Have you ever been busted or spooked game because of the shine or glare of a stainless steel barrel/rifle ?

No.

I think I started hunting them in early 90's, when the SS 700's started being made. So it it was going to happen, it would have likely happened by now. I bet there is a better chance of a possible sunlight-glint effect with a high-gloss blue rifle/scope combo than there is with a factory bead-blasted SS rifle.

No

No

No.

Scared alot of game to death with mine....

I don't know. How would you know ?

But have compared an SS barrel next to a matte and they will reflect a little light up into the objective lens of your scope...provided the sun is out, which is seldom an issue here...

On the days I didn’t kill anything, maybe. On the days I did kill something with my SS gun, no.

Not to my knowledge.


Except for the .223, which can't be used for big game here in CO, mine are matte.

Probably just keeled over, so taken aback by the scope mounting.

Ok, didn't think so but thought I'd check the consensus. Yeah I'm not sure how you would know unless you didn't move and the game animal spotted you anyway, which I know happens regardless. Seems the brighter finishes would be more obvious and stick out more especially if holding your rifle vertically or horizontally across your body, rather than muzzle pointed..

I have seen a bright glare flash off of a gloss barrel about 500 yards away. No doubt an ole muley would
not stick around for another view.
Any matte finish would not have the same results.

Agree with Michinganroadkill, have seen a gloss blue barrel glint brightly. I'm sure a matte finished stainless would be less visible, but either way, I hit most of my barrels with a blast of drab black or brown spray paint. But I certainly wouldn't stay home even if I had to go out with a barrel mounted strobe light, lol

Reread the original post. I'm not sure if I've ever been busted or not, but I hedge my bets with dull equipment these days.

A little bit of blue tape wrapped around the muzzle effectively camoflauges the S/S bling................

Movement is worse than any "glare".
Stay in the shade and there is no glare at all.

No. My glass eye always scares 'em off first.

It was the stock, not the barrel......

I have had coyotes spook on several occasions. Once with a GP100 bright shinny SS GP100 in 357 I was hunting with.

Bright high polish SS barrels were covered up with Wal Mart's finest green or camo duct tape which also protected the finish..ss.

Deer, No.

No, because I don’t own any.....

Not that I am aware of.

One day I did have one friend tell me he easily saw me a few times on the other side of a canyon by the light shining off my stainless barrel, so I guess it could happen.

Nope, the blacktails I've hunted were about the dumbest animals on the planet. Damn near hit a few with boats landing them on the beach. Wasn't even during the rut either.

No. I have tried to get other hunter's attention that came in right in line with a group of pronghorn I was watching by flashing the mirror like surface of a cola can held out in the sun in their direction. Neither the hunters or the pronghorn reacted. Actually in that country there are constant reflections produced by shiny chunks of obsidian scattered about. If the animals there responded to every shiny object, they would run themselves to exhaustion.

I don't know about spooking game but I have watched my pard coming through the timber for a long long way. that barrel almost threw off sparks it was so bright.

Not that I’m aware of...........

I probably blundered around more, or didn't pay attention enough to the wind - more than the SS barrel had to do with spooking game.

That said, an old school high gloss Weatherby or Browning stock, or the original Ruger Zytel stainless rifle, yes - have spotted those those many yards away on other hunters from the flash.

The Weatherby was the worst, saw the flash as it came off of the hunter's shoulder and up to his eye to scope me upslope about 300 yards away in the brush...

Go with a matt finish, you'll take away 99% of the concern.

Well, whether they do or don't I don't know. Even the satin ones do reflect some light but as Tim said shiny blue certainly does. Recalling watching the glint off distant shotgun barrels from duck boats in the bay one opener...

Wind, unseen critter interaction, and a host of other possible contributing factors induced by your average hunter would certainly make any observations less than dependable....:)

Matte SS seems to be no problem. Hasbeen

I hunted the mountains of Namibia last year with a fine old original FN Mauser with its perfectly executed gloss blue. On day two of the hunt my PH wrapped my barrel in camo tape...

