I guess I have to repeat myself !
416 is a high sulfur 410 SS.The sulfur there for better machinability.The chemistry is weird as far as sulfur goes --except Crucible's 416R and that they have tested to - 40 F which is equal to - 40 C !!
4140 has also been made in a high sulfur version but I never found out if any of the barrel makers use that normally.I have handled some WWII high sulfur type so I know it was once for barrels.
Titanium ? well I do have a Ti sword for close work .This is a fine alloy hardened by Martensite and other good things .
Advice to knife makers is that Ti EATS abrasive belts !And you better understand Ti and FIRE !!

So your saying you can't turn down a SS barrel?

I have a buddy that has new unfired 375 montana SS he wantes to sale. Pm me if interested an ill get some pics. Mcmillian with fluted barrel 7.86 # bare gun Thanks Elton

Spar varnish is a kind of gereric term for outdoor or marine grade varnish. Most of them are now a mix of polyurethanes and varnishes.

Minwax makes one that should be easy to find. If you have read the gunsmithing forum and seen mention of Dalys Ship and Shore, that is a premium brand of it used by some top end stock makers.

I think that it seals and protects better for an area of the stock that is not visible and won't see any maintenance.

Yes, you can thin a stainless barrel within reason. The muzzle end can be thinned more, and you keep some meat at the breech end where the real pressure occurs. Ruger tends to use heavy barrels on their guns. I might not go quite as thin with a stainless barrel as I would CrMo, but you can shave it down a bit.

The issue is with the ductile to brittle transition that ALL ferritic/martensitic steels go through (austinitic stainless is immune). Stainless isn't special in this area carbon steels suffer the same issue. Most other metals do not have a ductile to brittle transition. It is a BCC crystal problem if you want to get technical.

However, martensitic stainless (barrel steel or even knife steel) is a super high chrome alloy. Chrome makes very angular carbides, and angular carbides move the ductile to brittle transition to a higher temperature. That said, the brittle temperature is still something like -60F. Keep in mind, static air temp is what you are looking at. Wind chill doesn't affect objects.

Lower chrome alloys like 4130 suffer less due to less chrome.

To say, it will fail is false. The alloy, heat treatment, and stress relieving all get to the end result. It has to be tested to really find out. Most testing is done down to -40F (-40C).

Tikka (Sako) had an issue where they used improperly heat treated barrels, and had brittle failure at low temp.

I am not familiar with other failures.

Jeremy

Good info, thanks for taking the time to explain that!

I have a 375 and 416 Ruger Alaskan, you will not miss the 416 Remmy. I put one of the older Ruger boat-paddle stocks on the 375 and like the trimness and lightness of it. The recoil factor prevents me from doing it to the 416 Ruger though, since that particular stock has a pretty hard butt pad. The 416 Ruger is an awesome cartridge and you will be well served.

I have an old boat paddle stock as well. But my lop is to short. Like the guide gun due to the adjustable length of pull.

This has been an interesting thought process going on here Jake,, I can't wait to see pic's of the finished rifle. Your thinking on the 350 gr's is the route I went with my 425 Express,a little less recoil and maybe it was an illusion but they seem to shoot flatter to me. Howdy to Butch!

Jim

Dang it. I am always too darned busy.

Jake sorry about Ray. I will see what I can do at next gunshow. However, I would advise you
to contact John Mogle at Fierce Firearms.
He writes a lot for Hunting Illustrated which I believe is a subsidiary magazine to Bear Hunting.
I believe that either he, Shawn Finley at Nosler or Ken Campbell at Forbes would love to make you a product tester. I know that Campbell gave a forbes rifle to Luke's brother to test in inclement conditions. I would email each of them. Tell them that you will not only write their guns up but you will provide enough good quality advertising to sell many.
You are in a position to do that.

Sincerely,
Thomas