Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Question About Matte Stainless Barrels.

I have a pair of rifles with what I call matte stainless finish, a Ruger and a Remington. It seems like anything will put a mar on the finish that won't come off. Oil, solvent, a rub up against something......they all show. Is there any way to get rid of these? I don't like bright stainless barrels, but I've never had a problem with them, only with the matte stainless. By the way, the Ruger is more prone to do this than is the Remington.

Bead blast it again

I painted mine because the mat stainless glowed like a light bulb at dusk. After having a deer look straight at it and spook on several occasions, I stood the rifle up in the same position in the blind and walked out to the place the deer was standing. I was amazed at the way the stainless glowed when I looked back. The bead blasted finish holds paint very well...

That...




No kidding.. I have a M70 Classic SS-Walnut LH in .300WM... Went deer hunting with it - once... Might be OK if the moon's not out - but when I was walking into the woods at 4:30 am on a nice, brisk winter morning under a near-full moon I thought I was holding a Jedi light saber... Never took it hunting again unless it was daylight.

No kidding.. I have a M70 Classic SS-Walnut LH in .300WM... Went deer hunting with it - once... Might be OK if the moon's not out - but when I was walking into the woods at 4:30 am on a nice, brisk winter morning under a near-full moon I thought I was holding a Jedi light saber... Never took it hunting again unless it was daylight.


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if this happened in the moon light what do you think happened in the day light or better yet sun light

Not nearly that bad - and yes, I tried to find out..

Oh geez,
Better go out and paint all my bead blasted stainless barrels now...not!!
Never an issue here.

Never a problem that I've seen. Looks like a poplar or aspen branch, unless you're waving it around like a sword.
About the only thing a deer sees of my stainless classics is a 1/2" doughnut.

Mine are camo painted too because they are maintenance free and don't shine. A guy walked past my deer stand once with the sun at his back and the rifle slung over his shoulder. The flash off that barrel was amazing. I put a very nice buck into a full run at a couple hundred yards when he got a sunlight flash off my M700 RKW high gloss stock, so that stock is replaced with a camo painted one now. Easy touch up and no gun oil stink off the metal painted parts.

When I hunt with one of my stainless rifles, I wrap the barrel in camo vet wrap. Not painting any of my barrels.

Thanks guys, I posted this same question one time here on the fire and got everything from "I've killed over a thousand deer w/mine" to "are
you crazy"? powdr

I have a number of matte stainless barrels on rifles that I use for coyote calling. Never has an issue with them spooking a coyote.

Blasting with an abrasive such as sand or oxide will provide a less reflective surface than a glass bead blast. I use fine sand then oil well with LPS 2. It contains beeswax and will darken the blasted stainless for a long time.