Chuck,



Apparently you do care what others post or you would have not posted this subject here. I'll give the AR board members my thoughts and then let the wolves start their feeding frenzy. Keep in mind I'm a busy man so I may not reply as frequently as you regulars here.



Anyone who hunts long enough in wet weather or wet, damp conditions knows that a SS barrel will hold up againest rust alot better than a CM barrel. I'm talking the inner bore where its hard to keep rust preventatives especially after one fires his rifle. I've spent plenty of time hunting backcountry areas in wet waether for weeks where carrying a cleaning rod or pull-thru cord was not an option. Why? Because when you hunt with a pack on your back, space and weight are at a premium. Taping a barrel works for only so long, when a shot is fired the muzzle has to be re-taped. After awhile condensation forms in the barrel and rust soon follows inside the bore. Do you stop and run a patch thru your barrel every time you fire your weapon in wet weather, then re-tape it? I don't have time for that crap, I'm usually concentrating on field butchering my animal at that point and thinking about how I'm going to pack it out.



I've had more than one CM barreled rifle show up with rust before I even got back to camp. Usually its in the bore just a few inches below the muzzle. I've tried ballons, tape and even sandwich bags in the past and none have kept rust at bay if I fired my rifle and then got soaked or rained, snowed on.



If you hunt long enough with a CM barrel in wet, damp conditions you will soon encounter rust. A SS barrel will rust too but nowhere as easily as a CM barrel. I have not had one of my rifles with SS barrels rust inside or out, and they have been on some extended, wet backpack hunts. There's a good reason why more hunters in Alaska use SS rifles, they simply hold up better againest the elements.



I spoke with Phil Shoemaker awhile back and he stated that although he uses both CM and SS rifles, the SS rifles hold up alot better especially when coming and going using the boat (salt water).



Some of the older posters here will remember the thread here on AR in which the poster had a SS rifle stolen from his residence, he found the rifle a couple mos later IIRC near his home after the snows melted. Not one bit of rust on the rifle inside or out and he was able to continue using it after a thorough cleaning. Try that with your CM barreled rifle........



So what if you have a little rust in your bore? My rusty CM barrels still shot okay but when re-sale time came, the buyer noted the pitting inside the bore and I wound up knocking some off the price. Also I noted that once the rust started in the bore and I brushed it out, it would return if I hunted awhile in the rain with it and the pits were deeper each time. I feel if one is going to build a hunting rifle for wet weather and fork out money for a custom barrel, then SS is the way to go.



As for the action and scope mounts, those can and are coated with KG Gun-Kote. Never had any problems with rust or chipping, internal parts are lighty wiped down with CPL.



Jeffesso,



I have no beef with you, I know you are sore with me after the whupping you took after we had a disagreement on the Wildcat forum awhile back. You posted you were going to use the "Ignore This User" feature so I would appreciate it if you would continue using that feature and ignore my posts.



MtnHtr

Chuck, you are not alone. When I lived in Alaska, I lived 40 YARDS from low tide. Most of my rifles were blued. I never had a problem with rust, and when hunting I took care of them at the end of each day, though didnt baby them during the day. Blued guns will only rust if you let them. It does not have to be a problem.

On another forum, I suggested to another poster that he put a CM barrel on a pre 64 model 70 action that was destined to become a custom rifle. Another poster was absolutely shocked that I would suggest anything other than stainless for a new tube and wanted to know why I would give such advice. I told him I liked the barrel to match the action and use both types of barrels, treat them the same, and don't have a problem. Come to find out my rifles have never seen rain or snow, or for that matter severe condensation when comming in from -40 degree weather after chasing prey who are dumb enough, like myself, to be out in such conditions. If I had, rust would have developed in those CM tubes while in the field and would now only be useful for things such as crow bars, paper weights, or door props.

I claimed to be able to keep rust at bay, and dodn't think I am performing any black magic to acomplish this now aparently wonderous feat. I will repeat what I said there. I have never had a bore rust on a personal firearm, ever. I have pushed out and seen rust on others weapons so I am not so naieve as to believe it can't happen. But with a little attention, I can not see how this can't be avoided. Now I have seen rust form on the outside from fingerprints, usually where the blueing has worn thin, but learned to be careful to make sure these areas recieved ample attention.

Surely, I am not alone out there.

A little rust isn't the end of the World!

