Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anyone Use Blued Steel in Bad Weather/Long Hunts?

I know stainless is the better option for bad weather, but for years Blued CrMoly steel was all folks had. Anyone still use a blued rifle on tough hunts (Alaska, backpacking hunts, etc)? How has it fared and what is your routine, both pre-hunt and during, to keep rust at bay?

Took one on a river float hunt in AK. It now has a teflon finish.

If I were doing it again, I have found some stuff that would be a big improvement in
protection the metal.

Gibbs Metal Protector... Goes on wet, seems to penetrate and dries. I use it on carbon
knife blades and it does a good job protecting them.

Of course, nothing is fool proof in this case, but my rifle would probably not have needed
re finishing if I had had Gibbs back then.

I've elk hunted out west well over 30 years and hunted moose/caribou in Alaska numerous times. The only cleaning equipment I pack is 2 zip lock bags, one containing a dry cloth and the other containing a pre-oiled rag. I have kept a 36" piece of coated electrical wire in my day pack for many years, but never had to use it. Rifles are wood/blue ruger m77 in 270win and 30-06. If I was doing a float hunt for moose I'd take a water proof gun case.

I hunted four days in the rain with my 760 years ago before stainless rifles. The only place it shows is at the butt plate where the wood swelled a little.

2 14 day Alaska bear hunts in salt water with blued steel Ruger tang safety .338. Just occasionally wiped down outside with silicone rag. Used Gun Boot (dry bag) for transport in skiff. The value of a stainless steel barrel is to keep the bore from rusting. An oily bore shoots to a different point of impact than a dry bore.

I used blued rifles for years in the Adirondacks which includes a week in a spike camp every year. plenty of wet nasty days ( even weeks) Over the years my anti rust protocol changed, from oil, to barricade to wax, its not really that hard to keep one from rusting in cold wet weather, but a short lapse and you can have rust. .

The bore is more of a worry as you can't see it easily.

These days I choose cerakoted stainless

I used to hunt with blue/wood rifles in western Washington: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11623852/First_Elk

No more. I've gradually replaced all of my blue/wood rifles with stainless/synthetic and I'm not going back.


Okie John

I did until last year when I bought my first Montana. I wax both wood and metal with paste wax preseason. In my duffle, I always pack a silicone cloth, a length of #14 wire and a couple of small ziplock bags, one with dry patches and the other with oiled patches. A couple of minutes of maintenance at the end of the day is all it takes..

I still hunt with my blue steel and walnut rifles. But now, when it looks like prolonged foul weather, they stay on my bunk in favor of the Montana.

BTW, stainless does not mean maintenance free.

The out side is easy to protect.with a quality oil. It's the bore you need to be concerned about. If you start out with an oily bore even if you push several dry patches thru, it most likely will throw off your first &/or second shot. Maybe at close range you may get by. But if you have a longish shot it could easily cause a miss. Experienced shooters are aware of this. You will never see a competitive shooter shoot for score from a clean barrel. It has always been fouled with some shots first. Is it worth the chance especially if you have invested a good amount of time & money on a hunt. . Sight in your rifle then clean the bore. Run several patches thru to remove the excess oil. Note where your first in particular shot lands & then the second. In the over whelming amount of rifles these first shots will be off compared to where a fouled bore will print. If excess oil
is left in the bore it is even worse. This is where a stainless barrel shines. When I do a final sight in check the week before a hunt I never clean the barrel until the hunt is over. I know my rifle is going to print where it hit last time I shot & left the bore fouled. I have seen several blued steel rifles rust over night in hunting camps over the years... Yes you can get by with blue steel but why when stainless is an option.

I have many cro- moly rifles with decades of use in salty, nasty weather. A modest bit of care is perfectly adequate to make them function. About the same requirements, really, as a SS rifle.

Some finishes are better than others, but Cerakote has proven to be a joke in the wear department. Teflon has also been a joke. I would prefer SS these days, but do not hesitate to use blued. If rebarreling I always go SS, but there are several CM actions with SS barrels and years behind them. My 375AI has many Kodiak hunts behind it, many kills, and is a CM action and Pac-Nor SS Match barrel.

Best protection for barrels is electrical tape over the muzzle...

Wood that is properly sealed including in the inletting and under the buttplate/grip cap, wax on wood and metal exterior surfaces (I use Gilly Stephenson's Gun Wax, which is carnauba-based), and electrical tape over the muzzle, with a roll of it on hand (or just a few extra wraps around the barrel) to tape the muzzle up again after shooting. Give everything a good wipe down each night, and strip, dry and clean everything when you are done.

I quite enjoy hunting in rain, especially a drizzle that does enough to damp scent and noise without driving everything into the heaviest cover.

I have never had a issue with blued steel guns and wood stocks. No rust spots and wood issues. It does take a bit of common sense to keep them ok. Things like keeping them outside after a days hunt, not storing them wet in a gun case and wiping them down with a good oil after a hunt and keeping them well oiled before a hunt.

Honestly sounds like wood stocks are more of a concern than the metal. Would be using a synthetic stock, so it’s just the blued metal that’s a concern. Some wax, daily wipe down and common sense sounds like it goes a long way.

I do a lot of remote moose hunting up in the NW corner of Saskatchewan with my 308 Norma Mag. It's blued steel and is just fine. I do take care to wipe it down, and clean it, as needed while out and about and other than honest hunting wear, no rust or pitting on it.

I hunted all over Alaska for 10 years and never owned a SS rifle, still don’t. I do have a few I rebarreled using SS blanks and a few I put in quality fiberglass stocks.

I don’t recall ever having any issue with any of my rifles that could be attributed to the weather and the materials they were made of. Though if one was going for maximum neglect and maximum durability Nitride over SS in a glass stock would be as good as you can get.

Wax is your friend, an oily rag doesn’t hurt to have along either.

Steel wool and Hoppes #9 were made for Blued Steel rifles. I used them for years in Washington and they just require some maintenance.

I once stressed about the same issue until I considered that battleships are made of steel. And, I’ve never had a blued steel rifle rust while holding it in my hands over the duration of a hunt.

I will often put a coat of polyurethane satin clear on all exterior metal surfaces with the rifle out of the stock with a rag. Tape over the muzzle and I am good. Recoat every year or so.

Screw stainless, I'll coat the inside of the bore with battleship paint.