I'm putting together a "marine grade" rifle with a SS Montana 1999 barreled action for the Pacific coast here and want to keep everything stainless. I've turned my own stock cross bolts and sling swivel studs but I can't find any stainless sight components.

Any leads?

Let me know if you can't find anything. I have made quite a few front ramps in the past and can probably help you out.

Not trying to screw malm out of any work, but if you can’t find what you want in stainless get the sights you want in steel and send them to Robar and have them coat them with NP3. It looks just exactly like matte stainless steel and is even more corrosion resistant. It actually impregnates the surface of the steel so it will never wear or chip off and there is no problem with interfering with tight tolerances since there is virtually no build up on the surface.

I have several rifles with the bolts done in NP3 and I really like it. It’s self lubricating and literally maintenance free.

Thanks a lot Rick, there goes the kids milk money!

Rick, do you have contact info for Robar? Thanks.

In my opinion, NP3 is the perfect answer for a weather proof rifle. It has all of the advantages of stainless (and more) and NONE of the drawbacks.

Great stuff and the price to have a complete barreled action done is not all that expensive.

Thanks for the options guys. I decided to get a milling attachment for my mini-lathe and make one myself.

A friend of mine had a rifle done by Robar and it was nice enough but I'm going to stick with 100% stainless.

As an aside, the milling attachment is $129 from littlemachineshop.com and is just right for the occasional light stuff I tinker around with.

I got to wondering, what are the drawbacks of stainless steel? Seems to serve me well but I'm always looking for a better way.

quote:

Originally posted by mikefairbanks:
I got to wondering, what are the drawbacks of stainless steel? Seems to serve me well but I'm always looking for a better way.

For a sight you obviously don’t need to worry about galling or higher price, but allot of people assume that stainless steel is totally impervious to the elements and that it doesn’t rust or corrode. While it is far more resistant to the elements it can and does rust and corrode if not cared for. It’s rust and corrosion “resistant†NOT rust and corrosion “proof.â€

Also, depending on your skills and tools, machining stainless steel can be a bit trickier to do nicely. If you’re going to make your own stainless parts go with the higher priced TiAIN and/or TiCN coated end mills, in that order and you’ll end up with a much nicer finish.

The worst thing about stainless is how it rusts. Carbon steel gets an even layer that builds up over time, eventually pitting. Stainless will get little spots started that turn into worm holes, boring into the surface instead of spreading over the surface.

The corrosion of stainless is not too bad of a problem for me. I usually think in terms of two weeks in the bush before returning to a place where I can do thorough maintenance and most of the time it's just day trips. Blued/wood guns just require too much attention for here on the N Pacific coast.

I have a SS Ruger MkII in .223 that's been my trapline gun. That rifle has seen a lot of seaspray, rain, and snow and keeps on going. Most of the time to clean it up after a trip, I just hold it under the hottest water in the shower, take it to the shop and blow it out with compressed air, give it a WD-40 bath and hit it with the air again. My experience with that rifle in particular has been quite satisfactory.

I'll keep an eye out for the "wormhole" corrosion however. I've seen it on stainless hardware around the dock here.

Thanks for the advice on the coated end mills. The sight is the last thing required before BOOM time.

"The whole world is a target, you just need to look at it the right way..."

The glare from a stainless front sight ramp would not be a positive IMHO. It would really have to be dull to work.