Well, let's see........








The rifle is not pictured but it was the T 3 SS 270, in 2012




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ummm, I'd say not too often - IF AT ALL !
These are the only ones I have pix of and I killed deer with SS rifles since 2003 but didn't have pix of deer or rifle.


Jerry

I would worry more about the flash from scope glass. That I have seen and it will spook game.

Lets see, RE OT, at one point the saying would be, OMG.

Matte or a spray can of flat black paint is your friend, but no. I don't use shiny barrels, either blued or SS.

A nice glass beaded parkerized job is about as good as it gets, IMO.

IT&D, when Dave was still doing work, would do a sandblast finish on SS. It was dark and very matte. Heck of a hunting finish for SS.

I've always liked seeing that gun in photos. Mine almost identical has never spooked game either. of course like anything else out there, folks should use common sense to prevent issues with all kinds of things while hunting.

I'd venture to guess that scent has spooked more game by far than any gun has.

I saw the picture of the camo tape on the African gun on a later post here... I"m going to say it didn't hurt anything, but flash from glasses, optics, white legs, movement, scent, etc are just as bad if not worse. And some management of all the above goes a long ways, even without taping....Wonder what the guide would have said if there was blue tape on the muzzle. LMAO

I’d worry more about movement than colors.

Exactly. But if you're worried about it go to wally world and get a roll of camo flat finished(Not Glossy) Tape and tape up all the stainless before hunting season. I wouldn't leave it on after that. I'd untape it after season and clean any tape glue off with some brake cleaner on a rag. I've done this and never had a problem. In fact, I've taped up blued guns. Just be sure you take the tape off after season.

nope not true S.S. barrels do not scare deer ,last year 2018 deer season i shot my biggest whitetail buck i have ever shot, and with a Ruger #1 with a 27 inch S.S. kinda shiny barrel at 30 feet and at first this buck was directly 10 feet under me . so i say again No >S.S. barrels do not scare deer.

Follow Up

I don’t have any pix showing my Knight SS 54 cal Mzld

I have killed quite a few WT including bucks with S S muzzleloader.

That says something per this subject.


Jerry

Nope

Probably not a huge issue but if a human can spot a stainless barrel from a ways out then I’m sure animals can as well. I’ve watched hunting partners walking through timber and the first thing I see is their rifle barrels but one could argue movement is a bigger issue with being spotted. If it is a concern, just have it coated.

I've seen other hunters carrying stainless rifles and in a dark hemlock forest it looks like they're carrying a white pole in their hands. Sticks out like a sore thumb. The only stainless rifle I own/hunt with is a Ruger 77 Hawkeye all weather. The barreled action has what Ruger calls their "target gray" finish and it is truly gray, decidedly not silver and completely flat/non reflective.

The last 6 or 8 deer that I have killed with a rifle have ranged in distance from 15 to 40 yds. Some while hunting on the ground, some from a relatively open elevated tree stand. All with a stainless rifle. My answer to the op would be no.

Nope

By the time the see it, if they ever do, lights out. It’s too late.

Dull finish on all mine.

DF

No, my only SS gun is my Model 7 and it has a matte stainless finish. I think I’d be more likely to get a harsh glint off of one of my shiny blued guns or the glass in my scope.

Classic campfire topic....

Laughing here....

If I’m wearing my Oakley’s and I can’t see a glare of reflection, nothing else can either. It’s a special power I have 😎

Yes, when the sun hits it, it can show a glint. I cover my barrels up.

A SS barrel with a matte finish is less likely to reflect light than an old school polished blue barrel. The color doesn't matter, in nature there are lots of things that are the same color as a SS rifle. The only SS rifle I ever was concerned about was the highly polished original Ruger SS Synthetic rifles. For the most part they blend right in.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/13859528#Post13859528

YEP !