Chuck,
sounds liek this fella that gave you trouble hasn't ever bothered with anything other than stainless AND likes (gag) the look of it.

I, myself, think stainless on CM actions are UGLY.

Write this guru back, and ask him how he keeps the action (CM) from rusting while the stain --LESS-- not stainproof, doesn't rust?

Ask ANYONE on a maritime area... stainless rusts, just lasts abotu a week longer

jeffe

I did bring up the point you make about the action. Apparently they are much easier to care for than a barrel. Rust doesn't form as quickly on an action I guess.

Rust might form on an action just as fast but let's not argue that.

I have had the same Stevens Favorite for over 50 years and it's in the same condition that I got it. So it can be done.

But not everybody takes care of stuff and sometimes bad luck happens or we forget.

As to looks that's in the eye of the beholder. To a traditionlist all blue is what they want but today even plastic stocks are accepted.

I shot a friends 375 Whelan Improved over the chrono. This was a made up "custom". The action was a military Mauser with a matte finish and the barrel was a bead blasted matte SS. The stock was a take off from a Whitworth rifle. The personality of this gun was pleasing although not traditional.

Please do not remove any smooth brown finish from my 70 year old Mausers, they add character.



But I will tolerate no new rust on my watch.



To quote a sergeant in Viet Nam on patrol yelling in a private's face about the soldier's M16, "RUST IS YOUR FAULT!"



--

A society that teaches evolution as fact will breed a generation of atheists that will destroy the society. It is Darwinian.

Savage 99, there was a little sarcasm in that last post.

Chuck, just a little? Don't worry most of us caught it. Btw, I agree. It is strange how many people I know from Alaska who laugh at those who say you have to use a stainless rifle to hunt in those climates. For some reason the rain in Oregon is also much more corrosive than that in Eastern Washington too. I guess I have just been lucky .... or diligent.

Customstox, aint that the truth! I dont think anyone should get me wrong... there are plenty of rusty guns in Alaska, stainless and CrMo, but they are all owned by rust characters . Seriously though, they only rust if you let them.

Well, I have to agree, I have lived in the bush in tiny cabins for months on end, using the same old Mod. 70s, Browning FNs and other classic junk and carried them every day in all weather without ever having a rust problem. This includes living on an island in the Pacific Ocean and various sites up and down the B.C. coast as well as in the Rockies, Selkirks and Alberta.

I have also packed them on horses and in 4x4s without special handling for a month or more at a time, keeping the rifle inside various tents when not actively using it. Quite frankly, I don't care for stainless barrels, fluted barrels, muzzle brakes or built-in lazers, either. A CM rifle has proven sufficiently rust-resistant in extreme conditions for me using simple rifle-care techniques; I continue to depend on this rustprone junk after 40 yrs with it.

The worst rust problem I have ever experienced with any piece of outdoor equipment was a blade rusting on a stainless Gerber folding knife I once owned; my old Gerber carbon steel knife has never rusted in 34 yrs. of use, so, I am not in awe of stainless.

I was on a sheep hunt in the Alaska range one time with another client who was carrying an Ultra-Light Arms rifle in 7mm Rem. Mag. This rifle of his featured "regular" rusty-steel throughout, including the barrel.



On this same hunt I carried my old .300 Win. Mag. with a Hart stainless barrel. As is typical of Alaskan sheep hunts, the weather was a mixed-bag of rain, fog, snow, and fair, sunny days. There were several days of weather that would rust a rifle barrel, and sure enough, at the end of the hunt, back in base camp, the client with the Ultra-Light brushed a considerable amount of rusty gunk out of his barrel. I asked him if he had placed and strip of electrician's tape over the barrel and he said that he had not. I had no rust in my rifle's barrel, but I also kept it taped.........



I don't think there could be any question that a stainless barrel will resist rust better than a barrel made of rusty steel. HOWEVER, all of my current hunting rifles feature barrels made from regular steel, and I've used several of them in some very, very wet weather here in Oregon and also in B.C. and Alaska. I've never had a rust problem, but I always keep a strip of tape over the end of the barrel when I know or suspect the weather is going to be wet, and I always push a patch dampened with Sheath through the barrel at night, followed by a dry patch the next morning and a fresh piece of tape.



I've had more problems with wood stocks in wet weather than I've had with blued metalwork.



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