stainless steel-vs-matte-vs-polished blue

[hunt4ever]

I'm a new member to this forum and I'm looking for some advice regarding types of barrels. I recently purchased a 700 cdl 264 win mag with 26" matte finish fluted barrel. I had originally planned to have it polished to a high blue finish. My questions are: Do you think stainless steel barrels are better regarding longer life and greater accuracy? and Do you think stainless barrels are more visible to deer when hunting?

[skeet]

As far as longevity the Stainless are usually better. But in my opinion..not all that much unless you shoot a bunch in a short period of time. As far as deer seeing stainless I don't think it makes all that much difference. If it is really shiney bright maybe. I actually like blued barrels better but like 'em matte finished. I also thing blued bbls are more accurate..but that is just me wishing I think. On a good hunting rifle in the larger calibers...I don't think it will make much difference. Go with YOUR preference. Welcome to HC. Visit often.

[Jack]

As to the 'visible when hunting' question, I'd say the finish is more a factor than the material. In other words= highly polished (stainless or blued) can reflect. Matte finish (either material) is less likely to throw a bright reflection.
The color itself, silver or blued, I doubt it makes a difference.
As to accuracy, in the hunting world, I doubt very much there's a tangible difference.
Bench rest shooters, who junk barrels when the groups open up to .2 inch (that's 2/10's) seem to think that stainless barrels have a slightly longer life- and I do mean slightly.
For us mere mortals, and conditions in the field, no discernible difference at all, IME.

[Adam Helmer]

hunt4ever,

Welcome to this Forum; I see this is your first post here.

I am a bit unclear about your barrel. Does it have a "matte blue finish?" The deer will never know if the blue finish is matte or polished bright and blued. I would not hunt with a "bright" barrel. . I am a fan of the .264 and have a Mark X at the smith being rebarreled because I shot it a lot. When I get it back, I hope to shoot it for another 30 years.

A regular steel or a stainless barrel will "live" longer than the hunter who hunts with it every deer season. Again, welcome to this site.

Adam

[fabsroman]

I'm a new member to this forum and I'm looking for some advice regarding types of barrels. I recently purchased a 700 cdl 264 win mag with 26" matte finish fluted barrel. I had originally planned to have it polished to a high blue finish. My questions are: Do you think stainless steel barrels are better regarding longer life and greater accuracy? and Do you think stainless barrels are more visible to deer when hunting?

To quote my cousin Vinny:

"Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along, you get thirsty, you spot a little brook, you put your little deer lips down to the cool clear water... BAM! A bullet rips off part of your head! Your brains are laying on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now I ask ya. Would you care what kind of barrel the guy who shot you was using?"

All kidding aside, I do most of my deer hunting with a Ruger 77MKII in .300 Win Mag with a stainless steel barrel. The barrel is polished compared to the stainless steel barrel on my Ruger 77MKIITGT .220 Swift, but it doesn't gleem
in the sunlight all that much. I have killed plenty of deer with the rifle anywhere between 15 yards and 250 yards, and I have yet to see a deer spook before I shot it. With the real close shots, most of the problem is bringing the rifle around to make the shot. With the long shots, most of the problem is the distance. A couple of years ago I had to run 100+ yards, with an unloaded rifle of course, to get the angle on a pair of deer that were running. If they were paying attention, they would have seen me, but I seriously doubt they are all that worried about people 350 yards away. I killed one right before it jumped the stream and I killed the other right after it jumped the stream. That was at 250 yards.

Honestly, I don't think the finish of the barrel really matters unless it is diamond coated throughout and reflects light like crazy.

[jplonghunter]

hunt4ever

Welcome to the forum. I have started using Duracoat when refinishing metal and am very pleased with results.

jplonghunter

[Larryjk]

There are two subjects at hand.
(1) Type of metal for a barrel. A very good barrel company told me if you shoot a barrel hot and keep on shooting, have a stainless barrel. If you let your barrel cool without getting it hot enough that you can't hold on to it, shoot a blue barrel. A chrome moly (blue) barrel will last longer than stainless if you don't shoot it "hot".
(2) Type of finish for a barrel. Having seen the reflection off a shiny (WBY) barrel from about a half mile distance, and watching a group of deer watching the same reflections, and then move to a different area as the shiny barrel approached, I will hunt with a barrel tht does not reflect light.

[hunt4ever]

Thanks for all of the replies. You guys helped me make my decision. I was going to have my matte finish blued, but I think instead I am going to trade for a stainless. I originally wanted stainless, but was concerned about visibility of the barrel. According to your comments, stainless doesn't really affect the hunt and may even last a bit longer. Look forward to more discussions.