Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Chrome moly actions and stainless barrels

I'm pretty much sold on the advantages of stainless steel on a rifle, although I know that stainless rifles still require attention and care. It's interesting to me, though, that I see lots of nice rifles built off of chrome moly actions but with stainless steel barrels. Is the action of a rifle less susceptible to rust or something? I'm curious because I'm going to put a rifle together. I want something I can be happy with in the long run, but I also want to save money if I might as well.

I would say that in most cases that is due to there being more chrome-moly actions out there to work with, especially older ones in need of new barrels. SS guns didn't really start becoming the "norm" until the late 20th century.
Also, CM actions/donor guns tend to be a bit less expensive.

Just my thoughts.

CM with a SS barrel don't have the opportunity to seize together as a SS on SS. If you take any care of your rifle at all, rust is not a problem.

I prefer stainless/stainless but have several CM actions with stainless barrels. Jus the way I think of it but a little rust on the action isn't going to have much effect on accuracy......a little rust in the bore is rough on accuracy....so I care less about the action than the barrel.

I have some of both and have no preference other than with a stainless action you have to be careful not to gall the bolt lugs or action lugs if two similar stainless steels are used in the bolt and action. One thing that Remington does with their stainless 700 actions is the fact that the braised on bolt lug part of the bolt is not stainless or at least not a matching grade of stainless, and hence you get far less chance of galling to occur on a 700 action.

Stainless barrels are easier to maintain in bad weather, and for me they seem to wear longer, so I prefer stainless barrels over CM barrels. Just my preference and thoughts. All worth maybe 2 cents on a good day.

Stainless in a technical sense is not as strong as carbon steel.
Not a machinist so don't know the technical terms.

Thanks for the responses. I guess my big question is whether it's less important for an action to be stainless steel than the barrel, or if the main reason for seeing CM actions is just saving money. My thought was that if you're going to spend the extra money for a stainless aftermarket barrel, then why not spend the extra for a stainless donor action?



That makes sense - I wonder if that's other peoples' way of thinking.

I like the looks of rifles with CM actions and SS barrels better than all-SS.

It's just to save money or they already had a chrome moly donor action laying around.

I've got a couple of prairie dog rifles built with chrome moly actions and stainless barrels but for any kind of serious rifle it's all stainless, action and barrel. I grew up in Mississippi in a house with no air conditioning. Keeping rust off of chrome moly guns was a never ending and futile task, it just couldn't be done unless you kept one covered in cosmoline. When someone tells you that rust isn't a problem on chrome moly you have to look at where they live, it's pretty much guaranteed that it's not MS, AL, GA, or FL.

If you live out west it probably won't be an issue, but for me make mine stainless, action and barrel.

Cheap donors.

Ever had a CM action rust through in your hands after a hunt in foul weather?

The stainless used in rifle barrels is primarily chosen for a somewhat higher resistance to erosion than CrMo. It is slightly better for corrosion resistance too, but really not that great in comparison to other options. It will rust if you don't look after it. On the other side of the coin CrMo tends to be stronger, tougher, and more resistant to galling, all good qualties for an action. .

The other thing to note with "stainless" actions is that there often are parts in them which are not stainless at all. As a result, if you are relying on the slightly better corrosion resistance of "stainless" to beat an aggressive environment or minimal care, you might well come unstuck when the non-stainless parts start to rust. Typical non-stainless parts (depending on the action you choose) include things like boltheads, springs, magazine boxes, and small parts in trigger and safety mechanisms.

If you want something really resistant to the environment there are much better choices than stainless. Nitrided or nitrocarburised CrMo for example, beats your typical 416 stainless hands down, both for corrosion and erosion resistance.

I grew up in the SE and now sleep a few hundred yards from the salt.

CM actions have never caused me an issue. I’ve a CM shotgun that’s been dragged through the tides and still functions fine with pretty minimal maintenance. Certainly SS is the better material, but it ain’t a deal breaker IME.

I have three SS barrels on CM actions. I already owned the donors and they needed new barrels. For me, it is a matter of economics.

Actually a SS barrel is cheaper to buy and fit than a CM. Because you do not need to pay anyone to blue the new barrel. The barrel makers will bead blast or polish SS for very little additional cost.

I have installed quite a few stainless barrels on CM actions because I was able to buy a dozen or so 700 ADL matte/synthetic youth rifles for between $300 and $325 when Walmart was having one of their periodic close-outs back in 2007/2008. If stainless actions had been available at comparable prices, I would have bought stainless in lieu of CM.

I prefer stainless, but there are lots of times when CM is either the only option or the only affordable option.

If you amortize the difference in cost between a CM action and a SS action over whatever number of years you expect to own the rifle, the annual cost is often less than you might pay for lunch once or twice a month.

I've made several - no biggie... Some are left 'two-tone', others are coated to match..

Let's be clear, I'm not a metallurgist. In my opinion you are trying to compare apples and oranges. The barrel has a different set of desired characteristics from the action. Consequently, we can say, Vive la difference. Or, would you want your wheel bearings to be the same material as your wheel? Of course not, they have two different jobs.
That said, 416r (generally sold in three different hardness') is a few points below 4140, high carbon, or nickel steel. One of the conclusions we can draw from that may be that a drawn rifling button will impart less stress to the blank, and the 416r will lap quickly and beautifully, sum: an accurate light fouling bbl for cheap. To achieve the same results in 4140, the number of machine and hand operations increase ten fold. Cut rifling and lapping are not cost efficient in this day and age. IMO, corrosion resistance was used as a marketing point to sell an accurate barrel that was in reality, quick and easy to make with a very low rejection rate. Consumer/manucfaturer win, win.

I have 5 rifles with CM actions and SS bbls for exactly the sames reasons as stated above. I'm less concerned about pretty colour coordinated rifles than others.

Kimber has a limited edition 6.5 CM with a SS action and barrel, and they coated the action to achieve the 2-tone look. I like it, but some don’t.

That said, I’ve had a lot of rifles built over the years with CM actions and SS barrels. Doesn’t bother me, and I never cared about spending on coating to make it all one color.

Me too, I think they look cool!