Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Does stainless slow BP corrosion?

Just wondering if stainless is more resistant to black powder or Pyrodex corrosion?

Short answer is yes. However, it still will rust and needs cleaning just as a blued gun. I've bought some slightly neglected stainless muzzleloaders in the past that had small red spots and when I ran them through the beadblaster it blew pits in the metal.

i have seen slight rust on the muzzle of mine if i screwed the pooch and didn't clean it right away. the stainless is easier to clean or maybe just easier to see that its clean for me.
actually stainless with smokeless powder is harder for me to clean than blued. like the face of a revolver cylinder. tough to clean

Yes, but it will still rust.

It's in the name. Stain...less. Not completely.

In my experience, Pyrodex is much worse in this regard than blackpowder. Either can result in rust if the gun is not cleaned, but Pyrodex does it much faster. Stainless will resist longer than carbon steel, but not forever. Blackpowder seems to promote rust by attracting moisture, while Pyrodex seems to add an active component, which reminds me of an acid, to the equation in addition to attracting moisture to the metal.

I have seen dirty guns left with BP fouling over a period of months with no rust on them, and I have seen dirty guns left with Pyrodex fouling that were ruined in a matter of a couple weeks or less.

Neither is a problem if you clean in a timely and proper fashion.

It seems to depend whether you live where there is a relatively dry climate like the western states, or a more humid climate like the eastern states.

Uncleaned BP guns in a dry climate may not attract enough moisture to rust or corrode over a week or so uncleaned, but may be ruined quickly in the east, when using BP.
With Pyrodex, far worse I think.

Depends. The alloy matters, I think.

Once upon a time I had a TC Greyhawk that was pissing me off somewhat, so I left it loaded for about three months with Goex FFG. Don’t recall if I had fired it before that or just popped caps. Anyway, when the trial was over, I picked the nipple, repalced the cap, and it went kerblowey just fine. No sign of any damage in the barrel.

Later, I bought another one, NIB, and it had little black spots on the outside that clearly were some sort of corrosion, almost etched, and the devil to remove. My newest inline is a Knight, nitrided over SS. That’s about as good as it gets, I think.

I bought a used, blued CVA Wolf online, and the seller said the bore was good. When it arrived the bore was full of crud, and it obviously hadn’t been cleaned after shooting, and I feared I had gotten ripped off buying a ruined gun. However, dish soap and hot water cleaned it up shiny and bright, with no pitting. Whew!

400 series/magnetic stainless used in firearms is NOT impervious to corrosion.

300 series/non-magnetic stainless is NOT heat treatable,only work hardenable,hence the reason that it is not used in firearms.

Steel is a blend of alloy elements. These can include iron, nickel, manganese, chromium, carbon and others. In the case of stainless steel, nickel is the major alloy element. Nickel provides corrosion resistance.

Sherwood

It can rust in a hurry.


I taught a buddy how to shoot his stainless TC flintlock.


We were done. I said I'd go inside and show him how to clean it.


"No I gotta get going we'll do it in a couple days when you're back"

"No we need to do it now....it's going to rust"

"It's stainless...it can't rust! And I will put it in the safe with a dehumidifier "

"Let's just clean it. It'll take me 15mins"

"I gotta go..."



It was a humid summer day...


He put it in the giant fancy safe with an electronic dehumidifier....mixed in with his families high end Weatherby rifles they kinda collected.


Couple days later, the bore was nearly rusted shut. Outside wasn't horrible. But all those beautiful blued Weatherby rifles picked up rust.



Can lead a horse to water...

It might not rust as easy, but it still will get fowled, so cleaning is just as important..