Blue vs Stainless

[Ron In MD]

Which finish do you prefer, blue or stainless?

I'm leaning toward blue mainly due to not wanting to show that I have a weapon in a situation where bright lighting would reflect off a stainless pistol.

What's your thoughts?

[jj2am44]

Stainless is for shooting and carrying. Blue is for showing.

[woodsltc]

I really like the looks of a blued gun with "honest wear", but I carry blue, stainless and polymer firearms.

Don

[P&R Fan]

I don't carry my nice blued revolvers as much as my stainless ones, especially in the summer. Just a little sweat will quickly cause rust. If I carry a blued one it immediately gets wiped down with a RIG rag when I take it off. For that matter, I do that whenever I handle any of my blued guns.
My opinion is if I have to draw, I want whomever I'm pointing my gun at to see it. Hopefully that alone will solve the problem. The one time I have used a gun defensively that is exactly what happened. Mr. Bad Guy saw my stainless M696 S&W....And wanted to be someplace else.
Jim

[Alk8944]

While others may disagree, as a retired LEO my personal feeling has always been that when I had to draw a weapon I WANTED everyone to know it was out! If the situation is such that drawing a gun is appropriate the time to be coy about it is far past!

[RobertJ.]

Originally Posted by jj2am44

Stainless is for shooting and carrying. Blue is for showing.

I'll have to agree. I take my blued guns out and shoot them regularly, but they don't see nearly the amount of use that my stainless do.

[Magnum-Krazy]

My everyday carry is a 6 1/2" S&W 29-2 blue.
But as Jim said, everyday when I get home I spray a mist coat of Super QCG on it and wipe it good with an old clean cotton T-shirt.
Every now and then I will carry one of my stainless 44 Magnums, but never a nickeled one.



Ernie

[venomballistics]

stainless ... A carry piece isnt going to see the plush and pampered career of an investment grade or heirloom arm. it'll be rode hard and put away wet. it'll sweat when you do, itll collect fungus under the car seat spilled coffee soda and that secret sauce from the big mac you mostly stuffed into your gullet on the way to whatever adventure life led you to.
all these things will corrode a gun, any gun. Stainless lets you catch the cancer before shes a DOA

[Knightrider03m]

Why not both

[ogilvyspecial]

Originally Posted by Marcus88

Why not both

For about the last year I have....

My primary being a stainless 2.5" Model 66-2 with a blued Model 36-2 as a back-up.
That is unless I'm carrying my BUG in an ankle holster then, I have to admit, my 642 goes along.

My 36 is in excellent condition and I think I'm going to try and keep it that way now that I've just picked up a Model 638-3, which will become my "primary back-up."

[LennyLames]

If I had a choice of finish for a particular gun, I'd get stainless.

". . . not wanting to show . . ." doesn't matter when carrying, since I assume you'll be carrying concealed, anyway. If you choose the open carry option, it will be obvious no matter what the gun's finish is.

As the other posters have suggested, when you're in a situation when you have to draw the gun out, you want the perpetrators to see that you have one, so the argument of ". . . not wanting to show . . ." does not apply, either.

I do carry both blue and stainless. The only reason why I carry the blue one more is because it's compact while my stainless one is full sized. Unfortunately, the compact did not come with a stainless option. If it did, I would have gotten it in stainless.

[chud333]

When i carry, the finish of the gun is the "LAST" thing i'm concerned about. It is going to be something i will stake my life on. Something i can shoot well and quickly.

[oldman45]

Many years ago, and some here will have been taught the same, I was furnished and told to carry a blue gun because it would not reflect light at night.

A few months later, I was given a stainless to carry because it was more resistent to weather and the reflective properties no longer mattered.

Then along came the big Glock give a way to depts and they were so ugly we did not worry about looks, weather or reflection.

In the end, which to carry will be a personal decision and your reasons will be your opinions.

For my needs, I like the blue guns and have a safe full of them, most unfired. I carry stainless and nothing else.

[samuelrp]

I think for a carry handgun I prefer a stainless........more durable.

[chief38]

Stainless for CCW & Blue for everything else. Other than rust and finish issues, the blued guns are smoother, slicker and non reflective, not to mention better looking (IMHO). They are also easier to shoot in the sunlight outdoors.

Chief38

[TACC1]

JMHO, for what it's worth: I prefer blue for the reason the OP stated.
As a practical matter, whatever you chose to carry, you can worry
about visibility or rust when you're done carrying it.
There's a fellow in Florida that will use the new blue-ing method
to change your stainless to black. Check out bottom of pic.
22 Mini-Mag from NAA, best of both! TACC1

[russp1]

I carry a blued 442 and the wife a stainless 642. Her's still looks brand new while my blue one does show signs of wear but nothing that would affect the reliability of the gun such as rust or pitting.

[1 old 0311]

Sweat, or moisture, isn't an issue if you wax it every few weeks. This has ridden in my pocket, or ankle holster, for decades and except for the expected few chips it's good as new.

[JJEH]

Originally Posted by Ron In MD

Which finish do you prefer, blue or stainless?

I like both

[elm_creek_smith]

I have and carry stainless, blued, and nickel-plated revolvers. If you want a dark, non-reflective finish on stainless there's always Roguard from Robar, black chrome, or black nickel-plating. I believe it was Skeeter Skelton who told of a deputy who carried a blued revolver with the blue polished off the muzzle end of the barrel to make it look BIG while another deputy carried a nickel-plated N-Frame because he wanted everyone to know he had a gun when he pulled it out.

ECS

[Ron In MD]

OK, we can close this thread, it looks like stainless is the way to go for more than one reason. And I guess that by letting a potential perpetrator know that you are armed MAY actually deter them from committing a crime, with you anyway. Actually I prefer stainless myself. It's so much more forgiving if you don't clean it immediately after use.

My next mission is to go out to gun shows and handle some CCW revolvers. My preference is for a DAO, so as not to have an exposed hammer snag on any clothing. I know there's lots of threads to read concerning this subject.

Thanks for all your input.

[Weldmen]

I like the stainless also. Here is my CCW. Polished it too.

[RussellD]

Hard Chrome trumps both...Blue is for show..stainless is for go..Hard chrome either one and it will look new 20 years from now.