til I get the chance to give them a major drying out and cleaning. Yes, with proper maintenance they do fine, but there's nothing quite like having a "dishwasher safe" rifle in hand - I give it not the least concern compared to my blue/wood rifles.
To me it's not even so much the rust issue with the metal as it is the wood/warpage concern should the wood take on some water - this can play havoc on your rifle's groupings...
Posts: 863 | Location: Mtns of the Desert Southwest, USA | Registered: 26 February 2004
I hunted for years with a Ruger no. 1 blued and wood year after year it would put the bullet right on the money. Then one year I took it out and shot it just before deer season it was shooting 8 inchs off. I found my self two days before season working hard sanding out the forend and refinshing it so it would shoot correct again.
Stainless/synthetic is the way to good in rough weather.
Posts: 19835 | Location: wis | Registered: 21 April 2001
Another advantage to stainless steel and synthetic is that you needn't use so much nasty smelling stuff on it to keep the metal from rusting or the stock from absorbing water and drifting off zero. If I can smell my rifle at <1 meter, a whitetail deer can probably smell it at 30 yards. I've kept statistics on the deer I've killed and the most important factor to getting a shot is scent control. If you can't get the shot, shot placement is irrelevant. I hunt where it is always wet. My first ss synth gun was an A-Bolt Stainless Stalker in 30'06 I bought used @15 yrs ago. It always shoots true after days in rain, fog, sleet, snow, mist, salt marsh slop et nauseum. A few minutes with a hair drier set on low and it's good to go. Now all but one of my guns is ss synth. I rate them in the same class sex and Gortex.
Posts: 621 | Location: Commonwealth of Virginia | Registered: 06 September 2003
I have posted in the past I am a fan of Krinkle paint
Here is what it looks like. The rifle is about a 1980 Winchester Model 70 in .375H&H. It is in a McMillan Kevlar stock and has the G&H scope mount. Weighs in at 8 pounds. The brake is a McArthur brake and the rifle has the recoil of a .243 It's been dragged through swamps and woods and rivers all over North America. It has done the week straight of rain and snow in a tent living and the blue is mint under the paint.I know because some of the paint finally chipped off a about a year ago and I saw it.
Ain�t pretty, but man is it protective. AND when I ge too old to drag it through the woods, I can take the paint off and he blue WILL be perfect and it can go back into the original stock. THE finish makes the whole gun "sticky" for gripping in the wet. I am one of those guys who is a "function over form" kinda guys.
Posts: 624 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 07 April 2003
Like most of the above posters I made the switch to stainless synthetic years ago. To me a rifle is a tool, I am not interested in pretty rifles so naturally I want the best tool for the job. The lone exception being my Remington 7600 synthetic carbine, now if I could only get them to make it in stainless. Remington, are you listening?
Posts: 8827 | Location: CANADA | Registered: 25 August 2004
While I don't pretend Wood and blue is better than synth - I also don't buy the idea that wood and blue can't be used in bad weather. I guess all those animals taken by Jack O'connor, and such all over AK and other wet places aren't really dead. In his time they didn't have the products we have now either.
Like I said I asin't saying W/B is better just that SS is not a perfect product. It DOES rust - you just can't see it until it gets REALLY bad and SS should get maintained in wet weather too.
ultimatley though isnt a rifle coated with some of the coatings like cerakote or NP3/ROguard etc even more weather resistant, doesnt matter whether S/S or Cr-mo, as long as they are coated externally and internally to a certain degree?
Posts: 315 | Location: SOUTHEAST USA | Registered: 26 December 2003
I had my all stainless 7mag coated with Cerakote. The guy that built it for me asked if I was planning on leaving it outside all winter. The exterior should be truly weather proof.
Hi, What happened to that study that said synthetic stocks are worse for hearing damage as they vibrate more? Was that a substantiated fact or just internet bs?
Posts: 2360 | Location: London | Registered: 31 May 2003
Quote: ultimatley though isnt a rifle coated with some of the coatings like cerakote or NP3/ROguard etc even more weather resistant, doesnt matter whether S/S or Cr-mo, as long as they are coated externally and internally to a certain degree?
Excellent question to a tough problem.
I've currently got a 350RemMag that has been Teflon coated by a company called "Z-Coat" which was in Florida at the time I had it done. Had a 7mmRemMag done at the same time and it has been sold to a buddy. Both rifles get hunted hard, meaning not pampered or laid on blankets to protect them, and the Teflon is holding up great. Only "wear points" are the back of the Bolt Lugs and Bolt Face, bot of which receive the full force of firing. And there is a "burnished" streak along the bottom of the Bolt where it slides against the next cartridge in the magazine. Other than that, they have no nicks, chips, feathers or blemishes.
Neither of those rifles had the Teflon get inside the barrel. There it would have worn and could have possibly created a small Bore Obstruction. So, they did not coat the inside of the barrel.
I really doubt any aftermarket coating could be applied with control of the coating thickness "inside" the barrel. If anyone knows how it could be done, please explain it to me.
Having some of the trigger pieces coated might be practicle as long as the "Sear Surface" is kept free of the coating.
Overall, some of the Coatings seem to work quite well. But there really is no need for them if you start with S&S and apply a modicum of care to the firearm.
And for those of you who prefer B&W, I wish you the best. You will learn why, if you have them outdoors long enough in inclimate conditions.
Posts: 9920 | Location: Carolinas, USA | Registered: 22 April 2001
I have a Nylite finished ss m70 that is my idea of the perfect foul weather rifle that isn't an eyesore like my bright stainless M77 I keep for a loaner.
Posts: 3174 | Location: Warren, PA | Registered: 08 August 2002
When it comes down to hard hunting and rotten weather I'll take a stainless Sty stock rifle over Blued and wood any day.