Opinions don't change even after seeing evidence !


Jerry

I wondered about this for a long time before I decided that I wanted to buy my "Last 30-06." I was approaching 60, and I had a bunch of 30-06 rifles and wanted one last one before I spent the rest of my shooting career concentrating on smaller chamberings. I picked a matte stainless finish for several reasons. Chief among them was I wanted a finish that didn't require a lot of care. I picked the Ruger Hawkeye, because folks on the 'Fire said it had a matte finish that could be spruced up with a Scotch-brite pad if there were any light scratches.

I've had that Ruger Hawkeye since 2014. I've been up close and personal with a bunch of whitetails in the interim, and none of them had the slightest idea that rifle was slowly being brought up and pointed at them.

Thats why I posted a pic of that gun...if the SS didnt scare them and the stock didnt...I'll just have to try harder....

JeffO personally taught me how to mount a scope!

I hope he got to see an appropriate hand signal.

I have a stainless M70 22-250 with what I guess is matte SS. I've called (mouth blown calls) and killed more than a few coyotes with that rifle. If I can get away with something on coyotes it is usually a gimme on other critters.

I have a savage SS mach2 that I take grounhogs and other small game. I shoot from 20 yds to 100yds and don't recall having spooked game from the ss rifle.. if you were in very bright sunlight. there might be a problem.. but I have never had any.. my blued rifles are just as shiney or more so than SS and never had a problem.. there are shiney things in the forrest or on the water that are just as bright .animals are used to it...

My hunting partner decided to go stainless when he realized the Sycamores in the bottoms where we hunt have lots of white/silver patches on them. Be Well Rusty

lol

[quote=Dogslife57]Have yo su ever been busted or spooked game because of the shine or glare of a stainless steel barrel/rifle Coyotes will pick up the shine when calling on a sunny day. Just paint your barrel.

My two main rifles have stainless barrels, but both are full camo painted, problem solved. I did put one very nice buck into launch mode at an amazing long distance with the glint off my then new Remington M700 with that mirror like RKW high gloss finish that Remington thought was a good idea. That stock is gone now too. A few years back I was in a tree stand when another hunter walked by with his rifle slung over his back and I was amazed at how many times I got the flash of the sun also from his back off of his blued barrel. Stainless or blued and the stocks too get camo flat paint because it is just one more thing that I can do to put things in my favor.

We sometimes give game too much credit for "knowing" the source of what we consider an unnatural thing. How is the glare from a SS barrel or glint off a scope lens any different to their eye than the glare off a snow bank or reflection of the sun off a pond. We may know it is a human source, I can't believe the animals do.

Woody

They don’t.

Jerry

IMO the reflection off the stock didn’t do that at long distance.
I had a Buck at LESS than 50 yds simply turn around & walked away from me.

How do you know the Buck ran from the reflection “at an amazing long distance” ?

Jerry

Only once. Stainless steel marlin guide gun. Light reflected off the shiny flat receiver and spooked a doe that was close in about 50 yards away.

A LITTLE REMINDER !




[quote=jwall








The rifle is not pictured but it was the T 3 SS 270, in 2012




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I couldn't get the shine to dull enough on my Shilen barrel with Scotch-Brite or sandpaper to suit me so I sprayed it with Aluma-hyde ll.

I don't think this bull saw it.

No!

There’s a lot of stuff that could tip off game to my presence before the glare or refraction off my barrel ever would. The benefits of stainless far outweigh the negatives.

They catch you moving or if they are downwind of you, yeah - shiney stuff is bad.....

I've found movement and scent are the biggest reasons game spook (and noise of course). I have several of my field favorites that are bead blasted and chromed and never noted that game ever paid attention.

No.

Nope.

A friend of mine has a 25-06 Savage 110 made in the mid 1960s , that has a blued, SS barrel. It looks just like a blued barrel, but it is marked "Stainless" .