Preferences?

[Guest carbonarcher]

With a revolver, is it better to have stainless or bluing?

Just asking what holds up better in EDC?

Thanks all!

Again new to EDC!

[Kevo]

Sweat, holster wear, and scratches will take their toll on any gun. Regardless of finish or make, I recommend vigilant maintenance of all your firearms. Especially the one you hope that you never have to use.

[hipower]

Sweat, holster wear, and scratches will take their toll on any gun. Regardless of finish or make, I recommend vigilant maintenance of all your firearms. Especially the one you hope that you never have to use.

Best advice I've heard in as few words in a long time. Now I just gotta follow them.

[East_TN_Patriot]

I agree with the other posts, however, stainless firearms tend to hold up a little better than those with a blued finish. Stainless steel firearms don't have a finish to wear away like bluing does and it is much more rust resistant than blued steel. Many small revolvers now use a variety of metals including aluminum, which also holds up well. My particular carry revolver is a Smith & Wesson model 642 Airweight that has a stainless barrel and cylinder and aluminum frame, which comes from the factory painted to help match the stainless steel parts. After a while, the paint started to chip and wear off, so I sent the whole thing to be silver hard chromed with a matte finish. It was the best thing I ever did for that little gun. For durability, a quality silver hard chrome is impossible to beat due to its rust protection and hardness that resists wear and scratches (of course, the cheap high-gloss bumper chrome you see on some of the cheap handguns out there doesn't have the same benefits as a professionally done hard chrome finish). Just bank on any firearm you carry on a regular basis to end up with some sort of holster wear and minor blemishes, which are totally unavoidable. Just be sure to check it fairly regularly for rust, dirt, lint, etc. and keep it properly lubricated.

Also, it's a really good idea to rotate out your old carry ammo every year (some do it more often). What I usually do is to use the old stuff as practice ammo and then load up the new before I leave the range. It was a habit I got into when I was in law enforcement. I qualified with the stuff I had been carrying every day and got a fresh box to replace it.

Edited October 28, 2010 by East_TN_Patriot

[JAB]

My preference would depend on the environment where it would be carried, etc. I like the looks of a blue finish better on a revolver, in general. Also, for a carry firearm for use in normal, everyday conditions - as I carry OWB - I think that blued hides better (for me) than a shinier, stainless finish. I do think that the kind of 'dark', matte finish (I guess it is some sort of stainless) that I have seen on some Ruger SP101s looks really good and would probably hide fine since it really isn't very shiny,

My Taurus 66 is stainless but it isn't extremely shiny - a bit more of a 'matte' look. I wanted stainless for it, though, because I bought it partly to carry when I am trout fishing - which sometimes involves wading. I don't plan on 'dunking' it but I wanted something that would resist moisture a little better than a blued finish.

[daddyo]

I have a Smith 442 that sees daily carry and a Ruger SP101 that I have carried frequently. I haven't had a problem with either finish showing signs of wear so far.

[DWARREN123]

With my small amount of exprience I would go with SS over blued.

[Will Carry]

Stainless is low maintenance. They used blueing before stainless. I would recommend the stainless model.

[bigwakes]

I too would reccomend stainless. The upside to blued is it can be refinished if the blueing does wear.

[eapking]

I too would reccomend stainless. The upside to blued is it can be refinished if the blueing does wear.

For carry, I'd go stainless. For the Range/Safe Queen....Blued (preferably as done by S&W)

[JC57]

I prefer stainless steel for a carry revolver over blued steel.

[Trekbike]

Another choice for stainless in an EDC.