Advise on Accuracy of Stainless versus Blue Steel Models Please

[stantheman86]

I foresee an end to all truly "blued" guns in the next few years.

Anything that's not stainless will be carbon steel coated with Melonite, Tenifer or some kind of polycoat. Alloys and polymers will advance to the point where bluing will be only seen on "classic" re introductions like S&W does.

 

[sjmjax]

I believe ALK8944 has the correct explaination.

Stainless steel is much more difficult to machine to precision tolerances and fine finishes than traditional carbon steels used in gun parts & barrels.

Took firearms companies some time to climb the learning curve and created some unfavorable impressions in the process that linger on still today.

I still see some evidence of machining problems in fairly recently manufactured stainless guns. Not so much barrels or accuracy but in the quality of tapped holes. Cutting fine threads into stainless with high speed taps is still one of the more difficult machining processes to master.

I have a lot of first or early generation stainless guns that have a hard time keeping their yoke retention or sideplate screws tight for more than a few dozen rounds without a touch of lock-tite.

But them seem to have got the gun drilling and rifling process mastered. I don't see any issues with accuracy in stainless barrels in either revolvers, pistols or precision rifles these days.

 

[kscardsfan]

How can you tell?

They were marked SS somewhere on the barrels, or on the box/literature.

 

[firearmsunlimited]

416 was the first free machining stainless steel. It is a heat treatable chromium steel with excellent machinability and non-galling characteristics due to the addition of sulphur.

 

[eclector]

I can say that in two fairly new S & Ws, a PC1911 and a JM, there are clearly ripple effects from tool chatter in the bore (grooves).

They are both very accurate guns so I can't say anything other than visually it is not that pretty. I have never seen this is a Smith carbon barrel.