Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Stainless or Cerakote?

Which do you prefer for weather resistance? Stainless steel or Cerakote? Wanting to set up a foul weather rig. Not sure which way I want to go.

The best is both. Stainless will rust, Cerakote will chip.

I guess you could bore coat, but I would want stainless for the bore in any case.

magshooter1,

My last two were stainless. Once I had the barreled action in hand they received a salt bath nitride treatment. It does not chip.

Bore matters most. Give me stainless or chrome-lined anytime there's a choice over CM steel.

I'm down to seven scoped big game rifles these days. Only one wears a CM barrel. I hunt with it on pretty days....

Cerakote is overrated paint and in my experience doesn't hold up to field use. For me, it is not worth the cost when it can easily chip or scratch off. My vote would be stainless with possibly another coating. I will try salt bath nitrating on my next rifle.

I'm unfamiliar with this treatment. Where/Who does this? How does it work?

I only have 2 blued rifles left. One lever action and a 700 that was the first rifle I bought. The rest have been sold and replaced with SS models.

I had one more blued 700 that I had bought used and was weathered with not much blueing left on it. Sent it out and had it hard chromed.
One of the best finishes you can put on one IMO and it looks like stainless and lines your bore.

You are entitled to your opinions as I assume they are well founded.

However, I have not had that experience with my Cerakoted rifles and handguns.

I have ran them through the toughest weather, dirt, ice, quad, and truck conditions imaginable. Oregon wilderness is very unforgiving on equipment and I am all but sure footed.

Crawling through brush and sliding down rock slides the Ceracoat has held up well. I take care of my firearms after use but am not easy on them by any means.

So I suggest the cost is worth it. In my experience anything will rust or become damaged if you ride it hard enough. My gear is forgiving of my efforts and has shown the test of time.

So as you add up the price of a rifle (or handgun) with the scope, stock, barreled action, trigger, etc. Cerakote is just one of those things on my list of "have to - to be forgiving".

So there is my .02

Stainless. Cerakote it if you want, but start with as much of the rifle stainless as you can get.

Chrome moly should go the way of the Dodo.

I prefer stainless but if the firearm is not available in stainless I think cerakote is a much better alternative than most other options.......Remington's Trinyte coated stainless is My favorite of all.......Good luck.....Hb

Whoever did your cerakote didn't do a very good job. Mine holds up very well. It's been pretty damn abrasion resistant and scratch free, even though I drag my rifles through thick brush that generally scratches the hell out of my stocks. I paint some of my stocks every year because of this, but have never had to have my cerakote touched up. About time you made a switch to someone who applies cerakote professionally...

All finishes and paints are useless if the prep isn't done right. Talk to a knowledgeable auto body guy, boat builder or steel finisher and they'll all tell you the same preparation is 90% of the job applying the finish is the easy part. By all accounts cerakote is a fantastic product but still relies on perfect prep for success, and in its case it needs to be baked on.

CrMo steel, nitrided. Far more resistant to wear and corrosion, and much better barrel life, than the grades of stainless used for rifles (which will indeed rust, as has been said above).